King Henry II of England in The Lion in Winter by James Goldman

James Goldmans masterpiece, The lion in Winter, is play that is regarded by many as unity of the best. The play The Lion in the Winter is basically about the life of powerfulness henry II of England. Although not e very(prenominal)thing that was menti matchlessd in the play about queer hydrogen II of England was entirely true, some of them are righteous product of allegory and while some are really unearthed from real history.Some consultation or readers may hire either liked or disliked great power heat content II of England in James Goldmans play. only if King total heat II of Englands character is based on a real somebody, could it be that the real King atomic number 1 II of England posses the same negative traits that the play had portrayed him? Or does James Goldmans portrayal of King enthalpy II of England have historical and real basic?In the play, The Lion in Winter, King hydrogen II of England was portrayed as aging and conniving. He was not portrayed as the likeable character but rather more of an antagonist that is against the plots of the different characters, namely his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and his sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John. Basically, every peerless was after the throne of King Henry II of England, including himself. He cherished nothing but to protect his throne out from those who want to steal it from him. He was in very good survey to do that because he was king, he had all the power of a race in his palm. He was so addicted to the power he feature that he became a control-freak, much like every king in history.This was the life the fictional King Henry II of England and the real King Henry II of England. It was a life full of connivances and deception just like in the play. The play had themes like the dysfunctional family, politics, aging, inheritance, all of which make the bulk of the plays narration, all of which alike made up the bulk of King Henry II of England. It just shows that even the person of hig hest political position and wealth are some(prenominal) likely to be unhappy.Although, King Henry II of England was portrayed as an aging-annoying snub in the play The Lion in Winter. He is in fact in reality a good-spirited and energetic person, regarded by many as one of the superlative kings to rule. Some reports that he dresses casually except for occasions that submit proper attire. Some also say that he loves jokes and does not comfortably get offended by them, some even say that he has a considerably great humor. Some say that he is very adept in the field of law. Some say that King Henry II of England has an exceptionally photographic memory able to remember severally and every person that he had faced. That last vociferation about the king sounded like an exaggeration to even me.Although there exists many positive notes to King Henry II of England, there also exists an array of negative notes for the king. Others claim that King Henry II of England had a very bad and pithy temper. Basically these set of others claim that King Henry II of England has a bad personality. I guess we wouldnt know since it is too cold of a history from where we standing today.Enough of his personal life and enough of how James Goldman had portrayed him, let us examine King Henry II of England according to how history itself had portrayed him. King Henry II of England is also known as Henry Plantagenet, Henry Fitzempress, Henry of Anjou, and Henry Curtmantle. He is considered as a king that had played a prodigious role in history and had accomplished many things. He was the offshoot from the house of Plantagenet to be elected for the throne of the kingship of England. That in itself can be considered an accomplishment because as we know being first is always something to be proud of.Other leading light achievements of King Henry II of England were that he was also the one responsible for many expansions of the kingdom and pacification of many rebellions. From the very start, King Henry II of England had inherited many lands shape his father, Geoffrey Plantagenet, and his mother Empress Matilda. Although he had inherited many lands from his father, the most significant of lands was the one that her mother had inherited to him, the English throne. He had expanded the kingdom by conquering Ireland. But it didnt stop there, the expansion went on until it spanned from the Scotland spring to Northern Spain. The expansion during King Henry II of Englands terminus had almost covered more than half of France. (Tabuteau, 183)King Henry II of England was able to pacify rebellions from the kingdoms domain like of those in Scotland and Ireland. This fact is one reason why some people consider King Henry II of England as the greatest king to rule ever.He travelled all round his kingdom in a very alive(p) and energetic manner. He became known for being to survey his kingdom farthest more than any other king. Through this, he became familiar to the lan ds, therefore the reason for his victory over insurgencies. Through travelling the lands, he was also able to spot several castles that were make illegally inside his kingdom. These castles were built by King Henry II of Englands enemies to show him that they to have the capability to build large and fortified castles. King Henry II of England had destroyed those castles together with their owners as a message that says he is salve the one that has the most power. (Tabuteau, 183)Another of his most notable achievement is that he had stripped the barons of their power to collect taxes. In this sense he had destroy the concept of baronship, and he had basically stripped them of their power over habitual people. He had assigned sheriffs to collect the taxes from the people instead of the barons. This had been proven as an effective method to collect tax for King Henry II of Englands fast-growing kingdom. The tax remittances were then used for warfare finance in the crusades.King H enry II of England was also one of the firsts who wanted to be separated for the church. He had wanted the individual powers of the church and the organisation be separated as two different entities. He had wanted such separation from the church so he had formulated the governance of Clarendon. In that constitution, he had argued that an accused that is being streaked in church should be turned over to the establishment immediately when found guilty. (Tabuteau, 185)Perhaps his greatest and most notable achievement is that he was the one responsible of substitute the examination by combat with the more humane manner of trial by jury. I guess that we should thank him in that aspect because most of our legal courts today are based on what had King Henry II of England had decreed. We should thank him because if not for him, we would still be killing to each one other when we have legal disputes. We should thank him especially the lawyers, because through trial by jury they dont have learn how to bring off a sword, not to mention for their high salary. (Tabuteau, 186)Some argues that his most notable of all his achievements is his formulation of English common law which is now the tooshie for most of the worlds legal systems, and a centralized government system. (Tabuteau, 186)Although, King Henry II of Englands achievements had made him one of the most popular king even until now, his achievements were always put in risk of exposure because of family disputes over territories and other family matters. To resolve the disputes within his family, he had to resort to dividing his territories among his sons. His sons would later(prenominal) turn against him and join allegiance with the king of France. King Henry II of England would cope to pacify his sons for moment. But in the end Richard will manage to snatch the throne from him just in the play The Lion in Winter.ReferenceTabuteau, E. Z. (1997).Henry II. World Book Encyclopedia