The Lion in Winter: England 1187

[Mettermrck]

’The Lion in Winter’ – The Kingdom of England 1187

1187 – Securing Ireland

Salisbury, England

Henry sighed and pushed his plate away. Politics ruined his appetite. ”The boy is becoming a man. A troublesome man. Philippe won’t sit still for long. He’ll contest those lands. The Vexin, Aquitaine, Maine, Poitou. I’ve spent too much time squabbling with my own sons, and not enough putting France in order before my own time expires. I want to see my lands secure. I want to go on Crusade. There’s too much to do. And not enough time to do it in. Let me see that map.”

Henry’s Chancellor, Robert Berkeley, showed him the map of France.

Henry’s Possessions in France

”Yes. Philippe’s finger is already pressing down on Brittany. For now. Richard’s too aggressive for his own good. He enjoys war far too much, even against his own father. He won’t stay cowed for long unless I give him a good war to fight.”

Henry pressed his finger down on the map, and ran it along the green areas in France. ”Normandy, Anjou, Maine, straight down to Bordeaux. A nice barrier against France’s ambitions. I will have to educate Philippe in the arts of war, and very soon. I cannot possibly contemplate a Crusade without dealing with France. And with the Pope pressuring me day by day, I need to act soon. But not yet. Show me that other map.”

Berkeley passed over a map of Ireland. ”Richard and Geoffrey can tend to affairs well enough this spring. Dafyd won’t budge in Wales. He knows full well who his master is. And Malcolm is not foolish enough to cause trouble in Northumberland. No...the trouble is Johnny. He couldn’t string two beads together if I wasn’t there to instruct him. But he’s my son and I love him dearly. But I loathe the thought of leaving Ireland to him whilst I am away. Before I deal with the French, I will conduct a short campaign to cow the Irish.”

Henry studied the map carefully. The core of Henry’s domain lay in England proper as well as northern France. Bolstered by strong control over the Aquitaine and Wales, he had a claim to being one of the strongest states in western Europe. His position in England was relatively secure. The Duke of Gwynedd, the strongest Welsh prince, was his vassal, and respected his strength even if he didn’t count himself a friend of the English. And the Scottish king, Malcolm, was unlikely to start a war against such unfavorable odds. Henry would enjoy an excuse to march into Berwick or Galloway.

France was the frontline of his kingdom. Philippe and Henry each controlled about half of the lands. And every shift in the allegiance of a Count or Duke would threaten the precarious balance. And now, as Henry grew older and contemplated his own mortality, it was time to set his own affairs in order.

His first move was the Irish campaign. As a chance to give his youngest son, John, some lands and thus give lie to the nickname Lackland, Henry had installed him as a prospective King of Ireland, though he was more or less regarded as the Duke of Meath so far. Despised by the native Irish, Henry knew full well what it would take to secure his rule there.

Studying a map, he realized that shifting troops to Ireland would require passage across the Irish Sea. Along this route, the Isle of Man was a critical point, and the Duke of the Western Isles was not known for his obedience. He would have to be dealt with first. In early 1187, Henry sent a messenger to Donald, the ruler of the Isle of Man, demanding that he pledge fealty to him. Not surprisingly, he was refused.

The foolish Duke of the Western Isles defies Henry

The campaign was not expected to be difficult, so Henry mobilized the regiments from only three provinces – Salisbury, Somerset, and Dorset, just under 4,000 men at arms. After a short passage and unopposed landing, the Isle of Man was easily conquered.

The Isle of Man quickly falls to English prowess

Although other kingdoms were disturbed by such an aggressive act, Henry’s power would no doubt keep them cowed. Now it was on to Ireland.

Henry’s Ireland in 1187

John’s base of power lay in the Duchy of Meath, centered in Dublin on the east coast, and including the inland province of Mide. Three native counts, of Osraige, Desmumu, and Urmumu, paid nominal fealty to John, giving him some power in southern Ireland. But it was transient at best, relying greatly on English force of arms. And this was precisely what Henry aimed to demonstrate.

His attention was paid to the Duchess Aolfe of Leinster. With her single province of Lagain, she was vulnerable and her obedience would secure the southeast portion of the island. Another of the proud Irish dukedoms would fall to English power. Yet for a second time that year, Henry’s demands for vassalization were refused. His armies marched from Dublin into Lagain and took the province, overthrowing Aolfe. Rather than prop up a new lord in the province, Henry chose to grant the county to John, adding to his son’s power. With fortune, Ireland would be quiet while Henry dealt with affairs in France.

