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Henry II and the ideological foundations of Angevin rule in Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2018

Colin Veach
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Abstract

The English invasion of Ireland is of central importance to the interconnected histories of Britain and Ireland. Yet there is still disagreement over the agency of its ultimate sponsor, King Henry II. This article argues that from the very beginning of his reign as king of England, Henry utilised a rising tide of intolerance among Europe’s clerical elite for those holding non-standard beliefs and customs to secure reluctant papal approval for an invasion of Ireland. Once that invasion finally got underway a decade and a half later, members of his court portrayed Henry’s firm rule as the necessary precursor to the reform of Irish religion and culture. This propaganda sought its justification in the intellectual and cultural flourishing of the twelfth-century renaissance, which provided European commentators with newly-revived models of logic and classification. In was also carried out amidst Crusade-inspired justifications for the violent subjugation or killing of religious non-conformists. The essential point, however, is that these clerical descriptions did not necessarily reflect contemporary secular opinion. When works written for secular audiences in the vernacular are analysed, they present a much more nuanced image of Ireland and the Irish. Gone are the references to civilising or reforming missions, and the clear sense of cultural superiority. What remains, however, is the fundamental belief that strong, centralised order is required for the successful running of society. This is what the English invaders told themselves, and this is what informed the first generation of settlement in Angevin Ireland.

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Research Article
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Irish Historical Studies , Volume 42 , Issue 161 , May 2018 , pp. 1 - 25
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© Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2018 

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32 For instance, Warren, Henry II, p. 195.

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42 Aurell, ‘Henry II and the Arthurian legend’, esp. pp 388–9.

43 For a useful discussion of Bernard’s life in the context of twelfth-century views of the Irish, see Scully, Diarmuid, ‘The portrayal of Ireland and the Irish in Bernard’s Life of Malachy’ in Damian Bracken and Dagmar Ó Riain-Raedel (eds), Ireland and Europe in the twelfth century: reform and renewal (Dublin, 2006), pp 239–256 Google Scholar.

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45 Flanagan, Irish society, pp 7–55. In this she was following, but expanding upon, Warren, Henry II, pp 195–8 and Martin, ‘Diarmait Mac Murchada and the coming of the Anglo-Normans’, pp 56–60. For the critical edition of Laudabiliter, see M. P. Sheehy (ed.), Pontificia Hibernica: medieval papal chancery documents concerning Ireland, 640–1261 (2 vols, Dublin, 1962–5), i, 15–16, no. 4. For the medieval importance of Laudabiliter, see J. A. Watt, ‘Laudabiliter in medieval diplomacy and propaganda’ in Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 5th ser., lxxxvii (June 1957), pp 420–32.

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48 Flanagan, Irish society, p. 305.

49 Duffy, ‘Henry II and England’s insular neighbours’, p. 133.

50 Duggan, ‘The making of a myth’, pp 249–312; eadem, ‘The power of documents’, pp 251–75. See also Haren, Michael, ‘ Laudabiliter: text and context’ in M. T. Flanagan and Judith Green (eds), Charters and charter scholarship in Britain and Ireland (Basingstoke, 2005), pp 140–163 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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54 Ibid., pp 273–4.

55 Ibid., pp 274–5.

56 The historical works of Gervase of Canterbury, ed. William Stubbs (2 vols, London, 1879–80), i, 235. Gervase’s source (whom he references for this information) seems to have been Strongbow’s lieutenant and negotiator with Henry II, Hervey de Montmorency, who had retired to become a monk at Canterbury by the time that Gervase wrote his history in about 1188. See: Gerald of Wales, Expugnatio Hibernica, p. 188; J. T. Gilbert (ed.), Chartularies of St Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, with the register of its house at Dunbrody, and annals of Ireland. (2 vols, London, 1884), ii, 304–5, s.a. 1179; Flanagan, Irish society, p. 170.

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64 Sheehy (ed.), Pontificia Hibernica, i, 21–2, no. 6; translation in Curtis & McDowell (eds), Irish historical documents, pp 20–21, no. 3 (letter 2).

65 Sheehy (ed.), Pontificia Hibernica, i, 21–2, no. 5; translation in Curtis & McDowell (eds), Irish historical documents p. 20, no. 3 (letter 1).

