The Misrule of Henry III
Henry III. was always in want of money, and his crew of royal parasites from Poitou drained the exchequer. Over and over again the barons called on the King to get rid of his favourites, and to end the misrule that afflicted the country; and the King from time to time gave promises of amendment. But the promises were always broken. As long as Henry could get money he was averse from all constitutional reform. In 1258 the barons were determined that a change must be made. “If the King can’t do without us in war, he must listen to us in peace,” they declared. “And what sort of peace is this when the King is led astray by bad counsellors, and the land is filled with foreign tyrants who grind down native-born Englishmen?”
William of Rishanger, a contemporary writer, expressed the popular feeling in well-known verses:
“The King that tries without advice to seek his country’s weal
Must often fail; he cannot know the wants and woes they feel.
The Parliament must tell the King how he may serve them best,
And he must see their wants fulfilled and injuries redressed.
A King should seek his people’s good and not his own sweet will.
Nor think himself a slave because men hold him back from ill.”
“The King’s mistakes call for special treatment,” said Richard, Earl of Gloucester.