s. On some occasions
they were fought in earnest, and resulted in the death of one, or
more, of the combatants.

SIXTH PERIOD[1]

"Man bears within him certain ideas of order, of justice, of reason,
with a constant desire to bring them into play...; for this he labors
unceasingly."--Guizot, "History of Civilization."

THE ANGEVINS, OR PLANTAGENETS, 1154-1399

THE BARONS VERSUS THE CROWN

Consolidation of Norman and Saxon Interests--Rise of the New English
Nation

Henry II, 1154-1189
Richard I, 1189-1199
John, 1199-1216
Henry III, 1216-1272
Edward I, 1272-1307
Edward II, 1307-1327
Edward III, 1327-1377
Richard II, 1377-1399

[1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the Classified
List of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will be
found in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all others
are in parentheses.

159. Accession and Dominions of Henry II.

Henry was just of age when the death of Stephen (S141) called him to
the throne.

From his father, Count Geoffrey of Anjou, a province of France, came
the title of Angevin. The name Plantagenet, by which the family came
to be known later, was derived from the count's habit of wearing a
sprig of the golden-blossomed broom plant, or Plante-gene^t, as the
French called it, in his helmet.

Henry received from his father the dukedoms of Anjou and Maine, from
his mother Normandy and the dependent province of Brittany, while
through his marriage with Eleanor, the divorced Queen of France, he
acquired the great southern dukedom of Aquitaine.

Thus on his accession he became ruler over all England, and over more
than half of France besides, his realms extending from the borders of
Scorland to the base of the Pyrenees. (See map facing p. 84.)

To these extensive possessions Henry added the eastern half of
Ireland.[1] The country was but partially conquered and never justly
ruled. The English power there remained "like a spear-point embedded
in a living body," inflaming all around it.[2]

[1] Ireland: The population of Ireland at this time consisted mainly
of descendants of the Celtic and other prehistoric races which
inhabited Britain at the period of the Roman invasion. When the
Saxons conquered Britain, many of the natives, who were of the same
stock and spoke essentially the same language as the Irish, fled to
that country. Later, the Danes formed settlements on the coast,
especially in the vicinity of Dublin.