• General Notes

  [SUSANNA KEENE.FTW]
  
  REF: British Monarchy Official Website:  Henry III (reigned
  1216-1272), John's son, was only nine when he became king. By
  1227, when he assumed power from his regent, order had been
  restored based on his acceptance of Magna Carta. However, the
  king's failed campaigns in France, his choice of foreigners as
  friends and advisers, together with the cost of his scheme to
  make one of
  his younger sons king of Sicily and help the Pope against the
  Holy Roman Emperor, led to further disputes with the barons and
  united opposition in Church and State. The Provisions of Oxford
  (1258) and the Provisions of Westminster (1259 were attempts by
  the nobles to curb the king's power, control appointments and
  set up an aristocratic council. Henry renounced the Provisions
  in 1264 and war broke out. The barons under their leader, Simon
  de
  Montfort, were initially successful, but Henry and his son,
  Edward, finally defeated and killed de Montfort at the Battle
  of Evesham in 1265.  Royal authority was restored by the
  Statute of Marlborough (1267), in which the king also promised
  to uphold Magna Carta and some of the Provisions of
  Westminster.
  
  REF: Sharon Kay Penman "Falls the Shadow":  In April 1258,
  Henry's brother Richard of Cornwall sent 50 ships of grain from
  Germany (where Richard was chasing the elusive crown of
  Germany) to London to help alleviate the famine, Henry siezed
  the ships & tried to sell them at inflated prices.  This
  enraged the general populace of London, Henry backed down but
  they remained bitter. After Henry reconciled with Prince Edward
  through the mediation of Richard of Cornwall (Henry thought
  Edward was plotting with Simon de Montfort), Henry attempted to
  try de Montfort on charges of perjery & "lesse-majeste".  The
  Barons on the King's Council baulked & Louis IX was dismayed by
  Henry's bad faith, & sent the Archbishop of Rouen to defend de
  Montfort,  Henry backed off.  In June 1261 Henry borrows from
  his father John's tricks & gets the Pope to annul the Oxford
  Provisions, even as John did with the Magna Charta.  The Barons
  nearly revolt over this, with even Richard de Clare, Earl of
  Gloucester, siding with de Montfort. Later, de Clare defects
  from de Montfort & comes to a "private understanding" with
  Henry & de Montofrt's "common enterprise" unravels.  Simon
  withdraws to France.  In July 1262, Henry follows de Montfort
  into France & tries to have him arraigned before the French
  King, Louis IX, but the attempt fails. Simon returns to England
  April 1263, which most felt meant a precursor to war.  May 1263
  the de Montfort supporters meet & vow all  are enemies who do
  not support the Provisions save the King & his family.  Henry
  held fast, the barons' discontent flared into violence &
  Simon's supporter the Earl of Derby sacked the town of
  Worcester & burned the Jewry. May 1263 the young Earl of
  Gloucester led an Army west & captured the Bishop of Hereford,
  the most hated of the foreign advisors to Henry III then left
  after the expulsion of the de Lusignans.  He threw the Bishop
  into prison, laid siege to the royal castle at Gloucester,
  where de Montfort assumed command.  The army then went north to
  Bridgenorth, where they coordinated their attack with Llywelyn
  ap Gruffydd; the twon & castle surrendered.  de Montfort then
  headed south for London, where a panicked Henry took refuge in
  the Tower. In June 1263 Prince Edward's foreign Flemish troops
  burned Bristol; the populace rose up & besieged him & his army
  in the castle.  The Bishop of Worcester placated the townsfolk
  by taking Edward's pladge to make peace with de Montfort & the
  barons (which Edward had no intention of honoring his pledge).
  In October 1263 Richard Duke of Cornwall (Henry's brother) son
  Henry defected to Montfort. Simon received a triumphal entry
  into London July 1263 & Henry capitulated at the Tower of
  London on July 13, 1263.
  
  Reigned 1216-1272. A minor when he took the throne he did not
  take the reigns
  of Government himself until 1234. Baronian discontent simmered,
  boiling over
  in 1258 when Henry facing financial disaster attempted to raise
  large sums
  from his magnates. Reforms were agreed upon but then renouced
  by Henry. Simon de Montford lead a rebellion against the King
  (the Barons Wars) which was defeated after initial success,
  thereafter Hnery ceeded much of his power to his son. Henry III
  ran afoul of his barons (again) when he requested a large
  amount of money to aid him in putting down Gaston de Béarn's
  2nd rebellion in Gascony, saying that de Béarn's ally St.
  Ferdinand III King of Castile was going to invade Gascony, but
  just as he said this, Simon de Montfort returned to England &
  told the barons that Henry was actually negotiating with the
  St. Ferdinand III to marry his daughter Eleanor to Henry's son
  Crown Prince Edward "Longshanks" (de Montfort's commetns were
  true). At this point, with Henry's many debacles, his lack of
  resolve & constancy, the reforms were going to be made with or
  without his participation.
  
  REF: "Falls the Shadow" Sharon Kay Penman: William the
  Conqueror requested a large number of Jews to move to England
  after his conquest.  They spoke Norman & did well under his
  reign.  They continued to thrive under William's grandson Henry
  II.  When Richard was coronated, he did so "in a bath of Jewish
  blood." John merely taxed them very heavily, "bled them white".
  The Jews did the worst of all under the pious Henry III as
  during his reign the church felt threatened by violence, war,
  schism & heresy.  The church encouraged Jewish pogroms & spread
  rumors of grisly rituals & murders committed by Jews.  Henry,
  as a faithful son of the church, did nothing to restrain it.

Details of Henry III's family with Eleanor