Eleanor de Montfort, based at Dover, had learned of the massacre at Evesham by 11 August 1265. On that day […]
Four more Eleanors
In addition to his wife and sister, there were four other Eleanors in the life of Henry III, his grandmother […]
The Two Eleanors of Henry III
My dual biography of Eleanor of Provence and Eleanor de Montfort is set to be released at the end of […]
Our new home, Windsor
On 11 August 1239, two days after the fiasco of the churching, the bailiffs of Windsor were ordered to have […]
The day it all started
On 9 August 1239, the cream of society was gathered for the queen’s churching. It was going to be a […]
Simon de Montfort and the No-Deal scenario
The prime minister’s Brexit deal was defeated three times in the House of Commons. She was ‘humiliated’, the defeats were […]
An obstructionist Parliament? Just ask Henry III.
The Brits must really be into self-loathing. Every recent Brexit failure in Parliament has been greeted with words like ‘messy’, […]
In the year 1252
Our stroll takes us to house number 1252 and one of those trials of the century before the term was […]
In the year 1251
Robert Grosseteste was a very exacting Bishop of Lincoln. His monks and nuns never liked his visits because he went […]
In the year 1250
In March of this year, Henry III and his wife Eleanor of Provence took the cross in an elaborate ceremony […]
In the year 1249
Another intensive year in the reign of Henry III – and there’s 56 of them! – and the lucky house […]
In the year 1248
The coat of paint needed on this house is indicative of the state of the money supply in England this […]
In the year 1247
Another innocuous house number but an otherwise eventful year. The Treaty of Woodstock brought peace to Wales for the next […]
In the year 1246
Finally a house with a number on the mailbox. This year stands out for being a mostly quiet one at […]
In the year 1245
This year started off with the birth of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence’s second and youngest son Edmund. Endowments […]
In the year 1244
Moving to the next house over, we find the Simon and Eleanor de Montfort fully restored to royal favour. Henry […]
In the year 1243
The next house is 1242 but it shows no number to this effect and the front yard looks kind of […]
In the year 1241
The next house being 1241, in this year Simon de Montfort went on crusade and took the family with him. […]
In the year 1240
Just walking through a nearby neighborhood and saw this house number. So what happened in 1240? Simon de Montfort returned […]
Two “Thirds”
Today 1 October marks the birth of Henry III in 1207. Born in Winchester, he had just turned nine when […]
The Lord Steward
The open question following the battle of Evesham was whether Simon de Montfort had been aspiring for the throne, if […]
Pioneering queen
Celebrating the life of Eleanor of Provence (1223-91) this International Women’s Day, the first woman in post-Conquest England to be […]
The house of houses
It’s the 14th of February, the year 1265, and something big is about to go down in the chapter house […]
A saint otherwise
On this day of 12 February in 1266, Walter de Cantilupe, the bishop of Worchester, died a broken man. He […]