Henry III of England

Born in the royal palace of Winchester on 1st October 1207 to King John and Isabella of Angouleme, Henry was named after his grandfather, Henry II, who was a very effective ruler and under his reign, the English Empire grew wide, covering many areas of south-west and north-west France. Henry’s father, John was an incompetent ruler, who lost many French territories to King Philip II of France.

So weak was his reign that King Philip’s son, Louis dreamed of having the English throne for himself and political incompetency of John made way for the First Baron’s War in England, with the Barons aided by Prince Louis, who later became King Louis VII of France. However, Barons were unable to win, so was King John, and he died amidst the struggle, leaving his eldest son, Henry as the heir to the throne.

Henry was brought up amidst all the chaos, but he was away from the war and political turmoil as a kid. He was close to his mother, and his mother loved him way more than his siblings. His formal education commenced in 1212, and was the responsibility of Peter des Roches, who happened to be the bishop of Westminster. Henry was subsequently given the training in war, politics, military, combats and horse riding to prepare him as a ruler.

The day his father died, Henry was at the Corfe Castle with his mother. The king had ordered before his death that the throne was in great danger and Henry’s coronation must take place as quickly as possible. William Marshal, King John’s good friend and supposedly the greatest knight in all England, was to be made the guardian of young Henry. Henry was proclaimed the king by the crown loyalists, William Marshal knighted him and the official coronation ceremony took place on 28th October 1216. Henry was just 9 years of age.

King John had left Henry in a very complicated situation, with the general public criticising the royalty for having half the country occupied by the rebels. With the help of William and Guala Bicchieri, Henry somehow managed to curb the rebellions. The main cause of Baron’s dissatisfaction was the fact that Henry’s father, King John, was a bad ruler and his policies were insensitive and brainless. Magna Carta was reissued in Henry’s name, first in 1216 and again in 1217.

In what was later known as one of the most decisive battles in the English History, William Marshal led a force to Lincoln and defeated the Baron rebels at the battles of Lincoln and Sandwich in 1217.

When William died of sickness in 1219, Henry was still very young and somehow unable to rule on his own and hence, Hubert de Burgh became his chief advisor and played a great role in reconfirming the charter in 1223 and established peace with Wales. Pop Honorius III declared in the same year that Henry was finally coming of age and he could make decisions in certain matters of royal importance and in 1227, Henry proclaimed to take back the land which King Louis of France had promised, but didn’t adhere to it.

Henry declared war (‘war for inheritance’); by then King Louis VIII had died, and his son Louis IX had become the king of France. The French kingdom seemed to be in weaker position compared to the English and as Henry gathered his forces against France to reclaim the lands in Brittany and Poitou in 1230, it turned out to be a military and political failure. After years of struggle, Henry finally gave up on his claims and signed a peace treaty with King Louis IX of France. In 1934 Henry returned empty handed to England. This colossal failure did cost the crown a lot of fortune and Henry invited hatred and indiscipline and challenge to his authority from all corners of his kingdom.

In 1270, Prince Edward left for France and Henry became severely ill. He called for Edward, but he didn’t respond. King Henry III breathed his last on 16th November 1274 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. At the time of his death, his wife stood by him. He was survived by four out of five of his children - Edward, the heir; Margaret, Beatrice of England and Edmond Crouchback.