The County of Lagain is added to John’s Irish domain

And by December, Henry was contemplating Christmas back in Salisbury. There would be Philippe to deal with in the new year, and then the dream of a Crusade. Plus, his sons Richard and John remained unmarried. They were thorns in an old king’s side.

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1188 – 1190: Chastising France

As 1188 began, Henry began to take stock of his situation. With Ireland quieted, and the British Isles generally meek, he could now turn his attentions back to the Continent. He still hoped to fulfill his Crusader vow and recapture Jerusalem, but to do so meant an immense investment in men and treasure. And it also meant exposing his kingdom to attacks by his rivals, most notably King Philippe of France. His attempts to invite Philippe to join him on the Crusade had failed, so he was left no option. He would have to put France in its place, either through an act of subservience, or direct chastisement.

Henry’s choice of casus belli was the ancient port at Boulogne. This medieval town, with its prominent access to Channel trade, was an ideal spot for bringing English-French relations to a head. Its Countess Marie was a devoted vassal to King Philippe, and Henry had no illusions that attempting to vassalize her would bring about a crisis with France. After the winter subsided, Henry began quietly gathering troops in his own possessions in Normandy. Having used troops from his English counties against Ireland, Henry had no wish to antagonize his barons further and drew more heavily on his Norman and Angevin barons. By April he had a sizable force numbering just over 7,000 men at arms.

Now it was time to act. In early May, Henry invoked – some say created - England’s ancient claims to the County of Boulogne and demanded Marie’s homage. When this was predictably refused, Henry acted, marching his troops into the county. Philippe, invoking his duties as Boulogne’s liege-lord, mobilized his own troops and a war between the Kingdoms of England and France soon broke out. As May progressed, and Henry’s troops moved against the pitifully small army of Boulogne, the depth of Philippe’s army soon became apparent. With possessions stretching from La Marche in central France up to Artois, it was clear that the French army could approach dangerous levels if allowed to mass without interference.

The English strategy required depth of its own, therefore. Henry called upon his eldest son and vassal, Richard, Duke of Bordeaux, to raise his own army and move against the French. His son complied faithfully enough, raising almost 4,000 men at arms, but Henry knew there would be a price involved later on.

Henry’s early strategy, 1188

The spring campaign that year, which stretched into the summer and fall, was a war a of maneuver and siege. Henry quickly overcame Boulogne’s army, only to find his possessions in the Vexin threatened by an army of equal size, led by Philippe himself. Richard marched into La Marche, only to confront French armies at Tourraine. Only the competence of Plantagenet generalship and swift countermarching beat back the French offensives, and by the autumn, the Vexin and Tourraine were secure. Unfortunately, for Henry, his opponent was to prove exceedingly stubborn. In addition, Henry had been forced to abandon his siege of Boulogne.

The campaign in 1188 – French offensives thwarted

As the armies settled in for winter camp, the English had to contemplate their strategy for the continuing fight. Despite notable victories in the opening months, France was nowhere near succumbing to any peace which included the cession of Boulogne. Both sides continued to gather reinforcements. Despite his earlier intentions, Henry ruthlessly mobilized English regiments to reinforce his army in the Vexin, and Richard was reinforced by the barons of Maine and Poitou. Philippe was doing the same, and another great campaign was brewing for 1189.

It opened auspiciously, with Henry again marching his large army into Boulogne to besiege the city there. Richard, marching from Tourraine, would move against Philippe’s possessions in Bourges, and, with fortune, threaten the major city at Orleans. But both moves soon bogged down into sieges, and the French were again given the opportunity to attack. Gambling on heavy reinforcement of his main army at Paris, Philippe again marched into Normandy, taking Vexin and Arques in quick succession, threatening to cut Normandy in half. Henry, meanwhile, had pressed home his siege of Boulogne, which mercifully surrendered in late April, allowing him to at last receive the homage he demanded from the county.

