(1207-1272). In 1216, Henry III, eldest son of King John and Isabelle d’Angouleme, assumed the title king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou. Even though his father had lost control of Normandy, Anjou, and much of Aquitaine, Henry III continued to press his claims both diplomatically and militarily to all these lands, which he considered his rightful patrimony. Largely unsuccessful, he finally acquiesced to much less in the Treaty of Paris in 1259, though he retained control over Gascony and as duke of Aquitaine was a peer of France. Thus, Henry III continued to be an important baron on the Continent.
Henry was only nine years old when he inherited what was left of his father’s feudal empire. His regents were successful in ending the barons’ rebellion in England, and Louis of France, son of Philip II Augustus, gave up his claim to the English throne and left the country. When Henry assumed control of the government in 1227, he held England, the Channel Islands, Gascony, and the island of Oleron and continued to try to regain the rest of the lands that he believed belonged to him. His military expeditions of 1230 and 1242 produced no long-term gains, while his diplomatic efforts did not force Louis IX to return the disputed territory. Finally, on December 4, 1259, Henry and Louis signed the controversial Treaty of Paris, in which Henry III recognized Louis’s control over Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and Poitou, while Henry retained the title duke of Aquitaine, for which he did homage to Louis. Henry’s hold over Aquitaine, however, was limited to Gascony and Oleron. Several of Louis’s concessions required negotiations over many years before they were useful to Henry. Within Gascony, some lords remained relatively independent of Henry’s control. Also, Louis’s role as Henry’s liege lord allowed Gascons, unhappy with the settlement of disputes in Henry’s courts, to appeal to the Parlement de Paris. This recourse, first used immediately after the treaty’s ratification, opened the way for increasing French royal intervention into Gascon affairs.
Henry III can be credited with two changes that strengthened his and his successors’ control over Gascony. First, he began the development of a more efficient administration within the county. Second, when Henry gave control of this land to his heir, Edward, he did so with the stipulation that it never be separated from the crown.
Penelope Adair
[See also: GASCONY; LOUIS IX]
Clanchy, Michael T. England and Its Rulers 1066-1272: Foreign Lordship and National Identity. Oxford: Blackwell, 1983.
Labarge, Margaret W. Gascony, England’s First Colony 1204-1453. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1980.
LePatourel, John. “The Plantagenet Dominions.” History: The Quarterly Journal ofthe Historical Association (London) 50 (1965):289-308.
Powicke, F. M. King Henry III and the Lord Edward: The Community ofthe Realm in the Thirteenth Centaury. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1947.
World History
