The Fall of Hubert de Burgh.

Hubert de Burgh was one of the most important figures in England during the reign of Henry III. Not only had he helped ensure Henry would succeed his father, John; he had been Regent during Henry's minority, and Henry in gratitude had given him several properties and titles, even making his Chief Justiciar for life.

He had enemies, however, who were jealous or wary of his growing power. One was William Marshal, the most respected man for decades, who had in fact recommended Hubert as Regent. Another was the Frenchman Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester during the reigns of John and Henry and Henry's childhood tutor. A third was Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, who alternately worked with and opposed Hubert (as well as the king).

It was June of 1232 that Hubert's appointment as Justiciar of Ireland was made an appointment for life. But then, something happened, some incident that changed Henry's mind toward his biggest supporter. In July, Hubert was dismissed as Justiciar and replaced with Stephen de Seagrave, a close friend of Peter des Roches.

Whatever the turning point was, it was significant enough that Hubert feared for his life—or at least for his freedom. He fled to Merton Priory (where another courtier-and-friend-of-the-king who fell from grace had gone to school—and requested sanctuary (see illustration , from the Historia Anglorum of Matthew Paris). Henry wanted him dragged out physically, but this was opposed by his Chancellor, Ralph Neville.

Sanctuary had a time limit, however: forty days. Henry's soldiers were stationed outside of the chapel where Hubert sat, limiting how much food and drink could enter. When the forty days ended, Hubert was taken from Merton, imprisoned, and forced to surrender a large sum of money that he had left with the Knights Templar (who functioned as bankers because of their reliability and presence across Europe and the Middle East). Once he had the money in hand, Hubert was released into the custody of his fellow earls.

Later, Hubert's gentle captivity became more rough on the king's orders, and Hubert escaped and sought sanctuary again. The king had him dragged out of the church, but the bishops made such a fuss about violating sanctuary that Henry had to allow Hubert back in while the forty days passed. Again, the plan was to starve him out, but the tide of public opinion was turning.

His replacement, Stephen de Seagrave, turned out to be not a great replacement, and Peter des Roches administration was not well received. William Marshal's son, Richard Earl of Pembroke, plotted Hubert's escape. Hubert was taken to Marshal's castle of Striguil (also called Chepstow), between the Rivers Usk and Wye. This kept him well away from London and Henry, where Hubert could rest and recover for months.

Henry was wary of offending his earls: he was well aware of their desire for more independence from the Crown during his father's reign and his own. The resolution for their conflict came in a letter from the pope. I'll wrap up the saga of Hubert de Burgh tomorrow.

Henry III's Troubles

Henry III's most loyal and powerful supporter was William Marshal, but William's son was not of the same mind. Richard Marshal (1191 - 1234) was William's second son, and became the 3rd Earl of Pembroke on 6 April 1231.

Henry inherited not just a crown from his father, King John, but also a country where the ranks below that of king demanded more authority and autonomy. Magna Carta was not enough, and civil unrest between the crown and less-loyal factions was a constant threat. There were also smaller conflicts that erupted into larger conflicts whenever the king took sides.

The Bishop of Winchester, Peter Des Roches, had been an important figure in Henry's youth, but in 1233 he demanded a manor be returned to a friend of his, Peter de Maulay, from Gilbert Basset, who currently held it due to earlier strife. Henry supported the bishop; Basset resisted; Henry called Basset a traitor; Basset fled to southern Wales where Richard Marshal held lands; Basset had been a friend of Richard's older brother, William, who had been the 2nd Earl of Pembroke after their father. Richard felt he should shelter and support his brother's old friend, so that's what he did.

This was a tense situation. Henry did not want to alienate Richard, and a date was sent to discuss the matter face-to-face in Gloucester, but Richard did not trust that Henry might not use the event to arrest him, so he refused to meet. Henry sent the Bishop of St. Davids to threaten Richard that his relationship with the king was in danger of being cut off. Meanwhile, the king's bailiffs demanded that one of Richard's castles, Usk Castle, be surrendered to them, with which his garrison at Usk complied.

Richard probably did not want to appear to be in rebellion against the king, but when Basset decided to make a cavalry raid across England, he was forced to act. He decided to stick with his original support of Basset. Richard allied with Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth of Gwynedd, and quickly seized Usk and other castles. They continued to Monmouth, where Baldwin III, Count of Guînes, came out to fight. The illustration above is from historian Matthew Paris, showing Richard unhorsing Baldwin.

Richard did not have enough forces to go as far as London and challenge the king. Meanwhile, Henry did not want to commit too many forces to deal with Richard, and hoped for a peaceful settlement. A truce with France was coming to a close, and Henry feared using up troops at home in a rebellion when they might be needed on the continent to defend English-held territory there. An attempt at peace on 1 April 1234 negotiated by Templars failed, and a fight broke out during which Richard was wounded. He succumbed to his injuries on 15 April, and the rebellion died with him.

I was going to tell next about one of Henry's policy decisions that the modern world would condemn, but I feel the need to take a side trip to Matthew Paris, whose work has been mentioned several times throughout this blog but has never been given his own entry. That's for tomorrow.