The lengthy siege of Boulogne was at last concluded in Henry’s favor by late spring 1189

In the south, Richard finished off Bourges, and, with the boldness customary to his reputation as a great captain, crossed the Loire River and besieged Orleans. With the nearby countryside gutted to reinforce Philippe’s army, the French nobles in the region were scattered, their individual armies ill-equipped to oppose Richard’s march.

In the meantime, Henry braced himself for a showdown with Philippe. Again, it was a time for reinforcement. The English barons were again called upon for more troops, including soldiers from Sussex, Kent, Salisbury, and Cornwall. By the end of the summer, with Philippe’s army comfortably ensconced in Arques, both kings boasted armies approaching 9,000 men at arms. The decisive battle loomed.

The battle at Arques was the true turning point of the war. It boasted some of the finest charges of medieval knights of the era, and was notably brutal from the onset. Henry’s columns quickly raced into Normandy, catching Philippe’s army drawn up near the castle. Despite the equal numbers, Henry Plantagenet was easily the superior general of the two monarchs, and the results showed. After an indecisive brawl that seemed to last for hours, Henry’s knights broke the French center at last, beginning a rout that led to the virtual dissolution of the French army, and the end of Philippe’s hopes in Normandy – at least for the present.

Arques was the decisive turning point

Despite the English victory in the field in late 1189, the war would not end for another year. Philippe still boasted control of most of his northern castles, his barons remained loyal to the French cause, and he had time on his side. Henry was aging, his own nobles were grumbling at high taxation and the heavy use of their troops. The treasury was exhausted, the kingdom rapidly going into debt. If one of these factors broke, the French could still retrieve their fortunes.

The other obstacle was the obstinance of Richard himself. A great general, Richard had a history of conflict, often with his own father. Despite his own victories in the field, his loyalty was questionable after a long war. Henry realized that the support of the Aquitaine was going to cost him. Therefore, his terms for peace included the acquisition of the French county of La Marche, with hopes of adding it to Richard’s possessions in France. This, of course, was unacceptable to Philippe and the war ground on.

Richard marched and countermarched, from La Marche to Orleans, even briefly to Chartres, a sustained campaign against French nobles whom Philippe attempted to mobilize to his cause. Henry, meanwhile, marched against France itself. Paris fell in the spring of 1190. Marching northward, he quickly seized castles along the Channel coast in the county of Guines, and was soon in control of Artois as well. Still Philippe would not yield. Only when the last hopes faded, with the fall of Vermandois, would he yield to force of arms.

Henry at last had his victory in June 1190. Boulogne was his, and La Marche was Richard’s. And France was properly chastised, just as he had hoped. But there was a cost. Philippe’s hopes bore fruit a month too late, in July, when Simon de Montfort, the Count of Evreux, revolted under the burden of heavy taxation. Although quickly crushed by the royal army, this was indicative of the general discontent of Henry’s barons after a war lasting over two years.

The revolt in Evreux was an example of how disaffected England’s lords remained

As 1190 came to a close, Henry could at last contemplate his Crusade. The news from the Holy Land was dire. Jerusalem had fallen, and only a few exposed castles in the south, along with the fortress states at Tripoli and Antioch, held out. But this was in the future. Henry had much to deal with in the coming years. He needed to raise money, replenish his army, and soothe his grumbling barons. And he would have to come to terms with the family that had opposed him for so long – if he intended for his realm to survive.

Henry’s Possessions in 1191

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1191 – 1193: Putting Affairs in Order

With his victories in Ireland and France, Henry was comfortable with the prestige of his realm. ”It will take that boy Philippe years to recover from the firm beating I’ve administered ,” the King was wont to say at court. And with his neighbors cowed, at last Henry could contemplate the serious business of preparing for a Crusade. Of course, this meant amassing a large amount of money with which to pay for a large army, including passage to the Holy Land and its maintenance. In addition, much of Henry’s own lands had suffered depletion in manpower. It would take time to recover these losses, and his barons were too discontented to ask for troops.

As 1191 began, it was clear that he would have to wait at least a year before he could mass a major army to send to the Holy Land. In the meantime, it was an opportunity to tend to some domestic affairs. With the loyalties of his French barons remaining dangerously low, the King needed to appoint a strong Chancellor to help woo them back to the royal fold. And for France, this meant a reconciliation with his estranged wife Eleanor. Having remained in seclusion in Salisbury for years, this remarkable woman was once more brought out of isolation at the age of 64, to help Henry retain his lands on the Continent. Her strong diplomatic abilities and experience with French lords made Eleanor the perfect choice. The story of this reunion of sorts has been the subject of many famous medieval manuscripts, but for historical purposes, it was a wise move which impressed his contemporaries.

