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The Angevin Power
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The Angevin Power
Richard and the Crusades
Amid the engrossing importance of what Henry did at home we have had little leisure to attend to what Henry was abroad. Yet in the eyes of any but an Englishman, Henry was of greater consequence as a European ruler than as an English king. Through his father he ruled Anjou; through his mother, Normandy; through his wife, Aquitaine, being thus master of the western half of France (The marriage of his son, Geoffrey, with Constance of Brittany brought this duchy into the Angevin power, and made Henry II's dominions extend from the Somme to the Pyrenees in a continuous line): we have also seen that by the accident which threw William the Lion into his hands he established his claim to be considered paramount over Scotland; and we may add, what has hitherto been passed over, that he had in a sense conquered Ireland. Adrian IV, the only Englishman who ever was a Pope, was ready to grant Henry a licence to conquer Ireland (the Papacy claiming dominion over all islands) if Henry would agree to hold it as a papal fief. This did not suit the king. He declined Adrian's terms, but later proceeded with the conquest on his own authority. It was not difficult to find an opportunity. The country had never united, but was still split up among rival kings. One of these, Dermot, King of Leinster, was driven from Ireland by Roderic O'Connor, who claimed kingship over the whole island. Dermot fled to England and sought aid from Henry II. Henry, too busy to undertake the task himself, allowed Dermot to get what help he could from the barons. These were ready enough for any adventure,, and one of them, Richard de Clare, sometimes called Strongbow, helped Dermot to rout his enemies - not a very difficult task, for the mailclad Norman warrior was a match for a number of ill-armed Irish - and by marrying Dermot's heiress succeeded to his kingdom on Dermot's death. Henry, somewhat alarmed lest his vassals should become independent, crossed over to Ireland. A satisfactory number of Irish kings paid him homage, and meant nothing by it. As a matter of fact his authority stretched no farther than the Normans could conquer, namely, the district round Dublin and Wexford, called the English "pale". Beyond that the Irish ruled and quarrelled as before, but Henry had at any rate added a new title. He was Lord of Ireland.
So powerful a sovereign was not likely to lack suitable marriages for his daughters. One married Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, another married the King of Castile. Thus the family, sprung from the counts of the little province of Anjou, had gained a position in Europe not unlike that won in later days by the counts of an obscure Austrian territory of Hapsburg. But there was another branch of the Angevins, which had acquired by marriage a title to the kingdom of Jerusalem; and to the story of the Crusades and of the part which the Angevin Richard Coeur de Lion played in them we must now turn.
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Chronology
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