Henry the Young King was the only king of England crowned in his father’s lifetime. In this his father, Henry II followed the continental tradition. The Capetian rulers had their heirs crowned during their reign in order to avoid even a momentary interregnum and disorder. Louis VI, for instance, still active monarch, had his son, also Louis, anointed in Rheims cathedral already in 1131. It was not until 1137 that Louis began his independent rule and only upon his father’s death. The same Louis had his only son, Philip crowned in 1179, a year before he himself died. Today I would like to introduce a few facts about Henry the Young King everyone should know. - Henry (b. 28 February 1155) was not meant to be a king. The crown was to be inherited by his elder brother, William (b.17 August 1153). Unfortunately, at the age of three, William became seriously ill and died, the only child of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who failed to reach maturity. Upon his untimely passing, Henr
''King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye''. Interview with Author Sharon Bennett Connolly
840 years ago today, Henry the Young King, aged twenty-eight, died at Martel, Limousin. In the closing days of May he had contracted dysentery, called "bloody flux" and did not survive its merciless attack. Henry had been co-king of England since 1170, when his father, King Henry II, had him crowned at Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately the elder king was unwilling to share power and responsibilty with his eldest son and heir, thus pushing the latter to rebel against him, first in 1173, then ten years later, in 1183. Henry had been long dead when his younger brother John faced the greatest crisis of his reign. In his hour of need he was left with few staunch supportes, one of them being Nicholaa de la Haye. Today we have invited Sharon Bennett Connolly FRHistS to the blog. Sharon is the best-selling author of 4 non-fiction history books, including Heroines of the Medieval World , Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest , Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influ