But it was his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, two years before his accession to the English throne, which gave him the right to dream of greatness such as his Norman forbears had never enjoyed.
Like their wild forbears, they still show a great love for climbing trees and are quite adept at it, rarely needing assistance getting down.
We may be helped in assigning him his proper place if we observe that, almost invariably, he accepts certain beliefs which he forbears to press.