Henry III of England Henry III ( 1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272 ) , also known as Henry of Winchester , was King of England , Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death . The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême , Henry assumed the throne when he was only nine years old in the middle of the First Barons ' War . Cardinal Guala declared the war against the rebel barons to be a religious crusade and Henry ' s forces , led by William Marshal , defeated the rebels at the battles of Lincoln and Sandwich in 1217 . Henry promised to abide by the Great Charter of 1225 , which limited royal power and protected the rights of the major barons . His early rule was dominated first by Hubert de Burgh and then Peter des Roches , who reestablished royal authority after the war . In 1230 the King attempted to reconquer the provinces of France that had once belonged to his father , but the invasion was a fiasco . A revolt led by William Marshal ' s son , Richard , broke out in 1232 , ending in a peace settlement negotiated by the Church . Following the revolt , Henry ruled England personally , rather than governing through senior ministers . He travelled less than previous monarchs , investing heavily in a handful of his favourite palaces and castles . He married Eleanor of Provence , with whom he had five children . Henry was known for his piety , holding lavish religious ceremonies and giving generously to charities ; the King was particularly devoted to the figure of Edward the Confessor , whom he adopted as his patron saint . He extracted huge sums of money from the Jews in England , ultimately crippling their ability to do business , and as attitudes towards the Jews hardened , he introduced the Statute of Jewry , attempting to segregate the community . In a fresh attempt to reclaim his family ' s lands in France , he invaded Poitou in 1242 , leading to the disastrous Battle of Taillebourg . After this , Henry relied on diplomacy , cultivating an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II . Henry supported his brother Richard in his bid to become King of the Romans in 1256 , but was unable to place his own son Edmund on the throne of Sicily , despite investing large amounts of money . He planned to go on crusade to the Levant , but was prevented from doing so by rebellions in Gascony . By 1258 , Henry ' s rule was increasingly unpopular , the result of the failure of his expensive foreign policies and the notoriety of his Poitevin half - brothers , the Lusignans , as well as the role of his local officials in collecting taxes and debts . A coalition of his barons , initially probably backed by Eleanor , seized power in a coup d ' état and expelled the Poitevins from England , reforming the royal government through a process called the Provisions of Oxford . Henry and the baronial government enacted a peace with France in 1259 , under which Henry gave up his rights to his other lands in France in return for King Louis XI of France recognising him as the rightful ruler of Gascony . The baronial regime collapsed but Henry was unable to reform a stable government and instability across England continued . In 1263 one of the more radical barons , Simon de Montfort , seized power , resulting in the Second Barons ' War . Henry successfully convinced Louis to support his cause and mobilised an army . The Battle of Lewes occurred in 1264 , where Henry was defeated and taken prisoner . Henry ' s eldest son , Edward , escaped from captivity to defeat de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham the following year and freed his father . Henry initially enacted a harsh revenge on the remaining rebels , but was persuaded by the Church to mollify his policies through the Dictum of Kenilworth . Reconstruction was slow and Henry had to acquiesce to various measures , including further suppression of the Jews , to maintain baronial and popular support . Henry died in 1272 , leaving Edward as his heir . He was buried in Westminster Abbey , which he had rebuilt in the second half of his reign , and was moved to his current tomb in 1290 . Some miracle s were declared after his death but he was not canonised . Henry ' s 56 - year reign makes him the fifth longest reigning monarch in English history . Background and childhood . Henry was born in Winchester Castle on 1 October 1207 . He was the eldest son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême . Little is known of Henry ' s early life . He was initially looked after by a wet nurse called Ellen in the south of England , away from John ' s itinerant court , and probably had close ties to his mother . Henry had four legitimate , younger brothers and sisters – Richard , Joan , Isabella and Eleanor – and various older illegitimate siblings . In 1212 his education was entrusted to Peter des Roches , the Bishop of Winchester ; under his direction , Henry was given military training by Philip D ' Aubigny and taught to ride , probably by Ralph of St Samson . Little is known about Henry ' s appearance ; he was probably around tall , and accounts recorded after his death suggested that he had a strong build , with a drooping eyelid . Henry grew up to occasionally show flashes of a fierce temper , but mostly , as historian David Carpenter describes , he had an " amiable , easy - going , and sympathetic " personality . He was unaffected and honest , and showed his emotions readily , easily being moved to tears by religious sermons . At the start of the 13th century , the Kingdom of England formed part of an empire spreading across Western Europe . Henry was named after his grandfather , Henry II , who had built up this vast network of lands stretching from Scotland and Wales , through England , across the English Channel to the territories of Normandy , Brittany , Maine and Anjou in north - west France , onto Poitou and Gascony in the south - west . For many years the French Crown was relatively weak , enabling first Henry II , and then his sons Richard and John , to dominate France . In 1204 , John lost Normandy , Brittany , Maine and Anjou to Philip II of France , leaving English power on the continent limited to Gascony and Poitou . John raised taxes to pay for military campaigns to regain his lands , but unrest grew among many of the English barons ; John sought new allies by declaring England a Papal fiefdom , owing allegiance to the Pope . In 1215 , John and the rebel barons negotiated a potential peace treaty , the " Magna Carta " . The treaty would have limited potential abuses of royal power , demobilised the rebel armies and set up a power - sharing arrangement , but in practice neither side complied with its conditions . John and the loyalist barons firmly repudiated the " Magna Carta " and the First Barons ' War erupted , with the rebel barons aided by Philip ' s son , the future Louis VIII , who claimed the English throne for himself . The war soon descended into a stalemate , with neither side able to claim victory . The King became ill and died on the night of 18 October , leaving the nine - year - old Henry as his heir . Minority ( 1216 – 26 ) . Coronation . Henry was staying safely at Corfe Castle in Dorset with his mother when King John died . On his deathbed , John appointed a council of thirteen executors to help Henry reclaim the kingdom , and requested that his son be placed into the guardianship of William Marshal , one of the most famous knights in England . The loyalist leaders decided to crown Henry immediately to reinforce his claim to the throne . William knighted the boy , and Cardinal Guala Bicchieri , the papal legate to England , then oversaw his coronation at Gloucester Cathedral on 28 October . In the absence of the archbishops of Canterbury or York , he was anointed by the bishops of Worcester and Exeter , and crowned by Peter des Roches . The royal crown had been either lost or sold during the civil war , so instead the ceremony used a simple gold corolla belonging to Queen Isabella . The young King inherited a difficult situation , with over half of England occupied by the rebels and most of his father ' s continental possessions still in French hands . He had substantial support , however , from Guala who intended to win the civil war for Henry and punish the rebels . Guala set about strengthening the ties between England and the Papacy , starting with the coronation itself , where Henry gave homage to the Papacy , recognising the Pope as his feudal lord . Pope Honorius declared that