History of the British Isles

Ah English history ... my favorite

Next king: HenryIII Oct 18 1216 - nov 16 1272

He inherited the throne at the ripe old age of nine at a very difficult time ... Louis the son of the king of France held London and the south- east. but it took no time for the regents William Marshal and Hugh de Burgh to defeat the rebel barrons and bribe Louis and send him packing.  Because John had lost the crown jewels Henry  was crowned in a make shift ceramony and crowned with his mothers torque (or so the story goes).  Marshal managed to bring some law and order back but died in 1219 and the two men that held power then De burgh and Peter des Roches  didn't do well by Henry. The battles in France were less than successful with finally Aquitine being lost (henrys Grandmothers duchy) Henry finally assumed direct rule in 1227. There was much strif between Henry and his barrons. Although Henry reaffermed the terms of  Magna Carta he didn't follow them very well and failed to recognise the rights and privelages of the barrons. Not a good soldior(having lost most of his french lands) didn't help. Wars must be won if they are to continue to be funded! He was a good negotiator establishing a strong alliance with Scotlandand a similair one with the Welsh princes. In 1250 he took the cross determind to go on crusade  but never made it instead spending the money to help the pope in battle agains the king of sicily resulting in his son EDMOND being named as the new king.  Henry's disrgard for his barrons finally caught up with him and a repeat of the events of 50 years ago saw civil war break out again. (someone else can tell about Simon De Montfort and the rebelion)

An aged and perhaps senile king turned to arts and building (completeing the building of Westminister Abby)  After the death of his brother Richard in 1272 he was over come by Demntia and died after reigning for 56 yeras.

Montfort, Simon de, Earl of Leicester (1208?-1265),

English statesman and soldier, born of an Anglo-French family in Normandy (Normandie), France. In 1229 he came to England from France, where two years later Henry III, king of England, confirmed his title and estates. He married Eleanor, the youngest sister of the king, in 1238. As a leader of the English barons, Montfort expressed their dissatisfaction with the arbitrary rule of the king. When Henry rejected the Provisions of Oxford, by which the barons had obtained a share in the government, Montfort took up arms; he captured the king in 1264 . After his victory he established an assembly to assist the king's council; it included representatives of the gentry and the towns and is considered an ancestor to the later Parliament. The barons, however, became dissatisfied with Montfort, and he was killed in a battle against combined royal and baronial forces at Evesham on August 4, 1265.