The Lying In State of Queen Elizabeth II and the History of Westminster Hall

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Charles I of England and Scotland, coronation banquet, Henry III of England, Houses of Parliament, Pope Benedict XVI, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Trials, Westminster Hall, William II of England, William Wallace

The body of her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II is now lying in state at Westminster Hall.

Westminster Hall, the oldest existing part of the Palace of Westminster, was erected in 1097 by King William II (‘William Rufus’), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The roof was probably originally supported by pillars, giving three aisles, but during the reign of King Richard II, this was replaced by a hammerbeam roof by the royal carpenter Hugh Herland, “the greatest creation of medieval timber architecture”, which allowed the original three aisles to be replaced with a single huge open space, with a dais at the end.

The new roof was commissioned in 1393. Richard’s master builder Henry Yevele retained the original dimensions, refacing the walls, with fifteen life-size statues of kings placed in niches. The rebuilding had been begun by King Henry III in 1245, but by Richard’s time had been dormant for over a century. In Westminster Hall, the favourite heraldic badge of Richard II – a white hart, chained, and in an attitude of rest – is repeated eighty-three times, without any of them being an exact copy of another.

The largest clearspan medieval roof in England, Westminster Hall’s roof measures 20.7 by 73.2 metres (68 by 240 ft). Oak timbers for the roof came from royal woods in Hampshire and from parks in Hertfordshire and from that of William Crozier of Stoke d’Abernon, who supplied over 600 oaks in Surrey, among other sources; they were assembled near Farnham, Surrey, 56 kilometres (35 mi) away. Accounts record the large number of wagons and barges which delivered the jointed timbers to Westminster for assembly.

Westminster Hall has served numerous functions. Until the 19th century, it was regularly used for judicial purposes, housing three of the most important courts in the land: the Court of King’s Bench, the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of Chancery. In the reign of Henry II (1154–89) a royal decree established a fixed siting of judges in the Hall.

In 1215, Magna Carta stipulated that these courts would sit regularly in the Hall for the convenience of litigants. In 1875, the courts were amalgamated into the High Court of Justice, which continued to have chambers adjacent to Westminster Hall until moved to the then new Royal Courts of Justice building in 1882.

In addition to regular courts, Westminster Hall also housed important state trials, including impeachment trials and the state trials of King Charles I at the end of the English Civil War, William Wallace, Thomas More, Cardinal John Fisher, Guy Fawkes, the Earl of Strafford, the rebel Scottish lords of the 1715 and 1745 uprisings, and Warren Hastings.

The St Stephen’s Porch end of the Hall displays under the stained glass window the Parliamentary War Memorial listing on eight panels the names of Members and staff of both Houses of Parliament and their sons killed serving in the First World War; the window itself, installed in 1952, commemorates members and staff of both Houses who died in the Second World War. In 2012, a new stained glass window commemorating Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee was installed opposite this window, at the other end of the hall.

George IV’s coronation banquet was held in Westminster Hall in 1821, the last of its kind; no such banquet has been held since.

Westminster Hall has also served ceremonial functions. From the twelfth century to the nineteenth, coronation banquets honouring new monarchs were held here. The last coronation banquet was that of King George IV, held in 1821; his successor, William IV, abandoned the idea because he deemed it too expensive.

The Hall has been used as a place for lying in state during state and ceremonial funerals. Such an honour is usually reserved for the Sovereign and for their consorts; the only non-royals to receive it in the twentieth century were Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (1914) and Winston Churchill (1965). In 2002 the hall was used for the lying in state of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and in 2022 the hall was used for the lying in state of Queen Elizabeth II.

The two Houses have presented ceremonial Addresses to the Crown in Westminster Hall on important public occasions. For example, Addresses were presented at Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee (1977), Golden Jubilee (2002) and Diamond Jubilee (2012), the Accession of Charles III (2022), the 300th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution (1988), and the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War (1995).

It is considered a rare privilege for a foreign leader to be invited to address both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall. Since the Second World War, the only leaders to have done so have been French president Charles de Gaulle in 1960, South African president Nelson Mandela in 1996, Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, U.S. president Barack Obama in 2011 and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2012.

President Obama was the first US president to be invited to use the Hall for an address to Parliament and Aung San Suu Kyi was the first non-head of state to be given the accolade of addressing MPs and peers in Westminster Hall.

August 24, 1200: King John of England marries Isabella, Countess of Angoulême

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Arthur of Brittany, Count of La Marche, Henry III of England, Hugh IX of Lusignan, Hugh X of Lusignan, Isabella of Angouleme, Isabella of Gloucester, King John of England, King Philippe II of France, Richard I of England

Isabella (c. 1186/ 1188 – June 4, 1246) was Queen of England, as the second wife of King John of England, from 1200 to 1216, and Countess of Angoulême in her own right from 1202 until her death in 1246.

Isabella was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulême, by Alice of Courtenay, who was a sister of Peter II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople. Alice and Peter II were grandchildren of King Louis VI of France through their father Peter I of Courtenay.

