Lesson video

(no audio) <v ->Hi, I'm Miss Mia.

</v> Thank you so much for joining me in this lesson today.

In this lesson, you'll be able to describe the later years of Henry II's reign and his handling of succession.

Your key words are on the screen now and you can write them down if you'd like to.

Let's go through them together.

So we've got succession, revolt, conspire, regent, heir.

Great.

Let's find out what these keywords mean.

Succession.

Succession is the process in which someone automatically inherits a position or property after someone else.

To revolt is to rebel or take violent action against a ruler.

To conspire is to secretly plot or plan together.

A regent is a person who rules a country for a limited period because the monarch is absent or too young, too ill.

An heir is a person who expects to inherit the property or position of another when that person dies.

Often used to mean the next in line to the throne.

So those are our key words for this lesson.

See if you can spot them throughout and use them when you need to.

Let's move on.

So this lesson is all about Eleanor of Aquitaine and the end of Henry II's reign.

We've got two lesson cycles today, and our first lesson cycle is to do with the family revolt.

We're then going to be having a look at the end of Henry II's reign.

I'm super excited about this lesson.

I hope you are too.

Let's begin.

So on the screen here we have an illustration of Henry II.

<v ->Let's learn about Henry II's succession.

</v> A wise king made plans to secure a suitable heir or successor.

However, problems occurred when there was no clear heir, or in Henry II's case, there were too many heirs.

Planning for succession could easily become complicated.

Towards the end of his reign, Henry began to think about how his lands should be divided after his death.

We have already seen that he had his eldest son, Henry, the Young King, crowned King of England during Henry II's lifetime.

However, Henry the Young King, had no real power whilst his father was still alive.

Here we have a diagram showing how Henry would've divided his empire on his death.

So Henry II also announced the inheritance for his three other sons, Richard, Geoffrey, and John.

This was to secure peace amongst his sons.

Richard would become Duke of Aquitaine, an important and wealthy dutchy.

Geoffrey would receive Brittany in modern day France.

The youngest brother was nicknamed John Lackland because he initially did not inherit significant lands.

This succession plan aimed to provide stability for Henry II's empire.

However, the division of land pleased no one.

All of the brothers had inherited their father's hot temper and did not want to wait for future power.

They wanted power now.

Over to you.

What was the main reason for Henry's decision to divide his empire upon his death?

Is it A, because that was the law?

B, to secure peace and stability?

C, because the pope demanded it, or D, to show the pope he could share?

What do you think?

You can pause the video here and click play once you've got the answer.

(no audio) So what did you get?

If you got B, you are correct.

Henry's decision to divide his empire upon his death was to secure peace and stability throughout the land.

Well done if you got that.

Let's move on.

Henry's sons did not want to wait for future power.

They wanted power now.

Here we have a diagram showing those involved in the revolt of 1173.

So in 1173, Henry faced a revolt from his three eldest sons, Henry, the Young King, Richard, and Geoffrey.

Matters got worse when Henry discovered the involvement of his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Back to you.

Henry's sons were happy to let him rule the empire on his own.

What do you think?

Is this true or is this false?

You can pause the video here for this part of the check for understanding.

(no audio) So what did you get?

If you got false, well done.

Why do you think this is?

So I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it because A, they did not want to wait for future power, they wanted power now?

Or B, they did not want Eleanor to wait for future power, they wanted her in power now.

What do you think?

You can pause the video here.

(no audio) So what did you get?

If you got A, you are correct.

Let's move on.

Here is an illustration of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Eleanor had proven to be an exceptional queen.

During the medieval period, a king was judged by his ability on the battlefield.

Success in battle was the best way for a king to become powerful.

However, a queen was not expected to hold this type of power.

Eleanor rose above these expectations.

Eleanor had inherited a vast and powerful dutchy from her father, the Duke of Aquitaine.

This wealth and her intelligence, made her an attractive potential bride to the kings of Europe.

Before Henry, she was married to King Louis VII of France and had accompanied him on crusade.

However, the marriage didn't work and they soon divorced.

Her marriage to Henry proved more successful.

They had eight children together and Eleanor often acted as regent when Henry troubled the empire.

In later years, they often clashed, both being strong-willed characters.

The couple became distant.

Eleanor devoted much of her time to the education of her sons, especially her favorite, Richard.

She encouraged her sons to pursue their inheritance from their father, even if that meant taking the extreme step of joining up with Henry's enemies.

Eleanor, her sons, and the King of France conspired in a revolt against Henry Over to you.

Complete the sentence using a person's name and two keywords.

The King of France, Henry the Young King, Richard, Geoffrey, and all to launch a against Henry the II.

You can pause the video here and click play once you've completed this check for understanding.

(no audio) So what did you get?

Well, the King of France, Henry the Young King, Richard, Geoffrey, and Eleanor, all conspired to launch a revolt against Henry II.

Let's move on.

Back to you.

How had Eleanor proven to be an exceptional queen?

Select two correct answers.

A, she had great wealth and intelligence.

B, she had experience ruling regent.

C, she had a successful marriage to the King of France.

You can pause the video here and click play once you've got the answers.