Henry was the Pope ' s vassal and ward , and that the legate had complete authority to protect Henry and his kingdom . As an additional measure , Henry took the cross , declaring himself a crusader and so entitled to special protection from Rome . Two senior nobles stood out as candidates to head Henry ' s regency government . The first was William , who , although elderly , was renowned for his personal loyalty and could help support the war with his own men and material . The second was Ranulf de Blondeville , the Earl of Chester and one of the most powerful loyalist barons . William diplomatically waited until both Guala and Ranulf had requested him to take up the post before assuming power . William then appointed des Roches to be Henry ' s guardian , freeing himself up to lead the military effort . End of the Barons ' War . The war was not going well for the loyalists and the new regency government considered retreating to Ireland . Prince Louis and the rebel barons , however , were also finding it difficult to make further progress . Despite Louis controlling Westminster Abbey , he could not be crowned king because the English Church and the Papacy backed Henry . John ' s death had defused some of the rebel concerns , and the royal castles were still holding out in the occupied parts of the country . In a bid to take advantage of this , Henry encouraged the rebel barons to come back to his cause in exchange for the return of their lands , and reissued a version of the " Magna Carta " , albeit having first removed some of the clauses , including those unfavourable to the Papacy . The move was not successful and opposition to Henry ' s new government hardened . In February , Louis set sail for France to gather reinforcements . In his absence , arguments broke out between Louis ' s French and English followers , and Cardinal Guala declared that Henry ' s war against the rebels was a religious crusade . This resulted in a series of defections from the rebel movement , and the tide of the conflict swung in Henry ' s favour . Louis returned at the end of April and reinvigorated his campaign , splitting his forces into two groups , sending one north to besiege Lincoln Castle and keeping one in the south to capture Dover Castle . When he learnt that Louis had divided his army , William Marshal gambled on defeating the rebels in a single battle . William marched north and attacked Lincoln on 20 May ; entering through a side gate , he took the city in a sequence of fierce street battles and sacked the buildings . Large numbers of senior rebels were captured , and historian David Carpenter considers the battle to be " one of the most decisive in English history " . In the aftermath of Lincoln , the loyalist campaign stalled and only recommenced in late June when the victors had arranged the ransoming of their prisoners . Meanwhile , support for Louis ' s campaign was diminishing in France and he concluded that the war in England was lost . The French prince negotiated terms with Cardinal Guala , under which he would renounce his claim to the English throne ; in return , his followers would be given back their lands , any sentences of excommunication would be lifted and Henry ' s government would promise to enforce the " Magna Carta " . The proposed agreement soon began to unravel amid claims from some loyalists that it was too generous towards the rebels , particularly the clergy who had joined the rebellion . In the absence of a settlement , Louis remained in London with his remaining forces . On 24 August a French fleet arrived off the coast of Sandwich , bringing Louis soldiers , siege engine s and fresh supplies . Hubert de Burgh , Henry ' s justiciar , set sail to intercept it , resulting in the Battle of Sandwich . De Burgh ' s fleet scattered the French and captured their flagship , commanded by Eustace the Monk , who was promptly executed . When the news reached Louis , he entered into fresh peace negotiations . Henry , Isabella , Louis , Guala and William came to agreement on the final Treaty of Lambeth , also known as the Treaty of Kingston , on the 12 and 13 September . The treaty was similar to the first peace offer , but excluded the rebel clergy , whose lands and appointments remained forfeit . Louis accepted a gift of £6 , 666 to speed his departure from England , and promised to try to persuade King Philip to return Henry ' s lands in France . Louis left England as agreed and joined the Albigensian Crusade in the south of France . Restoring royal authority . With the end of the civil war , Henry ' s government faced the task of rebuilding royal authority across large parts of the country . By the end of 1217 many former rebels were routinely ignoring instructions from the centre , and even Henry ' s loyalist supporters jealously maintained their independent control over royal castles . Illegally constructed fortifications , called adulterine castle s , had sprung up across much of the country . The network of county sheriffs had collapsed , and with it the ability to raise taxes and collect royal revenues . The powerful Welsh Prince Llywelyn posed a major threat in Wales and along the Welsh Marches . Despite his success in winning the war , William had far less success in restoring royal power following the peace . In part , this was because William was unable to offer significant patronage , despite the expectations from the loyalist barons that they would be rewarded . William attempted to enforce the traditional rights of the Crown to approve marriages and wardships , but with little success . Nonetheless , William was able to reconstitute the royal bench of judges and reopen the royal exchequer . The government issued the Charter of the Forest , which attempted to reform the royal governance of the forests . The regency and Llyewlyn came to agreement on the Treaty of Worcester in 1218 , but its generous terms – Llywelyn became effectively Henry ' s justiciar across Wales – underlined the weakness of the English Crown . Henry ' s mother was unable to establish a role for herself in the regency government and she returned to France in 1217 , marrying Hugh de Lusignan , a powerful Poitevin noble . William Marshal fell ill and died in April 1219 . The replacement government was formed around a grouping of three senior ministers : Pandulf , the replacement Papal legate ; Peter des Roches ; and Hubert de Burgh , a former Justiciar . The three were appointed by a great council of the nobility at Oxford , and their government came to depend on these councils for authority . Hubert and des Roches were political rivals , with Hubert supported by a network of English barons , and des Roches backed by nobles from the royal territories in Poitou and Touraine . Hubert moved decisively against des Roches in 1221 , accusing him of treason and removing him as the King ' s guardian ; the Bishop left England for the crusades . Pandulf was recalled by Rome the same year , leaving Hubert as the dominant force in Henry ' s government . Initially the new government had little success , but in 1220 the fortunes of Henry ' s government began to improve . The Pope allowed Henry to be crowned for a second time , using a new set of royal regalia . The fresh coronation was intended to affirm the authority of the King ; Henry promised to restore the powers of the Crown , and the barons swore that they would give back the royal castles and pay their debts to the Crown , on the threat of excommunication . Hubert , accompanied by Henry , moved into Wales to suppress Llweylyn in 1223 , and in England his forces steadily reclaimed Henry ' s castles . The effort against the remaining recalcitrant barons came to a head in 1224 with the siege of Bedford Castle , which Henry and Hubert besieged for eight weeks ; when it finally fell , almost all of the garrison were executed . Meanwhile , Louis VIII of France allied himself with Hugh de Lusignan and invaded first Poitou and then Gascony . Henry ' s army in Poitou was under - resourced and lacked support from the Poitevin barons , many of whom had felt abandoned during the years of Henry ' s minority ; as a result , the province quickly fell . It became clear that Gascony would also fall unless reinforcements were sent from England . In early 1225 a great council approved a tax of £40 , 000 to dispatch an army , which quickly retook Gascony . In exchange for agreeing to support Henry , the barons demanded that the King reissue the " Magna Carta " and the Charter of the Forest . This time the