Today (1 October ) is the birthday of King Henry III of England.
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| Here is a representation of Henry III on a coin of the period. The photograph was take by Kirk Dale. |
Born
at Winchester on the 1st of October 1207 he was son of the infamous King John and
ruled from 1216 until 1272, the longest reigning English monarch for the next five
hundred years: until bumped successively by King George III, Queen
Victoria and recently by our own Queen Elizabeth II.
He is in this blog because he was a patron of artists, of gardeners, of architects and of artisans.
Yes he was a spendthrift, and it is true that he was rather a martinet when it came to his rights as King. He could also be something of a drama queen on occasions.
Avant-garde for his time, he was also an excellent interior designer, fashion designer and landscaper in his own right.
He was a faithful husband, a loving father, generous to a fault with all who came within his orbit; pious; approachable, kind hearted, extremely charitable; a gourmet of note, and a consummate showman when it came to public displays.
And what's more, I am proud to say that he is my ever-so-many-greats step uncle (one of my ancestors was the result of his mother's second marriage) so I wanted to invite him along.
Time
unfortunately forbids me from writing anything further at this stage except to
say that this evening AGA and I will raise a glass and salute this medieval monarch.
Happy Birthday King Henry III!
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| This painting, on the so called Westminster Retable, was executed at Henry III's command. The image comes from wikimedia commons. |
Hello Kirk:
ReplyDeleteA fascinating post about a Monarch to whom we have never given a great deal of thought. It is interesting to learn that he was a patron of so many aspects of the Arts; we rather regret that the present Queen shows little apparent interest in these areas.
You are clearly very well connected!!
Dear Jane and Lance,
DeleteYou are right there, Henry III is a most under-rated King. I think I am going to write a post about it when I get a little more blogging experience as it surprising to see just how widespread his interests lay.
Kirk
I am trying to work this out Kirk. Does that mean that you are in fact descended From Isabella of Angoulême and Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, by whom she had 9 children?
ReplyDeleteI do not have this in my head, but found it on Wikipedia.
Is this the Fallowfield part of your ancestry that you mentioned with regard to the Strickland family?
I feel as if I need to doff my cap or curtsey!!!
Dear Rosemary,
DeleteYes that is correct. Isabella of Angouleme is my ancestress through her son WIlliam of Valence. It was quite a thrill to visit her tomb in Fontévrault. It gets watered down over the centuries of course and my more immediate ancestors in that part of the family were landowners on the Welsh borders before ending up as farmers in Leicestershire and then in what is now outer London.
I like to think that if I could be spirited back to the thirteenth century, that Henry would give me a manor or three because I was 'family'.
This is my father's family while Fallowfield is my mother's family.
Kirk
A most interesting posting, Sir. As one who is very interested in design, I have to say that I am charmed and inspired by the use of 3-D dots on your coin to represent wrinkles, ears, eyes and a beard!
ReplyDeleteThe moneyer was a certain Robert of Canterbury. He did a good job especially when you consider that this coin is just under 2cm in diameter.
DeleteHappy Birthday to King Henry III it is! Drama queen, interior designer and spendthrift......he would've been a great client!! Cheers, Loi
ReplyDeleteYes Loi, I am sure that he stressed a lot of his contractors with his last minute requests, his exacting instructions and his changes of mind - but he also made them rather rich!
ReplyDeleteHello Kirk, For some reason I was having trouble subscribing to your blog--I hope that is now fixed. I love your hammered coin (a penny?) of Henry III. Thanks to your introduction, I will now be on the lookout for references to that interesting monarch.
ReplyDelete--Road to Parnassus
Dear Parnassus,
DeleteYes it is a penny. They call it a 'Long Cross' silver penny because the rear is divided by a cross that goes from top to bottom. I believe that the cross enabled the coin to be cut in half to produce two half pennies if required.
I'm glad you will be on the look out. I want to write a book on him one day.
Bye for now
Kirk
PS
Thank you for subscribing to my blog. I also have problems signing up as a follower but was putting it down to not pressing the right buttons so I am glad to see that I am not alone.
Dear Kirk,
ReplyDeleteI've arrived late to the party, but I want you to know that I will be toasting the wonderful Henry III and the health of his heirs tonight! What a wonderful story-- I'm inspired to learn more about this very interesting man. Thank you for sharing this post!
Warm regards,
Erika
Dear Erika,
DeleteThank you for your nice comments. I am making a birthday cake for Henry this weekend but as he won't be present except in spirit, AGA and I will have to eat it all for him!
Bye for now
Kirk
Hello Kirk,
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Henry III built a garden? Do you know?
Cheers to you,
Faisal.
Dear Faisal,
DeleteHenry III certainly had gardeners. We know there names from the orders he sent to them. We also have the records to show what trees and other plants he ordered. I am not sure if he designed a garden though - I will investigate!
Bye for now,
Kirk
Hello Kirk
ReplyDeleteI join you in wishing your ancestor King Henry 111 happy memories. The coin is highly fascinating and I think it might be difficult for me to spend it as it is so beautiful.
I found your blog, through mutual friends, and have signed to follow and look forward to knowing your work
Helen
Dear Helen,
DeleteThank you for your comment and thank you for becoming a follower of this blog. I am only new to the blog world and still finding my way around. I never realised there were so many and I feel as if I am making a whole new circle of friends.
As for the coin yes it is lovely and rather special to me. It is only roughly as big as a thumbnail but as you can see, the detail is very intricate.
Now I am going to take a look at your blog too!
Bye for now
Kirk