Henry III PLANTAGENET, KING OF ENGLAND

                   King of England, 1216 - 1272. He was but nine years of age when he wasmade
King under regency and ascended to the throne at age 20. Historyconsiders him
an inept king.
He went by the surname of Berengar. He was Grandson of Alphonso, Kingof
Aragon.
Henry III (of England) (1207-72), King of England (1216-72), son andsuccessor
of King John (Lackland), and a member of the House of Anjou, (or)Plantagenet.
Henry ascended the throne at the age of nine, on the death of hisfather.
During his minority, the kingdom was ruled by William Marshal, Earl of
Pembroke, as Regent, but after his death in 1219, the Justiciar Hubertde
Burgh was the chief power in the government. During the Regency, theFrench,
who occupied much of eastern England, were expelled, and rebelliousBarons
were subdued.
Henry was declared of age in 1227. In 1232 he dismissed Hubert deBurgh from
his court and commenced ruling without the aid of ministers. Henrydispleased
the Barons by filling government and church offices with foreignfavorites,
many of them relatives of his wife, Eleanor of Provence, whom hemarried in
1236, and by squandering money on Continental wars, especially inFrance.
In order to secure the throne of Sicily for one of his sons, Henryagreed to
pay the pope a large sum. When the king requested money from thebarons to pay
his debt, they refused and in 1258 forced him to agree to theProvisions of
Oxford, whereby he agreed to share his power with a council of barons.Henry
soon repudiated his oath, however, with papal approval. After a briefperiod
of war, the matter was referred to the arbitration of Louis IX, Kingof
France, who decided in Henry's favor in a judgment called the Mise ofAmiens
(1264).
Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, accordingly led the barons intowar,
defeated Henry at Lewes, and took him prisoner. In 1265, however,Henry's son
and heir, Edward, later King Edward I, led the royal troops to victoryover
the barons at Evesham, about 40.2 km (about 25 mi) south ofBirmingham. Simon
de Montfort was killed in the battle, and the barons agreed to acompromise
with Edward and his party in 1267. From that time on, Edward ruledEngland,
and when Henry died, he succeeded him as King.
Source includes, but is not limited to:
Ancestral File and the IGI, International Genealogical Index,both
resource systems developed and solely owned by The Church of JesusChrist of
Latter Day Saints.
http://www.smokykin.com/ged/f001/f82/a0018240.htm
Henry III succeeded his father John as King of England at the
age of nine.  At the time, southeast England was occupied be the
Franch and his rule was strengthened by the regency council
under protection of the Pope.  He was crowned on 28 Oct., 1216.
He rebuilt Westminster Abbey.  Opposition to him was led by
Simon de Montfort, resulting in the Baron's War.  With the Mise
of Amien (1264), Henry obtained a favorable arbitration from
Louis IX of France.   Henry was defeated at Lewes in 1264, but
his older son, Edward I, crushed Simon de Montfort at Eversham
in 1265.
See Note Page
Eric Delderfield:
Henry III was born, and spent almost his entire life, in England. He was only nine years old when he came to the throne, but the government of the country was in the hands of capable deputies until he declared himself of age in 1227.  During this period the French invaders were expelled and the few remaining adherents of John's party were crushed. Five years later Henry deprived the former regent Hubert de Burgh of all his offices, and in 1234 took the administration into his own hands.
There followed a period of poor government, for in spite of some redeeming features Henry was a weak, untrustworthy character.  He combated his poverty, a legacy from his father [John I] and uncle [Richard Lionheart] by ruthless, extortionate taxation; yet [he] also engaged in costly, fruitless wars.  He mounted three equally disastrous campaigns to France, which would have cost what Continental possessions remained from John's losses remained from John's losses had it not been for the generosity of Louis IX [of France].  Moreover, Henry's spineless reluctance to oppose any decree from the Pope meant unsuitable appointments to benefices, the most flagrant example being the Pope's promise of rewarding the loyalty of Romans with the next 300 benefices that fell vacant in England.
Without a bulwark to resist such arbitrary actions, anti-papal sentiments flourished, anticipating the growing resentment that would fuel the Reformation.  But Henry's crowning folly was his agreement to finance papal wars in Sicily in return for the Sicilian crown for his son Edmund.  The exorbitant sums Henry demanded, combined with the absence of any benefit for England, roused the barons to fury, leading to a period of Civil War out of which would emerge an important development in the steps towards a Parliament.  Led by Henry's brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, the barons compelled Henry to abide by the Provisions of Oxford, curtailing his power.  When Henry repudiated them and Louis IX, to whom the matter had been referred, annulled them, de Montfort and the reformists fought and defeated the king at Lewes.  But Henry's opponents were divided into two distinct interest groups:  on the one hand the conservative barons, and on the other the reforming barons and lesser gentry supported by many of the clergy, the students of Oxford University, and the citizens of London.  This split was cleverly exploited by Prince Edward, leading the key barons to desert de Montfort and enabling the king to defeat him at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.  De Montfort died on the battlefield, but his cause was not lost on Prince Edward, who realized the need for the king to rule under the law, and equally importantly that the Crown could be stronger for working through Parliament rather than in opposition to the nation. He appreciated the value of the consultative process set up by de Montfort when representatives from the shires and boroughs came to Parliament to discuss State and judicial affairs.
If he was a failure as a king, Henry III was probably the greatest of all patrons of medieval ecclesiastical architecture.  During hi reign the plain, massive style of the Normans gave way to the pointed arches, lancet windows, flying buttresses and elaborate decorations which are characteristic of the Early English and Gothic styles.  The majority of English cathedrals had some portion of their fabric remodeled: Westminster Abbey was rebuilt; Salisbury Cathedral was built between 1220 and 1266.
During this long reign Franciscan and Dominican friars set up establishments in England.  This gave an impetus to works of charity and also to university teaching at Oxford and Cambridge.  By the time Henry died in 1272, he had all but relinquished government to his son.
Facts about this person:
Record Change  December 06, 1999
Burial    1272
Westminster (London), England