Category: Henry III - Meandering Through Time

Eleanor of Provence

14/1/2021

On this day in 1236 the marriage of Eleanor of Provence to Henry III.

'Marriage of his Majesty Henry III and Eleanor of Provence', c1860 by John Leech.

Eleanor was twelve when she arrived in England to marry the twenty-eight-year-old Henry, who she had never met.
A beauty by all accounts Eleanor was dressed in a shimmering golden outfit that 'fitted tightly at the waist and flared out to wide pleats at her feet. The sleeves were long and lined with ermine.'

There was talk that Eleanor could not give Henry an heir, but their first child, the future Edward I, was born three years later, and other children followed in quick succession. Henry was very fond and loving towards his five children and detested spending long periods of time apart from them.

Eleanor outlived Henry by nineteen years.

Henry and Eleanor were the last of my monarch ancestors, it was a long long descent via their son Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, through princesses, nobility, gentry and farmers before my arrival in the world.

Magna Carta Island

9/4/2020

There are a number of areas in the country that lays claim to being the place where King John put his seal to the Magna Carta in the June of 1215. One of them lies in the Thames in Berkshire and is known as Magna Carta Island.

Magna Carta was supposed to have been spread out on an octagonal stone, which still remains, in what is known as the Charter Room of a small house that stands on the island. Interestingly, just across the water is Runnymede, the traditional area associated with this famous document.

The island is also where Henry III and the future Louis VIII of France met in 1217.

Coronation of Henry III : October 1216

28/10/2018

In 1216 England was going through an unsettled period, because of this Henry III's first coronation at Gloucester Abbey on the 28th of October was rather a hurried affair.

Four years later the political situation had quietened somewhat and the Pope had given permission for a second coronation ceremony, this took place at Westminster Abbey on 17 May 1220.

Henry III was the first English king to be crowned as a child, he was just nine years old, but his reign would be a long one, he was king of England for fifty-six years, a reign where the social and political landscape of England would be changed irrevocably.

I feel Henry's time as our countries monarch was one of the most important and significant reigns in our history and as I have said on more than one occasion his achievements have been much overlooked. Henry III improved the educational system in England, he was a lover of art and architecture and it was Henry who ordered the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey in the Gothic style we see today.

Margaret of England

28/9/2018

It has been claimed that Margaret, the second daughter of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, was named after her aunt Margaret of Provence, the wife of King Louis IX of France. However, chronicler Matthew Paris states that she was named after Saint Margaret of Antioch who her mother called upon whilst giving birth. There is also some confusion over Margaret's date of birth which is stated as being either this day in 1240 or in the first weeks of October.

By the age of eleven Margaret had married the ten year old King Alexander III of Scotland, and it was in Scotland that Margaret is said to have spent a great deal of time in a miserable existence. Margaret's first child a daughter, also Margaret and later queen of Norway, was born ten years after her marriage.

Alexander was Margaret's second child and heir to the throne of Scotland, his death three years after his brother David in 1281 would cause a succession crisis, this would end with one John Baillol being crowned as king of Scotland. Eventually, the enthronement of Baillol would lead to the Scottish Wars of Independence.

But what of Margaret? She outlived her father by three years, she was present at the coronation of her elder brother Edward I as king of England in Westminster in the August 1274.

Of Margaret it was written

‘She was a lady of great beauty, chastity, and humility, three qualities which are rarely found together in the same person.’

Second Coronation of Henry III

17/5/2018

In 1216 England was going through an unsettled period, because of this Henry III's first coronation at Gloucester Abbey on the 28th of October was rather a hurried affair. Four years later the political situation had quietened somewhat and the Pope had given permission for a second coronation ceremony, this took place at Westminster Abbey on 17 May 1220.

Henry III was the first English king to be crowned as a child, he was just nine years old, but his reign would be a long one, he was king of England for fifty-six years, a reign where the social and political landscape of England would be changed irrevocably.