Isabella became Countess of Angoulême in her own right on June 16, 1202, by which time she was already queen of England.

When King Richard I of England died, his younger brother John, claimed the throne as the son of King Henry II of England. The other to claim the throne of England was Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, nephew of John and the son of John’s older brother. Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany.

Neither side was keen to continue the conflict, and following a papal truce the two leaders met in January 1200 to negotiate possible terms for peace. From John’s perspective, what then followed represented an opportunity to stabilize control over his continental possessions and produce a lasting peace with Philippe II of France in Paris.

John and Philippe II negotiated the May 1200 Treaty of Le Goulet; by this treaty, Philippe II recognized John as the rightful heir to Richard in respect to his French possessions, temporarily abandoning the wider claims of his client, Arthur of Brittany.

John, in turn, abandoned Richard’s former policy of containing Philippe II through alliances with Flanders and Boulogne, and accepted Philippe II’s right as the legitimate feudal overlord of John’s lands in France. John’s policy earned him the disrespectful title of “John Softsword” from some English chroniclers, who contrasted his behaviour with his more aggressive brother, Richard.

In order to remarry, John first needed to abandon his wife Isabella, Countess of Gloucester; the King accomplished this by arguing that he had failed to get the necessary papal dispensation to marry the Countess in the first place—as a cousin, John could not have legally wedded her without this.

It remains unclear why John chose to marry Isabella of Angoulême. Contemporary chroniclers argued that John had fallen deeply in love with her, and John may have been motivated by desire for an apparently beautiful, if rather young, girl.

On the other hand, the Angoumois lands that came with her were strategically vital to John: by marrying Isabella, John was acquiring a key land route between Poitou and Gascony, which significantly strengthened his grip on Aquitaine.

Isabella, however, was already engaged to Hugh IX of Lusignan, an important member of a key Poitou noble family and brother of Raoul I, Count of Eu, who possessed lands along the sensitive eastern Normandy border.

Just as John stood to benefit strategically from marrying Isabella, so the marriage threatened the interests of the Lusignans, whose own lands currently provided the key route for royal goods and troops across Aquitaine. Rather than negotiating some form of compensation, John treated Hugh “with contempt”; this resulted in a Lusignan uprising that was promptly crushed by John, who also intervened to suppress Raoul in Normandy.

King John officially married Isabella, Countess of Angoulême on August 24, 1200.

As a result of John’s temerity in taking her as his second wife, King Philippe II of France confiscated all of their French lands. War recommenced in the aftermath of John’s decision to marry Isabella of Angoulême.

At the time of her marriage to John, the blonde-haired blue-eyed Isabella was already renowned by some for her beauty and has sometimes been called the Helen of the Middle Ages by historians. Isabella was much younger than her husband and possessed a volatile temper similar to his own.

King John was infatuated with his young, beautiful wife; however, his acquisition of her had at least as much to do with spiting his enemies as romantic love.

It was said that he neglected his state affairs to spend time with Isabella, often remaining in bed with her until noon. However, these were rumors spread by John’s enemies to discredit him as a weak and grossly irresponsible ruler, given that at the time John was engaging in a desperate war against King Philippe II of France to hold on to the remaining Plantagenet duchies. The common people began to term her a “siren” or “Messalina” for her allure. Her mother-in-law, Eleanor of Aquitaine, readily accepted her as John’s wife.

On October 1, 1207, at Winchester Castle, Isabella gave birth to a son and heir, the future King Henry III of England, who was named after his grandfather King Henry II. He was quickly followed by another son, Richard, and three daughters: Joan, Isabella and Eleanor. All five children survived into adulthood and made illustrious marriages; all but Joan produced offspring of their own.

Isabella had five children by the king, including his heir, later Henry III.

Second marriage

When King John died on October 19, 1216, Isabella’s first act was to arrange the speedy coronation of her nine-year-old son at the city of Gloucester on October 28. As the royal crown had recently been lost in the Wash, along with the rest of King John’s treasure, she supplied her own golden circlet to be used in lieu of a crown.

The following July, less than a year after his crowning as King Henry III of England, she left him in the care of his regent, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and returned to France to assume control of her inheritance of Angoulême.

In the spring of 1220, Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, “le Brun”, Seigneur de Luisignan, Count of La Marche, the son of her former fiancé, Hugh IX, to whom she had been betrothed before her marriage to King John. It had been previously arranged that her eldest daughter Joan should marry Hugh, and the little girl was being brought up at the Lusignan court in preparation for her marriage.

Hugh, however, upon seeing Isabella, whose beauty had not diminished, preferred the girl’s mother. Joan was provided with another husband, King Alexander II of Scotland, whom she wed in 1221.

Isabella and Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, had another nine children.

Isabella encouraged her son, King Henry III in his invasion of Normandy in 1230, but then did not provide him the support she had promised.

Some of Isabella’s contemporaries, as well as later writers, claim that Isabella formed a conspiracy against King Louis IX of France in 1241, after being publicly snubbed by his mother, Blanche of Castile, for whom she harbored a deep-seated hatred.

