Character of Henry III
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broke, the French prince was still in the land, but his friends soon deserted him, and he was glad to make a treaty and go away. The Pope supported the new government, for by John’s submission the young King had become his ‘vassal’. The power of the Pope.The Pope expected to make a good thing out of it, and he intended Henry to help him, which Henry, when he grew up, was only too ready to do. Character of Henry III.For the King, with many good qualities, such as piety and mercy, with much learning and good taste for art and building, was quite un-English. He was the first king, since Edward the Confessor, who had leaned wholly upon foreign favourites and despised his own sturdy people. He was frightfully extravagant, and a natural, though not an intentional liar. England was to him only a very rich farm, out of which he could squeeze for himself and our ‘Holy Father’ the Pope at Rome, cash, more cash, and ever more and more cash. His own share of it he spent on building beautiful churches, such as Westminster Abbey, and in useless wars with his noble overlord, King Louis IX of France, who always beat him, but allowed him to retain Southern Aquitaine, that is, Gascony. Down till about 1232 Henry governed by native English or Norman ministers; and, so long as Langton lived, the Pope did not Interfere much. Extravagance of Henry III.But soon after that the King's extravagance and the Popes increasing demands for money began to be felt, and the nation grumbled. The barons were now thorough Englishmen, who had no interests outside England at all. They began to wonder whether Magna Charta was a mere bit of waste paper or not; the King observed few of its provisions, though he constantly swore to observe them. In fact, he published it at the beginning of his reign with several important