King declared that the charters were issued of his own " spontaneous and free will " and confirmed them with the royal seal , giving the new Great Charter and the Charter of the Forest of 1225 much more authority than any previous versions . The barons anticipated that the King would act in accordance with these definitive charters , subject to the law and moderated by the advice of the nobility . Early rule ( 1227 – 34 ) . Invasion of France . Henry assumed formal control of his government in January 1227 , although some contemporaries argued that he was legally still a minor until his 21st birthday the following year . The King richly rewarded Hubert de Burgh for his service during his minority years , making him the Earl of Kent and giving him extensive lands across England and Wales . Despite coming of age , Henry remained heavily influenced by his advisers for the first few years of his rule and retained Hubert as his justiciar to run the government , granting him the position for life . The fate of Henry ' s family lands in France still remained uncertain . Reclaiming these lands was extremely important to Henry , who used terms such as " reclaiming his inheritance " , " restoring his rights " and " defending his legal claims " to the territories in diplomatic correspondence . The French kings , however , had an increasing financial , and thus military , advantage over Henry . Even under John , the French Crown had enjoyed a considerable , although not overwhelming , advantage in resources , but since then , the balance had shifted further , with the ordinary annual income of the French kings almost doubling between 1204 and 1221 . Louis VIII died in 1226 , leaving his 12 - year - old son , Louis IX , to inherit the throne , supported by a regency government . The young French King was in a much weaker position than his father , and faced opposition from many of the French nobility who still maintained their ties to England , leading to a sequence of revolts across the country . Against this background , in late 1228 a group of potential Norman and Angevin rebels called upon Henry to invade and reclaim his inheritance , and Peter de Dreux , the Duke of Brittany , openly revolted against Louis and gave his homage to Henry . Henry ' s preparations for an invasion progressed slowly , and when he finally arrived in Brittany with an army in May 1230 , the campaign did not go well . Possibly on the advice of Hubert , the King decided to avoid battle with the French by not invading Normandy and instead marching south into Poitou , where he campaigned ineffectually over the summer , before finally progressing safely onto Gascony . He made a truce with Louis until 1234 and returned to England having achieved nothing ; historian Huw Ridgeway describes the expedition as a " costly fiasco " . Richard Marshal ' s revolt . Henry ' s chief minister , Hubert de Burgh fell from power in 1232 . His old rival , Peter des Roches , returned to England from the crusades in August 1231 , and allied himself with Hubert ' s growing number of political opponents . He convinced Henry that the Justiciar had squandered royal money and lands , and was responsible for a series of riots against foreign clerics . Hubert took sanctuary in Merton College Chapel , but Henry had him arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London . Des Roches took over the King ' s government , backed by the Poitevin baronial faction in England , who saw this as a chance to take back the lands which they had lost to Hubert ' s followers in the previous decades . Des Roches used his new authority to begin stripping his opponents of their estates , circumventing the courts and legal process . Complaints from powerful barons such as William Marshal ' s son Richard grew , and they argued that Henry was failing to protect their legal rights as described in the 1225 charters . A fresh civil war broke out between des Roches and Richard ' s followers . Des Roches sent armies into Richard ' s lands in Ireland and South Wales . In response , Richard allied himself with Prince Llywelyn , and his own supporters rose up in rebellion in England . Henry was unable to gain a clear military advantage and became concerned that Louis of France might seize the opportunity to invade Brittany – where the truce was about to expire – while he was distracted at home . Edmund Rich , the Archbishop of Canterbury , intervened in 1234 and held several great councils , advising Henry to accept the dismissal of des Roches . Henry agreed to make peace , but , before the negotiations were completed , Richard died of wounds suffered in battle , leaving his younger brother Gilbert to inherit his lands . The final settlement was confirmed in May , and Henry was widely praised for his humility in submitting to the slightly embarrassing peace . Meanwhile , the truce with France in Brittany finally expired , and Henry ' s ally Duke Peter came under fresh military pressure . Henry could only send a small force of soldiers to assist , and Brittany fell to Louis in November . For the next 24 years , Henry ruled the kingdom personally , rather than through senior ministers . Henry as king . Kingship , government and law . Royal government in England had traditionally centred on several great offices of state , filled by powerful , independent members of the baronage . Henry abandoned this policy , leaving the post of justiciar vacant and turning the position of into a more junior role . A small royal council was formed but its role was ill - defined ; appointments , patronage and policy were decided personally by Henry and his immediate advisers , rather than through the larger councils that had marked his early years . The changes made it much harder for those outside Henry ' s inner circle to influence policy or to pursue legitimate grievances , particularly against the King ' s friends . Henry believed that kings should rule England in a dignified manner , surrounded by ceremony and ecclesiastical ritual . He thought that his predecessors had allowed the status of the Crown to decline , and sought to correct this during his reign . The events of the civil war in Henry ' s youth deeply affected the King , and he adopted Edward the Confessor as his patron saint , hoping to emulate the way in which the Anglo - Saxon King had brought peace to England and reunited his people in order and harmony . Henry tried to use his royal authority leniently , hoping to appease the more hostile barons and maintain peace in England . As a result , despite a symbolic emphasis on royal power , Henry ' s rule was relatively circumscribed and constitutional . He generally acted within the terms of the charters , which prevented the Crown from taking extrajudicial action against the barons , including the fines and expropriations that had been common under John . The charters , however , did not address the sensitive issues of the appointment of royal advisers and the distribution of patronage , and they lacked any means of enforcement if the King chose to ignore them . Henry ' s rule became lax and careless , resulting in a reduction in royal authority in the provinces and , ultimately , the collapse of his authority at court . The inconsistency with which he applied the charters over the course of his rule alienated many barons , even those within his own faction . The term " parliament " first appeared in the 1230s and 1240s to describe large gatherings of the royal court , and parliamentary gatherings were held periodically throughout Henry ' s reign . They were used to agree the raising of taxes which , in the 13th century , were single , one - off levies , typically on movable property , intended to support the King ' s normal revenues for particular projects . During Henry ' s reign , the counties began to send regular delegations to these parliaments , and came to represent a broader cross - section of the community than simply the major barons . Despite the various charters , the provision of royal justice was inconsistent and driven by the needs of immediate politics : sometimes action would be taken against to support a baron ' s case , on other occasions the problem would simply be ignored . The royal eyres , courts which toured the country to provide justice at the local level , typically for those lesser barons and the gentry claiming grievances against the major lords , had little power , allowing the major barons to dominate the local justice system . The power of royal sheriffs also declined during Henry ' s reign . They were now often lesser men appointed by the exchequer , rather than coming from important local families , and they focused on generating revenue for the King . Their robust attempts to enforce fines and collect debts generated much unpopularity among the lower classes . Unlike his father , Henry did not exploit the large debts that the barons frequently owed to the Crown , and was slow to collect any sums of money due to him . Court . The royal court was formed round Henry ' s trusted friends , such as Richard de Clare , the brothers Hugh and Roger Bigod and Humphrey de Bohun and Henry ' s brother , Richard . Henry wanted to use his court to unite his English and continental subjects , and it included Simon de Montfort , originally a French knight who had married Henry ' s sister Eleanor and become the Earl of Leicester , in addition to the later influxes of Henry ' s Savoyard and Lusignan relatives . The court followed European styles and traditions , and was heavily influenced by Henry ' s Angevin family traditions : French was the spoken language , it had close links to the royal courts of France , Castile , the Holy Roman Empire and Sicily , and Henry sponsored the same writers as the other European rulers . Henry travelled less than previous kings , seeking a tranquil , more sedate life and staying at each of his palaces for prolonged periods before moving on . Possibly as a result , he focused more attention on his palaces and houses ; Henry was , according to architectural historian John Goodall , " the most obsessive patron of art and architecture ever to have occupied the throne of England " . Henry extended the royal complex at Westminster in London , one of his favourite homes , rebuilding the palace and the abbey at a cost of almost £55 , 000 . He spent more time in Westminster than any of his predecessors , shaping the formation of England ' s capital city . He spent £58 , 000 on his royal castles , carrying out major works at the Tower of London , Lincoln and Dover . Both the military defences and the internal accommodation of these castles were significantly improved . At Windsor , a huge overhaul of the castle produced a lavish palace complex , whose style and detail inspired many subsequent designs in England and Wales . The Tower of London was extended to form a concentric fortress with extensive living quarters , although Henry primarily used the castle as a secure retreat in the event of war or civil strife . Henry also kept a menagerie at the Tower , a tradition begun by his father , and his exotic specimens included an elephant , a leopard and a camel . Henry reformed the system of silver coins in England in 1247 , replacing the older Short Cross silver pennies with a new Long Cross design . Due to the initial costs of the transition , Henry required the financial help of his brother Richard to undertake this reform , but the recoinage occurred quickly and efficiently . Between 1243 and 1258 , the King assembled two great hoard s , or stockpiles , of gold . In 1257 , Henry needed to spend the second of these hoards urgently and , rather than selling the gold quickly and depressing its value , Henry decided to introduce gold pennies into England , following the popular trend in Italy . The gold pennies resembled the gold coins issued by Edward the Confessor , but the overvalued currency attracted complaints from the City of London and was ultimately abandoned . Religion . Henry was known for his public demonstrations of piety , and appears to have been genuinely devout . He promoted rich , luxurious Church services , and , unusually for the period , celebrated mass at least once a day . He gave generously to religious causes , paid for the feeding of 500 paupers each day and helped orphans . He fasted before commemorating Edward the Confessor ' s feasts , and may have washed the feet of leper s . Henry regularly went on pilgrimages , particularly to the abbeys of Bromholm , St Albans and Walsingham Priory , although he appears to have sometimes used pilgrimages as an excuse to avoid dealing with pressing political problems . Henry shared many of his religious views with Louis of France , and the two men appear to have been slightly competitive in their piety . Towards the end of his reign , Henry may have taken up the practice of curing sufferers of scrofula , often called " the King ' s evil " , by touching them , possibly emulating Louis , who also took up the practice . Louis had a famous collection of Passion Relics which he stored at Sainte - Chapelle , and paraded the Holy Cross through Paris in 1241 ; Henry took possession of the relic of the Holy Blood in 1247 , marching it through Westminster to be installed in Westminster Abbey , which he promoted as an alternative to the Sainte - Chapelle . Henry was particularly supportive of the mendicant orders ; his confessor s were drawn from the Dominican Friars , and he built mendicant houses in Canterbury , Norwich , Oxford , Reading and York , helping to find valuable space for new buildings in what were already crowded towns and cities . He supported the military crusading orders , and became a patron of the Teutonic Order in 1235 . The emerging universities of Oxford and Cambridge also received royal attention : Henry reinforced and regulated their powers , and encouraged scholars to migrate from Paris to teach at them . A rival institution at Northampton was declared by the King to be a mere school and not a true university . The support given to Henry by the Papacy during his early years had a lasting influence on his attitude towards Rome , and he defended the mother church diligently throughout his reign . Rome in the 13th century was at once both the centre of the Europe - wide Church , and a political power in central Italy , threatened militarily by the Holy Roman Empire . During Henry ' s reign , the Papacy developed a strong , central bureaucracy , supported by benefices granted to absent churchmen working in Rome . Tensions grew between this practice and the needs of local parishioners , exemplified by the dispute between Robert Grosseteste , the Bishop of Lincoln , and the Papacy in 1250 . Although the Scottish Church became more independent of England during the period , the Papal Legates helped Henry continue to apply influence over its activities at a distance . Pope Innocent IV ' s attempts to raise funds began to face opposition from within the English Church during Henry ' s reign . In 1240 , the Papal emissary ' s collection of taxes to pay for the Papacy ' s war with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II resulted in protests , ultimately overcome with the help of Henry and the Pope , and in the 1250s Henry ' s crusading tithes faced similar resistance . Jewish policies . The Jews of England were considered the property of the Crown , and they had traditionally been used as a source of cheap loans and easy taxation , in exchange for royal protection against antisemitism . The Jews had suffered considerable oppression during the First Barons ' War , but during Henry ' s early years the community had flourished and became one of the most prosperous in Europe . This was primarily the result of the stance taken by the regency government , which took a range of measures to protect the Jews and encourage lending . This was driven by financial self - interest , as they stood to profit considerably from a strong Jewish community in England . Their policy ran counter to the instructions being sent from the Pope , however , who had laid out strong anti - Jewish measures at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 ; William Marshal continued with his policy despite complaints from the Church . In 1239 Henry introduced different policies , possibly trying to imitate those of Louis of France : Jewish leaders across England were imprisoned and forced to pay fines equivalent to a third of their goods , and any outstanding loans were to be released . Further huge demands for cash followed – £40 , 000 was demanded in 1244 , for example , of which around two - thirds was collected within five years – destroying the ability of the Jewish community to lend money commercially . Henry had built the " Domus Conversorum " in London in 1232 to help convert Jews to Christianity , and efforts intensified after 1239 ; as many as 10 percent of the Jews in England had been converted by the late 1250s . Anti - Jewish stories involving tales of child sacrifice flourished in the 1250s and , in response , Henry