King Henry III, Eleanor of Provence, Simon and Eleanor de Montfort – Their struggle over monarchy and parliament in 13th century England

Last call for the crusade

This is the ‘round’ inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Northampton, built in imitation of the church in […]

A Royal Row

Henry III and Eleanor of Provence were married for 36 years until his death in 1272. There’s no evidence of […]

King John’s youngest

Like her husband Simon, the birth date and place of Eleanor de Montfort cannot be determined with accuracy but there […]

The Plantagenets by a thread

On this day of 28 October in 1216, Henry III was crowned king of England in Gloucester. His claim to […]

In the year 1207

Henry III was born in Winchester on this day, 1 October. Says the Dunstable annalist, “In the year 1207 a […]

They didn’t all speak French

Eleanor of Provence would have grown up speaking Provençal, a dialect of Occitan. Coming from a noble family, doubtless she […]

Rumours of the birth

Further to the previous post about Richard de Montfort, Simon and Eleanor’s fifth and youngest son, he was born in […]

Final days in England

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 […]

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 […]