Irene Preston's Historical Writing
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - PART THREE
Henry III
HENRY III was 9 years old when he became king in 1216. His father, King
John, had caused a minor civiil war in England, had lost territories in
France; and London, along with the east coast, was held by Louis the
Dauphin of France. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, aged 70, was
given the regency and protection of the young king. He immediately had
Henry crowned at Gloucester Cathedra! and re-issued a modified version
of Magna Carta to affirm a royal guarantee of rights. A new charta was
also issued, ‘The Charta of the Forest,’ stating that the forests would
be returned to their original owners who would be allowed to exploit
their own woods; but there were many arguments over the original
boundaries. Marshall's next step was to force Louis to relinquish his
claims and return to France. William Longspee, the king's half uncle,
supported Marshall and did battle at sea against Louis, who eventually
accepted 100,000 marks and returned to France. William Marshal died in
1219 and in 1220 before Henry III was 13, the Pope sent letters
requesting that now England was again peaceful the young king be
solemnly crowned a second time in the Abbey Church of Westminster. Henry
grew up venerating his favourite saint, Edward the Confessor, whose
mother had been the aunt of William the Conqueror and therefore an
ancestor. Henry looked upon him as a father figure and based his
life-style on the saint, refusing to take mistresses like his father and
grandfather. He was a very pious man and would start to re-build
Westminster Abbey in 1245 and build a new shrine for Saint Edward.
Henry was in his late twenties when he married Eleanor of Provence in
1236 she was 13. They had 2 sons and 2 daughters, the future Edward I
and Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. Henry had chosen old English names for
his 2 sons as he did not want to be reminded of savage war and conflict
by using such names as William, Richard or John. His daughter Margaret
married Alexander III of Scotland and his other daughter Beatrice
married John, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond. Eleanor's sister
had married King Louis IX of France and Henry hoped to form a strong
peaceful alliance with his brother-in-law. Louis did, however, send
Henry an unusual gift of an elephant in 1254. A large room was built in
the Tower of London to house it but it died in 1258 due to the extreme
cold winters. Henry had already received a polar bear from the King of
Norway in 1252 and he also had two brown bears. There was already a
great and impressive menagerie in the royal collection, started by Henry
I in the 12th century at his park in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Woodstock
was part of the Royal Forest and Henry had built a wall around the town
in 1110. There was lions, leopards, lynxes, camels and a porcupine.
Richard I brought back a crocodile from one of his crusades and it was
kept in the Tower of London. It escaped into the River Thames and was
never found.
When Eleanor came to England to marry Henry in 1238, she was accompanied
by her uncle, William of Savoy. Several years later his brother
Boniface, arrived after William's death in 1239, and Henry made him
Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1240 another of Eleanor's uncles came to
England, Peter, the future Count of Savoy, who became one of the king's
closest advisors. Henry gave him land along the Thames embankment called
The Strand and Peter built a grand house which later became known as the
Savoy Palace.
After his death it went to the friars of Mountjoy but the Queen bought
it back for her second son Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. It was Edmund who
brought back the red rose from Provence and planted them in the gardens
of his Savoy Palace for his mother. The red rose thus became the symbol
of the House of Lancaster. Eleanor's relatives were not the only ones to
receive positions and wealth from Henry, when his mother Isabella died
in 1250 he allowed his half brothers and sister to live in England. They
were not slow in taking advantage of the king's generosity but were
young and thought they could live a life of lawlessness and began to
cause trouble between Eleanor's family and their control over Prince
Edward. Henry had always wanted a quiet life and seemed to do little to
curb even their acts of violence. This was much resented by the local
barons and members of the church bringing them humiliation. Henry III
was not all things to all men and was proving to be incompetent and
irresponsible. He had massive debts and surrounded himself with
foreigners, ignoring his own people and causing much unrest amongst the
earls and barons of England. A new programme of reform was drawn up at
Oxford in 1258 called, ‘The Provisions of Oxford,’ followed later by
‘The Provisions of Westminster’ in 1259. A council of 15 was imposed on
the king who could not govern without its consent, 3 Parliaments each
year to be summoned by 12 elected barons from their own ranks but in
1261 Henry recovered his power. Whilst all this was going on Henry was
spending thousands of pounds on re-building Westminster Abbey and his
many castles, palaces, and founding abbeys.
His political weakness was compensated by his love of art and the power
it gave him. He took a personal interest in all their building and
maintenance and at one time there was 800 craftsmen working on the new
abbey at Westminster. Henry brought craftsmen from Italy, skilled in
cosmati pavement work, to lay several pavements before the altar and St.
Edward's sanctuary. Cosmati is a decorative style related to Romanesque
art with polished marbles and jewel-like mosaics made into intricate
patterns. These pavements have recently been re-discovered and coincide
with the 1000th anniversary of the birth of St Edward.
Henry III spent a lot of time visiting various abbeys and his special
favourite was St Alban’s as it was only a day's journey from London. He
visited at least 9 times as the abbey was rich and well equipped to
cater for the many great dignitaries who accompanied the king and were
entertained in lavish style. Travellers from other countries made
regular visits and the abbey stables held 300 horses.
