the man known to history as king henry ii of england was born on the NUMBER_TOKENth of march NUMBER_TOKEN at le mans in normandy in northern france his father was jeffrey count of anger to reign and maine and in that capacity he was the ruler of much of northwestern and central france particularly those regions to the west of paris at a time when france was divided into a number of powerful principalities jeffrey was known by the epithet the handsome or the fair henry's mother was matilda known as empress matilda she was the daughter of king henry the first of england and had previously been married to the holy roman emperor henry v matilda's lineage was pivotal for the future of her son's life her father henry the first was the fourth son of william the conqueror the duke of normandy who in NUMBER_TOKEN had crossed to england and conquered the country for the normans as a younger son henry had not succeeded to any of his father's lands when william died in NUMBER_TOKEN but when his older brother william rufus died in NUMBER_TOKEN henry seized the throne of england in due course his own son and successor william was in line to succeed him but in NUMBER_TOKEN when henry was already in his early NUMBER_TOKENs william died in a naval accident known as the white ship disaster and the issue of the succession was now thrown wide open matilda as one of henry's daughters provided one potential line of succession although it was generally accepted that a woman could not succeed to the throne at the time this aside henry the first concluded as he aged that matilda would indeed provide his successor through her marriage to her husband jeffrey thus despite some family quarrels between the king and his daughter and son-in-law there was a strong claim that the two-year-old henry should succeed his grandfather when henry the first died after a brief illness on the NUMBER_TOKENst of december NUMBER_TOKEN NUMBER_TOKEN however this would not happen and the virtual usurpation of the english throne by henry the first's nephew stephen of blue ushered in a period of civil war which would last for nearly NUMBER_TOKEN years this video is sponsored by magellan tv a brilliant documentary streaming service covering many different areas of interest including ancient and modern history science the earth and nature true crime as well as historical drama we really enjoyed the series on magna carta and especially the episode called magna carta immortal document this fascinating episode called magna carta the most important document in world history it suggests it is a symbol of freedom which we would do well to consider again today to reaffirm our liberties henry ii lived in a time just before the advent of magna carta his world was a world without these vital freedoms that magna carta introduced with new content being introduced on a weekly basis you will never be lost for something to watch with magellan tv plus there are no advertisements and you can watch anytime anywhere on your tv laptop or mobile phone and with an annual membership costing only NUMBER_TOKEN you pay only NUMBER_TOKEN per month for over NUMBER_TOKEN
START_SPONSOR_TOKEN video is sponsored by magellan tv a brilliant documentary streaming service covering many different areas of interest including ancient and modern history science the earth and nature true crime as well as historical drama we really enjoyed the series on magna carta and especially the episode called magna carta immortal document this fascinating episode called magna carta the most important document in world history it suggests it is a symbol of freedom which we would do well to consider again today to reaffirm our liberties henry ii lived in a time just before the advent of magna carta his world was a world without these vital freedoms that magna carta introduced with new content being introduced on a weekly basis you will never be lost for something to watch with magellan tv plus there are no advertisements and you can watch anytime anywhere on your tv laptop or mobile phone and with an annual membership costing only NUMBER_TOKEN you pay only NUMBER_TOKEN per month for over NUMBER_TOKEN END_SPONSOR_TOKEN