Henry II's life rose and fell like a rough sea. After winning the English throne at just 21 years old, he put England back together again after the ravages of the civil war known as The Anarchy.

He wed the beautiful and famous Eleanor of Aquitaine, and had with her 7 children who survived into adulthood - including Richard the Lionheart and the later King John. 

And it was he who created the Angevin Empire.

But he was also the King who inadvertently ordered the murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the King who suffered no less than three rebellions from his sons, and the man who went to his grave knowing that his favourite, John, had finally joined them. 

Henry II was a man whose energy and vitality thrust the Angevins into the international limelight, but who ultimately could not control his own family.

This is his story, and the beginnings of the famous Richard the Lionheart.

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