2A - England’s overseas territories: developments in Ireland after the 1175 Treaty of Windsor
Henry II's lands were held together by a ruler and his family rather than one uniform government. Follow developments in Ireland, the ambitions of his sons and Philip II's intervention to explain why territorial power did not prevent Henry's defeat and death in 1189.
Ireland after Windsor
The Treaty of Windsor in 1175 recognised overlapping authorities rather than giving Henry effective control of all Ireland.
Henry's intervention in 1171 had asserted superiority over Anglo-Norman conquerors and secured submissions from Irish rulers. The 1175 agreement with Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht, attempted to organise that relationship. Ruaidrí acknowledged Henry's overlordship and was to collect tribute from areas remaining under Irish rulers. Lands already acquired by the incomers, including Meath and Leinster, were outside this arrangement. Henry could claim supremacy while governing much of Ireland indirectly.
Overlordship
Superior authority over another ruler or landholder, involving recognition and obligations. It does not necessarily mean direct administration of that ruler's territory.
The settlement depended on two things Henry could not guarantee: Ruaidrí's ability to secure obedience from other Irish kings, and the willingness of Anglo-Norman lords to stop expanding. Irish politics contained competing dynasties, not a single administration Ruaidrí could command everywhere. Settlers had incentives to acquire more land and wealth. John de Courcy's advance into Ulster from 1177 illustrates expansion beyond the boundaries a diplomatic settlement could restrain.
Hugh de Lacy's lordship in Meath became powerful. He governed and built local relationships, including a marriage into an Irish ruling family. Such cooperation could stabilise his position, yet also made Henry anxious about a subordinate becoming too independent. The central problem was not simply resistance by Irish people. Royal authority had to regulate the ambitions of its own followers as well.
In 1177 Henry designated John lord of Ireland. John's expedition in 1185 failed to establish an effective new authority. It faced difficulties involving resources, relations with local rulers and established Anglo-Norman interests. Henry never turned the lordship into a securely administered kingdom for John. John retained his title, but title and effective rule were different things. The Royal Irish Academy's Dictionary of Irish Biography traces the breakdown of Windsor and John's assignment.
By 1189 conquest and settlement had created durable Anglo-Norman holdings, towns and castles. They had not eliminated Irish rulers or produced uniform royal control. Calling these Henry's overseas territories should not suggest that Ireland and his continental possessions were all governed as extensions of England.
Sons and territorial ambitions
Henry's succession plans made his adult sons both partners in government and competitors for power.
The family possessed territories through different inheritances and marriages: England, Normandy and Anjou were not identical jurisdictions, and Aquitaine came through Eleanor. Henry could allocate responsibilities among his sons, but each territory had its own aristocracy and political traditions. A son ruling there could build a following whose interests differed from those of his father or brothers.
Henry the Young King had a royal title without an independent kingdom. Richard held authority in Aquitaine and defended it against local opponents. Geoffrey became duke of Brittany through marriage to Constance in 1181. John, the youngest surviving legitimate son, still required an appropriate territorial position. An arrangement designed to provide for one son could threaten what another regarded as his own.
The struggle in Aquitaine in 1183 exposed those contradictions. The Young King and Geoffrey challenged Richard, while Henry II supported Richard. The Young King's death that June removed a rebel leader and made Richard the leading surviving son, but opened a new problem. Henry wanted to rearrange the distribution of lands, including finding a place for John. Richard resisted surrendering Aquitaine. He wanted both security in his duchy and recognition of his future inheritance.
Geoffrey cultivated Philip II's support and died in Paris in 1186. His widow and children preserved Brittany as a separate dynastic interest. The birth of his son Arthur in 1187 ensured that claims from Geoffrey's line did not disappear. Richard's position was stronger after his elder brother's death, but the succession was still bound up with arguments about marriage, land and other family members.
William of Newburgh portrays rebellious sons through moral and biblical comparisons. His account is evidence of contemporary condemnation of filial disobedience, but its language should not replace explanation of the territorial issues. Richard could be condemned as a disobedient son while also acting rationally to protect his inheritance. Newburgh discusses the 1183 conflict in Book III, chapter 7.
Philip and the Angevin divisions
Philip II exploited family disagreements because Henry's continental lands were held within the kingdom of France.
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