Henry III: The Rise to Power and Personal Rule, 1207-1258 (The English Monarchs Series)

On my book shelf is David Douglas’s biography of William the Conqueror. It is one of the proposed Longman’s series on English monarchs. Published in an edition of 1989, it has on the rear cover a list of the published and proposed works in the series. This includes, in the future, David Carpenter’s volume on Henry III. This book, volume one, has now arrived.Since 1989, Carpenter has written a fine book on The Minority of Henry III (1990) and a volume of the Penguin History of Britain (The Struggle for the Mastery; Britain 1066-1284, 2004) which is the best book I have read integrating English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish history. Then there is a work containing many of Carpenter’s papers (The Reign of Henry III (1996 ) and a superb study on Magna Carta published for its 800th anniversary in 2015. He was also a leading figure in the ground-breaking Fine Rolls Project.The long wait has been extremely worthwhile. It has enabled Carpenter to do more basic research, some of it very detailed, as well as drawing on the many works on the thirteenth century published over the thirty years; the research for his book is supported by that of a generation of well-established historians including Robert Bartlett, Paul Brand, Michael Clanchy, Peter Coss, David Crook, Rhys Davies, Robin Frame, Margaret Howell, John Maddicott, Michael Prestwich, Huw Ridgeway, Robin Studd, Henry Summerson, Nicholas Vincent, Scott Waugh and Bjorn Weiler. Moreover the work also draws on a long list of more recent historians, many of whom were David Carpenter’s former students. They include Sophie Ambler, Susannah Annesley, Nick Barratt, Richard Cassidy, Stephen Church, Adrian Jobson, Samantha Letters, Hui Liu, Marc Morris, Andrew Spencer, Ben Wild, Louise Wilkinson and Jane Winters. He even cites an undergraduate essay (M.Bachelor).The early pages of the book are not as detailed as the later ones, as we can still rely on Carpenter’s The Minority of Henry III to cover this period. So there is rather less than one might expect on William Marshal but Carpenter does full justice to Hubert de Burgh, the Marshal’s successor as the King’s chief advisor, contrasting his wise counsel against his greed for rewards. Detailed discussion then follows as Henry allowed himself to be mesmerised by the policies and actions of his former tutor, Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, the man who had brought down Burgh. This resulted in a period of tactless, wilful and unpopular rule between 1232 and 1234. There is an excellent section contrasting Henry III’s successes and failures with those of Louis IX of France. Carpenter brings out the contrast between a young king with a powerful and astute mother, Louis IX and Blanche of Castile, and Henry whose mother, Isabella of Angoulême, deserted him soon after he came to the throne at the age of just nine. In looking at their respective piety, Carpenter makes a very detailed analysis of their expenditure on masses, alms-giving and even candles. This can be seen as the potentially wise use of soft power but it did not save Henry from opposition. This was fired partly by his over-generosity to his alien relatives from Savoy and Poitou who came to England in search of wealth and power. Indeed, this stimulated a wave of xenophobia.Carpenter reveals the Savoyards as sparkling and statesman-like men whilst Henry’s half brothers, the Poitevin Lusignans, were seen by their contemporaries as grasping and arrogant. However, Carpenter blames the Savoyards for promoting the very expensive plan whereby Henry accepted the Pope’s invitation to put Henry’s second son, Edmund, on the throne of Sicily. For someone who has been characterised as not having real policies, the persistence of Henry’s acceptance of this plan is well demonstrated as is Henry’s consistent policy in one period of his reign of amassing a fortune in gold to fund a proposed crusade. For those expecting a story of failure, Henry’s years of success when he tamed the Welsh, established good relations with the Scottish kings and brought Gascony under control will come as a surprise. However, these successes have to be set against the failure of Henry’s attempt to regain his ancestral lands in Poitou.Henry was not as peripatetic as his father and predecessors. His itinerary shows him largely staying in the South of England and mainly resident at Westminster or Windsor. Carpenter judges him as physically lazy and a man who liked his comforts. But this enabled Henry to have a splendid court which would have impressed those who experienced it.Although he was criticised for favouring aliens, Carpenter shows that Henry identified himself with England in a more tangible way than his ancestors, giving his sons English names, Edward and Edmund. The former stemmed from Henry’s dedication to Edward the Confessor as a royal saint and for whom he rebuilt Westminster Abbey and whose feast days were one of great importance to Henry. But Henry was not spared from having the traditional anger that the Plantagenets were famous for but he could soon be very forgiving and affable. As Carpenter shows, Henry was never cruel like his father and he might have worried about his father, John’s position in the after-life. That Henry was a loving husband to Eleanor of Provence and as a father is well established. His care for his children is very evident and especially that for his mute and incapable daughter, Katherine, who died young. As Carpenter shows, the rapport that Henry achieved with his brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, was very helpful throughout his reign and he welcomed Richard’s marriage to Eleanor’s sister, Sanchia, and his later election as King of Germany. Eleanor’s sister, Margaret had married Louis IX and Henry was enthuisatic about this extended familyDavid Carpenter’s long association with Westminster Abbey began as a four-year old when his father, Edward, became a canon of Westminster and was later to be Dean. Carpenter was one of the youngest people at the Coronation of the Queen. He is at his best describing the design of Henry III’s abbey and what influenced it.This section of the book would make a wonderful TV programme. Henry’s close attention to the construction and decoration of his palaces at Westminster, Clarendon and Windsor are also well set out.I love the personal touches in the book. Carpenter is warned against the red hot Aga in his new home at Westminster, he eats his grandmother’s sandwiches at the Coronation, he visits the eminent historian, Maurice Powicke’s house in the Lake District, he gives advice on where to get a good tea near Montgomery or a good meal in France, he is lukewarm about the game of fives, he has a childhood garden in the ruins of St Katharine’s chapel at Westminster and he beavers away in the Vatican archives.Volume one ends with the explosive event at Westminster in April 1258 when armed magnates come into Henry’s presence demanding reform. With hindsight we know what happens next but Henry did not. In volume two it will be very interesting to see how David Carpenter deals with the Barons’ War and, in particular, how he assesses the activities of the greatest alien of all, Simon de Montfort. This magnificent volume will surely be the definitive work on Henry III for many years.

