Christmas and those dysfunctional Angevins

Christmas day was a very popular one for medieval coronations. The following monarchs all began their reigns on this date.
Charlemagne became emperor on December 25th, 800 AD
William the Conqueror became England’s king in 1066
Baldwin of Boulogne became the first King of Jerusalem in 1100
Roger de Hauteville became the first King of Sicily in 1130; Roger was the father of Constance de Hauteville, who would later wed the German emperor Heinrich, and is a character in both Lionheart and A King’s Ransom.
Also on Christmas Day, 1170, Thomas Becket threw a torch into the hayrick of Henry’s Angevin temper, with devastating consequences for all concerned.
Time and Chance, page 448
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On Christmas morning, Becket preached a sermon to the townspeople of Canterbury, assembled before him in the cathedral nave, based upon the text Peace on earth to men of good will. He then excommunicated again those men who had transgressed God’s Laws: Rannulph and Robert de Broc; Henry’s chancellor, Geoffrey Ridel; and his keeper of the seal, Nigel de Sackville; and he published the papal censures against the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London, and the Bishop of Salisbury.
“Christ Jesus curse them all!” he proclaimed, and flung the lighted candles to the ground where they flickered and guttered out.
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Henry erupted when he heard, as surely Becket knew he would do. But he did not say “Will none rid me of this turbulent priest?” What he actually said was “What miserable drones and traitors I have nourished and promoted in my household, who let their lord be mocked so shamefully by a lowborn clerk!” As we know, four knights hearing this took it upon themselves to show they were not miserable drones and traitors.
You would think that Henry would have learned from this how dangerous it could be to speak without thinking. Yet fourteen years later, he was vexed enough with his son Richard to tell seventeen year old John that Aquitaine was his if he could take it from Richard. I had Geoffrey speak for me when I had him marveling to himself that surely one Becket moment was enough for any man’s lifetime. Eleanor was no less astonished, saying scathingly, “Very good, Harry. It is always heartening to see that you’ve learned from your past mistakes.” Henry did not mean it, of course. He certainly did not intend for John, who had no troops or money of his own, to ally with Geoffrey, who had both, to try to take Aquitaine from Richard, as Henry had so carelessly invited John to do. They succeeded only in giving their brother a legitimate grievance, never a good idea when the injured party is also a first-rate battle commander. If ever there was a family in need of group therapy, it was the Angevins. But what a wonderful gift their dysfunctional drama was for future historical novelists!