When King John died in Newark castle on 19 October 1216 he left behind a mess of his own making.
He was in dispute with his lords and bishops over his rebuttal of the charter he had recently signed – Magna Carta.
He was not regarded with favour by the pope, Innocent III, over the appointment of an archbishop of Canterbury, this resulted in John’s excommunication, only solved by John’s agreement to pay Rome an annual fee and submitting the country to becoming a papal vassal state.
He was also at war with France and lost many of his holdings over the channel to the French king. In addition the French king Philip II had dispatched his son Prince Louis to lead the English barons in their effort to overthrow John.
John’s problems ended when he died in Newark castle, Nottinghamshire, of dysentery.
His natural heir was Henry, but Henry was only nine years old — with enemies in England and France, and French soldiers on English soil, how could the boy hope to survive?
Here’s Henry at his coronation in Gloucester cathedral on 28 October 1216.
He was clad in borrowed robes and his mother’s crown. His mother, Isabella of Angouleme intended to manage the youngster
to her own advantage, but was rapidly shoved to one side by a group of nobles who formed a Regency to educate and keep safe the youngster.
Watch out for the story of Henry’s life, a novel due out later in the year,
and witness first hand the power politics of England, Europe, and Rome, in the thirteenth century.
No-one is safe, especially a nine year old King – so how did he survive?