Henry II (of England) (1133-1189), king of England (1154-1189), first monarch of the House of Anjou, or Plantagenet, an important administrative reformer, who was one of the most powerful European rulers of his time.
Born March 5, 1133, at Le Mans, France, Henry became Duke of Normandy in 1151. The following year, on the death of his father, he inherited the Angevin territories in France. By his marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry added vast territories in south-west France to his possessions.