St. Alban’s was founded by King Offa of Mercia and named after Alban a
Roman citizen who chose to be a Christian and was beheaded. He was the
first English martyr to die for his faith.
The abbey was home to the Benedictine order and became known for its
scholars and chroniclers. One interesting monk was Matthew Paris who was
well known for the unusual illustrations accompanying his text. He
travelled to Europe on behalf of the Pope and met heads of various
countries who all wanted to keep his favour so he would write good
things about them.
One item of interest recorded by Paris was, 3 years after the king's
marriage an assassin entered Henry's bedroom only to find it empty.
Henry was sleeping with his young wife which was quite a novelty for a
king in medieval times. Whilst Henry was a young king his sister,
Eleanor, married William Marshall the younger who was killed in battle
and she later married Simon de Montfort. He had inherited the Earldom of
Leicester, through his mother, in 1231 and became part of the council of
15 opposed to Henry's irresponsible spending and insult to his barons in
1258. When Henry regained power in 1261 Montfort refused to accept the
king's authority and left England for France. He returned in 1283 to
become head of a revived movement for reform. After several battles with
the king's men Montfort was caught by Prince Edward and mutilated
together with his army.
The Provisions of Oxford had failed and no legal restraint could be
imposed on the king thus allowing him to act as he wished in the areas
of policy, appointments and patronage. The barons only wished to be
included and consulted over making policies for England and its people.
It was due to Henry's lack of foresight and military abilities that his
son Edward began to take an interest in politics.
Henry III had created his brother Richard the Earl of Cornwall and gave
him the Cornish tin mines that had belonged to their mother Isabella.
Richard married another Isabella, the daughter of William Marshall the
elder who had been regent of England after King John died. Richard was a
wealthy man owning a large portion of South Wales, a good administrator
and diplomat who listened to the grievances of the barons. Henry kept
him loyal by giving him land in many counties. Richard's wife died and
he left for France where he married Sanchia of Provence, the sister of
Eleanor and Margaret. Henry's other sister, Isabella, married Emperor
Frederick of Germany whose father was Henry VI of Germany and the Holy
Roman Emperor. His mother was Constance, the last representative of the
Norman royal dynasty of Sicily. He was 4 years old when his father died
and he was crowned in 1215, seated on the marble throne of Charlemagne.
Frederick II had his palace in Palermo and lived in the manner of a
Byzantine emperor or an Islamic caliph amidst jewels and gold. He also
kept a harem of concubines. When he married Isabella he was so thrilled
with his bride he sent Henry 3 leopards and other precious gifts.In 1220 Frederick was crowned Holy Roman Emperor (King of the Romans).
The Holy Roman Empire had become a mere ideal since the days of
Charlemagne but Frederick's imperial strategy was to join the north of
Italy to his southern Sicilian and northern German kingdoms. The Pope
and Electors did not wish a strong Emperor and Sicily had always been
under the influence of the Pope so Frederick was deposed. His lifestyle
was not acceptable to the Church as he entertained Saracen leaders with
Christian dancing girls and had a greater respect for their faith than
his own. Sicily was a multi racial society accepting all cultures around
the Mediterranean. Frederick's dream of a great Holy Roman Empire was in
ruins and he died in 1250. He was entombed next to his father and
grandfather in Palermo Cathedral and dressed in the robes of a Byzantine
emperor. Henry's brother Richard was crowned the new Holy Roman Emperor
(King of the Romans) in 1257. He died in 1272.
In 1269 the new abbey church at Westminster was consecrated and the
remains of St. Edward were carried on the shoulders of King Henry III,
his son Prince Edward and son Prince Edmund. In 1272 Henry III died
whilst his son and heir Edward was in Sicily returning from his crusade.
The king's body was placed in the very tomb from which St. Edward's
remains had been removed. Was this Henry's true intention to be laid to
rest in the original tomb of his beloved Saint? Later Plantagenets were
also to be laid to rest as near as possible to the Shrine of St. Edward
the Confessor.
More information: Can be read in a few of my earlier articles, Black
Double-Headed Eagle, about the Holy Roman Empire. England Ruled by the
Danes, covers William of Normandy and Edward the Confessor's mother.
Forestry Laws, about the Magna Carta and Charter of the Forest.
Books:
Chronicles of the Age of Chivalry, edited by Elizabeth Hallam. Book of
the Magna Carta by Geoffrey Hindley. Crown and Nobility, England
1272-1461 by Anthony Tuck. Angevin England by Richard Mortimer.
More articles to follow on: Edward I, II, III, Richard II and Henry IV,
V, VI.
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - William I to Henry II click
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - Richard I and King John click
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - Henry III click
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - Edward I click
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - Edward II click
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - Edward III
click
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - Richard II
click
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - Henry IV click
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND - Henry V click
THE PLANTAGENET KINGS OF ENGLAND -
Henry VI
click