Agreed to succession of Henry — Treaty of Wallingford
Many of the most powerful and independent Earls in the period of civil war in Stephen's reign died in Early 1150s before Henry II became King of England
New King of Scotland, Malcolm IV
Was a 12 year old boy
Henry's dynastic claim
Combined descent from Norman kings and, through his maternal grandmother, the pre-Conquest English King of the house of Wessex
Stephen's remaining family were potential threats. His younger son William of Boulogne was a potential claimant to the throne
Eustance of Boulogne had died in 1152
Sheriffs were in danger of becoming hereditary positions of nobles rather than removeable royal officials and some were even held in plurality by some powerful barons
Henry was in a position to distance himself from the unpopularity of his mother Matilda
