HENRY III PLANTAGENET, king of England

During his minority government was in the hands of regents, William Marshal, 1st earl of Pembroke (1216-1219), and Hubert de Burgh, the chief justiciar (1219-1227). The 1atter continued to serve as the king's chief minister until 1232, when his enemies brought about his dismissal.

In 1236, Henry was married to Eleanor of Provence, who brought many foreigners to court. The king's natural extravagance was aggravated by the grants made to his wife's relatives and by an unsuccessful war in France (1242) , and opposition to him mounted steadily. Finally, in 1258, a group of nobles led by Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester (q.v.), the husband of the king's sister Eleanor, agreed to grant the king money only on condition that he accept the Provisions of Oxford, a body of reforms to be effected by a commission of 24 barons. Henry repudiated his signature in 1261, and the matter was submitted to the arbitration of King Louis IX of France, who in 1264 declared the provisions invalid.

Meanwhile, hostilities had broken out between the barons and the king; the so-called Barons' War (1263-1265). In a battle fought near Lewes on May 14, 1264, Henry and his son Edward were defeated and captured. Simon, who was now in control, summoned a Parliament in 1265 that included two citizens from each borough and two knights from each shire. Known as the Model Parliament, it was the forerunner of the modern body. Later that year, Prince Edward escaped and, with the aid of Llewelyn ab Gruffydd, prince of North Wales, defeated and killed Simon at Evesham (Aug. 4, 1265). Henry was restored to the throne, but exercised little control over the government thereafter. His eldest son succeeded him as Edward I.

Consult: Powicke, Frederick M., King Henry III and the Lord Edward, 2 vols. (Oxford 1947) ; id., The Thirteenth Century, 1216-1307 (Oxford 1953).