I found the authors writing style very engaging yet he managed to put so much detail which brings Henry and the world to life

Am absolutely positive this two volume history will become the definitive text of the period. This first volume takes the reader up to Oxford a defining moment in the development of nascent democratic ideas in England that would eventually see defeat at Evesham !!

A masterly work of historical analysis and writing. This will now be the standard work for a generation and beyond.

This is a monster work by someone who knows his subject - the 700 odd page volume (only part 1) is somewhat daunting, but it is very easy to read. Informative, yet entertaining.

A very detailed account of the life of this underrated monarch written in an engaging style with much interesting detail, and bringing events in 13th Century England into their European context.

good book

This is a long, some might say overlong, biography of one of England's lesser known kings, and as you trudge through it you realise why he isn't better known - in short, he was a bit useless. Lazy, not very bright, religiously obsessed, a weak personality blown hither and thither by stronger characters around him, more interested in interior decoration than kingship, Henry was a waste of space. It's hard to imagine how he could have fathered a king like Edward 1 who was the polar opposite.With this subject matter, it's hard to see how anyone could have made this book interesting. In fairness the author's writing style is easy to follow, but there's far too much detail for such uninspiring material, and you just trudge on and on waiting for something interesting to happen. I gave up about half way through, as the author went into a long and in my view rather pointless description of Westminster Abbey, following equally pointless descriptions of such things as the Lord's Prayer, the seven deadly sins, and various other aspects of christain religious dogma. The book would be a much better read if it was half the length and stuck to its subject matter. Although come to think of it, the Lord's Prayer probably is marginally more interesting than Henry III...

So I realized I had not written a review on this book and have since gone back in time to William Rufus and am now on Henry 1. Anyway, this book is a monster. You get a highly detailed, well organized, and informative book covering the life of Henry III from his birth to the end of his personal rule.It has a lot. His rule in England. His dealings on the continent. Cultural contributions, religion, public works, etc… Some sections could certainly drag and I’ll admit I did start skimming a bit during the parts about Henry’s piety and work on Westminster Abbey, but nonetheless, I got the gist and learned a lot.Henry III isn’t a bad dude, but I’d say he was a fairly weak king. Yet coming off the reign of his controversial father King John, I think it’s fair to say he was just the king needed and there was a relative peace during his fairly long reign. Carpenter did a great job on this book which I’m sure can be considered his magnum opus. Now I wait patiently for volume 2!

Biographies of English monarchs can often be turgid minutiae gleaned from the few sources available. I often feel that the sparsity of data leads to the author throwing everything and the kitchen sink into the monograph to fill out the narrative. Carpenter has been most successful in the presentation of the important issues and personalities of this reign. Well organized and well written. A very enjoyable read.

This was a gift and was just what he wanted.