Henry could not afford to ignore dynastic affairs

In the meantime, there was the question of royal marriages for his sons, Richard and John, both of whom had long delayed their prospects. However, this particular problem was solved for Henry, as both the Duke of Bordeaux and the Duke of Leinster (John had now snatched that title for himself) had married. Richard had married a French noblewoman, Almodis de Villehardovin, and they had two daughters, Constance and Eustache. John had married an Italian, Maria della Scalla, and they had two sons, Amalric and Richard, in addition to John’s bastard son, Simon. Thus the continuation of Henry’s line was assured without his having to involve himself.

The next big question was the subject of the royal succession. While Henry naturally preferred Richard as his logical successor, there were some arguments in favor of the offspring of Henry’s oldest daughter, Matilda, who was married to Bernhard of Saxony. Her son, Engelbert, was considered – by very few – to be a possible heir, by virtue of traditional semisalic law. In order to correct this, the King asserted succession by direct salic custom, meaning that his oldest male child, Richard, would inherit.

Henry needed to assert the succession of Richard through salic custom

Henry also had to contend with more domestic affairs. The withdrawal of so much manpower for the war in France and the coming Crusade, spelled opportunity for England’s less righteous citizenry. Bandits began to plague several of England’s counties, and dens of thieves began to crop up throughout the island. To combat this disorder, Henry ordered the construction of a system of judicial courts, to enforce the laws and stamp these villains out harshly. It was brutal but it was effective. Henry could not afford to leave a country in chaos while he traveled to the Holy Land. But, the program meant money and this only further delayed his plans to embark.

A notable rise in banditry delayed Henry’s departure, requiring investments in harsh royal courts

By mid-1192, the royal coffers were at last beginning to replenish. The French barons were quieting and the royal family was calmer than it had ever been. The final step in Henry’s plan was to soothe the Church. His campaigns in Ireland and France had marked Henry as an aggressive king, with low standing in many royal circles. Worse, his brutal measures, both foreign and domestic, had marked him as harsh and impious, something which could be dangerous should the wrong Pope choose to excommunicate. The Crusade would help, but it would take time So Henry had to bolster his piety in Rome’s eyes as quickly as possible. To do this, he moved the Count of Surrey, Geoffrey de Warenne, from his original lands to the newly acquired County of Boulogne. De Warenne agreed, and Henry now used Surrey as the location of a new bishopric. For this he nominated a scholarly theologian from Oxford, Robert de Were. While the intent behind the move was clear to all, it had the desired effect, and bolstered Henry’s standing in the Church. Now everything was ready.

Henry was not above using bishops as a tool to increase his piety

Unfortunately for Henry, his English barons had other plans. Years of neglect by the King, high taxation, constant warfare, and the debate over the succession, had left central England ripe for revolt. In late 1192, what came to be known as the Baron’s Revolt began. Several major baronies – Warwick, Leicester, Chester, Devon, Bedford, and even the Duke of Norfolk – revolted in quick succession, threatening the hard-won tranquility Henry had worked for. Naturally, he reacted ruthlessly. With a lightning campaign that, he trusted, would cow any remaining baron with dreams of independence, Henry defeated the revolt within months, seizing castle after castle with ruthless efficiency, and stripping every rebel lord of his titles. In their place, he established loyal cronies, thus solidifying England for years to come. It was fortunate for Henry that his French barons were so weakened by war and that his son, Richard, had his future crown to seal his loyalty.

The Baron’s Revolt of 1192

By spring 1193, a frustrated Henry was anxious to begin his promised Crusade. Despite the abortive revolts in England, two years of peace had given him a restored treasury and increased manpower for the coming campaign. His preparations began in earnest in June, with Henry calling up men at arms from all of his royal domain. Troops were massed in Bristol, Dorset, Hampshire, Kent, and Arques. In all, approximately 15,000 men were assembled, not a vast army by Crusading standards, but deemed to be a formidable force led by an excellent general. As autumn 1193 approached, the ships set out from England and France, and the individual components of the great English crusading army sailed for the Holy Land. The Third Crusade was fast approaching.

