A parliament which met at Westminster (April 1258) forced Henry to promise reform, and elected a committee of twenty-four to act for the king till a complete schema could be drawn up. On June 11th the assembly, called afterwards the Mad Parliament, met at Oxford. A coun cil of fifteen, of whom two-thirds were on the baronial side, was appointed, who, together with twelve repre sentatives of the " community," were to take charge of the government and meet in parliament thrice a year. Hugh Bigod was named justiciar, other offices were filled up, the castles were entrusted to Englishmen, and four knights were summoned from each county to declare grievances, These reforms, together with certain general enactments, went by the name of the Provisions of Oxford. The king s authority was completely superseded, and the rule of a baronial oligarchy established. Next year, owing to the demands of the knighthood, who felt themselves neglected, a further series of Provisions was issued. The Sicilian project was formally repudiated, and a final peace made with France, in which the claim on Normandy and other districts was renounced. But beyond this the baronial Government did nothing. The nation testified its disappointment, and a quarrel took place between the earls of Leicester and Gloucester which divided the baronial party. The king took advantage of this state of affairs, and in 1261 obtained absolution from the Pro visions at the hands of the pope. He then fortified the Tower, deposed the baronial justiciar, and soon began to rule as before. In this crisis the baronial party made a bid for popular favour by summoning representatives of the counties to a parliament, but the reaction was for the time complete, and Henry had leisure to go to France in order to win over Louis IX. to his side. In 1263 hostilities broke out on the Welsh border, and the barons seized the opportunity to renew their attack on the king. After some months of desultory warfare, it was agreed to submit to the arbitration of Louis. That king, in the Mise of Amiens, decided in favour of Henry, and annulled the Provisions. Leicester at once appealed to arms. The battle of Lewes (May 14, 1264) was a complete victory for him, and put the king and his eldest son into his hands. For a time he was master of the country, but the party he headed was not that which had been dominant six years before, and Henry now had many adherents among the greater barons. Nevertheless, for more than a year he remained practically a prisoner in the hands of De Montfort. At a parliament which met in June 1264, and at which knights of the shire were certainly present, a constitution was drawn up, which, while preserving to the king a high position as head of the executive, placed supreme power in the hands of the community/ Early next year, in a parliament to which members from the boroughs as well as from the counties were summoned, this constitution was confirmed, and Henry swore to observe it. In accordance with the settlement made at Lewe?, Edward was now to be released. His father was already supposed to be at liberty, but in reality both he and Edward were kept in restraint. Edward s escape (May 1265) caused an im mediate renewal of the war, and at the battle of Evesham (August 4, 1265) De Montfort w^s killed and Henry set free. Two years later the war was practically concluded by the capture of Kenilworth. Henry had little to do with the conduct of the war, and acquiesced in the arrangements made by his son for the pacification of the country. His triumph was, however, complete, and for the rest cf his reign the kingdom was at peace. He died on November 16, 1272, leaving behind him the memory of one whose virtues were of the priestly kind, and whose worst vices were those of indulgence, ill-temper, and prodigality. As a subject he would have been harmless, and even perhaps respectable ; as a king he was weak, hasty, imprudent, equally incapable in the position of a ruler, an administrator, or a general.
Original Authorities.—Roger of Wendover, Florcs Historiarum ; Matthew Paris, Historia Major (with its Additamcnta), and His- toria Minor; William Eislianger, Continuation of Matt. Paris, and DC duobus Bcllis, &c. ; the Annals of Burton, Dunstable, Tewkes- bury, Waverley, Melrose, and other places ; Thomas Wikes, Chronicon ; Nicolas Trivet, Annalcs ; Walter of Gisburne (or Hemingburgh), Chronicon; Bracton, DC Leijilus Anglitx; Robert of Gloucester, Chronicle; Royal Letters (ed. Shirley); Letters of Grosse teste (ed. Luard); Monumenta Franciscana (od. Brewer); Liber de Antiquis Lcgibus (Camd. Soc.); Political Songs (ed. Wright).
Modern Authorities.—Pearson s History of England, vol. ii. ; Blaauw s Barons War ; Prothero s Life and Times of Simon von Montfort ; Panli s Simon de Montfort ; Brewer s Preface to Monum. Franciscana ; Luard s Preface to Letters of Grosseteste.