In 1244 two royal cooks were arrested for attempting to poison the King Louis IX; upon questioning they confessed to having been in Isabella’s pay.

After the plot had failed, Isabella was accused of attempting to poison the king. Before Isabella could be taken into custody, she sought refuge in Fontevraud Abbey, where she died two years later, on June 4, 1246. However, none of this can be confirmed.

By Isabella’s own prior arrangement, she was first buried in the abbey’s churchyard as an act of repentance for her many misdeeds. On a visit to Fontevraud, her son King Henry III of England was shocked to find her buried outside the abbey and ordered her immediately moved inside. She was finally placed beside Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Afterwards, most of her many Lusignan children, having few prospects in France, set sail for England and the court of Henry, their half-brother.

May 27, 1257: Richard, Earl of Cornwall is Crowned King of the Romans

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Earl of Cornwall, Henry III of England, Louis IX of France, Pope Alexander IV, Richard Plantagenet, Rudolph I of Habsburg, The Great Interregnum

Richard (January 5, 1209 – April 2, 1272) was an English prince who was King of the Romans from 1257 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême. Richard was nominal Count of Poitou from 1225 to 1243, and he also held the title Earl of Cornwall from 1225.

Richard was one of the wealthiest men in Europe and joined the Barons’ Crusade, where he achieved success as a negotiator for the release of prisoners and assisted with the building of the citadel in Ascalon.

He was born January 5, 1209 at Winchester Castle, the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême. He was made High Sheriff of Berkshire at age eight, was styled Count of Poitou from 1225 and in the same year, at the age of sixteen, his brother King Henry III gave him Cornwall as a birthday present, making him High Sheriff of Cornwall.

Richard’s revenues from Cornwall helped make him one of the wealthiest men in Europe. Though he campaigned on King Henry’s behalf in Poitou and Brittany, and served as regent three times, relations were often strained between the brothers in the early years of Henry’s reign. Richard rebelled against him three times and had to be bought off with lavish gifts.

After the death of Emperor Friedrich II in 1250, the German kingdom was divided between his son Conrad IV (died 1254) and the anti-king, Willem of Holland (died 1256). Conrad’s death was followed by the Interregnum, during which no king could achieve universal recognition, allowing the princes to consolidate their holdings and become even more independent as rulers.

Pope Innocent IV offered Richard the crown of Sicily, but according to Matthew Paris, he responded to the extortionate price by saying, “You might as well say, ‘I make you a present of the moon—step up to the sky and take it down.'” Instead, his brother King Henry III attempted to purchase the kingdom for his own son Edmund.

Elected King of Germany, 1256

Richard was elected in 1256 as King of Germany by four of the seven German Electoral Princes:

Conrad von Hochstaden, the Archbishop of Cologne;
Gerhard I von Dhaun [de], Archbishop of Mainz;
Ludwig II, the Count Palatine;
Ottokar II, King of Bohemia.

His candidacy was opposed by Alfonso X of Castile, who was supported by three electors:

Albrecht I, Duke of Saxony;
Johann I, Margrave of Brandenburg;
Arnold II of Isenburg, Archbishop of Trier.

Pope Alexander IV and King Louis IX of France favoured Alfonso, but both were ultimately convinced by the powerful relatives of Richard’s sister-in-law, Eleanor of Provence, to support Richard. Ottokar II of Bohemia, who at first voted for Richard but later elected Alfonso, eventually agreed to support the Earl of Cornwall, thus establishing the required simple majority.

So Richard had to bribe only four of them, but this came at a huge cost of 28,000 marks. On May 27, 1257, Conrad von Hochstaden, Archbishop of Cologne, himself crowned Richard King of the Romans in Aachen; however, like his lordships in Gascony and Poitou, his title never held much significance, and he made only four brief visits to Germany between 1257 and 1269.

Later life, death and successors

Richard joined his brother King Henry III in fighting against Simon de Montfort’s rebels in the Second Barons’ War (1264–1267). After the shattering royalist defeat at the Battle of Lewes, Richard took refuge in a windmill, was discovered, and was imprisoned until September 1265.

Richard bought the feudal barony of Trematon in 1270.

In December 1271, he had a stroke. His right side was paralysed and he lost the ability to speak. On April 2, 1272, Richard died at Berkhamsted Castle in Hertfordshire.

Richard was buried next to his second wife Sanchia of Provence and Henry of Almain, his son by his first wife, at Hailes Abbey, which he had founded.

After his death, a power struggle ensued in Germany, which only ended in 1273 with the emergence of a new Roman King, Rudolph I of Habsburg, the first scion of a long-lasting noble family to rule the empire and to hold a royal title, but he was never crowned emperor. After Rudolf’s death in 1291, Adolf and Albrecht were two further weak kings who were never crowned emperor.

In Cornwall, Richard was succeeded by Edmund, son of his second wife Sanchia of Provence (c. 1225 – 9 November 1261) was the third daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy.