66 As advocated by Gratian, Decretum, ed. E. A. Friedberg, Corpus Iuris Canonici (2 vols, Leipzig, 1879), i, 7–9 (D.5), 12–16 (D.8); Van Engen, John, ‘The twelfth century: reading, reason, and revolt in a world of custom’ in T. F. X. Noble and John Van Engen (eds), European transformations: the long twelfth century (Notre Dame, 2012), p. 27 Google Scholar.

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70 Bartlett, Robert, Gerald of Wales, 1146–1223 (Oxford, 1982), pp 131–177 Google Scholar; Claire Weeda, ‘Ethnic identification and stereotypes in western Europe, c.1100-1300’ in History Compass, xii, no. 7 (July 2014), pp 586–606.

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75 William of Malmesbury, Gesta regum Anglorum, ed. R. A. B. Mynors, et al. (2 vols, Oxford, 1998–9), i, 738, c. 409.

76 Gerald of Wales, Opera, v, 151 (Topographia Hibernica, 3.10).

77 Bartlett, Gerald of Wales, p. 176.

78 William of Newburgh, ‘Historia rerum Anglicarum’, i, 167.

79 John Gillingham, ‘Conquering the barbarians: war and chivalry in twelfth-century Britain’ in idem (ed.), The English in the twelfth century, pp 47–8; idem, ‘Foundations of a disunited kingdom’, p. 101. Orderic says little about the Irish, though he does speculate that Arnulf de Montgomery hoped to succeed his father-in-law, Muirchertach Ua Briain, when he fled to Ireland in 1102 (Orderic Vitalis, The ecclesiastical history, ed. Marjorie Chibnall (6 vols, Oxford, 1968–1980), iv, 48–51).

80 Florence of Worcester, Chronicon ex chronicis, ed. Benjamin Thorpe (2 vols, London, 1848–9), ii, 35, 41–2, 97; John of Worcester, Chronicle, ed. J. R. H. Weaver (Oxford, 1908), p. 43.

81 K. R. Potter and R. H. C. Davis (eds), Gesta Stephani (2nd ed., Oxford, 1976), pp 14, 172, 194.

82 Moore, ‘The war against heresy’, pp 198–9.

83 For the Peace and Truce of God movements see H. E. J. Cowdrey, ‘The Peace and the Truce of God in the eleventh century’ in Past & Present, no. 46 (Feb. 1970), pp 42–67; Head, Thomas and Landes, Richard (eds), The peace of God: social violence and religious response in France around the year 1000 (Ithaca, 1992)Google Scholar. On just war, see Russell, F. H., The just war in the middle ages (Cambridge, 1975)Google Scholar.

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85 Gratian, Decretum, pp 889–965 (C. 23).

86 Ivo of Chartres, ‘Panormia’, viii, cc. 15–17 (https://ivo-of-chartres.github.io/panormia/pan_8.pdf 2015-09-23 / 898fb) (17 Dec. 2015).

87 C. W. David and Johnathan Phillips (eds), De expugnatione Lyxbonensi (New York, 2001), p. 80 Google Scholar.

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90 Gervase of Tilbury, Otia imperalia, ed. S. E. Banks and J. W. Binns (Oxford, 2002), pp 308–9. For more on the significance of Tilbury’s account see, Thomas, H. M., The English and the Normans: ethnic hostility, assimilation, and identity 1066–c.1220 (Oxford, 2003), p. 315 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Vincent, ‘Angevin Ireland’, p. 231.

91 J. A. Watt, ‘Negotiations between Edward II and John XXII concerning Ireland’ in I.H.S., x, no. 37 (Mar. 1956), p. 19.

92 Berry, H. F. (ed.), Statutes and ordinances, and acts of the parliament of Ireland, King John to Henry V (Dublin, 1907), pp 564–565 Google Scholar; Matthew, Elizabeth, ‘Henry V and the proposal for an Irish crusade’ in Brendan Smith (ed.), Ireland and the English world in the late middle ages: essays in honour of Robin Frame (Basingstoke, 2009), pp 161–175 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

93 Aurell, L’Empire des Plantagenêt, p. 104 (Plantagenet Empire, p. 91); Bartlett, Gerald of Wales, pp 174–80; Cleaver, Laura, ‘Gerald of Wales on Irish art: objects, stories and images in the making of history in the thirteenth century’ in Jane Hawkes (ed.), Making histories: proceedings of the sixth International Insular Art Conference, York 2011 (Donnington, 2013), pp 315–325 Google Scholar.

