Henry III was crowned King of England in 1216 at age 9 after the death of his father, King John. He ruled until 1272. Though personally pious and generous, Henry III was a poor military leader and his conflicts with barons led to the development of parliamentary systems in England. He unsuccessfully tried to regain English lands in France and expand control in Britain. His borrowing of money increased anti-Semitism. The Magna Carta and representation in government continued growing in importance during his reign.
2. Henry III
• Faithful
• Paternal
• Generous
• Artistic temperament
• Poor leader and military commander
“If Henry III was not a great king, he was a good
man.”
J.S. Hamilton
3. Themes
• Conflicts with barons result in dialogs
(parliaments) leading towards a
representative government
– First: Barons (Lords)
– Later: Representation by geography
• Failed attempts to regain Continental territory
• Attempts to expand control of the island of
Great Britain
4. Added Topics
• Continuing importance of Magna Carta
• Religious changes
• Borrowing money and increasing anti-
Semitism
• Art
6. Neighbors
1218 Treaty of
Worcester confirms
status of Llywelyn the
Great (1173-1240)
1221 Alexander II
(1198-1249) of
Scotland marries
Henry III's sister,
Joan, at York.
11. PS to Magna Carta – Henry III
• Nov 12, 1216 Reissued with revisions at
Bristol – Separate versions for Cheshire,
Ireland
• 1217 More revisions
• 1225 Reissued again
– Witnesses – Hubert de Burgh, Peter des Roches.
– 8 of the 25 rebel committee including Robert fitz
Walter, Stephen Langton,
• Further reissues in 1237 and 1253
12. Magna Carta
• We will appoint as justices, constables,
sheriffs, or bailiffs only such as know the law
of the realm and mean to observe it well. (45)
• No arbitrary fines 20-22
• Magna Carta cited as a principle that the
head of state does not lack immunity to suit
(Sub deo et lege) (Jones v. Clinton, 1994)
13. Forest Charter 1217
• Men holding woods in the forest are to hold
them as they were held at the first coronation
of Henry II
• No man shall lose life or member for taking
venison. He shall be fined unless he cannot
pay, in which case he will be imprisoned for a
year and a day. Then he may be released if
he can find sureties. If not, he must abjure the
realm.
14. Regency
Protectors
• Papal Legates Cardinal Guala,
Cardinal Pandulf
• William Marshall to 1219
• Hubert de Burgh, justiciar to 1232
• Stephen Langton, Archbishop to 1228
15. Lateran Council 1215
• Transubstantiation becomes official doctrine
• Yearly confession
• Free education for clerics and poor in every
cathedral church and other churches also that have
sufficient means
• Suspension of drunk clerics. “We forbid hunting
and fowling to all clerics”
• Clerics may neither pronounce nor execute a
sentence of death.
16. Lateran Council 1215
• Jews should be compelled to make … the tithes and
offerings to churches, which the Christians supplied
before their properties fell [to] the Jews.
• Jews and Saracens of both sexes … must be
distinguished from the Christian by a difference of
dress
• Jews are not to be given public offices
• Jews who have received baptism are to be restrained
… from returning to their former rite.
17. Enforcement in England
• Henry III (his regents) resume
protection of Jews
• Jews exempted from episcopal courts
• 1222 Langton tries to enforce Lateran
canons.
• 1241 Taxes begin in increasing
amounts
Matthew ParisThe 24th of August 1217 AD, Battle of Sandwichin English Channel off eastern coast of KentAfter King John reneged on Magna Carta, the rebel barons offered the throne to King Philip Augustus of France’s eldest son Louis. When John died in 1216, he left a nine-year-old heir (Henry III) to fight both a rebellion and French invasion. At the end of 1216 Louis held London and had many powerful allies, though many barons turned from him when he lost the Battle of Lincoln Fair in May 1217. Louis needed reinforcements and new supplies in his London stronghold, and after several abortive attempts a French fleet sailed from Calais on St Bartholomew's Day (August 24) 1217, with more than 100 knights and more importantly with stores and currency aplenty. The large fleet had already been attacked in harbor whilst waiting for a fair wind in Calais, and the English had been given time to prepare for the invasion, assembling a fleet under Hubert de Burgh in Sandwich, Kent. The French fleet under Robert de Courtenai and the former pirate Eustace the Monk was undoubtedly larger than the defenders could muster, but as at the preceding Battle of Dover the English out sailed the French, manoeuvring behind them, boarding ships picked out as targets, and very effectively using lime to burn the French vessels and blind their sailors. Eustace pragmatically wanted to sail on to London once the English fleet was behind his own, but the more aggressive de Courtenai, perhaps conscious of his honour as well as aware of his force being numerically superior, decided to turn and fight. For Eustace this was to prove a fatal error. The English captured many of the knights sailing to reinforce Louis, and even more significantly they captured the supply vessels, putting the French sailors on board these ships to the sword.Eustace, loathed for his former piratical exploits, was found hiding away from the fray, hauled up on deck, and in spite of his offer of a huge ransom was summarily executed by one Stephen Crabbe, who cut his head off there and then. The head was put on a spear and marched around Canterbury and Dover.The Battle of Sandwich was the turning point for Louis, whose grab for England was now doomed. Indeed, the English ended up gaining The Channel Islands when the conflict was finally resolved. (http://www.information-britain.co.uk/famdates.php?id=588)Illustration of the naval battle of Sandwich in 1217 by the English monk and chronicler Matthew Paris (c.1250). On the left, English bishops bless the English fleet, saying: “I absolve those who are about to die for the liberation of England.” In the center we see an English archer shooting a bag filled with quick-lime and a second man flinging a pot, again presumably filled with quick-lime, at the French, as an English sailor lashes the two ships together with a grappling hook. On the right, Matthew Paris depicts the hand-to-hand fighting aboard the French ship during which Eustace the Pirate, commander of the French fleet was beheaded (far right). Corpus Christi College Cambridge MS 16, fol. 52 r.
Clause 45 used by Supreme Court of Califronia to require those facing incarceration to have a legally trained judge.The Petition of Right was one of the foundation stones of the English Constitution. It enlarged upon the Magna Carta as a constitutional limitation upon the power of the monarchy. It made it apparent that the King's prerogative was limited. Sub Deo et Lege[1] was the law of the land.
Isaac filJurnetIsaac filJurnet was one of the richest Jews in England and certainly the richest Jew in Norwich, where he and his family had lived for a number of generations. Isaac was much richer than many Christians living at the same time. Like many Jews, Isaac was a money-lender. Christians were forbidden from lending money at interest to make a profit but Jews were allowed to do this, though they were banned from most other professions.Isaac was the chief money-lender to the Abbot and monks of Westminster. He took them to court to get interest on the money they had borrowed. As a result of this he became the target of opposition from Pandulf, the Bishop of Norwich, who wanted to see all Jews thrown out of the country to 'beyond the seas'. Isaac was also a merchant and owned a dock in Norwich. The Abbot and monks were not the only ones in debt - whole districts of the city owed him money.Isaac is pictured with a triple beard to associate him with the devil and suggest sexual excess. Demons were often linked to the seduction of women, so again this is a very negative portrayal of a Jew.