January 11, 1372: Death of Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel

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3rd Earl of Arundel, Countess of Arundel, Edward II of England, Eleanor of Lancaster, Eleanor Plantagenet, Henry III of England, Henry of Lancaster, Richard FitzAlan

Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel (sometimes called Eleanor Plantagenet; September 11, 1318 – January 11, 1372) was a member of the English Royal Family and the fifth daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth.

Her father, Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster (c. 1281 – 1345) was a grandson of King Henry III (1216–1272) of England and was one of the principals behind the deposition of King Edward II (1307–1327), his first cousin. Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancastern was the younger son of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, Earl of Leicester, a son of King Henry III by his wife Eleanor of Provence. Henry’s mother was Blanche of Artois, Queen Dowager of Navarre.

Eleanor married first on November 6, 1330 John de Beaumont, 2nd Baron Beaumont (d. 1342), son of Henry de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Buchan, 1st Baron Beaumont (c.1288-1340) by his wife Alice Comyn (1289-3 July 1349).

Henry de Beaumont was the grandson of John of Brienne, King of Jerusalem and later Latin Emperor of Constantinople by his third wife, Berengaria of Leon, making Henry a second cousin of Edward II of England.

John de Beaumont died in a jousting tournament on April 14, 1342. They had one son, born to Eleanor in Ghent whilst serving as lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa of Hainault:

Henry de Beaumont, 3rd Baron Beaumont, (1340 — 1369), the first husband of Lady Margaret de Vere (d. 15 June 1398), the daughter of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford by his wife Maud de Badlesmere. Henry and Margaret had one son, John de Beaumont, 4th Baron Beaumont KG (1361-1396).

Second marriage

On February 5, 1345 at Ditton Church, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, she married Richard FitzAlan, 3rd Earl of Arundel.

His previous marriage, to Isabel le Despenser, had taken place when they were children. It was annulled by Papal mandate as she, since her father’s attainder and execution, had ceased to be of any importance to him. Pope Clement VI obligingly annulled the marriage, bastardized the issue, and provided a dispensation for his second marriage to the woman with whom he had been living in adultery (the dispensation, dated March 4, 1345, was required because his first and second wives were first cousins).

The children of Eleanor’s second marriage were:

1.) Richard (1346–1397), who succeeded as Earl of Arundel
2.) John Fitzalan (bef 1349 – 1379)
3.) Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury (c. 1353 – 19 February 1413)
4.) Lady Joan FitzAlan (1347/1348 – 7 April 1419), married Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford
5.) Lady Alice FitzAlan (1350 – 17 March 1416), married Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent (Thomas Holand)
Lady Mary FitzAlan (died 29 August 1396), married John Le Strange, 4th Lord Strange of Blackmere, by whom she had issue
6.) Lady Eleanor FitzAlan (1348 – d 29 Aug 1396) married Sir Anthony Browne.

Later life

Eleanor died at Arundel and was buried at Lewes Priory in Lewes, Sussex, England. Her husband survived her by four years, and was buried beside her; in his will Richard requests to be buried “near to the tomb of Eleanor de Lancaster, my wife; and I desire that my tomb be no higher than hers, that no men at arms, horses, hearse, or other pomp, be used at my funeral, but only five torches…as was about the corpse of my wife, be allowed.”

The memorial effigies attributed to Eleanor and her husband Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel in Chichester Cathedral are the subject of the celebrated Philip Larkin poem “An Arundel Tomb.”

Death of Henry III, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine

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Edward longshanks, Eleanor of Provence, Gascony, Henry III of England, Holy Roman Empire, King of the Romans, Louis IX of France, Richard of Cornwall, Simon de Montfort

Henry III promised to abide by the Great Charter of 1225, a later version of the 1215 Magna Carta, 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 re-established 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 debacle. A revolt led by William Marshal’s son, Richard Marshal, 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.

Henry also negotiated the marriage of her sister Isabella. In November, 1234 the twice-widowed Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor at a friendly meeting at Rieti, received the advice of Pope Gregory IX to ask Isabella’s hand, and in February 1235 he sent an embassy to King Henry III headed by his chancellor Pietro della Vigna.

The marriage of Isabella and Emperor Friedrich II was designed to strengthen the political alliance of England and the Holy Roman Empire against France. After three days of discussion, King Henry III agreed to the marriage; Isabella was brought from her quarters in the Tower of London to the Palace of Westminster, where she met with the ambassadors, who “declared her the most worthy of the imperial brides”, put a wedding ring on her finger and greeted her as their Empress.

On February 22, 1235, an agreement was signed, according to which King Henry III provided his sister with a dowry of 30,000 marks (an amount sought by the Emperor in order to fund his wars in northern Italy), which was to be paid within two years, and as a wedding gift he gave her all the necessary utensils, jewelry, horses and rich clothes, all made according to the latest German fashion; also, the princess received patent letters from the Emperor, giving Isabella, as Queen of Sicily and Holy Roman Empress the possession of the lands due to her.