94 Gerald of Wales, Opera, i, 72–3.

95 For instance, in a preface to his Expugnatio Hibernica, Gerald of Wales attacked those ‘envious’ people who derided the wonder stories in his earlier Topographia Hibernica (Gerald of Wales, Expugnatio Hibernica, pp 2–9).

96 Bartlett, Making of Europe, pp 133–66; Veach, Colin, ‘Conquest and conquerors’ in Smith (ed.), The Cambridge history of Ireland, i: 600–1550, pp 184–185 Google Scholar.

97 Bull, Marcus, ‘Criticism of Henry II’s expedition to Ireland in William of Canterbury’s miracles of St Thomas Becket’ in Journal of Medieval History, xxxiii, no. 2 (June 2007), pp 121–122 Google Scholar.

98 Gerald of Wales, Expugnatio Hibernica, pp 148–9. For a new and nuanced analysis of English writers’ opinions of the invasion of Ireland see, Staunton, Michael, The historians of Angevin England (Oxford, 2017), pp 353–361 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Staunton’s argument concerning Latin sources complements much of what follows, but was published too late to be fully incorporated here.

99 Gerald of Wales, Opera, vi, 7.

100 Gerald of Wales, Expugnatio Hibernica, p. 264.

101 Short, ‘Literary culture at the court of Henry II’, p. 340.

102 Gillingham, ‘Foundations of a disunited kingdom’, p. 103.

103 For Jordan’s chronicle in general, see R. C. Johnston, ‘The historicity of Jordan Fantosme’s chronicle’ in Journal of Medieval History, ii, no. 2 (June 1976), pp 159–68; Anthony Lodge, ‘Literature and history in the chronicle of Jordan Fantosme’ in French Studies, xliv, no. 3 (July 1990), pp 257–70; Strickland, M. J., ‘Arms and the men: war, loyalty and lordship in Jordan Fantosme’s chronicle’ in Christopher Harper-Bill and Ruth Harvey (eds), Medieval knighthood IV (Woodbridge, 1992), pp 187–220 Google Scholar; Ashe, Laura, Fiction and history in England, 1066–1200 (Cambridge, 2007), pp 81–120 Google Scholar.

104 Jordan Fantosme, Chronicle, ed. and trans. R. C. Johnston (Oxford, 1981), p. 72, lines 978–9.

105 The stereotype was relatively popular in contemporary French writing, and seems to have been taken on by the English themselves. For instance, in about 1180 Andrew de Coutances wrote of an Englishman: ‘Of him you can say in all good faith/ That he doesn’t need to be thirsty to drink,/ And it is indeed true for his part/ His only ambition is to fall down dead drunk.’ (David Crouch, ‘The roman des Franceis of Andrew de Coutances: text, translation and significance’ in David Crouch and Kathleen Thompson (eds), Normandy and its neighbours, 900–1250: essays for David Bates (Turnhout, 2011), pp 180, 185).

106 Jordan Fantosme, Chronicle, pp 12–14, lines 153–61.

107 For example, ibid., pp 72, 76, lines 991–9, 1000–1, 1059–60 (Flemings); pp 48, 52, 100, 120, lines 629–36, 683–8, 1342–3, 1594 (Scots).

108 Ibid., pp 54, 62, lines 706 (‘Escoce la salvage!’), 826 (‘Flandres la salvage!’).

109 For the society and culture of contemporary Flanders, see Nicholas, D. M., Medieval Flanders (London, 1992), pp 89–123 Google Scholar. For the Flemings’ social identity in England, see Oksanen, Eljas, Flanders and the Anglo-Norman world, 1066–1216 (Cambridge, 2012), pp 219–250 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

110 Evelyn Mullally (ed.), The deeds of the Normans in Ireland. La geste des Engleis en Yrlande (Dublin, 2002)Google Scholar; G. H. Orpen (ed.), The song of Dermot and the earl: an Old French poem. From the Carew manuscript no. 596 in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth Palace (Oxford, 1892)Google Scholar. The best critical treatment of the source is now Busby, Keith, French in medieval Ireland, Ireland in medieval French: the paradox of two worlds (Turnhout, 2017), pp 77–107 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

111 For instance, he uses the Irish terms daingean (stronghold) instead of castle, langport (encampment), and the Irish names for Dublin, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow. (Mullally (ed.), Deeds of the Normans in Ireland, pp 32–3).