Henry’s army goes on Crusade

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1194 – 1196: The Third Crusade

Late January 1194. The port of Tripoli in the Holy Land. Ship after ship disembarks, offloading an endless stream of English men-at-arms. The unloading, including men and supplies, takes weeks, and by the time of its completion, just over 14,000 men are assembled in the tiny port - the main body of King Henry’s long promised Crusade.

By early 1194, the English Crusader army was massed in Tripoli

Henry’s primary objective was obvious to everyone: the Holy City at Jerusalem, lost to the Ayyubid Kingdom only years before. By 1194, only a few Christian counties south of Tripoli held out. The Ayyubids commanded vast resources, including ownership of the rich lands of Egypt, as well controlling many vassals in the Holy Land and the Levant. All of these Henry would have to contend with if he was regain to Jerusalem for Christianity. The English cause was blessed with some fortune, however, as the campaigning season approached. The two great Muslim powers in the region, the Ayyubids and Abbasids, were at war. Although unknown to Henry at the time, it was clear that fortunate timing was to play its part in the Third Crusade.

Henry’s first key strategic decision was an almost irretrievable disaster. With over 14,000 men in Tripoli, supplies were tight, the threat of disease omnipresent, and attrition looming in the future. An army of that size could simply not survive in the Holy Land for long without massive losses – without even a single battle. Therefore, the English king chose to begin his campaign with a two-pronged attack. His own army, numbering half of the force, would march southward, seizing the coastal ports at Beirut, Tyre, Acre, and Jaffa, before turning inland for the push on Jerusalem. His nephew, Thibault, would take the second half and march on the major city of Damascus..

Almost right from the start, the English suffered a major blow. Thibault’s army was ambushed by the combined forces of the Ayyubids, the Emirate and the Sheikdom of Damascus. Despite numerical superiority, Thibault’s force was cut to pieces, losing over six thousand men. The horrendous battle cut Henry’s army almost in half before the campaign had really begun. It gave the Ayyubids a clear advantage and put the weight of the entire fortune of the campaign squarely on King Henry.

The summer and fall campaign of 1194 was brutal. Constant sieges, repeated attacks by the Ayyubid army, desertion, and disease took their toll. Only his superior generalship kept the English army intact, and slowly the coastal ports were taken one by one, until by the beginning of 1195, Henry was in Jaffa, boasting barely five thousand men remaining.

As the spring of 1195 unfolded, Henry made the grand push inland to Jerusalem. In a bloody battle outside the city gates, the Ayyubid army was at last broken, and the siege of the Holy City began in earnest. It lasted several months, yet the city fell as autumn began. Almost one hundred years prior, the Christian armies of the First Crusade had retaken the Holy City after five centuries of occupation. Now Henry, too, took on the mantle of holy conqueror as his forces reclaimed the city of their faith.

The great dream fulfilled – Henry’s army takes the Holy City

But the war was not yet won. Damascus still stood defiant, threatening Thibault’s tiny army at Tyre, while the Ayyubids still loomed in the background. There was much more campaigning to be done. Marching northward, Henry engaged the Damascene forces at the bloody battle of Safed, where only the stalwart bravery of his household knights kept the infidel from winning the day. In the end, however, the Damascene army broke and the threat from the north was at last removed.

Safed – Henry’s great battlefield victory in the Holy Land

Having fulfilled the promise of the First Crusade, Henry immediately launched into fulfilling the promise of the Second. Damascus loomed ahead, its defending army cast aside. With his customary boldness, the English king marched on the Syrian capital, seizing it in a coup de main by the end of 1195. His overwhelming victories forced the Emir to make peace, leaving only the Ayyubids opposing him.

The fall of Damascus crowned Henry’s victorious Crusade

The Crusade was entering its third year. Henry had achieved its objectives and more, restoring almost all of the territory lost since 1187. But still the war loomed. The English marched southward once more, conducting a series of siege and marches in Jordan down to Aqaba. Castles in Kerak, Negev, and Eilat fell, restoring Christian access to the Red Sea. And at long last, the Ayyubids sued for peace, leaving Christendom in possession of the Holy Land once more.

