1257 For his part, Henry started collecting gold, which he would need to finance an army in Sicily. Frederick had […]
The poor and needy come second
1255 The deal called for the crown of Sicily to go to Henry’s ten-year-old son Edmund in return for money […]
Red hats and torture
The former Sinibaldo Fieschi, Innocent IV despised Frederick II and Robert Grosseteste in equal measure. He is remembered for introducing […]
Bankrolling the papal army
1254 The other piece of business the king concluded while in Gascony had to do with Sicily. Considered a rich […]
Blood money
1255 Six months earlier Henry had sold the custody of the Jews to Richard so that he might “disembowel those […]
Jew’s Court
Known as Jew’s Court, this house in Lincoln was long considered the scene of the crime. In 1910, the owner […]
A boy named Hugh
1255 On 31 July a fatherless boy named Hugh disappeared in the city of Lincoln. Told he was last seen […]
All in the family
1254 Modern historians tend to side with Henry in this affair, suggesting he had every reason to believe Alfonso was […]
Eleanor’s parliament
1254 Before leaving, Henry appointed his wife Eleanor to rule in his stead with Richard serving as her adviser. Their […]
The third Eleanor
1254 It had been Henry’s intention to come to Gascony and show that it could be ruled with peace and […]
One crusading disaster after another
1250-1254 Meanwhile Louis was having a worse time of it overseas. He had carefully prepared for his crusade, amassing a […]
Maker and lover of strife
1252 A humiliated and insulted Henry called his governor a “maker and lover of strife” and ordered him to observe […]
An absolute mess
1250 Henry’s policy in Gascony was an absolute mess. The province was nominally Richard’s, but now, at the queen’s insistence, […]
The rights of common people
1248 Meanwhile the real warfare was in the east. The Mongols had swept through Poland and Hungary before turning south […]
The Lusignans come to England
1247 Isabella and Hugh were later embroiled in another plot against Louis, involving poison and cooks who talk a lot […]
Pay or quit the kingdom
1243 There was nothing like a wedding to bring out the best in Henry and he used the occasion of […]
The king should be locked up
1242 Henry’s expedition to recover Poitou was a spectacular failure. Caught off guard by Louis’ aggressiveness at the Charente River […]
Another boy king
1241 Like Henry, Louis IX (1214 – 1270) had been a boy king, crowned at the age of 12 after […]
Enter the Lusignans
1242 This time the conflict was instigated by Henry’s mother, Isabella d’Angoulême. She was just a teenager when King John […]
The unholy struggle
1240 Crusading was all the rage among the nobility of the 13th century. Simon returned to England alone in the […]