Although Henry III (1216-1272) had a very long reign for a medieval king, he is probably one of the lesser-known English monarchs - certainly far less famous than his father, King John, or his son, and successor, Edward I - 'The Hammer of the Scots'. Rather, Henry is often seen as a rather weak king whose rule is regarded as generally unsuccessful. He has been cast as dominated by the unwise counsel of his wife, and her relatives, which sowed the seeds of discontent further within the English aristocracy and led to disharmony within English society and civil war.

Yet Henry's reign was one of the most important in English history. It witnessed the first attempts to apply the laws established by Magna Carta and restrict the power of the king, much against Henry's wishes. It was a period of almost continuous warfare, both at home and abroad, as Henry wrestled to control the barons of England and fought to retain English possessions in continental Europe. Most famously of all was his quarrel and war with Simon De Montfort which led directly to the establishment of the first House of Commons within the English Parliamentary system.

On a personal level, Henry was a deeply religious man, with a keen interest in the arts, and the reign saw a great flourishing of royal patronage of ecclesiastical establishments in England. This was particularly so in the field of architecture as Henry spent lavishly on cathedrals, churches and castles on an almost unprecedented scale. Unfortunately, the downside of Henry's expenditure on these and other enterprises, and the resulting high taxation, together with his favouritism towards non-English courtiers, helped fuel the fires of discontent further within the kingdom. As a result, more than once Henry seemed to be teetering on the verge of losing his crown.

During this illustrated talk we will try to get to the heart of what Henry was like both as a king and as a man and try to determine if he truly deserves to be regarded as one of the weakest kings of medieval England.