"He does not loiter in his palace like other kings, but hurrying through the provinces he investigates what is being done everywhere, and is especially strict in his judgment of those whom he has appointed as judges of others. There is no one keener in counsel, of more fluent eloquence, no one who has less anxiety in danger or more in prosperity, or who is more courageous in adversity. If he has once loved any one, he rarely ceases to love him, while one for whom he has once taken a dislike he seldom admits to his favour. He always has his weapons in his hands when not engaged in consultation or at his books. When his cares and anxieties allow him to breathe he occupies himself with reading, or in a circle of clerks tries to solve some knotty question."
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Peter of Blois, Epistolae, quoted in Source-Book of English History, ed. Elizabeth Kimball Kendall (1900), p. 58
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England
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Henry II of England
Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189. During his reign he controlled England, substantial parts of Wales and Ireland, and much of France (including Normandy, Aquitaine and Anjou), an area that together was later called the Angevin Empire, and also held power over Scotland and the Duchy of Brittany.
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