(no audio) So what did you get?

If you got A and B, you are correct.

So Eleanor was proven to be an exceptional queen because she had great wealth and intelligence, and she had experience ruling as regent.

Well done if you got that correct.

Let's move on.

Task A.

I'd like you to explain why Henry II faced revolt by his eldest son in 1173.

You should use the following words in your answer.

Succession, divided, empire, power, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

You can pause the video here and click play once you've completed this task.

(no audio) So how did that go?

Your answer may include something like this.

As part of his succession plan, Henry II divided up his empire between his sons.

Henry hoped that this would provide stability.

However, his sons were impatient for power and therefore led a revolt against him whilst he was still king.

Their actions were encouraged by their mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who encouraged her sons to revolt against Henry II.

Well done if you managed to include some of those key points and for completing the task.

Let's move on.

Now this second lesson cycle is to do with the end of Henry II's reign.

Let's begin.

Here we have a diagram showing the reasons for the failure of the revolt.

So in this diagram we've got Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry the Young King, Richard, Geoffrey, and King of France.

Henry was successful on the battlefield and the revolt failed in 1174.

Eleanor was captured and imprisoned.

The sons begged for forgiveness and accepted a short term reduction of their inheritance.

However, the deaths of Henry the Young King in 1183, and Geoffrey in 1186 opened the question of succession again.

Two sons remained, Richard, who had proved himself a formidable soldier and successful Duke of Aquitaine, and John, who showed limited leadership and skill in battle.

Henry's sons continued to rebel during the last years of his reign.

Once Eleanor was released from prison, she continued to encourage Richard to revolt against his father.

Again, they were joined by John and the King of France.

In 1189, the king was 56 years old, and was still fighting against Richard, the King of France.

when his health began to fail.

He was forced to surrender to Richard.

But from his deathbed, he whispered to his son's ear, "God grant that I may not die until I have my revenge on you.

" These were perhaps the last words, which Henry II ever spoke to his son and heir, Richard.

Two days later, Henry was dead, some say of heartbreak and shock.

Richard was now King of England.

So here on the left we have an illustration of Richard, and on the right we have an illustration of John.

Henry II's final years were spent fighting with his family.

Here on the left we've got a stained glass window showing Henry II.

After the chaos of the anarchy, Henry had spent his reign reconstructing his empire, reforming the church, and centralizing the legal system.

He had been unable to avoid rebellion within his own family.

Over to you.

How did Henry's sons act during the last years of his reign?

Is it A, the sons continued to rebel?

B, the sons rebelled against the French king, or C, the sons secured peace and stability?

What do you think?

You could pause the video here and click play once you've got the answer.

(no audio) So what did you get?

If you got A, you are correct.

The sons continued to rebel against Henry during the last years of his reign.

Here we have an effigy of Henry II.

Back to you.

Henry's succession planning was a success.

What do you think?

You could pause the video here and click play once you've completed the first part of this check for understanding.

(no audio) So what did you get?

If you got false, well done.

I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it because A, he had been unable to avoid rebellion from within his own family, or B, he did not have enough heirs to divide his empire amongst?

What do you think?

You can pause the video here and click play once you've got that answer.

(no audio) So what did you get?

If you got A, you are correct.

Henry was not successful and he was unable to avoid rebellion from within his own family.

Task B.

Starting with the earliest, sort these events into time order, or in other words, chronological order.

Use the empty flow chart to write your answer.

So on the left we've got Richard became King of England.

Henry died.

Henry's three eldest sons revolted.

Henry announced how his empire would be divided upon his death.

So now I'd like you to order those in chronological order.

You can pause the video here and click play once you've completed this task.

(no audio) So what did you get?

So starting with the earliest, Henry announced how his empire would be divided upon his death.

Henry's three eldest sons then revolted.

Henry died and Richard became King of England.

Well done if you manage to order those correctly.

Let's move on.

Task 2, select an adjective from the following list, which best describes Henry's handling of succession.

Generous, peaceful, greedy, disastrous, tragic.

And then 3, write one paragraph to justify your choice of adjective.

You can pause the video here and click play once you've completed these two tasks.

(no audio) So how did that go?

Well, let's have a look at 2.

Your answer might be something like this, you may have chose disastrous.

Your answer to Question 3 might look like this.

Let's have a read.

Henry's handling of succession was disastrous.

Despite attempting to avoid the chaos of the anarchy, his succession planning resulted in tragedy, his own family revolting against him.

It seems Henry had too many hot-tempered heirs to please.

The final result was disaster.

Well done for completing that task.

We've now made it to the end of the lesson.

Let's summarize our learning.

So this lesson was all about Eleanor of Aquitaine and the end of Henry II's reign.

Henry II announced how his empire would be divided upon his death in an attempt to secure peace and stability.

You also understand that Henry's son did not want to wait for future power.

They wanted power now.

Henry's wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine conspired with their sons in revolt against Henry.

And lastly, you've learned that Henry's sons, continued to rebel during the last years of his reign showing that Henry's succession planning had been a disaster.

Thank you so much for joining me in this lesson and I hope you really enjoyed it.

Bye.