Henry returned to Jerusalem, and immediately went to work setting affairs in order. His hopes had been to resurrect the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and restore a preeminent Christian state in the region. Unfortunately, the remaining Christian nobles, led by the Prince of Antioch and the Duke of Tripoli, refused to submit to this overture, and despite possession of the Holy City, Henry did not control enough lands to restore the kingdom. For the moment, Henry contented himself with investing much of the southern lands upon Amalric, his grandson and John’s eldest son. The eleven-year old was titled the Duke of Ascalon, and would eventually rule a state which would buttress the main lands around Jerusalem. Despite overwhelming victories, it was clear that Christian squabbling was now the primary obstacle to Henry’s ambitions in the Holy Land.

But he had been away from England for almost four years, and it was time to return. Perhaps it would be Richard’s or even Amalric’s role to put things right.

The Holy Land 1197 – Henry Triumphant

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1197 – 1208: Dotage

Even the greatest warriors eventually grow old. And this was the fate of King Henry II of England, Overlord of Ireland, Humbler of France, and Conqueror of Jerusalem and Damascus. Yet even growing old takes time, and much to the surprise of many at court, he lingered for another eleven years after the Crusade was over. He no longer led his troops in battle, and relied more and more on the abilities of his wife Eleanor and, after she died in 1202, his eldest son Richard. It was the rest of the contented, the man who had accomplished all he had wished to in his lifetime.

In England and in France, the nobles remained quiet. No one wished to cross a king who had successfully put down every revolt against him. And even after years of recovery, Philippe had no wish to attempt a war of revenge. It was a proud England, calm and secure. Indeed, the only major issues Henry was forced to contend with were more church-oriented. The great religious debate of the time in the Church centered around the appointment of bishops, and with whom did this power lie. Naturally it was a debate between the Pope and the European monarchs, most notably the Holy Roman Emperor. Yet Henry had to contend with a virtual Papal ultimatum in 1203, when it was demanded that he give up the practice of ‘lay investiture’ that had served him so well in the past. Despite his successful Crusade, Henry was still very much the aggressive king and even Thomas Becket, almost thirty years prior, was not forgotten. With a choice between church supremacy and excommunication, Henry, possibly contemplating his imminent mortality, conceded the point.

An aged Henry had no wish to oppose the Church

In the Holy Land, English administration gradually established itself, and a program of construction and road building was implemented. Roads, sawmills, harbors, judicial courts, and castles were built to revitalize and hold on to this newly won prize. Henry’s attempts to revive the Kingdom of Jerusalem continued to meet with opposition, most notably from Raymond, the Duke of Tripoli and Thomas, the Duke of Galilee. Without their support, Henry was stymied, and his traditional solution of brute force would likely have horrible consequences in light of his current reputation. So he contented himself with slow negotiation, something he was not good at. By 1204, however, it began to bear fruit. The isolated County of Monreal submitted to him, and more importantly, the sacred order of the Knights Templar paid homage in a relationship of mutual protection. In exchange for protecting their lands in Hebron, the Templars began to send troops to bolster his garrison in Jerusalem.

The Knights Templar contributed greatly to the strength of English rule in the Holy Land

With the aid of the Templars, Henry moved against one of the most vile threats in the Levant – the insidious Order of the Assassins. With their strong fortress in the hills east of Tripoli, they were a constant danger to the security of the Christian realms in the region. They had to be stamped out. Fortunately for Henry, his nephew Thibault’s army arrived when the Assassins were engaged elsewhere. Despite the strength of the fortress, the siege was successful through a combination of patience, Templar strength, and persistent pressure on the garrison. In the end, one of the greatest fortresses in the region – rivaling even Krak des Chevaliers – fell to the English. Such an impressive move soon brought Bohemond, Prince of Antioch, into Henry’s fold. In addition, the Grand Order of the Knights Hospitaller submitted to Henry’s power. So there was great promise in the Holy Land as Henry continued to age.

The fall of the Assassin’s fortress bolstered English prestige in the Holy Land

His mind had ever more grander plans. Expanding his control in Ireland, seizing the Welsh crown, subjugating the Scots, bringing the Britons back under his rule, and permanently humbling France. But all this was not to be, as 1208 came. The winter air at Chinon castle led to a chill, and the 75-year old Henry succumbed quickly to nature’s bitter wind. His son, Richard, now inherited the crown and of all his great empire. But that would be another story.

Henry's story at last comes to an end