I feel Henry's time as our countries monarch was one of the most important and significant reigns in our history and as I have said on more than one occasion his achievements have been much overlooked. Henry III improved the educational system in England, he was a lover of art and architecture and it was Henry who ordered the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey in the Gothic style we see today.

You can see Henry is still only a child, he was thirteen, as he is crowned for the second time in the above image.

Battle of Lewes

14/5/2018

On the 14th May in 1264, Henry III forces were defeated by the armies of Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Lewes in Sussex. This battle was one of two main battles in the conflict known as the Second Barons War and at this point, Montfort was riding high.

King Henry III is said to have been intelligent and quick to master the problems of administration and government, he was also seen an "uncomplicated, almost naive man, and a lover of peace," yet all this is hardly mentioned, historians preferring to write about Simon de Monfort who not only stole Henry's crown but also his limelight.
The dissatisfaction of Henry's barons culminated in the Second Barons War in 1263. It was Simon de Monfort who lead the rebellion against Henry, and after the Battle of Lewes both the king and his son Edward, later Edward I, were captured and it was de Montfort who ruled in his name.
Eventually, de Montfort lost the support of many of Henry's disaffected barons, this along with Edward escaping his captors and raising an army was the beginning of the end for de Montfort. After the Battle of Evesham, Montfort met a grizzly end and Henry regained his throne.

Eleanor de Montfort

14/1/2018

Eleanor, the youngest daughter of King John, had been abandoned by her mother Isabella of Angouleme in 1216. She had been left in the care of a number of governesses, one of the first was Margaret Biset she left Eleanor to serve in the household of her brother King Henry III's queen Eleanor of Provence. Margaret's replacement was Cecily of Sandford who Matthew Paris described as "of noble blood, but with nobler manners" and who was " learned, eloquent and courteous."

When Eleanor was just nine she had married the twenty-five-year-old William Marshall the son of William the Marshall, the first Earl of Pembroke whose title he had received in 1219. In 1231 Marshall died, some thought he was poisoned. His death left Eleanor a widow at sixteen.

Following William Marshall's death, Eleanor under Cecily's guidance, some might say influence, was persuaded to take a vow of chastity but this vow was soon broken when she married, in the January of 1238, English noble Simon de Montfort. Henry III had approved the marriage, which took place in secret and all three chose to ignore condemnation by Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, in whose presence, Eleanor had taken the holy oath.

It is easy to see why Eleanor broke her vow, Simon de Montfort was just eight years older, he was charismatic and plain spoken and he was also a great friend of the king. However, this friendship and Eleanor's marriage ended in tragedy when de Montfort chose to lead a rebellion against the king.

The aftermath of the Battle of Lewes in 1264 saw Henry and his son Edward, later Edward I captured and de Montfort rule in the king's name. Eleanor chose to side with her husband, she was an enthusiastic supporter of his cause right up to his death at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.

With Simon de Montfort Eleanor had seven children. She would survive him by ten years, dying in exile in France in the April of 1275.

Consecration of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster

28/12/2017

There has been a religious building on or near the site of Westminster Abbey since Saxon times and one even earlier if the legend of the conversion of the Temple of Apollo into a Christian church is to be believed. However, the origins of the building we have come to know have its roots in the time of Edward the Confessor.

It was during his exile in Normandy that Edward vowed to make a pilgrimage to Rome if he should ever take the throne of England. Edward did become king but he soon became concerned that the country would be vulnerable to attack, and this prevented him from fulfilling his vow. Pope Alexander III, however, released him from this promise on the condition that he built an abbey in honour of St. Peter.

Edward was good to his word, he re-endowed and enlarged a small Benedictine monastery on the banks of the River Thames to create his new church, work began in the years between 1042 and 1052.

Edward's church the Collegiate Church of St Peter was consecrated on the 28th December in 1065. Of the construction, a monk of the French Abbey of St Bertin’s wrote:

“Outside the walls of London … stood a monastery dedicated to St Peter, but insignificant in buildings … . … The king , therefore … gave his attention to that place, for it both lay hard by the famous and rich town and also was a delightful spot, … … decided to have his burial place there. Accordingly, he ordered that out of the tithes of all his revenues should be started the building of a noble edifice, worthy of the Prince of the Apostles; so that, after the transient journey of this life, God would look kindly upon him, both for the sake of his goodness and because of the gift of lands and ornaments with which he intended to ennoble the place. And … there was no weighing of the costs, … so long as it proved worthy of … God and St Peter”.

