King Henry III

1207 – 1272 · Generation XIII · King of England (r. 1216–1272) · House of Plantagenet

Henry III of Winchester (1207–1272). King of England (r. 1216–1272). Married Eleanor of Provence in 1236. Fifty-six years on the throne; rebuilt Westminster Abbey around the Confessor’s shrine. He came to the throne a child in the midst of the First Barons’ War, saved by William Marshal’s victories at Lincoln and Sandwich, and grew into a pious king devoted to Edward the Confessor. His costly attempts to recover the family’s French provinces failed, and unpopular foreign ventures and grasping officials drove the barons to seize power in 1258 through the Provisions of Oxford. When Simon de Montfort took control, civil war followed: Henry was defeated and captured at Lewes in 1264, freed only after his son Edward destroyed Montfort at Evesham the next year. His treatment of England’s Jews — taxed into ruin and segregated by statute — darkens the record of his reign.

One of 23 people of House of Plantagenet (1126–1485) in this archive. The longest-reigning English house, counting its Angevin beginning and the rival Lancaster and York branches that fought the Wars of the Roses.

Line of descent: King William I The Conqueror → King Henry I → Matilda the Empress → King Henry II → King John → King Henry III.

Read more on Wikipedia

Parents

• King John (1166 – 1216)
• Isabella of Angoulême (1188 – 1246)

Partners

• Married Eleanor of Provence (1223 – 1291) in 1236 — one child together

Children

• King Edward I Longshanks (1239 – 1307)

Life

• 1207 — Born
• 1216 — Henry III is crowned King at the age of nine. England is ruled temporarily by two regents, Hubert de Burgh and William the Marshal
• 1227 — Henry takes full control of the government of England, but retains de Burgh as his main adviser
• 1236 — Married Eleanor of Provence
• 1236 — Henry marries Eleanor of Provence
• 1238 — Simon de Montfort marries Henry’s sister, Eleanor
• 1240 — Henry's Great Council is called 'Parliament' for the first time
• 1245 — Henry lays the foundation stone for the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey
• 1258 — The English barons, led by de Montfort, rebel against Henry’s misgovernment. They present a list of grievances to Henry, who signs the Provisions of Oxford, which limit royal power
• 1261 — Henry repudiates the Provisions of Oxford
• 1264 — The Baron’s War breaks out. De Montfort defeats Henry at Lewes. Henry is captured.
• 1266 — The Dictum of Kenilworth restores Henry's authority and annuls the Provisions of Oxford
• 1267 — In the Treaty of Montgomery, Henry recognizes Llewellyn ap Gruffydd as ruler of Wales
• 1272 — Died
• 1272 — Henry III dies in the Palace of Westminster