On this day Henry II was crowned King of England and reigned until his death in 1189. He was an energetic and ruthless leader who spent much of his reign in conflict with Louis VII of France. He is best remembered, however, for his involvement in the gory murder, in 1170, of his former friend and supporter Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was opposed to Henry’s desire to control the English Church. Becket was brutally hacked to pieces by Henry’s knights on the high altar of Canterbury Cathedral. Henry’s reign came to an end at the hands of his own son Richard (the Lionheart) and Philip II of France, the son of Louis VII.
Thomas S. Eliot wrote, in 1935, the drama “Murder in the Cathedral” based on the tragic events happened on 19th December 1154.
I remember being very shocked by it when we learnt about it at school!
No one disputes what is reported about the life of Henry II in this brief chronology, but what is not said and has been omitted, I do not know whether intentionally or not (the Deep State is controlling us, and they do not want us to know things), is that when Shakespeare wrote about Henry IV, he was actually talking about Henry II, the subject of this article.
It was a Freudian slip by Shakespeare after drinking a concoction of absinthe.
And, as we all know so well, absinthe makes the bard’s mind wander! 😉
As always, many thanks for sharing this important historical information
It’s turned into quite a fascinating pastime for me, Luisa! 🙂
… and really interesting and informative for us who follow you 🙏🤗🙏
That makes it all the more rewarding. 🙂
🙏💖🙏