Henry III

1216 - 1272

aka Henry of Winchester

Henry was crowned aged nine, with his mother’s tiara, ten days after his father’s death. He didn’t inspire much confidence, being both young and slight in build, and having inherited a country suffering from the ravages of civil war. As London was under siege, Henry’s custodian William Marshal, took him to Gloucester Abbey for the hasty coronation. Marshal was well respected by the nobility who had rebelled against King John and invited Prince Louis to invade England. Henry had another powerful advisor, Hubert de Burgh, who also inspired confidence in the rebel barons. Henry’s succession had the Pope’s blessing which was a powerful endorsement. In addition, Fawkes de Breaute, head of the royal army, switched allegiance from Prince Louis to Henry. Louis’s forces were defeated in the streets of Lincoln and also at sea by the navy commanded by Hubert de Burgh. By 1217 Prince Louis had been routed, Magna Carta was reinstated and confidence in the new King was high.

Hubert de Burgh remained an influential figure for the first ten years of Henry’s reign. De Burgh helped to fill the role of the young boy’s absent father. During this time he reinstated the legal system Henry’s grandfather, Henry II had fostered. France became an ally and England began to prosper.
The peace in England did not last as de Burgh began to lose his hold over the grown-up King Henry. Aged 20, of average height, with a stocky build and an eyelid that drooped, Henry took control of his kingdom.

Nine years later, in 1236, Henry married Eleanor of Provence. He was a loving husband and father who indulged his young wife. Members of Eleanor’s family and friends were given influential official appointments, contrary to Magna Carta. Barons and nobility complained about the distillation of their native language. The lively and fashion-conscious Court was expensive to run and Henry looked to his subjects for more income.

All of this meant Henry was unpopular and perceived as vain. He was also deeply pious and spent the last part of his reign building a shrine at Westminster Cathedral to pay homage to Edward the Confessor. He even named his first son after him. The Queen was equally unpopular. Having ventured out of the Tower of London and down the Thames on the royal barge, she was pelted by rotten fruit. She had spirit though, she picked up the fruit and threw it right back.

Henry spent a fortune on three unsuccesful campaigns in France over three decades. He had a burning wish to reclaim the lands lost to France at the end of his father’s reign. As a religious man, he favoured the Roman church, diverting some of the income of the English church to the Pope. Quite possibly in gratitude for the support he received on his succession. His favouring of his wife’s family and his extravagent life at Court was a source of deep dissatisfaction to his barons. In addition, he managed to earn the animosity of his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester.

De Montfort was sacked from his post in 1252, as governor of Gascony. As a powerful and charismatic man, he was a magnet for other discontent barons. When Henry tried to raise the funds to campaign in France for a third time, his subjects rebelled. They pushed through the Provisions of Oxford, an act that forced Henry to accept that 15 barons would rule alongside him. The following year, the Provisions of Westminster included a clause insisting that all official posts be held by Englishmen. This was a blow to Henry’s wider family and he quickly reneged on these agreements with the assistance of his brother-in-law King Louis of France.

There followed the Battle of Lewes in 1264. De Montfort held the King, the Queen and Prince Edward prisoner. This forced Henry’s brother Richard, to hold a ‘parlement’, a discussion involving barons, royalty, two knights and two commoners from each of the Shires. This became the prototype for Parliament. Prince Edward managed to escape from captivity and engaged de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. De Montfort was killed. His body was dismembered and his head put on a spike. The monarchy’s hold on the country was strengthened once again, reducing the power of Magna Carta to control royal excess. However, the precedent of Parliament lives on as de Montfort’s legacy.

Henry III Factfile