At the beginning of the 12th century, England’s king is Henry I, who also rules Normandy, a large part of what is now northern France. (The kingdom of France itself was then a comparatively smaller area centered around Paris.) 1135 AD Henry I dies, leaving the throne to his only legitimate heir, his daughter Matilda. Since neither England nor Normandy has ever been ruled by a woman, Matilda is challenged by her cousin Stephen, who is crowned king. AD 1137 In Paris, 15-year-old Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, makes an arranged marriage with the pious King Louis of France and causes scandal by accompanying him on crusade with “Amazon” ladies-in-waiting. AD 1138 Matilda declares war on Stephen in a bid to reclaim her birthright. Her husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet, fights to win back Normandy for Matilda. In England, the civil war between Matilda and Stephen lasts nearly 15 years. Towards the end of the war, Matilda’s armies are led by her son, Henry Plantagenet, a young, brilliant, and crafty fighter. AD 1152 Henry Plantagenet marries Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, only months after she receives her divorce from Louis of France. Henry is eleven years younger than Eleanor. AD 1154 At the age of 21, Henry becomes the undisputed King of England, and restores peace and prosperity to a ruined country. He now rules an empire stretching from the borders of Scotland to the Pyrenees. AD 1162 Henry II creates his close friend Thomas à Becket Archbishop of Canterbury. A big mistake because… AD 1166 …Archbishop Thomas opposes Henry’s legal reforms, including Henry’s move to punish criminal clerics in civil courts. Previously, only the Church could try priests, often dismissing the charges and leaving them to offend again. AD 1170 In Normandy an infuriated Henry II calls for the death of Archbishop Thomas. Some of his knights, with their own grievance against Becket, murder the archbishop in Canterbury Cathedral. AD 1173 In a grab for power, Eleanor encourages her and Henry’s older sons in rebellion against him. When the rebellion fails, she is put under house arrest and banished to a castle on the Welsh border, only allowed out occasionally for Christmas. Archbishop Thomas is made a saint. In the Middle East, after nearly a hundred years of Crusades, Saladin becomes sultan of Egypt. AD 1182 Jews are banished from the Kingdom of France. Henry protects the Jews in his lands, both in England and on the continent. AD 1185 Henry frees Eleanor from house arrest. She nevertheless sides with their elder surviving son, Richard Coeur-de-Lion, against him. AD 1189 Henry, learning that his youngest son, John, has joined Richard in the war against him, dies broken in heart and body. King Richard I is more interested in crusade than in his kingdom. His coronation paves the way for the first serious assault on English Jews. Thanks to his father, Henry, though, he now rules an England bound by Common Law and the jury system, the most advanced justice system of its day.