King Henry III married Eleanor of Provence, the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and his wife Margaret of Geneva.

Eleanor was well educated as a child, and developed a strong love of reading. Her three sisters also married kings. After her elder sister Margaret married Louis IX of France, their uncle William corresponded with Henry III of England to persuade him to marry Eleanor.

Henry sought a dowry of up to twenty thousand silver marks to help offset the dowry he had just paid for his sister Isabella, but Eleanor’s father was able to negotiate this down to no dowry, just a promise to leave her ten thousand marks when he died.

Like her mother, grandmother, and sisters, Eleanor was renowned for her beauty. She was a dark-haired brunette with fine eyes. Piers Langtoft speaks of her as “The erle’s daughter, the fairest may of life”. On June 22, 1235, Eleanor was betrothed to King Henry III (1207–1272). Eleanor was probably born latest in 1223; Matthew Paris describes her as being “jamque duodennem” (already twelve) when she arrived in the Kingdom of England for her marriage.

Eleanor was married to King Henry III of England on January 14, 1236. At the time of her marriage Eleanor was 12/13 years of age and the King was 29. She had never seen him prior to the wedding at Canterbury Cathedral and had never set foot in his kingdom. Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. She was dressed in a shimmering golden dress that fitted tightly at the waist and flared out to wide pleats at her feet.

The sleeves were long and lined with ermine. After riding to London the same day where a procession of citizens greeted the bridal pair, Eleanor was crowned queen consort of England in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey which was followed by a magnificent banquet with the entire nobility in full attendance. Her love for her husband grew significantly from 1236 onward. Henry and Eleanor had five children. Thier eldest child, the future King Edward I was born in 1239 when Eleanor was 15/16 years old.

Unpopularity

Eleanor was a loyal and faithful consort to Henry, but she brought in her retinue a large number of uncles and cousins, “the Savoyards”, and her influence with the King and her unpopularity with the English barons created friction during Henry’s reign. Her uncle William of Savoy became a close advisor of her husband, displacing and displeasing English barons

Henry III 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 Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor. Henry supported his brother Richard of Cornwall in his bid to become King of the Romans in 1256, but was unable to place his own son Edmund Crouchback 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 IX 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 persuaded 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 successor.

Edward Longshanks, as he was known, was travelling during the Ninth Crusade, when he became King of England upon Henry III’s death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne.

Henry III 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 miracles were declared after his death; however, he was not canonised.

November 16, 1272: Death of King Henry III of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine. Part I.

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/he First Barons War, Cardinal Guala, Duke of Aquitaine, Henry III of England, King John of England, King Louis VIII of France, Lord of Ireland, Pope Honorius III, Prince Louis of France, William Marshal

Henry III (October 1, 1207 – November 16, 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry assumed the throne when he was only nine 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. From 1216 to 1217, Prince Louis, the future King Louis VIII of France (1187 – 1226), invaded and claimed the Kingdom of England.

In September 1216, John marched from the Cotswolds, feigned an offensive to relieve the besieged Windsor Castle, and attacked eastwards around London to Cambridge to separate the rebel-held areas of Lincolnshire and East Anglia. From there he travelled north to relieve the rebel siege at Lincoln and back east to Lynn, probably to order further supplies from the continent. In Lynn, John contracted dysentery.

John’s illness eventually grew worse and by the time he reached Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, he was unable to travel any farther; he died on the night of 18/19 October. Numerous—probably fictitious—accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a “surfeit of peaches”. His body was escorted south by a company of mercenaries and he was buried in Worcester Cathedral in front of the altar of St Wulfstan. A new sarcophagus with an effigy was made for him in 1232, in which his remains now rest.

In his will, John ordered that his niece Eleanor, who might have had a claim to the throne of his successor, Henry III, never be released from prison

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 October 28, 1216. The royal crown had been either lost or sold during the civil war or possibly lost in The Wash, so instead the ceremony used a simple gold corolla belonging to Queen Isabella. Henry later underwent a second coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 17, 1220.

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 from Cardinal 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 Pope Honorius III as his feudal lord.

Pope Honorius declared that Henry was his 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.

Prince Louis 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 August 24, 1217, a French fleet arrived off the coast of Sandwich, bringing Louis soldiers, siege engines 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 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 Philippe II to return Henry’s lands in France. Louis left England as agreed and joined the Albigensian Crusade in the south 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 III 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.

September 29, 1240: Birth of Margaret of England, Queen of Scots

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Alexander II of Scotland, Edinburgh., Eleanor of Provence, Henry III of England, Joan of England, Louis VI of France, Margaret of England, Regency Council, Windsor Castle

Margaret of England (September 29, 1240 – February 26, 1275) was Queen of Scots by marriage to King Alexander III.

Life

Margaret was the second child of King Henry III of England, Lord of Ireland and his wife, Eleanor of Provence, the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and his wife Margaret of Geneva.

Margaret was born at Windsor Castle. Margaret’s first appearance in historical record comes when she was three years old, when she and her brother, the future Edward I, took part in an event in London.

