Henry II

Henry II's reign is best known for his dramatic conflicts with his ownwife and sons and with Thomas Becket. It was also however a crucialperiod in the evolution of legal and governmental institutions.It is nowover thirty years since the appearance of W. L. Warren's monumental studyand in this volume a group of experts provide reevaluations of variousimportant aspects of the reign. Topics include Henry's accession and hisrelations with the papacy the French king other rulers in the BritishIsles and the Norman baronage; the development of the common law and thecoinage; the court and its literary milieu; the use of Arthurian legendfor political purposes; and the career of the Young King Henry; anintroduction examines the historiography of the reign.