Why England sought control of Ireland, another instance...

Adding to Bill Barber's list of why England sought control of Ireland:

Shortly after Henry II was crowned on December 19, 1154, he sent John of Salisbury to Rome
with a request to claim Ireland. At the time there seems to have been no particular motive,
except that it was there for the taking. (The Pope, Adrian IV, was the only Englishman to
hold that office -- he took office just two weeks before Henry was crowned -- and a friend of
John of Salisbury.)

Seventeen years later, In October 1171, Henry II sailed to Ireland, ostensibly to take control of
the country, to claim it for John (Lackland). An equally cogent reason for that trip: Henry
intended to spend the first anniversary of Becket's death as far from home and a pair of papal
nuncios as possible.

Robert Fripp
Author: "Power of a Woman" (Eleanor of Aquitaine)
http://RobertFripp.ca/Only one Englishman has ever been pope. That was Nicholas
Breakspear, known to history as Adrian IV. He ascended the papal throne on this day,
December 4, 1154. His reign was challenged by such serious difficulties that he wished aloud
to his friend John of Salisbury that he had never left England.

Interesting stuff. Thanks Robert. My wife and I visited Ireland a year
ago, and I garnered many questions that I'm now seeking to answer. I
think we do wrong to limit Richard's story to the same old issues. There
was a lot more going on at the time than we usually credit.

Robert Fripp wrote:
>
> Adding to Bill Barber's list of why England sought control of Ireland:
>
> Shortly after Henry II was crowned on December 19, 1154, he sent John
> of Salisbury to Rome
> with a request to claim Ireland. At the time there seems to have been
> no particular motive,
> except that it was there for the taking. (The Pope, Adrian IV, was the
> only Englishman to
> hold that office -- he took office just two weeks before Henry was
> crowned -- and a friend of
> John of Salisbury.)
>
> Seventeen years later, In October 1171, Henry II sailed to Ireland,
> ostensibly to take control of
> the country, to claim it for John (Lackland). An equally cogent reason
> for that trip: Henry
> intended to spend the first anniversary of Becket's death as far from
> home and a pair of papal
> nuncios as possible.
>
> Robert Fripp
> Author: "Power of a Woman" (Eleanor of Aquitaine)
> http://RobertFripp.ca/Only <http://RobertFripp.ca/Only> one Englishman
> has ever been pope. That was Nicholas
> Breakspear, known to history as Adrian IV. He ascended the papal
> throne on this day,
> December 4, 1154. His reign was challenged by such serious
> difficulties that he wished aloud
> to his friend John of Salisbury that he had never left England.
>
>