112 For comparison, see the descriptions of the rebellion of Robert de Bellême against Henry I (Orderic Vitalis, Ecclesiastical history, vi, 21–33), and the revolt of 1173–4 against Henry II (Roger of Howden, Chronica, ii, 45–67; Jordan Fantosme, Chronicle, pp 6–8, 12, 16–18, lines 59–90, 140–52, 212–35).

113 Mullally (ed.), Deeds of the Normans in Ireland, pp 56, 58, 76, lines 146–7, 200–1, 897–9.

114 Ibid., p. 129, lines 2966–9.

115 David Crouch, ‘Writing a biography in the thirteenth century: the construction and composition of the “History of William Marshal”’ in Bates (ed.), Writing medieval biography, pp 221–36; Crouch, David, William Marshal, (3rd ed., London, 2016), pp 126–130 Google Scholar.

116 A. J. Holden and David Crouch (eds), History of William Marshal, trans. Stewart Gregory (3 vols, London, 2002–7), ii, 176–80, 194, 198–204, 206, lines 13514–13578, 13871–13888, 13941–14094, 14123–14136. For Marshal’s career, see Crouch, William Marshal.

117 Seán Duffy, ‘King John’s expedition to Ireland, 1210: the evidence reconsidered’ in I.H.S., xxx, no. 117 (May 1996), pp 8–9.

118 Francisque Michel (ed.), Histoire des ducs de Normandie et des rois d’Angleterre (Paris, 1840), pp 112–114 Google Scholar.

119 I am grateful to both Professor Keith Busby and Dr Thomas Hinton for their help and advice concerning the analysis that follows.

120 Chrétien de Troyes, Le roman de Perceval ou le conte du Graal, ed. Keith Busby (Tübingen, 1993), p. 12, lines 243–4.

121 Chrétien de Troyes, Le roman de Perceval, p. 12, line 245.

122 As soon as Perceval is given his geographical suffix, it is replaced by alternatives (‘le chaitis’, ‘maleürous’) indicating that his actions at the Grail Castle, not his origins, would henceforth define him. See: Chrétien de Troyes, Le roman de Perceval, p. 153, lines 3575–83; Hinton, Thomas, The conte du Graal cycle: Chrétien de Troyes’s Perceval, the continuations, and French Arthurian romance (Woodbridge, 2012), p. 121 Google Scholar.

123 Since Le roman de Fergus is a parody of Le conte du Graal (Perceval), they cannot necessarily be seen as independent sources for contemporary views of the ‘barbarians’ of Britain. See: Gravdal, Kathryn, Vilain and courtois (Lincoln, NA, 1989), p. 25 Google Scholar.

124 Busby, French in medieval Ireland, Ireland in medieval French, pp 307–28 (quotation at p. 310).

125 Ibid.

126 Brock Holden, ‘“Feudal frontiers?” Colonial societies in Wales and Ireland, 1170–1330’ in Studia Hibernica, no. 33 (2004/2005), pp 61–79.

127 For a fuller account of English lordship in Ireland, see Veach, Colin, Lordship in four realms: the Lacy family, 1166–1241 (Manchester, 2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Smith, Brendan, Colonisation and conquest in medieval Ireland: the English in Louth, 1170–1330 (Cambridge, 1999)Google Scholar.

128 Jocelin of Furness, The life and acts of Saint Patrick, the archbishop, primate and apostle of Ireland, ed. J. C. O’Haloran (Philadelphia, 1823); Birkett, Helen, The saints’ lives of Jocelin of Furness (Woodbridge, 2010)Google Scholar.

129 Gerald of Wales, Expugnatio Hibernica, p. 190.

130 See Van Engen, ‘The twelfth century’, pp 17–44; Bartlett, Gerald of Wales, pp 164–5.

131 W. M. Hennessy (ed.), The Annals of Loch Cé. A chronicle of Irish affairs from A.D. 1014 to A.D. 1590 (2 vols, Oxford, 1871), i, 172, s.a. 1186. For a fuller analysis of the situation in Meath, see Veach, Lordship in four realms, esp. pp 245–51.

