Simple Simon de, you were once at one with me! But now, welcome in my presence, you will never be!
‘The brother in-law who became the unbrotherly outlaw!’
Well, that would come later, but to begin with everything was sweetness and light. Oh! Oh! For a happy family life! Well, that involves men, women and children! King Henry was devoted to his wife and children and could not bear to be separated from them for any significant length. They were the royal family and they represented a theatre because the eyes of all subjects were constantly upon them.
The royal family.
A contemporary poster advertising the production, ‘The royals at home.’!
Henry doted on his children and showered exotic gifts upon them. The elephant which was a present from the king of France, was housed in the zoo in the Tower of London. It became a particular favourite of the princes and princesses.
As regards women, Henry’s leading lady was the woman he married, the formidable Eleanor of Provence in 1236. The queen was a faithful wife who had her husband’s best interests at heart at all times. As Henry had no illegitimate children, Eleanor as Queen was clearly centre stage throughout his reign. Competition regarding the king’s affections, disallowed, period.
‘I am the Queen, so available whores please take note, that my husband, the king is a mistress free zone!
Try your luck, sweetheart and into a foul dungeon you will be assigned until you are nothing but dry skin and bone!’
Thank God for Eleanor! The threat from the feminine quarter was averted, but what about the men? Of course boys will be boys whatever the circumstances. Well, Henry got the call and things proceeded from there.
‘Well, your majesty, you have a lovely sister!
There is a certain noble Frenchman and sire, he simply cannot resist her!’
Henry himself was to be upstaged in a most dramatic fashion by some one who did become part of the royal family. He was a man who features as no other did during the reign of Henry III. If you were to look at Henry’s long reign as a movie, ‘Henry III’, this character would undoubtedly get second billing. His name was Simon de (Monty) Montfort, a French man of noble birth, who would become Earl of Leicester.
Simon de (Monty) Montfort
He began his role as brother-law to the king when he married his sister, Eleanor. The marriage was bitterly opposed by Henry’s younger brother, Richard of Cornwall but he and Monty were eventually reconciled, albeit temporarily.
Eleanor of England, spouse to Simon de Montfort.
Monty became best supporting actor to Henry but later, relegated or perhaps depending on your point of view, promoted to most unsupportive thespian to the crown.
‘Oh simple Simon, I, the king considered you a most gallant knight!
Indeed at my court I was glad to allow you a good piece of the limelight!
By my holy anointed hand I have made you, sweet Simon the Earl of Leicester, a position that many surely sought!
However with you, my dear brother-law, the most bitter conflicts of my reign would be fought!’
Monty’s views on how to rule a kingdom differed sharply with Henry’s. The king’s brother-law favoured a curtailing of royal power and a greater voice for the common people, an idea which was not calculated to rest easily with any medieval monarch. This had the unfortunate effect of creating a rather tense atmosphere during family gatherings at the royal palaces, Christmas dinner was invariably a disaster.
‘Monty’s proposals on promoting people power!
Merely had the effect of making the king glower!’
Such a radical egalitarian suggestion!
Caused a severe case of royal indigestion!’
The plum pudding may have been warm, but the mood in the Great Hall at Yuletide most certainly was not.
Another cause of discord was the fact that Henry allowed a rather large entourage of foreign favourites to reside in England. They were known as the Poitevens, a motley crew who had little interest in anything more than their own personal advancement. These people were appointed to influential positions and proceeded to make themselves thoroughly unpopular with the English. A further bone of contention was Henry’s habit of lavish expenditure, and this extravagance came to be greatly resented by the barons. In 1255, with papal encouragement, Henry embarked on a military operation to make his second son, Edmund, king of Sicily. The venture ended in an expensive, ignominious failure which served to lower the king’s stock with the barons even further. Monty in particular was incensed at Henry’s action, and he believed that it was now time to constrain royal power.
By 1258, the situation had become intolerable, and the barons, with Monty playing a leading role forced Henry to comply with an arrangement known as the Provisions of Oxford. Henry had no choice but to agree, the royal exchequer was empty and was badly in need of a grant of funds which only the barons could provide. The Provisions of Oxford reformed the government by giving the barons more influence in the ruling of the realm, much to the chagrin of the king. The foreign favourites, the Poitevins, beloved of Henry, but roundly detested by everyone else, were to be sent packing back to France. It is thought that Queen Eleanor was quietly complicit in the banishment of the Poitevins.
‘You haughty foreign intruders, at the king’s court did you joyfully prance!
With your proud words of flattery, you led the king a merry dance.
Now without any further ado you are to be packed off to France!’
Nonetheless, Henry was somewhat aggrieved at having his royal wings clipped, and the fact that one of the leading protagonists was his brother-in-law, Monty, added insult to injury. The scene was set for armed conflict between the more radically inclined barons led by Monty, and the forces of the crown.