ulated Church system, and in
=1154= Adrian IV.--the only Englishman who was ever Pope--hoping that
Henry would bring the Irish Church under Papal order, had made him a
present of Ireland, on the ground that all islands belonged to the
Pope.

21. =Partial Conquest of Ireland. 1166--1172.=--Henry, however, had
too much to do during the earlier years of his reign to think of
conquering Ireland. In =1166= Dermot, king or chief of Leinster,
having been driven out of his dominions, appealed to Henry for aid.
Henry gave him leave to carry over to Ireland any English knights whom
he could persuade to help him. On this a number of knights from South
Wales, of whom the most important was Richard de Clare, afterwards
known as Strongbow, flocked across the Irish Sea (=1169--1170=). They
fought and conquered, and Strongbow, who married Dermot's daughter,
gave himself the title of Earl of Leinster. The rule of these knights
was a rule of cruelty and violence, and, what was more, it might well
become dangerous to Henry himself. If feudal nobles established
themselves in Ireland, they might soon be holding out a hand to help
the feudal nobles who were Henry's worst enemies in England. When
Henry landed in Ireland in =1171= he set himself to restore order. The
Irish welcomed him because he alone could bridle the invaders, and the
invaders submitted to him because they dared not resist him. He
gathered a synod of the clergy at Cashel, and arranged for the future
discipline of the Church. Unhappily he could not remain long in
Ireland, and when he left it the old anarchy and violence blazed up
again. Though Henry had not served Ireland, he had gained his own
personal ends. He had frightened Strongbow and his followers, and had
shown the Pope, by his proceedings at Cashel, that his friendship was
worth having.

[Illustration: Mitre of Archbishop Thomas of Canterbury preserved at
Sens.]

22. =Young Henry's Coronation and the Revolt of the Barons.
1172--1174.=--In the spring of =1172= Henry was back in Normandy. The
English barons were longing to take advantage of his quarrel with the
Church, and his only chance of resisting them was to propitiate the
Church. He met the Papal legates at Avranches, swore that he was
innocent of the death of Thomas, and renounced the Constitutions of
Clarendon. He then proceeded to pacify Louis VII., whose daughter was
married to the younger Henry, by having the boy recrowned in due form.
Young Henry was a