KING HENRY III

Assassination, Makers of History, Henry IV, John S.C.Abbott, Harper, New York, 1904, page 238.

One of longest serving monarchs (1216 – 1272).
King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Aquitane.
Famous for Magna Carta, and the establishment of the first parliament.
Gave more power to the people, with less decisions taken on the whim of a monarch.
Improved the rights of women, empowered his own queen, Eleanor of Provence. Henry gave her monetary independence, and respected her opinion in governmental affairs.
Faithful to Eleanor(unusual for monarch).
Human – introduced pageantry – at his death he owed his wine merchant nearly £1m in today’s money.
Established stability, longevity and promoted peace (!).
Very charitable – fed hundreds of poor people on a daily basis.
Diarmuid Mac Gilla Mo-Cholmoc’s son John had to do his “Knight’s Service”in King Henry III’s army in 1227.

Smal, Chris (1993) Ancient Rathdown and St. Crispin’s Cell, A uniquely historic landscape, Friends of Historic Rathdown, Greystones.