Saxon and Norman line uniting,
A learned chap who loved not fighting.
Stephen 1135–1154
STEPHEN of Blois ascends the throne
And ’gainst Matilda holds his own;
Grandson of the Conqueror;
Died in eleven-fifty-four.
Henry II. 1154–1189
HENRY the Second claims our rhyme
‘The hardest worker of his time’;
A wiser King we never had
Nor father with his sons so bad.
Becket
This the first ‘Plantagenet’ King
With Becket strove like anything;
Church v. Crown
Which should be Master, Church or Crown
Pull-King Pull-Bishop; both went down.
Thomas was murdered by four Knights
On steps of Altar—Sorry wights:
With bleeding feet the King atones
By pilgrimage to Becket’s bones.
Despite his struggles with the Church
He knocked the barons off their perch,