passed the Statute of Jewry in 1253 , which attempted to segregate Jews and enforce the wearing of Jewish badges ; it remains unclear to what extent this statute was actually implemented by Henry . Personal rule ( 1234 – 58 ) . Marriage . Henry investigated a range of potential marriage partners in his youth , but they all proved unsuitable for reasons of European and domestic politics . In 1236 he finally married Eleanor of Provence , the daughter of Raymond - Berengar , the Count of Provence , and Beatrice of Savoy . Eleanor was well - mannered , cultured and articulate , but the primary reason for the marriage was political , as Henry stood to create a valuable set of alliances with the rulers of the south and south - east of France . Over the coming years , Eleanor emerged as a hard - headed , firm politician . Historians Margaret Howell and David Carpenter describe her as being " more combative " and " far tougher and more determined " than her husband . The marriage contract was confirmed in 1235 and Eleanor travelled to England to meet Henry for the first time . The pair were married at Canterbury Cathedral in January 1236 , and Eleanor was crowned queen at Westminster shortly afterwards in a lavish ceremony planned by Henry . There was a substantial age gap between the couple – Henry was 28 years old , Eleanor only 12 – but historian Margaret Howell observes that the King " was generous and warm - hearted and prepared to lavish care and affection on his wife " . Henry gave Eleanor extensive gifts and paid personal attention to establishing and equipping her household . He also brought her fully into his religious life , including involving her in his devotion to Edward the Confessor . Despite initial concerns that the Queen might be barren , Henry and Eleanor had five children together . In 1239 Eleanor gave birth to their first child , Edward , named after the Confessor . Henry was overjoyed and held huge celebrations , giving lavishly to the Church and to the poor to encourage God to protect his young son . Their first daughter , Margaret , named after Eleanor ' s sister , followed in 1240 , her birth also accompanied by celebrations and donations to the poor . Henry ' s third child , Beatrice , was named after his mother - in - law , and born in 1242 during a military campaign in Poitou . Their fourth child , Edmund , arrived in 1245 and was named after the 9th - century saint : concerned about Eleanor ' s health , Henry donated large amounts of money to the Church throughout the pregnancy . A third daughter , Katherine , was born in 1253 but soon fell ill , possibly the result of a degenerative disorder such as Rett syndrome , and was unable to speak . She died in 1257 and Henry was distraught . Henry ' s children spent most of their childhood at Windsor Castle and he appears to have been extremely attached to them , rarely spending extended periods of time apart from his family . After Eleanor ' s marriage , many of her Savoyard relatives joined her in England . At least 170 Savoyards arrived in England after 1236 , coming from Savoy , Burgundy and Flanders , including Eleanor ' s uncles : Boniface became the Archbishop of Canterbury , and William became Henry ' s chief adviser for a short period . Henry arranged marriages for many of them into the English nobility , a practice that initially caused friction with the English barons , who resisted landed estates passing into the hands of foreigners . The Savoyards were careful not to exacerbate the situation and became increasingly integrated into English baronial society , forming an important power base for Eleanor in England . Poitou and the Lusignans . In 1241 , the barons in Poitou , including Henry ' s father - in - law Hugh de Lusignan , rebelled against the rule of Louis of France . The rebels had counted on aid from Henry , but he lacked domestic support and was slow to mobilise an army , not arriving in France until the next summer . Henry ' s campaign was hesitant and was further undermined by Hugh switching sides and returning to support Louis . On 20 May Henry ' s army was surrounded by the French at Taillebourg ; Henry ' s brother Richard persuaded the French to delay their attack and the King took the opportunity to escape to Bordeaux . Simon de Montfort , who fought a successful rearguard action during the withdrawal , was furious with the King ' s incompetence and told Henry that he should be locked up like the 10th - century Carolingian king Charles the Simple . The Poitou rebellion collapsed and Henry entered into a fresh five - year truce ; his campaign had been a disastrous failure and had cost over £80 , 000 . In the aftermath of the revolt , French power extended throughout Poitou , threatening the interests of the Lusignan family . In 1247 Henry encouraged his relatives to travel to England , where they were rewarded with large estates , largely at the expense of the English barons . More Poitevins followed , until around 100 had settled in England , around two - thirds of them being granted substantial incomes worth £66 or more by Henry . Henry encouraged some to help him on the continent ; others acted as mercenaries and diplomatic agents , or fought on Henry ' s behalf in European campaigns . Many were given estates along the contested Welsh Marches , or in Ireland , where they protected the frontiers . For Henry , the community was an important symbol of his hopes to one day reconquer Poitou and the rest of his French lands , and many of the Lusignans became close friends with his son Edward . The presence of Henry ' s extended family in England proved controversial . Concerns were raised by contemporary chroniclers – especially in works of Roger de Wendover and Matthew Paris – about the number of foreigners in England and historian Martin Aurell notes the xenophobic overtones of their commentary . The term " Poitevins " became loosely applied to this grouping , although many came from Anjou and other parts of France , and by the 1250s there was a fierce rivalry between the relatively well established Savoyards and the newly arrived Poitevins . The Lusignans began to break the law with impunity , pursuing personal grievances against other barons and the Savoyards , and Henry took little or no action to restrain them . By 1258 , the general dislike of the Poitevins had turned into hatred , with Simon de Montfort one of their strongest critics . Scotland , Wales and Ireland . Henry ' s position in Wales was strengthened during the first two decades of his personal rule . Following the death of Llywelyn the Great in 1240 , Henry ' s power in Wales expanded . Three military campaigns were carried out in the 1240s , new castles were constructed and the royal lands in the County of Chester were expanded , increasing Henry ' s dominance over the Welsh princes . Dafydd , Llywelyn ' s son , resisted the incursions , but died in 1246 , and Henry confirmed the Treaty of Woodstock the following year with Owain and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , Llywelyn the Great ' s grandsons , under which they ceded land to the King but retained the heart of their princedom in Gwynedd . In South Wales , Henry gradually extended his authority across the region , but the campaigns were not pursued with vigour and the King did little to stop the Marcher territories along the border becoming increasingly independent of the Crown . In 1256 , however , Llywelyn ap Gruffudd rebelled against Henry and widespread violence spread across Wales ; Henry promised a swift military response but did not carry through on his threats . Ireland was important to Henry , both as a source of royal revenue – an average of £1 , 150 was sent from Ireland to the Crown each year during the middle of his reign – and as a source of estates that could be granted to his supporters . The major landowners looked eastwards towards Henry ' s court for political leadership , and many also possessed estates in Wales and England . The 1240s saw major upheavals in land ownership due to deaths among the barons , enabling Henry to redistribute Irish lands to his supporters . In the 1250s , the King gave out numerous grants of land along the frontier in Ireland to his supporters , creating a buffer zone against the native Irish ; the local Irish kings began to suffer increased harassment as English power increased across the region . These lands were in many cases unprofitable for the barons to hold and English power reached its zenith under Henry for the medieval period . In 1254 , Henry granted Ireland to his son , Edward , on condition that it would never be separated from the Crown . Henry maintained peace with Scotland during his reign , where he was the feudal lord of Alexander II . Henry assumed that he had the right to interfere in Scottish affairs and brought up the issue of his authority with the Scottish kings at key moments , but he lacked the inclination or the resources to do much more . Alexander had occupied parts of northern England during the First Barons ' War but had been excommunicated and forced to retreat . Alexander married Henry ' s sister Joan in 1221 , and after he and Henry signed the Treaty of York in 1237 , Henry had a secure northern frontier . Henry knighted Alexander III before the young King married Henry ' s daughter Margaret in 1251 and , despite Alexander ' s refusal to give homage to Henry for Scotland , the two enjoyed a good relationship . Henry had Alexander and Margaret rescued from Edinburgh Castle when they were imprisoned there by a rebellious Scottish baron in 1255 and took additional measures to manage Alexander ' s government during the rest of his minority years . European strategy . Henry had no further opportunities to reconquer his possessions in France after the collapse of his military campaign at Taillebourg . Henry ' s resources were quite inadequate in comparison to those of the French Crown , and by the end of the 1240s it was clear that King Louis had become the preeminent power across France . Henry instead adopted what historian Michael Clanchy has described as a " European strategy " , attempting to regain his lands in France through diplomacy rather than force , building alliances with other states prepared to put military pressure on the French King . In particular , Henry cultivated Frederick II , hoping he would turn against Louis or allow his nobility to join Henry ' s campaigns . In the process , Henry ' s attention became increasingly focused on European politics and events rather than domestic affairs . Crusading was a popular cause in the 13th century , and in 1248 Louis joined the ill - fated Seventh Crusade , having first made a fresh truce with England and received assurances from the Pope that he would protect his lands against any attack by Henry . Henry might have joined this crusade himself , but the rivalry between the two kings made this impossible and , after Louis ' s defeat at Battle of Al Mansurah in 1250 , Henry instead announced that he would be undertaking his own crusade to the Levant . The King began to make arrangements for passage with friendly rulers around the Levant , imposing efficiency savings on the royal household and arranging for ships and transport : he appeared almost over - eager to take part . Henry ' s plans reflected his strong religious beliefs , but they also stood to give him additional international credibility when arguing for the return of his possessions in France . Henry ' s crusade never departed , as he was forced to deal with problems in Gascony , where the harsh policies of the King ' s lieutenant , Simon de Montfort , had provoked a violent uprising in 1252 , which was supported by King Alfonso X of neighbouring Castile . The English court was split over the problem : Simon and Eleanor argued that the Gascons were to blame for the crisis , while Henry , backed by the Lusignans , blamed Simon ' s misjudgment . Henry and Eleanor quarrelled over the issue and were not reconciled until the following year . Forced to intervene personally , Henry carried out an effective , if expensive , campaign with the help of the Lusignans and stabilised the province . Gascony was then given to Henry ' s son Edward , who married Alfonso ' s half - sister Eleanor , delivering a long - lasting peace with Castile . On the way back from Gascony , Henry met with Louis for the first time in an arrangement brokered by their wives , and the two kings became close friends . The Gascon campaign cost more than £200 , 000 and used up all the money intended for Henry ' s crusade , leaving him heavily in debt and reliant on loans from his brother Richard and the Lusignans . The Sicilian business . Henry did not give up on his hopes for a crusade , but became increasingly absorbed in a bid to acquire the wealthy Kingdom of Sicily for his son Edmund . Sicily had been controlled by Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire , for many years a rival of Pope Innocent IV . On Frederick ' s death in 1250 , Innocent started to look for a new ruler , one more amenable to the Papacy . Henry saw Sicily as both a valuable prize for his son and as an excellent base for his crusading plans in the east . With minimal consultation within his court , Henry came to an agreement with the Pope in 1254 that Edmund should be the next king . Innocent urged Henry to send Edmund with an army to reclaim Sicily from Frederick ' s son Manfred , offering to contribute to the expenses of the campaign . Innocent was succeeded by Alexander IV , who was facing increasingly military pressure from the Empire . He could no longer afford to pay Henry ' s expenses , instead demanding that Henry compensate the Papacy for the £90 , 000 spent on the war so far . This was a huge sum , and Henry turned to parliament for help in 1255 , only to be rebuffed ; further attempts followed , but by 1257 only partial parliamentary assistance had been offered . Alexander grew increasingly unhappy about Henry ' s prevarication and in 1258 sent an envoy to England , threatening to excommunicate Henry if he did not first pay his debts to the Papacy and then send the promised army to Sicily . Parliament again refused to assist the King in raising this money . Instead Henry turned to extorting money from the senior clergy , who were forced to sign blank charters , promising to pay effectively unlimited sums of money in support of the King ' s efforts , raising around £40 , 000 . The English Church felt the money was wasted , vanishing into the long - running war in Italy . Meanwhile , Henry attempted to influence the outcomes of the elections in the Holy Roman Empire , which would appoint a new King of the Romans . When the more prominent German candidates failed to gain traction , Henry began to back his brother Richard ' s candidature , giving donations to his potential supporters in the Empire . Richard was successfully elected in 1256 with expectations of possibly being crowned the Holy Roman Emperor , but continued to play a major role in English politics . His election faced a mixed response in England ; Richard was believed to provide moderate , sensible counsel and his presence was missed by the English barons , but he also faced criticism , probably incorrectly , for funding his German campaign at England ' s expense . Although Henry now had increased support in the Empire for a potential alliance against Louis of France , the two kings were now moving towards potentially settling their disputes peacefully ; for Henry , a peace treaty could allow him to focus on Sicily and his crusade . Later reign ( 1258 – 72 ) . Revolution . In 1258 , Henry faced a revolt among the English barons . Anger had grown about the way the King ' s officials were raising funds , the influence of the Poitevins at court and his unpopular Sicilian policy ; even the English Church had grievances over its treatment by the King . The Welsh were still in open revolt , and now allied themselves with Scotland . Henry was also critically short of money ; although he still had some reserves of gold and silver , they were totally insufficient to cover his potential expenditures , including the campaign for Sicily and his debts to the Papacy . Critics suggested darkly that he had never really intended to join the crusades , and was simply intending to profit from the crusading tithes . To compound the situation , the harvests in England failed . Within Henry ' s court there was a strong feeling that the King would be unable to lead the country through these problems . The discontent finally erupted in April , when seven of the major English and Savoyard barons – Simon de Montfort , Roger and Hugh Bigod , John Fitzgeoffrey , Peter de Montfort , Peter de Savoy and Richard de Clare – secretly formed an alliance to expel the Lusignans from court , a move probably quietly supported by the Queen . On 30 April , Hugh Bigod marched into Westminster in the middle of the King ' s parliament , backed by his co - conspirators , and carried out a coup d ' état . Henry , fearful that he was about