King Alexander II of Scotland had previously been married to Margaret’s paternal aunt, Joan of England, the third child of John, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Isabella of Angoulême.

In 1244, her father and Alexander II met in Newcastle to resume peaceful relations between the two nations, and it was decided that the future Alexander III of Scotland should marry Margaret. She was betrothed the same year.

She was married on December 25, 1251, when she was 11 years old, at York Minster, to King Alexander III of Scotland, who was 10 years of age. The couple remained in York until January the following year, when they continued to their residence in Edinburgh.

Margaret is said to have been unhappy in Scotland, and created some tensions between England and Scotland by writing to her family in England that she was poorly treated in Scotland. Because of their age, it was not considered suitable for the royal couple to have sexual intercourse. Margaret was therefore not allowed to see Alexander very often, and because she had evidently been given a good impression of him and came to be fond of him, this made her displeased.

Further more, she did not like the royal castle and hated Edinburgh, or the climate in Scotland, and she missed England and her family there. She wrote of her homesickness and complaints to her parents, who asked for her to visit them. The Scots, however, refused permission, because of the risk that she would never return.

In 1255, Queen Eleanor sent her physician to Edinburgh to investigate Margaret’s well-being. He reported that she was pale and depressed, and complained about loneliness and neglect. Her father sent a new delegation, wrote to some of the Scottish earls and demanded that she be better treated. Queen Margaret complained to her father’s envoys that she was kept as a prisoner without the permission to travel, and that she was not allowed to see her spouse nor be intimate with him.

After this, the king of England and the regency council of Scotland came to an agreement. It was agreed that as the royal couple were now fourteen, they should be allowed to consummate their marriage, and the regency council would be obliged to turn the power over to Alexander in seven years time: Alexander would be obliged to give Margaret physical affection, and allow her freedom to travel to visit her parents. The same year, September 7, 1255, Margaret and Alexander III visited her parents and Margaret’s sister Beatrice at Wark. Margaret stayed a bit longer in England after her spouse’s departure, but soon followed him when the agreement was secured.

In 1257, Margaret and Alexander were captured and held prisoner by the Comyn family, who demanded the expulsion of all foreigners from Scotland. They were eventually released after the intervention of her father and the Scottish regency council. She visited England in 1260–61, to give birth to her daughter Margaret, and 1269, to attend the translation of Edward the Confessor’s relics to Westminster Abbey, both times in the company of Alexander. She was not able to attend her father’s funeral in 1272 because of her pregnancy.

It was said that Margaret was responsible for the death of a young courtier, who reputedly had killed her uncle Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. She had been given this esquire as a gift from her brother Edward, who visited her in 1257. This incident took place at Kinclaven Castle near Perth in the summer of 1273, where she recuperated after the birth of her son David.

While walking along the River Tay accompanied by her confessor, some maidens and several esquires one evening after supper, an English esquire went down to the river to wash his hand clean from some clay. She jokingly pushed him into the river, but he was swept to his death by a powerful current before anyone could help. This was done as a joke, and according to her confessor, she had told her maidens to push him, and everyone had laughed at first, thinking there was no danger for the esquire’s life. He was, however, seized by a heavy current, and both he, as well as his servant boy who jumped in to save him, drowned. Margaret was reportedly very upset by the incident.

Margaret and Alexander were present at the coronation of Edward I in Westminster in August 1274. Margaret died on February 26, 1275 at Cupar Castle, and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey, Fife.

Issue

The couple had three children:

Margaret (February 28, 1261 – April 9, 1283), who married King Eric II of Norway.

Alexander (January 21, 1264 – January 28, 1284).

David (March 20, 1272 – June 1281); buried in Dunfermline Abbey.

King Alexander III of Scotland remarried on October 15, 1285 and his bride was Yolande of Dreux, the daughter of Robert IV, Count of Dreux, and Beatrice, Countess of Montfort. Her father was a patrilineal descendant of King Louis VI of France, making her a member of a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty with powerful connections. They didn’t have any children.

November 16, 1272: Death of Henry III, King of England and accession of Edward I as King of England.

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Edward I of England, Edward the Confessor, Eleanore of Provence, Fontevraud Abbey, Henry III of England, Louis IX of France, Sicily, St. Louis of France, The Eighth Crusade at Tunis, Westminster Abbey

The future King Edward I of England was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of June, 17–18 1239, to King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence, the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and his wife Margaret of Geneva.

Edward took the crusader’s cross in an elaborate ceremony on June 24, 1268, with his brother Edmund Crouchback and cousin Henry of Almain. Among others who committed themselves to the Ninth Crusade were Edward’s former adversaries – like the Earl of Gloucester, though de Clare did not ultimately participate. With the country pacified, the greatest impediment to the project was providing sufficient finances. King Louis IX of France, who was the leader of the crusade, provided a loan of about £17,500.

