A history of England . at some wood-land hut, where there was only accommodation for the activity of his mind was equally amazing. His desireto master all the secrets of government and law was himself presided over the Curia Regis, and he woulddraft with his own hand a charter of privileges to a monasteryor town. He delighted in the minute and tedious disputesof the lawyers, and could hold his own in the discussionsof the scholars whom he welcomed at his court. He spokeLatin and French, and though probably ignorant of English,he understood the dialects of his conti
A history of England . at some wood-land hut, where there was only accommodation for the activity of his mind was equally amazing. His desireto master all the secrets of government and law was himself presided over the Curia Regis, and he woulddraft with his own hand a charter of privileges to a monasteryor town. He delighted in the minute and tedious disputesof the lawyers, and could hold his own in the discussionsof the scholars whom he welcomed at his court. He spokeLatin and French, and though probably ignorant of English,he understood the dialects of his continental dominions. Mensaid of him that he had always in his hand a weapon ora book. And with all this, he grasped the threads of hisinternational negotiations, meeting with consummate skill theceaseless intrigues of his enemy Louis VII. of France. Athis court envoys appeared from Jerusalem, Moorish Spain,and Norway. Statesmen were trained by him, and under hisinfluence England caught a glimpse of a wider destiny. No 69. English Mileso 20 40 60 80 120 160 Boundary of Dominions of Henry II Boundary of Dominionsruled by Vassals Walkex & Cockerell! Henry II. yi wonder that with all this persistent outburst of energy hiscoarser nature at times came to the surface. There weremoments when his freckled face and grey eyes blazed withfury, when no measure of vindictive spite seemed beyond him,and when before his terrified courtiers he flung himself on theground in a paroxysm of passion. 2. The Restoration of Order.—Henrys first duty wasthe reconstruction of the administration, and he at once beganto carry out the reforms settled at Wallingford in 1153. Histask was difficult, but his position in England was strengthenedby his prestige as ruler of the greater part of France. Fromhis mother Matilda he had inherited Normandy, and from hisfather Geoffrey the counties of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine,while by his astute marriage with Eleanor, the divorced wife ofLouis VII.,1 he had acquired a pr
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