10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry III
Henry III (1207-1272), the eldest son of King John (c1166-1216), came to the throne at the age of nine. He was king of England from 1216 until his death in 1272, ruling longer than any other English monarch until George III reached 56 years on the throne in 1816. He is traditionally viewed as a weak ruler whose untrustworthiness led to the Second Barons' War from 1264 to 1267. And yet, says historian Matthew Lewis, the English king is often underestimated. Here, Lewis reveals 10 lesser-known facts about Henry III, including why he is largely the reason that Magna Carta is remembered today…
Published: September 19, 2018 at 8:00 amGrab a signed and hardback copy of Tom Holland's Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age - worth £30!
1
Henry had two coronations
Henry of Winchester, the eldest son of King John, came to the throne in 1216 at the age of nine, with half the kingdom in the hands of rebel barons seeking to make Prince Louis of France the new king of England.
Henry was at Devizes Castle when he became king on 19 October 1216. With London largely in Louis’s hands, those loyal to the new king decided a coronation was urgently required. On 28 October, 10 days after his father’s death, Henry was crowned at Gloucester Cathedral after being knighted by elder statesman William Marshal, considered by many to have been the greatest knight of the medieval period.