Only one image of the confessor's church exists and this can be seen depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry where we can see a workman placing a weather vane on its roof. King Edward was a deeply religious man, it was for his devotion to God he received his name the Confessor, maybe this is why we can also see the hand of God appearing through the clouds in a gesture of blessing.

As the date of the abbey's consecration approached, Edward's health deteriorated and he was too ill to attend. Only eight days later the king was dead. Edward's church survived until the reign of Henry III when it was demolished and work on the present Westminster Abbey began in 1245.

Henry's Gothic masterpiece was consecrated on 13th October 1269.

Death of Roger Mortimer

30/10/2017

Roger Mortimer was a member of a powerful Mortimer family whose established their great dynasty in the Welsh Marches. They were granted lands in Herefordshire and Shropshire at the conquest of England and by the fourteenth century, they were honoured with the title of Earls of March.

For eight months following the Battle of Lewes Edward, heir to the English throne, was being held captive as a hostage by rebel leader Simon de Montfort. It was Roger Mortimer, deploying a plan of action created by his wife Maud, who rescued Edward enabling him to retake the rebel-held towns of Worcester and Gloucester.

Roger Mortimer would go on to assist Henry III in the final victory over barons in 1265 at the Battle of Evesham, it would be Mortimer who would strike the blow that ended the life of the aforementioned Simon de Montfort.

Mortimer later sent this gruesome trophy and other parts of de Montfort's anatomy home to Wigmore Castle as a gift for his wife. Of this event, English chronicler Robert of Gloucester wrote:

"To dam Maud the Mortimer that wel foule it ssende."

It is alleged that Lady Mortimer held feast that evening to celebrate Henry's victory and that she had Simon de Montfort's head, still attached to the point of the lance, placed on show for all to see.

Roger Mortimer would survive the years that saw the Statute of Marlborough passed and the signing of the Dictum of Kenilworth. Mortimer would also witness Henry III passing many of Simon de Montfort's ideas and changes to government although what he thought of it all goe's unrecorded.

Roger Mortimer died on this day in 1282 at the age of fifty-one. His death, it has been said, was seen by many as a major setback in the early years of Edward I's reign.

Mortimers epitaph reads:

"Here lies buried, glittering with praise, Roger the pure, Roger Mortimer the second, called Lord of Wigmore by those who held him dear. While he lived all Wales feared his power and given as a gift to him all Wales remained his. It knew his campaigns, he subjected it to torment."

Roger Mortimer holds up the severed head of Simon de Montfort. Ilustration my Matthew Ryan

Margaret of England

29/9/2017

It has been claimed that Margaret, the second daughter of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, was named after her aunt Margaret of Provence, the wife of King Louis IX of France. However, chronicler Matthew Paris states that she was named after Saint Margaret of Antioch who her mother called upon whilst giving birth. There is also some confusion over Margaret's date of birth which is stated as being either this day in 1240 or in the first weeks of October.

By the age of eleven Margaret had married the ten year old King Alexander III of Scotland, and it was in Scotland that Margaret is said to have spent a great deal of time in a miserable existence. Margaret's first child a daughter, also Margaret and later queen of Norway, was born ten years after her marriage.

Alexander was Margaret's second child and heir to the throne of Scotland, his death three years after his brother David in 1281 would cause a succession crisis, this would end with one John Baillol being crowned as king of Scotland. Eventually, the enthronement of Baillol would lead to the Scottish Wars of Independence.

But what of Margaret? She outlived her father by three years, she was present at the coronation of her elder brother Edward I as king of England in Westminster in the August 1274.

Of Margaret it was written

‘She was a lady of great beauty, chastity, and humility, three qualities which are rarely found together in the same person.’