History of the Crusades the Crusades Episode 28, Eleanor of Aquitaine Part 4.

Hello again.

Last week we saw Eleanor abandon the French crown. She then married Henry Duke of Normandy and later became

Queen of England when Henry succeeded King Stephen to the English throne. So what was life like in England? In one word it was busy. The 21 year old

King Henry II certainly had his work cut out for him.

Administering his French territory would be challenging enough for most people.

On top of being overlord to half of France, with all the difficulties that entailed, Henry was also king of England, and England was in a sorry state.

Battered and bruised after 19 years of anarchy and civil war, the country needed some urgent attention.

Luckily, Henry was up to the challenge.

He realized that to get the

the economy up and running again to encourage people to grow produce to sell

and to spend their days working productively they needed to feel safe.

So his first priority was to put in place a judicial system.

To do this, he divided the country into administrative regions. He appointed a justice to each

region whose role it was to travel around hearing cases and settling disputes.

In a radical move, Henry gradually replaced trial by ordeal with trial by jury,

thus laying the foundation for the system of common law in England that survives to this day.

He levied taxes, managed to increase the income of the crown,

and sacked any corrupt officials he came across. And all his hard work paid off.

As the country became safer, the wheels of trade and industry slowly creeped into life and started to turn.

England was back in business.

In order to ensure that his reforms were being correctly carried out, Henry had to travel the length and breadth of England.

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