Henry III - King of England Trivia Quiz

Answer: John

John's second wife was Isabella of Angouleme and she was the mother of all his children including Henry III. John's first wife was also called Isabella (of Gloucester) but that marriage had been annulled.

Answer: Richard, Joan, Isabella and Eleanor

Each of Henry III's siblings achieved some form of distinction. His brother Richard (Earl of Cornwall) was elected King of the Romans in 1256. Joan married Alexander II, the King of Scotland. Eleanor married firstly William Marshall and later Simon de Montfort. Isabella married Frederick II, the Emperor of Germany.

Answer: nine

Henry III was the first monarch to be crowned in his minority. This meant that his early years had to be supervised by a succession of advisers. In those days the main adviser was called the "Rector" of the kingdom rather than the Regent.

Answer: The people and barons of the midlands and the south-west.

The barons of the north were the main ones who had forced Henry's father to agree to the Magna Carta. The barons of the south east and London had invited the Dauphin of France over to become their king. On his side Henry III had some very loyal retainers and he also had the backing of the Pope and most of the Church.

Answer: William the Marshall, Earl of Pembroke

All four men played an important part in Henry III's reign but William the Marshall was his first rector, protector and adviser. His relationship with the royal family was helped by the marriage of his daughter to Richard, Henry III's brother. William the Marshall died in 1219 and his powers were taken over by Hugh de Burgh.

Answer: St. Peter's Abbey, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester.

The date of his first crowning was the 28th October,1216. His mother's chaplet was used for the ceremony. A second crowning took place on the 17th May, 1220 at Westminster Abbey in Middlesex. Most historians believe that the first crowning was done to rally support to the new monarch in the face of the foreign invasion.

The second crowning confirmed his more secure position after his enemies had been defeated or bought off.

Answer: Eleanor

Eleanor of Provence was the younger sister of the Queen of France. Though Henry and Eleanor appear to have enjoyed a happy family life, the marriage brought problems in the form of the new queen's relations who flocked to England in great numbers and began to acquire lots of the important jobs.

Answer: France and Italy

As well as the Queen's connections a large number of Frenchmen from Poitou were encouraged by Peter des Roches who had been largely responsible for Henry III's education. Henry III was also a strong supporter of the Pope and many Italians knew they could expect warm greetings and rewards at his court.

Answer: 5

Their names were Edward, Margaret, Beatrice, Edmund and Katherine. Edward became Edward I, Edmund (Earl of Lancaster) was known as Crouchback, Margaret married Alexander III of Scotland, and Beatrice who married John, Duke of Brittany.

Answer: Edward the Confessor

Henry III seemed very aware of the power of art as a form of propaganda. Choosing a king as the saint to honour was a good advertisement for the monarchy. During his reign Henry spent huge sums of money on Gothic art. He took a strong personal interest in each project underway and often issued detailed instructions about how things should be done.

Answer: A campaign against the Scots.

Because of the intermarriage of the English and Scottish royal families trouble with Scotland was mostly deferred until Edward I's reign. Particularly resented by the English barons was the way in which taxes raised in England were used to sustain a papal bureacracy all over Europe. Henry III even paid the debts incurred by the Pope on foolish military projects.

Answer: Henry III had to agree to a ruling council who made most of the big decisions.

Henry was thus forced to agree to sweeping reforms and to yield some of the major decisions to a fifteen man council. This was one of the first steps towards a parliamentary form of government. Civil War broke out in 1264 when Henry tried to reassert his own autocratic control and renounced the Provisions of Oxford.

Answer: Simon de Montfort defeated the Royal Army and captured both Henry III and Edward the heir to the throne.

At Lewes in Sussex Simon de Montfort demonstrated that he was a much more able soldier than Edward, the king's son and leader of the royal army. After the battle de Montfort found himself in charge of the country and attempted to rule with a council of nine men. He then invited knights from each shire and burgesses from selected towns to join in the new form of parliament.

Answer: He was his brother in law.

Simon de Montfort had married Eleanor,one of Henry III's sisters. She had previously been married to William the Marshall, Earl of Pembroke. For a while de Montfort's power was based on the fact that he had a royal connection and was popular because he agreed with the Provisions of Oxford.

However, when he lost the support of the Earl of Gloucester disaster soon followed and he lost the battle of Evesham and his life.

Answer: 56 years

Henry was born on the 1st October 1207 and came to the throne in October 1216. He died on the 16th November, 1272 and thus had one of the longest reigns of any British monarch. Other long reigning rulers include George III at 60 years and Queen Victoria at 64 years.