From the cruelty, the lust, the impiety of his father the young king was absolutely free.

There was a geniality, a vivacity, a refinement in his temper which won a personal affection for him even in his worst days from some who bitterly censured his rule.

The Abbey-church of Westminster, with which he replaced the ruder minster of the Confessor, remains a monument of his artistic taste.

He was a patron and friend of men of letters, and himself skilled in the "gay science" of the troubadour.

But of the political capacity which was the characteristic of his house he had little or none.