Edward formally left for the Eighth Crusade, led by Louis of France, in 1270, but his father, King Henry III, 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 III recovered slightly and announced his renewed intention to join the crusades himself, but he never regained his full health and on the evening of November 16, 1272, he died in Westminster, probably with Eleanor in attendance.

At his request, Henry III 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 Henry and in 1290 Edward moved his father’s body to its current location in Westminster Abbey. His gilt-brass funeral effigy was designed and forged within the abbey grounds by William Torell; 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, his heart was removed from his tomb and reburied at Fontevraud Abbey with the bodies of his Angevin family.

In June 1272 an assassination attempt on Edward by a Syrian Nizari (Assassin) supposedly sent by Baibars forced him to abandon any further campaigning. Edward was initially defiant, and although he managed to kill the assassin, he was struck in the arm by a dagger feared to be poisoned, and became severely weakened over the following months.

It was not until September 24, 1272 that Edward left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, he was met with the news that his father had died on November 16, 1272. Edward was deeply saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home at once, he made a leisurely journey northwards. This was due partly to his still-poor health, but also to a lack of urgency.

The political situation in England was stable after the mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king after his father’s death, rather than at his own coronation, as had until then been customary. In Edward’s absence, the country was governed by a royal council, led by Robert Burnell. The new king embarked on an overland journey through Italy and France, where among other things he visited Pope Gregory X. Only on August 2, 1274 did he return to England, and he was crowned on August, 19.

August 24, 1198: Birth of King Alexander II of Scotland.

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Alexander II of Scotland, Henry III of England, Joan of England, John of England, King of Scots, Kingdom of Scotland, William I of Scotland, William the Lion

Alexander II (August 24, 1198 – July 6, 1249) was King of Scotland from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined the boundary between England and Scotland, virtually unchanged today.

He was born at Haddington, East Lothian, the only son of the Scottish king William I the Lion and Ermengarde of Beaumont. He spent time in England (John of England knighted him at Clerkenwell Priory in 1213) before succeeding to the kingdom on the death of his father on December 4, 1214, being crowned at Scone on 6 December the same year.


King of Scots

In 1215, the year after his accession, the clans Meic Uilleim and MacHeths, inveterate enemies of the Scottish crown, broke into revolt; but loyalist forces speedily quelled the insurrection. In the same year Alexander joined the English barons in their struggle against John of England, and led an army into the Kingdom of England in support of their cause. This action led to the sacking of Berwick-upon-Tweed as John’s forces ravaged the north.

The Scottish forces reached the south coast of England at the port of Dover where in September 1216, Alexander paid homage to the pretender Prince Louis of France for his lands in England, chosen by the barons to replace King John. But King John having died, the Pope and the English aristocracy changed their allegiance to his nine-year-old son, Henry, forcing the French and the Scots armies to return home.

Peace between Henry III, Louis of France, and Alexander II followed on September 12, 1217 with the Treaty of Kingston. Diplomacy further strengthened the reconciliation by the marriage of Alexander to Henry’s sister Joan of England on 18 June 18, or June 25, 1221.

Royal forces crushed a revolt in Galloway in 1235 without difficulty; nor did an invasion attempted soon afterwards by its exiled leaders meet with success. Soon afterwards a claim for homage from Henry of England drew forth from Alexander a counter-claim to the northern English counties. The two kingdoms, however, settled this dispute by a compromise in 1237. This was the Treaty of York, which defined the boundary between the two kingdoms as running between the Solway Firth (in the west) and the mouth of the River Tweed (in the east).

Alexander’s first wife Joan of England died in March 1238 in Essex, and was buried in Dorset. Alexander married his second wife, Marie de Coucy, the following year on May 15, 1239. Together they had one son, the future Alexander III, born in 1241.

A threat of invasion by Henry III in 1243 for a time interrupted the friendly relations between the two countries; but the prompt action of Alexander in anticipating his attack, and the disinclination of the English barons for war, compelled him to make peace next year at Newcastle.

Alexander now turned his attention to securing the Western Isles, which were still part of the Norwegian domain of Suðreyjar. He repeatedly attempted negotiations and purchase, but without success. Alexander set out to conquer these islands but died on the way in 1249. This dispute over the Western Isles, also known as the Hebrides, was not resolved until 1266 when Magnus VI of Norway ceded them to Scotland along with the Isle of Man.

Alexander attempted to persuade Ewen, the son of Duncan, Lord of Argyll, to sever his allegiance to Haakon IV of Norway. When Ewen rejected these attempts, Alexander sailed forth to compel him, but on the way he suffered a fever at the Isle of Kerrera in the Inner Hebrides. He died there in 1249 and was buried at Melrose Abbey.

He was succeeded by his son, the seven-year-old Alexander III of Scotland.

April 30, 1245: Birth of King Philippe III of France.

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Edward I of England, Henry III of England, Isabella of Aragon, Kings and Queens of France, Louis IX of France, Louis of France, Marie of Brabant, Philip III of France, Philip the Bold, Philip the Fair, The Eighth Crusade at Tunis

Philippe III (April 30, 1245 – October 5, 1285), called the Bold was King of France from 1270 to 1285.

