Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Comprehensive History of England, Vol. 2: Civil and Military, Religious, Intellectual, and Social, From the Earliest Period to the Suppression of the Sepoy Revolt
Besides his five legitimate sons, of whom three preceded him to. The grave, Henry had three daughters by his wife Eleanor. Matilda, the eldest, was married to Henry, Duke of Saxonv Bavaria, Westphalia, &c.; and from her is de scended the present royal family of Great Bri tain: Eleanor, the second daughter, was married to Alfonso the Good, King of Castile; and Joan, the youngest, was united to William II., King Of Sicily, a prince of the Norman line of Guiscard. Two of his natural children have Obtained the general notice of history on account of the cele brity of their mother, and Of theirown eminent qualities. The first, who was born while Stephen was yet on the throne Of England, was William, surnamed Longsword, who married the heiress of the Earl of Salisbury, and succeeded to the high titles and immense estates Of that baron; the second was the still better known Geoffrey, who was born about the time when Henry be came king, and who was made Bishop of Lincoln at a very early age. He had much of Henry's spirit and ability, and, if an indifferent prelate, he was a bold and successful warrior in his non age, when (during the first insurrection promoted by his father's legitimate sons) he gained in the north some signal advantages for the king, to whom he and his brother, William Longsword, were ever faithful and affectionate. Geoffrey was subsequently made chancellor, when, like Becket in the same capacity, he constantly ac companied the king. In his dying moments, Henry expressed a hope or a wish that he might be made Archbishop of York, a promotion which, as we shall find, he afterwards obtained.
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