Hello, welcome to History here at Oak National Academy.

I'm Mr. Newton.

I have a great lesson lined up for you today, and I'm basically here to make sense of any tricky concepts we encounter along the way.

Right, let's get started.

During these lessons we have been thinking about our big inquiry question.

How successfully did Henry reassert royal authority? In other words, how successful was Henry at showing he was still in control of his land? We'll continue to investigate Henry II through this inquiry question.

We've previously seen that Henry became king after the anarchy, a very chaotic period.

He began his reign trying to reassert control over the Angevin Empire.

We have also seen how he reasserted his authority over the law and the church.

So, how successful was Henry at asserting authority over his family and planning for succession? By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe the later years of Henry II's reign and his handling of succession.

Before we begin, there are a few words we need to understand.

Succession, revolt, conspire, regent, heir.

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

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

To conspire is to secretly plot or plan together.

A regent is a person who rules the country for a limited period because the monarch is absent or too young or 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 next in line to the throne.

So, this lesson has two parts.

In the first part, we will look at family revolt before moving on to the second part, the end of Henry II's reign.

So, let's start with the first part of the lesson, family revolts.

Henry II's succession planning.

Okay, let's start the story with Henry II's succession planning.

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.

Look at the image below.

This is an example of a mediaeval family tree.

It traces the kings and queens of England and their children.

As you can see, the king is in the centre and his many children are shown in the circles below.

This shows that succession planning could easily become complicated.

Towards the end of his reign, Henry II announced how his empire would 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.

Henry went on to announce 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 duchy.

Geoffrey would receive Brittany, in modern day, France.

And the youngest brother John was nicknamed John Lackland.

Lack means not to have something.

So John was nicknamed 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.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

What was the main reason for Henry's decision to divide his empire upon his death? Was it A, because that was the law? B, to secure peace and stability? C, because the Pope demanded it.

D, to show the Pope he could share.

Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

And well done if you knew it was B, to secure peace and stability.

Okay, let's continue.

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

They wanted power now.

All the brothers had inherited their father's hot temper and were impatient.

In 1173, Henry faced the revolts.

Shockingly, it was 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, and the king of France.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

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

True or false? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew that was false.

But why is that false? What is your justification? Was it because of A, they did not want to wait for future power, they wanted to power now.

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

Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

Well done if you knew it was A, they did not want to wait for future power, they wanted power now.

The sons had also inherited Henry's hot temper and impatience.

Okay, let's continue the story with Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Now, Henry was furious when he discovered that Eleanor was involved in the revolt.

Eleanor had proven to be an exceptional queen.

During the mediaeval 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 duchy 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 a regent when Henry travelled 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 favourite, Richard.

She encouraged her sons to pursue their inheritance from their father, which meant that they should make sure they got everything that was promised to them and maybe more.

Eleanor was quite insistent on this, even if that meant taking the extreme step of joining up with Henry's enemies.

And this is what led to Eleanor, her sons, and the king of France conspiring in a revolt against Henry.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

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

Pause the video, choose the person's name, and two of the key words to complete the sentence, and then come right back when you're finished.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's check the correct answers.

So the sentence should have read, the king of France, Henry the Young King, Richard, Geoffrey, and Eleanor, all conspired to launch a revolt against Henry II.

Okay, let's have another check here.

How had Eleanor proven to be an exceptional queen? Select two correct answers.

Was it A, she had great wealth and intelligence.

B, she had experience ruling as regent.

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

Pause the video, select two correct answers, and then come right back when you finished.

Okay, welcome back.

And well done if you knew it was A, she had great wealth and intelligence, and B, she had experience ruling as regent.

Okay, let's move on to task A, complete the following sentences.

So you can see a provided with a few sentences here, and I want you to fill in the gaps.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's check the correct answers.

So the sentences should have read, Eleanor had inherited a vast and powerful duchy from her father, the Duke of Aquitaine.

Eleanor often acted as regent when Henry travelled the empire.

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

She encouraged her sons to pursue their inheritance from their father.

Okay, well done.

We've reached the halfway mark.

Let's move on to the second part of the lesson, the end of Henry II's reign.

So, 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.

After the deaths of Henry the Young King and Geoffrey, that left two sons remaining, Richard and John.

Richard had proved himself a formidable soldier, a feared and respected warrior, and a successful Duke of Aquitaine.

However, John showed limited leadership and skill in battle.

And as we know already, was often mocked for lacking land, and many historians have contrasted the two characters as being opposite to each other.

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

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

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 and the king of France when his health began to fail.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

How did Henry's sons act during the last years of his reign? Was it A, the sons continued to rebel? B, the sons rebelled against the French king.

C, the sons secured peace and stability.

Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

And well done if you knew the answer was A, the sons continued to rebel.

So, once Henry's health began to fail, he was forced to surrender to Richard.

Henry was near to death, but from his deathbed, he whispered in his son Richard's ear, "God grants 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.

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

However, Henry's succession planning had been disastrous.

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

Okay, let's check your understanding.

Henry's succession planning was a success, true or false? Pause the video, have a think, then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

And well done if you knew it was false, but why is it false? What is your justification for that answer? Was it 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.

Pause the video, have a think, and come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

And well done if you knew the answer was A, he had been unable to avoid rebellion from within his own family.

Okay, let's move on to task B.

Starting with the earliest, sort these events into time order.

Use the empty flow chart to write your answer into.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's check the correct answers.

So your first event should be, Henry announced how his empire would be divided upon his death.

Then, Henry's three eldest son's revolt.

Then, Henry's death.

Then, Richard becomes king of England.

Okay, let's move on to the second part of task B.

Select an adjective from the following list which best describes Henry's handling of succession.

Generous, peaceful, greedy, disastrous, tragic.

So, what I want you to do here is think about Henry's succession planning and choose the word which most closely fits how you feel about it.

Once you've done that, move on to the third part of task B.

Write one paragraph to justify your choice of adjective.

In other words, in your answer you should explain why Henry's handling of succession was generous, or if you chose peaceful, then you should explain why Henry's handling of succession was peaceful.

Whichever adjective you choose, make sure you provide good evidence, facts, details, which back up your choice.

Pause the video and have a go at the task and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

So there were a multitude of ways that we could have answered this question, but let's have a look at my example.

So, firstly, I chose the adjective, disastrous.

And here is my example answer.

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.

Okay, let's summarise the lesson.

Controlling succession and family revolt.

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

Henry's sons 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.

Henry's sons continued to rebel during the last years of his reign showing that Henry's succession planning had been a disaster.

Well done and thank you for joining me for the rather tragic end to Henry II's reign.

I will see you in the next lesson.