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The Plantagenets 1216 - 1274

King John died in 1216 and was succeeded by his son, Henry the Third. Tensions between influential barons and the king had been a defining feature of King John's reign. This power struggle had forced the signing of Magna Carta, a document bringing the king's power within the law. Tensions continued and intensified under Henry. The English nobles were furious at the way Henry welcomed foreigners into his inner circle of advisors. They wanted to bring their own influence to bear on the king.

The king's increasingly restive council was now almost a pre-parliament. In honour of his personal hero, the eleventh century king Edward the Confessor, Henry had moved his household, and his council to Westminster Hall which had been built on the orders of the Confessor. With Magna Carta in the background the council, sitting in what would be the future home of parliament, became more assertive. The king's brother-in-law Simon De Montfort became the leader of opposition to the king. De Montfort was the son of a French noble, and just as "foreign" as all the king's foreign advisors who had brought about resentment towards the king in the first place; but that's nationalism for you.

Pevensey Castle

The crisis came in 1258 when a combination of heavy taxation and a disregard for the council forced a rebellion. An armed group of barons arrived at Westminster Hall. They politely left their swords at the entrance, but their aim was clear. The Earl of Norfolk claimed that this wasn't so much a rebellion as a liberation of the king from the evil council of foreigners. The king had to submit. On the 11th of June the council met at Oxford and agreed measures, known as the Provisions of Oxford, which effectively abolished the absolute monarchy. Power was transferred from the king to a committee elected by the barons and the church. Four knights in each shire were given the job of collecting grievances and presenting them to the justicier. The Battle of Lewes in 1264, where an army commanded by de Montfort defeated an army led by Henry and his son Edward, seemed to consolidate the position of the rebels. Edward was even held prisoner for a time at Kenilworth Castle, where de Montfort had set up his headquarters. Henry the Third's supporters were forced to take refuge in Pevensey Castle. Many historians see the origin of Parliament in this period.

Divisions, however, soon began to emerge amongst the rebels. There was disagreement over whether grievances could be pursued not just against the king, but also against the ruling nobles themselves. The idealistic De Montfort thought the nobles could be open to such scrutiny. The other great earls were not so enthusiastic. These divisions combined with the escape of Henry's son Edward from De Montfort's train, led to final defeat for the rebels at the battle of Evesham in 1265. Henry gave thanks by completing the shrine of his hero Edward the Confessor in his new abbey at Westminster, a rebuilding of an abbey created by the Confessor himself. In 1272 Henry died, and joined Edward the Confessor in the abbey, his new symbolic centre of the nation, where kings would be crowned and buried. Henry's son Edward the First was crowned in 1274, and set out on a reign of great energy and ruthlessness during which Scotland would be subdued, and Wales would be pulled firmly under English influence.