HENRY II ,

King Henry II Of England

Henry(1133 – 1189), Curtmantle was born at Le Mans in north west France on 4 March 1133. His father was Count of Anjou and his mother Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England. Henry had named Matilda as his successor to the English throne but her cousin Stephen had taken over.
He acquired more territories in France through his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine 1152. On being married he travelled to England where he pursued King Stephen to make him heir to the throne on account of his Grandfather. King Stephen agreed to this and King Henry II was crowned two years later in 1154.

He sought to establish the power and prestige of the Crown. However, this brought him into conflict with the Church. He had hoped that Thomas Beckett would be a loyal Archbishop of Canterbury. But, Beckett frequently stood up for the rights of the Church before the crown. Henry II got so frustrated with Beckett and four knights took him at his word and murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. .

Before he was 40 he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the eastern half of Ireland and the western half of France—an area that would later come to be called the Angevin Empire.

Finally Henry had problems within his own family. His sons – Henry, Geoffrey, Richard and John – mistrusted each other and resented their father’s policy of dividing land among them. 

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/henry_ii_king.shtml