Henry III, or Henry of Winchester, was the son of King John and Isabella of Angouleme and inherited the crown at a very young age. Henry was only nine years old when his father died, and he assumed the throne of England in the middle of what is known as the First Barons’ War.
He was crowned in 1216, and England was once again facing difficult circumstances, drowning in civil war as well as facing a threat from Prince Louis of France. Earlier in 1215, the Magna Carta was signed by King John, but he continuously failed to uphold it. Henry III would later play a critical role in the Magna Carta’s history.
Henry III was also guided by a knight named William Marshal (1st Earl of Pembroke), a man who played a major role during the beginning of Henry’s reign and who without, could have made history very different.
Early Life
Henry was born on the 1st of October, 1207, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. He was the eldest son of King John and heir to the throne, which he ascended in 1216 after the sudden death of his father. Not a great deal is known about his early childhood, but he was very young when he was crowned.
The coronation of King Henry III took place at Gloucester Cathedral on the 28th of October, 1216. John had appointed thirteen executors to help his son reclaim England from civil war and French tyranny; one of these men included William Marshal, who was also responsible for the knighting of young Henry.
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York were unable to attend, so Henry was anointed by Sylvester, Bishop of Worcester, and Simon, Bishop of Exeter. He was crowned by Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, with a corolla that belonged to his mother, owing to the fact that John had lost the royal crown while fleeing a civil war he himself had caused.
Henry would later undergo a second coronation at Westminster Abbey in May 1220, the traditional seat for royal coronations since 1066.
Rebellion
When King John signed Magna Carta in 1215, he failed to uphold its convictions, which caused a civil war known as the First Barons’ War. The furious barons looked to Prince Louis of France and offered him the English crown. He landed in Kent in 1216 to offer his assistance and lay his claim to the throne.
John died in October 1216. Eastern England and most of London soon came under French and rebel control, but while the country was divided, Dover and Lincoln remained loyal to the royalist cause. By this point, William Marshal had been made regent and protector for King Henry III, without his guidance in the following years England’s history may well have been a very different story.
Battle of Lincoln Fair
By the beginning of 1217, Lincoln Castle was under siege by French forces. William Marshal gathered an army of loyalists, and they made their way to Lincoln on the 20th May. The French lay in wait on Castle Hill, but they were ultimately no match for the English army.
William Marshal secured an important victory on this day. The English lay waste to the rebels, including the French commander who was killed in front of Lincoln Cathedral. The French army and rebellious barons retreated, and the royalists sacked the city in retaliation for giving them refuge.
Some historians believe that had this battle been lost, the native tongue of England could well have been French. It also would have put an end to the fairly recent Plantagenet dynasty. In September 1217, Prince Louis signed the Treaty of Lambeth and returned to France, renouncing his claim to the English throne.
In the same year, Magna Carta was reissued in Henry’s name, as well as the Charter of the Forest. By 1225, Henry had issued the final version of the Magna Carta.
Ancestral Claims
By the year 1227, Henry had come of age. However, he still relied on advisers from his youth, especially when it came to politics. William Marshal had died back in 1219, and a man named Hubert de Burgh became Chief Justiciar by 1228, essentially taking on Marshal’s role and becoming a powerful man in England until he was deposed in 1234.
During this time, Henry seemed very intent on taking back the lands his father had lost. The Angevin Empire was once a jewel of England, and the Plantagenets ruled half of France during its peak, but this all came crashing down when John took the throne. Normandy, Brittany, Maine, and Anjou were all lost to the French king during John’s reign.
In 1230, Henry took an invasion force to France to try and reclaim Normandy, but it was a complete failure, and the aftermath was chaos. Alternatively, a truce was made with France that lasted until 1234. By 1242, Henry attempted to invade France again, but he suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Taillebourg. His mission to reclaim the Angevin Empire had been a disaster.
Provisions of Oxford
Henry was not only incompetent when it came to military affairs; his political and diplomatic skills were also quite terrible, meaning he wasn’t a great ruler. Before 1234, Henry had relied on advisers and noblemen to deal with the affairs of the realm, but they soon started bickering between themselves, fighting each other for power.
The Archbishop of Canterbury managed to negotiate a peace settlement, and it was after this point that Henry began to rule on a more personal level. The government was swayed more by Henry’s relatives, and the baronage became more enraged when Henry married off his sister to the Frenchman Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, as it increased foreign influence in the realm.
Henry’s failed invasions in France also showed him as an inadequate military leader and tactician, and when he made an agreement with Pope Innocent IV and failed to uphold it, he found himself in a sticky financial situation and appealed to his barons for help. They agreed to help if he accepted some much-needed reforms, and so the Provisions of Oxford were formed in 1258.
The Provisions of Oxford basically created a 15-member council selected by the barons that would only advise the king on matters, with the council running the government and taking control of most administrative jurisdictions.
Second Barons’ War
By 1261, the barons were once again arguing amongst themselves. Henry saw this as an opportunity to renounce the Provisions, and over the next few years it went through many different reforms and changes. In 1263, with England once again teetering on civil war, Henry and his barons went to King Louis IX of France to try and resolve the dispute. Louis was a staunch royalist, and so he voted completely in favour of Henry. The barons were outraged, and Simon de Montfort, a former favourite of Henry’s, initiated a rebellion which started the Second Barons’ War.
In May 1264, Henry and the rebellious barons went head-to-head at the Battle of Lewes. Led by Simon de Montfort, the rebels fought tooth and nail against the royalist army. Henry and his allies eventually found themselves vulnerable on the battlefield, and the barons secured a decisive victory. Henry and his son Prince Edward were captured and imprisoned.
During Henry’s imprisonment, Simon de Montfort effectively ruled England in his place. During this time, he summoned the first directly elected English Parliament – it was the first time where people of the cities and boroughs of England were present alongside knights and barons to discuss matters of the state.
In 1265, Henry’s eldest son and heir Prince Edward escaped imprisonment. Some of the barons that had sided with de Montfort switched sides and followed Edward; royalists and rebels went to fight once again, this time at the Battle of Evesham.
Simon de Montfort wouldn’t claim victory this time, and he was killed by Edward on the battlefield. The remainder of the rebel forces fled if they weren’t killed or captured, and Edward freed his father. An enraged Henry wanted vengeance on those who had betrayed him, but he was convinced to commit to reforms in order to maintain peace with the barons. Henry was old and weak by this point, and he soon allowed his son to take charge of the government.
Death and Legacy
In 1267, the Statute of Marlborough was issued, and commitments were made in order to uphold the values of the Magna Carta. Henry died on the 16th November 1272, his successor would become Edward I, and he was left with a realm hanging in the balance between political and social insecurity.
Henry may not have been the greatest of rulers when it came to war or politics, but he was said to have led a pious personal life. He married Eleanor of Provence in 1236 and fathered five children, the 36-year marriage was supposedly successful, and both parties remained faithful. He also relied on her political influence and trusted her greatly, making her regent when he was away in France in 1253.
Henry was also very charitable, especially to causes close to his heart. He funded the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey, and the first foundations were laid for the Lady Chapel in 1220, which was later replaced by Henry VII’s chapel. Henry was also devoted to Saint Edward the Confessor; the old 11th-century church was demolished, and a new shrine in the Confessor’s name began construction in 1245.
Henry had a long and challenging reign, after his death he left England in the hands of his son Edward I, perhaps one of the greatest Plantagenet kings that ever lived, and England’s story continued.
References
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Henry-III/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-III-king-of-England-1207-1272