Henry III ascended the throne of England at the age of nine upon the death of his father. For the next eight years, England was ruled by william Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, as regent. When William died in 1219, the Justiciar, Hubert de Burgh was the chief power in the government. During the regency, the French, who occupied much of eastern England, were expelled, and rebellious barons were subdued.

Henry III was declared of age in 1227. Three years later, against the advice of the Chief Justiciar, he led an unsuccessful expedition to Gascony and Brittany in France. Two years later he dismissed Hubert de Burgh from his court and commenced a reign of extravagance and general incapacity, ruling without the aid of ministers. Henry further displeased the barons by filling government and church offices with foreign favorites, many of them relatives of his wife, Eleanor of Provence, whom he married in 1236. Eleanor was the daughter of Raymond Berenger IV, Count of Provence.

Henry spent vast sums of money on futile wars in France. In addition, he agreed to pay the Pope a large sum in order to secure the throne of Sicily for his son, Edmund. When he asked for the money from the barons to pay his debt, they refused, and in 1258, forced him to agree to the Provisions 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 brief period of war, the matter was referred to the arbitration of King Louis IX of France, who decided in Henry’s favor in a judgment called the Mise of Amiens in 1264. Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, accordingly led the barons into war, 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 victory over the barons at Evesham, about 25 miles south of Birmingham. Simon de Montfort was killed in the battle, and the barons agreed to a compromise with Edward and his party in 1267. Henry was King in name only, and Edward ruled England.

Henry III, King of England, 1216-1272; b. Winchester, 1 Oct. 1207; d. Westminster, 16 Nov. 1272; m. 14 Jan. 1237, Eleanor of Provence (111-30), b. 1217; d. Amesbury, 24 Jan. 1291. (G. E. Cokayne’s (new revised) “Complete Peerage,” vol.s. I-XII pt. 2, 1910-1959 - V, 736; “Century Cyclopedia of Names,” 356, 494).55