Philippe was born in Poissy to King Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence, the eldest of four daughters of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy.

King Philippe III “The Bold” of France

Margaret of Provence younger sisters (thus aunts of Philippe III) were Queen Eleanor of England (wife of King Henry III of England), Queen Sanchia of Germany (wife of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, brother was Henry III of England. Richard was elected in 1256 as King of Germany by a majority of the seven electoral princes, with the title of King of the Romans, a preparatory step in being named Holy Roman Emperor by the pope).

Margaret’s youngest sister was Queen Beatrice of Sicily (was ruling Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1245 until her death, as well as Countess of Anjou and Maine, Queen of Sicily and Naples by marriage to Charles I of Naples).

Becoming Heir to the Throne

As a younger son, Philippe was not expected to become King of France. He had an elder brother Prince Louis (1244-1260). Philippe’s elder brother fell ill after Christmas 1259 and died shortly after New Year, aged fifteen, a month before his sixteenth birthday. At the death of his elder brother Louis Philippe became the heir to the throne. He was then 15 years old and had less skill than his brother, being of a gentle character, submissive, timid and versatile, almost crushed by the strong personalities of his parents.

His mother Margaret made him promise under a solemn oath to remain under her tutelage until the age of 30, but his father King Louis IX preferring to improve his son through education. Pope Urban IV released Philippe from his oath on June 6, 1263.

Marriages of Philippe III

On May 6, 1262, Philippe married Isabella, daughter of King James I of Aragon and his second wife Yolande of Hungary. They had four sons:

Louis (1265–1276)
Philippe IV “the Fair” (1268–1314), King of France
Robert (1269–1271)
Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325)

Isabella accompanied her husband on the Eighth Crusade against Tunis. On their way home, they stopped in Cosenza, Calabria. Six months pregnant with her fifth child, on January 11, 1271 she suffered a fall from her horse. After they had resumed the trip back to France, Isabella gave birth to a premature stillborn son.

She never recovered from her injuries and the childbirth, and died seventeen days later, on January 28. Her death was a devastating emotional blow to her husband, especially since she had been pregnant. Philippe took the bodies of Isabella and their stillborn son and, when he finally returned to France, buried them in the Basilica of St Denis. Isabella’s tomb, like many others, was desecrated during the French Revolution in 1793.

After death of Isabella, King Philippe married Marie of Brabant on August 21, 1274. Marie was daughter of the late Heinrich III, Duke of Brabant, and Adelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant. They had three children: Louis (1276-1319), Blanche (1278-1305) and Margaret (1282-1318). Margaret became Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I of England.

Marriage of Philip and Marie of Brabant, Queen of France

Philippe III was under the strong influence of his mother, Margaret of Provence, and his minion, surgeon and chamberlain (Chambellan) Pierre de La Broce. Not being French, Marie stood out at the French court.

Marie was the step-mother to Philippe’s children. Philippe’s eldest son with his first wife Isabella of Aragon was also named Prince Louis (1264-1276), not to be confused with Philippe III’s elder brother, also named Louis. He died under suspicious circumstances.

Following Louis’ death, Pierre de la Broce, Philippe’s chamberlain, accused Mary of Brabant, Philippe’s second wife, of poisoning Louis. However, by 1277, suspicion had also fallen on Pierre de la Broce, who was then tried for treachery, and hanged at Montfaucon. Despite that, it is widely believed Louis was poisoned, by orders of his stepmother, Marie of Brabant. At Louis death at the age of 12, his younger brother Philippe, succeeded him as heir apparent.

Kingship

Philippe’s father, King Louis IX, died on August 25, 1270 in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philippe, who was accompanying him, returned to France to claim his throne and was anointed at Reims in 1271.

Coronation of Philippe III in Reims.

Philippe III proved indecisive, soft in nature, and timid. The strong personalities of his parents apparently crushed him, and policies of his father dominated him. People called him “the Bold” on the basis of his abilities in combat and on horseback, and not on the basis of his political or personal character.

Philippe III was pious but not cultivated. He followed the suggestions of others, first of Pierre de La Broce and then of his uncle King Charles I of Naples, Sicily, and Albania.

Philip III made numerous territorial acquisitions during his reign, the most notable being the County of Toulouse, which was annexed to the Crown lands of France in 1271. Following the Sicilian Vespers, a rebellion triggered by Pedro III of Aragon against Philippe’s uncle Charles I of Naples. Philippe led an unsuccessful Aragonese Crusade in support of his uncle. Philippe III was forced to retreat and died from dysentery in Perpignan in 1285. He was succeeded by his second surviving son as King Philippe IV the Fair, who was crowned King of France on January 6, 1286 in Reims.

After the death of Philippe III in 1285, his second wife Queen Marie lost some of her political influence, and dedicated her life to their three children.

Marie lived through Philippe IV’s reign and she outlived all her children. She died in 1322, aged 67, in the monastery at Les Mureaux, near Meulan, where she had withdrawn to in 1316.