132 See, Frame, Colonial Ireland, pp 31–61.

133 Busby, French in medieval Ireland, pp 266–9.

134 Chrétien de Troyes, Erec und Enide, ed. Wendelin Foerster (Halle, 1884), p. 107, lines 3865–75. The translation is from Busby, French in medieval Ireland, p. 267. I see no reason to follow Michael Faletra’s suggestion that the ‘Irish’ in this passage referred to the first colonists from south Wales (M. A. Faletra, Wales and the medieval colonial imagination: the matters of Britain in the twelfth century (Basingstoke, 2014), p. 116).

135 Busby, French in medieval Ireland, p. 300.

136 Joseph Gildea (ed.), Durmart le Galois (2 vols, Villanova, PA, 1965–66), i, 333, lines 12735–12748.

137 Gildea (ed.), Durmart le Galois, i, 337, lines 12883–12895. Translation from: Busby, French in medieval Ireland, p. 303.

138 Gildea (ed.), Durmart le Galois, i, 370–71, 374–6, lines 14133–14183, 14304–14384.

139 Ibid., i, 385, 393–4, lines 14703–14711, 15039–15045.

140 Brault, G. J., Early blazon, heraldic terminology in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries with special reference to Arthurian literature (Oxford 1972), pp 21–22 Google Scholar; Viel, Robert, ‘Les Armoiries probables d’Henri II d’Angleterre’ in Archivum Heraldicum, lxx (1956), pp 19–23 Google Scholar.

141 Interestingly, the surviving manuscripts seem to have been purely continental in their transmission. For a full analysis of the source (and much of what follows), see Busby, French in medieval Ireland, pp 276–92. For the author’s extreme use of multiple narratives and the quest motif, all of which make Ireland’s alterity essential to the story, see Hinton, Conte du Graal, pp 208–12.

142 Wendelin Foerster and Hermann Breuer (eds), Les merveilles de Rigomer (2 vols, Dresden, 1908–15), i, 126–31, lines 4379–4560.

143 Ibid., i, 70, lines 2369–2370 (Bréifne), 91, lines 3148–3151 (Thomond).

144 Busby, French in medieval Ireland, p. 286; Matthieu Boyd characterises the Merveilles as a text of conciliation and collaboration. See: Matthieu Boyd, ‘The source of enchantment: the marvels of Rigomer (Les Mervelles de Rigomer) and the evolution of Celtic influence on medieval francophone storytelling’ (Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University, 2011), p. 190.

145 Gerald of Wales, Expugnatio Hibernica, pp 244–53.

146 Mullally (ed.), Deeds of the Normans in Ireland, p. 119, lines 2577–2582.

147 For Henry’s army, see Howard Clarke, ‘The early English pipe rolls as a source for Irish history’ in Mac Niocaill and Wallace (eds), Keimelia, pp 416–34.

148 Gerald of Wales, Expugnatio Hibernica, 104–5.

149 J. C. Robertson (ed.), Materials for the history of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury (7 vols, London, 1875–85), vii, 514.

150 See Davies, R. R., ‘Frontier arrangements in fragmented societies: Ireland and Wales’ in Robert Bartlett and Angus MacKay (eds), Medieval frontier societies (Oxford, 1989), pp 77–100 Google Scholar.

151 Church, Stephen, King John and the road to Magna Carta (New York, 2015), pp 18–19 Google Scholar.

152 Rot. litt. pat., 77b. See Mason, Emma ‘The hero’s invincible weapon: an aspect of Angevin propaganda’ in Christopher Harper-Bill and Ruth Harvey (eds), The ideals and practice of medieval knighthood, III (Woodbridge, 1990), pp 121–137 Google Scholar, esp. pp 126–35; Aurell, ‘Henry II and the Arthurian legend’, pp 372–3.

153 For John and Ireland see Duffy, Seán, ‘John and Ireland: the origins of England’s Irish problem’ in S. D. Church (ed.), King John: new interpretations (Woodbridge, 1999), pp 221–245 Google Scholar; Colin Veach, ‘King John and royal control in Ireland: why William de Briouze had to be destroyed’ in E.H.R., cxxix, no. 540 (Oct. 2014), pp 1051–78.