Plantagenet Kings

 Henry III

Henry was born on the 1st of October, 1207, in Winchester Castle. He was the son of King John I of England and Queen Isabella of Angouleme. There are little records of his early years. 

King John I of England (1166-1216; reigned 1199-1216)

Queen Isabella of Angouleme (1186-1248)

Head of the effigy of Peter des Roches (d.1238); he was the Bishop of Winchester and Henry's tutor. Furthermore, Henry acquire his piety from him

By 1214, England had been in a crisis. King John lost most of his possessions in France, including Normandy and the County of Anjou. Moreover, the Feudal Barons of Northern England rebelled against the King. As a result, John met with the Barons at Runnymede, where he signed the Great Charter (Magna Carta) where the King of England acknowledged his limitations of power. However, John declared the document null, 3 months later. The First Barons' Revolt had started. In a surprising move, the rebels declared prince Louis of France, the eldest son of King Philip of France, the new King of England. In October 1216, King John I died and Henry, age 9, became King of England. Upon hearing the news, the Barons switched sides and supported the young king. As for Louis, he was defeated in battle and forced to leave England. 

Prince Louis of France (1187-1226); despite failing to become King of England, he would become King of France after his father's death, in 1223

As a minor, Henry couldn't rule the kingdom. So, a regency government, led by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, was established to govern in his name. In 1219, Marshal died, and a triumvirate followed. By 1223, the English Crown had reasserted its position and quelled all the rebellions. In 1227, King Henry III summoned his nobles at Oxford where he declared that he was full of age and intended to rule in his own right. 

Hugh de Burgh, Earl of Kent (1170-1243); he became the head of the regency government after Marshal's death; he was removed by Henry III in 1232

In 1236, Henry married Eleanor of Provence. 3 years later, his firstborn son, Edward, was born. In 1240 and 1242, 2 more daughters were born. In foreign affairs, Henry and King Alexander II of Scotland signed the Treaty of York (1237), which ended the border dispute between England and Scotland. In 1238, Richard of Cornwall, Henry's younger brother, rebelled, but Henry used diplomacy to avoid bloodshed. In 1240, Henry provided 16,000 marks to Richard in order to join a Crusade into the Holy Land. In 1242, in an another attempt to reclaim the English lost lands in France, Henry III started a war. Known as the Saintonge War, it was a military disaster for England. 

Richard of Cornwall (1209-1272); Henry III's younger brother and King of the Germans (1257-1272)

In the 1250's, Henry's policies were very unpopular among his subjects. Moreover, the influence of his half-brothers, the Lusignans, had increased significantly. As a result, nobles forced the king to accept the Provisions of Oxford, in 1258. Henry was not with the situation, and he started looking for allies abroad. In 1259, France and England signed the Treaty of Paris, in which England gave up its territorial claims in France. In return, France recognized Gascony as part of England and provided financial and diplomatic support for Henry against his barons. 

Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester (1208-1265); He was the brother-in-law of King Henry III; he was the leader of the baronial opposition against Henry and he supported the implementations of the Provisions of Oxford. He was exiled in 1263, but he returned 2 years, thus starting the Second Barons' Revolt

After he secured the alliance, Henry annulled the Provisions of Oxford. As a result, the Barons led by Montfort, rebelled in 1264. At the Battle of Lewes, the rebel forces won a shocking victory against the royalists, and they captured both Henry and his heir, Prince Edward. Shortly after, Montfort established a Protectorate ruled by a parliament. While the king remained the head of state, Montfort was the de facto ruler of England. In 1265, Edward managed to flee captivity, and begun assembling an army. At the Battle of Evesham, Edward won a decisive victory. King Henry was released and Montfort died on the battlefield. In 1266, Henry issued the Dictum of Kenilworth which indicated that the former rebels would be treated leniently, while the Statute of Marlborough (1267) formalized this agreement, thus bringing the Second Barons' War to its conclusion. 

Eventually, the king fell ill in 1272, and died shortly at the age of 65.