to be arrested and imprisoned , agreed to abandon his policy of personal rule and instead govern through a council of 24 barons and churchmen , half chosen by the King and half by the barons . His own nominees to the council , however , drew heavily on the hated Lusignans . The pressure for reform continued to grow unabated and a fresh parliament met in June , passing a set of measures known as the Provisions of Oxford , which Henry swore to uphold . These provisions created a smaller council of 15 members , elected solely by the barons , which then had the power to appoint England ' s justiciar , chancellor and treasurer , and which would be monitored through triannual parliaments . Pressure from the lesser barons and the gentry present at Oxford also helped to push through wider reform , intended to limit the abuse of power by both the King ' s officials and the major barons . The elected council included representatives of the Savoyard faction but no Poitevins , and the new government immediately took steps to exile the leading Lusignans and to seize key castles across the country . The disagreements between the leading barons involved in the revolt soon became evident . De Montfort championed radical reforms that would place further limitations on the authority and power of the major barons as well as the Crown ; others , such as Hugh Bigod , promoted only moderate change , while the conservative barons , such as de Clare , expressed concerns about the existing limitations on the King ' s powers . Henry ' s son , Edward , initially opposed the revolution , but then allied himself with de Montfort , helping him to pass the radical Provisions of Westminster in 1259 , which introduced further limits on the major barons and local royal officials . Crisis . Over the next four years , neither Henry nor the barons were able to restore stability in England , and power swung back and forth between the different factions . One of the priorities for the new regime , however , was to settle the long - running dispute with France and , at the end of 1259 , Henry and Eleanor left for Paris to negotiate the final details of a peace treaty with King Louis , escorted by Simon de Montfort and much of the baronial government . Under the treaty , Henry gave up any claim to his family ' s lands in the north of France , but was confirmed as the legitimate ruler of Gascony and various neighbouring territories in the south , giving homage and recognising Louis as his feudal lord for these possessions . When de Montfort returned to England , Henry , supported by Eleanor , remained in Paris where he seized the opportunity to reassert royal authority and began to issue royal orders independently of the barons . Henry finally returned to retake power in England in April 1260 , where conflict was brewing between de Clare ' s forces and those of de Montfort and Edward . Henry ' s brother Richard mediated between the parties and averted a military confrontation ; Edward was reconciled with his father and de Montford was put on trial for his actions against the King . Henry was unable to maintain his grip on power , however , and in October a coalition headed by de Monfort , de Clare and Edward briefly seized back control , but within months their baronial council had collapsed into chaos as well . Henry continued to publicly support the Provisions of Oxford , but he secretly opened discussions with Pope Urban IV , hoping to be absolved from the oath he had made at Oxford . In June 1261 , the King announced that Rome had released him from his promises and he promptly held a counter - coup with the support of Edward . He purged the ranks of the sheriffs of his enemies and seized back control of many of the royal castles . The baronial opposition , led by de Montfort and de Clare , were temporarily reunited in their opposition to Henry ' s actions , convening their own parliament , independent of the King , and establishing a rival system of local government across England . Henry and Eleanor mobilised their own supporters and raised a foreign mercenary army . Facing the threat of open civil war , the barons backed down : de Clare switched sides once again , de Montfort left for exile in France and the baronial resistance collapsed . Henry ' s government relied primarily on Eleanor and her Savoyard supporters , and it proved short - lived . He attempted to settle the crisis permanently by forcing the barons to agree to the Treaty of Kingston . This treaty introduced a system of arbitration to settle outstanding disputes between the King and the barons , using Richard as an initial adjudicator , backed up by Louis of France should Richard fail to generate a compromise . Henry softened some of his policies in response to the concerns of the barons , but he soon began to target his political enemies and recommence his unpopular Sicilian policy . Henry ' s government was weakened by the death of de Clare , as his heir , Gilbert , sided with the radicals ; the King ' s position was further undermined by major Welsh incursions along the Marches and the Pope ' s decision to reverse his judgement on the Provisions , this time confirming them as legitimate . By early 1263 , Henry ' s authority had disintegrated and the country slipped back towards open civil war . Second Barons ' War . De Montfort returned to England in April 1263 and convened a council of rebel barons in Oxford to pursue a renewed anti - Poitevin agenda . Revolt broke out shortly afterwards in the Welsh Marches and , by October , England faced a likely civil war between Henry , backed by Edward , Bigod and the conservative barons , and de Montfort , de Clare and the radicals . De Montfort marched east with an army and London rose up in revolt . Henry and Eleanor were trapped in the Tower of London by the rebels ; the Queen attempted to escape up the River Thames to join Edward ' s army at Windsor , but was forced to retreat by the London crowds . De Montfort took the pair prisoner , and although he maintained a fiction of ruling in Henry ' s name , the rebels completely replaced the royal government and household with their own , trusted men . De Montfort ' s coalition began to quickly fragment , Henry regained his freedom of movement and renewed chaos spread across England . Henry appealed to Louis of France for arbitration in the dispute , as had been laid out in the Treaty of Kingston ; de Montfort was initially hostile to this idea , but , as war became more likely again , he decided to agree to French arbitration as well . Henry went to Paris in person , accompanied by de Montfort ' s representatives . Initially de Montfort ' s legal arguments held sway , but in January 1264 , Louis announced the Mise of Amiens , condemning the rebels , upholding the King ' s rights and annulling the Provisions of Oxford . Louis had strong views of his own on the rights of kings over those of barons , but was also influenced by his wife , Margaret , who was Eleanor ' s sister , and by the Pope . Leaving Eleanor in Paris to assemble mercenary reinforcements , Henry returned to England in February 1264 , where violence was brewing in response to the unpopular French decision . The Second Barons ' War finally broke out in April 1264 , when Henry led an army into de Montfort ' s territories in the Midlands , and then advanced south - east to re - occupy the important route to France . Becoming desperate , de Montfort marched in pursuit of Henry and the two armies met at the Battle of Lewes on 14 May . Despite their numerical superiority , Henry ' s forces were overwhelmed . His brother Richard was captured , and Henry and Edward retreated to the local priory and surrendered the following day . Henry was forced to pardon the rebel barons and reinstate the Provisions of Oxford , leaving him , as historian Adrian Jobson describes , " little more than a figurehead " . De Montfort was unable to consolidate his victory and widespread disorder persisted across the country . In France , Eleanor made plans for an invasion of England with the support of Louis , while Edward escaped his captors in May and formed a new army . Edward pursued de Monfort ' s forces through the Marches , before striking east to attack his fortress at Kenilworth and then turning once more on the rebel leader himself . De Montfort , accompanied by the captive Henry , was unable to retreat and the Battle of Evesham ensued . Edward was triumphant and de Montfort ' s corpse was mutilated by the victors ; Henry , who was wearing borrowed armour , was almost killed by Edward ' s forces during the fighting before they recognised the King and escorted him to safety . In places the now leaderless rebellion dragged on , with some rebels gathering at Kenilworth , which Henry and Edward took after a long siege in 1266 . The remaining pockets of resistance were mopped up , and the final rebels , holed up in the Isle of Ely , surrendered in July 1267 , marking the end of the war . Reconciliation and reconstruction . Henry quickly took revenge on his enemies after the Battle of Evesham . He immediately ordered the sequestration of all the rebel lands , triggering a wave of chaotic looting across the country . Henry initially rejected any calls for moderation , but in October 1266 he was convinced by the Papal Legate , Ottobuono de ' Fieschi , to issue a less draconian policy , called the Dictum of Kenilworth , which allowed for the return of the rebels ' lands , in exchange for the payment of harsh fines . The Statute of Marlborough followed in November 1267 , which effectively reissued much of the Provisions of Westminster , placing limitations on the powers of local royal officials and the major barons , but without restricting central royal authority . Most of the exiled Poitevins began to return to England after the war . In September 1267 Henry made the Treaty of Montgomery with Llwelyn , recognising him as the Prince of Wales and giving substantial land concessions . In the final years of his reign , Henry was increasingly infirm and focused on securing peace within the kingdom and his own religious devotions . Edward became the Steward of England and began to play a more prominent role in government . Henry ' s finances were in a precarious state as a result of the war , and when Edward decided to join the crusades in 1268 it became clear that fresh taxes were necessary . Henry was concerned that Edward ' s absence might encourage further revolts , but was convinced by his son to negotiate with multiple parliaments over the next two years to raise the money . De Montfort had exacted harsh penalties on the Jews which Henry initially reversed , but he reintroduced a range of anti - Jewish measures under pressure from parliament in the final years of his reign . Henry continued to invest in Westminster Abbey , which became a replacement for the Angevin mausoleum at Fontevraud Abbey , and in 1269 he oversaw a grand ceremony to rebury Edward the Confessor in a lavish new shrine , personally helping to carry the body to its new resting place . Death ( 1272 ) . Edward left for the Eighth Crusade , led by Louis of France , in 1270 , but Henry became increasingly ill : concerns about a fresh rebellion grew and the next year the King wrote to his son asking him to return to England , but Edward did not turn back . Henry recovered slightly and announced his renewed intention to join the crusades himself , but he never regained his full health and on the evening of 16 November 1272 , Henry died in Westminster , probably with Eleanor in attendance . He was succeeded by Edward , who slowly made his way back to England via Gascony , finally arriving in August 1274 . At his request , Henry was buried in Westminster Abbey in front of the church ' s high altar , in the former resting place of Edward the Confessor . A few years later , work began on a grander tomb for the King and in 1290 Edward moved his father ' s body to its current location in Westminster Abbey . His funeral effigy was designed and forged within the abbey grounds ; unlike other effigies of the period , it is particularly naturalistic in style , but it is probably not a close likeness of Henry himself . Eleanor probably hoped that Henry would be recognised as a saint , as his contemporary Louis IX of France had been ; indeed , Henry ' s final tomb resembled the shrine of a saint , complete with niches possibly intended to hold relics . When the King ' s body was exhumed in 1290 , contemporaries noted that the body was in perfect condition and that Henry ' s long beard remained well preserved , which at the time was considered to be an indication of saintly purity . Miracles began to be reported at the tomb , but Edward was sceptical about these stories . The reports ceased , and Henry was never canonised . In 1292 Henry ' s heart was removed from his tomb and reburied at Fontevraud Abbey with the bodies of his Angevin family . Legacy . Historiography . The first histories of Henry ' s reign emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries , relying primarily on the accounts of medieval chroniclers , in particular writings of Roger of Wendover and Matthew Paris . These early historians , including Archbishop Matthew Parker , were influenced by contemporary concerns about the roles of the Church and state , and examined the changing nature of kingship under Henry , the emergence of English nationalism during the period and what they perceived to be the malign influence of the Papacy . During the English Civil War , historians also drew parallels between Henry ' s experiences and those of the deposed Charles I . By the 19th century , Victorian scholars such as William Stubbs , James Ramsay , and William Hunt sought to understand how the English political system had evolved under Henry . They explored the emergence of Parliamentary institutions during his reign , and sympathized with the concerns of the chroniclers over the role of the Poitevins in England . This focus carried on into early 20th - century research into Henry , such as Kate Norgate ' s 1913 volume , which continued to make heavy use of the chronicler accounts and focused primarily on constitutional issues , with a distinctive nationalistic bias . After 1900 , the financial and official records from Henry ' s reign began to become accessible to historians , including the pipe rolls , court records , correspondence and records of administration of the royal forests . Thomas Tout made extensive use of these new sources in the 1920s , and post - war historians brought a particular focus on the finances of Henry ' s government , highlighting his fiscal difficulties . This wave of research culminated in Sir Maurice Powicke ' s two major biographical works on Henry , published in 1948 and 1953 , which formed the established history of the King for the next three decades . Henry ' s reign did not receive much attention from historians for many years after the 1950s : no substantial biographies of Henry were written after Powicke ' s , and the historian John Beeler observed in the 1970s that the coverage of Henry ' s reign by military historians remained particularly thin . At the end of the 20th century , however , there was a renewed interest in 13th English history , resulting in the publication of various specialist works on aspects of Henry ' s reign , including government finance and the period of Henry ' s minority . Current historiography notes both Henry ' s positive and negative qualities : historian David Carpenter judges Henry to have been a decent man , who failed as a ruler due to his naivety and inability to produce realistic plans for reform , a theme echoed by Huw Ridgeway , who also notes his unworldiness and inability to manage his court , but who considers him to have been " essentially a man of peace , kind and merciful " . Popular culture . Henry ' s life was depicted in a series of contemporary illustrations sketched and water - coloured by the chronicler Matthew Paris , mostly drawn in the margins of the " Chronica majora " . Paris first met Henry in 1236 and enjoyed an extended relationship with the King , although Paris disliked many of Henry ' s actions and the illustrations are frequently unflattering . Henry was also shown in the poetry of his Italian contemporary Dante , who depicted Henry in the " Divine Comedy " as an example of a negligent ruler , sitting alone in Purgatory to one side of the other failed kings . It is unclear why he is shown separately from his contemporaries ; possible explanations include that this is a code by Dante to show that England was not part of the Holy Roman Empire , or that it is a favourable comment on Henry himself , highlighting his unusual piety . Unlike many other medieval kings , Henry did not feature significantly in the works of William Shakespeare , and in the modern period he has not been a popular subject for films , theatre or television , having only a minimal role in modern popular culture . Children . Henry and Eleanor had five children : Henry had no illegitimate children .