Henry II
Defend or disagree this statement: "Henry was little more than a child himself, therefore he was a weak and ineffectual king."
I disagree with this statement. Henry II defeated Stephen of Blois's armies in 1153 and compelled the king to choose him as his successor. Upon Stephen's death in 1154, Henry II became king at the age of twenty-one. His energy was equaled only by his ambition and intelligence. Henry II survived wars, rebellion, and controversy to successfully rule one of the Middle Ages' most powerful kingdoms.
During his reign Henry II instituted important judicial reforms, establishing a centralized system of justice. He began the process of replacing the old trial by ordeal with modern court procedures. Henry II is considered the father of the English law system and many of his practices are still followed today. Henry II ruled a kingdom that stretched from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. He refined Norman government and created a capable, self-standing bureaucracy. These are not the acts of a weak child , but of a powerful and most effective kings.
2. Who was the smarter of the two, Henry or Thomas? How do you know? Offer evidence to back up your answer.
I believe that Henry II and Thomas were both intelligent men, and both played a large part in shaping history. I do believe that Thomas became a man of integrity and kept his priorities straight in his allegiance to both his country and his Church. When the two came in conflict, he correctly chose to obey the Church. He stood up for what he believed and more than that he stood up for God. He is an example for all, he did not compromise his allegiance to his beliefs and morals.
His
For hundreds of years, those who have read Henry V, or have seen the play performed, have admired Henry V's skills and decisions as a leader. Some assert that Henry V should be glorified and seen as an "ideal Christian king". Rejecting that idea completely, I would like to argue that Henry V should not be seen as the "ideal Christian king", but rather as a classic example of a Machiavellian ruler. If looking at the play superficially, Henry V may seem to be a religious, moral, and merciful ruler; however it was Niccolo Machiavelli himself that stated in his book, The Prince, that a ruler must "appear all mercy, all faith, all honesty, all humanity, [and] all religion" in order to keep control over his subjects (70). In the second act of the play, Henry V very convincingly acts as if he has no clue as to what the conspirators are planning behind his back, only to seconds later reveal he knew about their treacherous plans all along. If he can act as though he knows nothing of the conspirators' plans, what is to say that he acting elsewhere in the play, and only appearing to be a certain way? By delving deeper into the characteristics and behaviors of Henry V, I hope to reveal him to be a true Machiavellian ruler, rather than an "ideal king".
When we look at Henry as a king we have to look in the context of
In Cold Blood is a novel written by Truman Capote in 1966. In Cold Blood is a true account of a multiple murder case that took place in Kansas in the 1950's. The book outlines a brutal murder case, but it shows the story from many perspectives, not just that of the law. Capote introduces you to the Clutter family, a well known, very hard working and loyal family to the community. The town of Holcomb is a small farming town. There is not much excitement in the town, and that is the way the people liked it. Everyone went to church and the community trusted each other, until the unthinkable happened. The town's most prominent family was killed. It is even worse when the only clues are two sets of boot tracks. Everyone in and around the town become scared because if such evil could be brought upon the best family known, what will happen to them? When Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood, he wrote a masterpiece. When he wrote the book he developed the character Perry so that even after you watched him kill you feel sympathetic for him. He proves that you can even see some good in the worst of people. He does this by slowly developing Perry's character. He gave an in-depth view of Perry's world. He showed that Perry, although he had troubles in his life and sometimes had a total disregard for people's life he also respected the people. Perry felt bad for some of the people he met. He also was willing to forgive people.
In "Murder, He Wrote," William Swanson believes the stylistic techniques employed in Truman Capote's novel In Cold Blood are more memorable than the story itself. For Swanson, Capote not only captures the readers' attention with a story about a horrific crime, but his use of diverse voices, sounds, and silences make it an event people will never forget.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote begins by describing a wonderfully organized, and well put together family named the Clutters. Mr. Herbert Clutter is going about his daily business providing for the ranch and planning the family’s activities for the day. On the opposite side of Kansas, the reader learns of two men named Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. As Capote describes the two men and the business that they are attending to, it seems as if they are preparing their car for a long trip. On the next morning, Susan Kidwell, Nancy Herbert’s friend, finds Nancy and the rest of her family have been brutally murdered. The police are clueless as to who could have possibly committed such a crime in such as peaceful community as Holcomb, Kansas. With only a bloody shoe print as evidence, Alvin Dewey, the KBI agent in charge of th...
King Henry VIII is considerable the most controversial monarch Great Britain has ever had. He is commonly known for his ill-advised decisions, six wives, and splitting Great Britain from the Catholic Church to create the Church of England. King Henry VIII of England’s determination to guarantee his family line’s continuation in the throne caused many problems, such as religious tensions, economic hardships, and political adversaries that continued one long after his death.
Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood, was a breakthrough in literacy in that it was accredited as the first non-fiction novel. There was a lot of controversy when the book was first published because of the incredibility of the work. This could be expected in that time, because people where not familiar with the concept of non-fiction novels yet, but this is where the beauty of this style of writing lies, the recreation of the truth. It would have been impossible for Capote to have documented the occurrence fully, because he only read about the murder after it had happen, after all, this was not what he wanted to do. Capote got a lot of criticism for the book, because of him bending the truth, putting in scenes that never happened and his ways of gathering information, but people still saw the talent that went into creating the non-fiction novel. Truman Capote will forever be recognized for this novel and the contribution he made to literacy. In this essay we will be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of In Cold Blood when it delivers facts and the credibility of the work. We will also be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the novel when Capote bends reality and ad some parts of fiction.
Henry VI was born on December 6, 1421, and became king of England on September 1, 1422. Problems began almost immediately, though these problems were not seen as such at the time. First, the power of the monarch, instead of being entrusted to one man, was given to a council of magnates. Though it is likely that Henry V included a clause in his will appointing his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, regent, nobles whose powers had been curtailed by Henry V seized the opportunity to regain their lost power. They claimed the precedent of Richard II's minority (Storey, 30) to support their actions. Though the council did rule fairly on the whole, it created a problem. Later in Henry VI's reign, factions ruled the government and the monarch suffered from a lack of cohesive central authority. Nobles who had taken power were reluctant to give it back, causing a spreading out of the king's pwer. Henry's powers as monarch were not kept whole and in trust for him (Storey, 30) so that even had he been a strong king, it would have been difficult for him to control the situations that were to occur. One immediate effect of the council system was to ke...
Henry V is not a simple one as it has many aspects. By looking into
...ample. Henry VIII was also responsible for the religious reformation in England and changed the religion of England from the Roman Catholic faith to the Protestant Religion, and established the Church of England. If it weren’t for King Henry VIII, England would not have been as wealthy as it was because of the dissolution of the monasteries. The Act of Appeals aided the constitutional development of England, once again, all thanks to Henry VIII.
With his fathers death he inherited a stable realm with a wealthy monarch. At that time parliament had not been summoned for supplies in 5 years. Henry’s different interests and lack of application of government business increased the influence of Thomas Wolsey, a son of a butcher, who became the Lord Chancellor in 1515. Wolsey ended up becoming one of the most powerful ministers in all of British history. He was also appointed Cardinal that year and given papal legate powers that allowed him to counter any decision made by archbishop of Canterbury. It allowed him to “govern” t...
In the play Henry V written by Shakespeare. Henry was presented as the ideal Christian king. His mercy, wisdom, and other characteristics demonstrated the behavior of a Christian king. Yet at the same time he is shown to be man like any other. The way he behaves in his past is just like an ordinary man.
In the beginning, life was not easy for the numerous Irish - Catholic immigrants who fled the Great Potato Famine of 1845 and, “. . . Protestant ascendancy, British colonialism and turbulence in their own country. . . “(2) Because of their lack of funds many Irish immigrants landed in less expensive Canadian ports, and then walked down into the United States.(3) Not only was the ocean voyage difficult, but once reaching the United States, most immigrants found that they were not welcomed with open arms, but rather pushed away because of their religious affiliations. Catholics found themselves the minority and targets of discrimination.(4) Settled Americans saw the new influx of Irish immigrants as a plague, dirtying their streets and neighborhoods, filling their jails and sanitariums, creating public disruption. “Negative stereotypes imported from England characterizing the Irish as pugnacious, drunken, semi-savage, were common and endured. . . “(5) A...
In Cold Blood is a true account of a multiple murder case that took place in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959, written by Truman Capote. Capote’s attention to detail causes the reader to gain an extreme interest in the Clutter family even though they were an ordinary family. The suspense that is a result of minimal facts and descriptive settings was an elaborate stylistic technique that gave effective results throughout the book. His ability to make this account of a horrid crime more than just a newspaper description was a great success as a base of his many literary devices, not just is great focus to small details.
Could you imagine yourself becoming the leader of a country at merely the age of nine months old? King Henry VI of England did it. Henry was the only son of King Henry V and Catherine of Valois (Wikipedia). By the time Henry V died, he had not only consolidated power as the King of England, but had also effectively accomplished what generations of his ancestors had failed to achieve through decades of war: unification of the crowns of England and France (Wikipedia). For that one single victory by Henry V, he became very popular for that effort. By the sounds of it, Henry was an outseanding King and loved by the people. His son, Henry VI, seemingly had to follow in his fathers footsteps and perhaps do something even greater than his now deceased father. There was only one problem: How can you run a country when you are only a child? England was okay after the death of Henry V because Henry VI had regents that ran the country for him. Under normal circumstances of this magnitude, the wife of a deceased King ran the country, but the English did not want Catherine of Valois to run the country for the simple fact that she was French; so therefore they gave the power to this infant in hopes of greatness. Because young Henry was too young to run the country and had regents to run the country for him until he became of age, Catherine made sure that her son was well-educated. While politics and foreign policies were being negotiated by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, Bishop Henry Beaufort, and John, Duke of Bedford, young Henry VI was either learning or being told to go play (Crow). Henry was finally officially crowned King of England at Westminister Abbey on November 6, 1429 at the age of eight and King of France at Notre Dame in Paris on December 16, 1431. Henry did not assume the reins of government until he was declared of age in 1437 (Wikipedia).