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| Simon V /DE MONTFORT 2nd 6th Earl of Leicester 1 | |
| Birth: | Ca 1200/1208 in Montfort-l'Amaury Castle, Ile-de-France, France |
| Death: | 4 Aug 1265 in Battle of Evesham, Worcestershire, England; killed |
| Sex: | M |
| Father: | Simon IV ' l' Amaury ' "le Macchabée" /DE MONTFORT 1st 5th Earl of Leicester b. About 1165 in Montfort-l'Amaury, Yvelines, Ile-de-France, France |
| Mother: | Alice (Alix) DE MONTMORENCY b. About 1176 in Montmorency, Val d'Oise, Ile-de-France, France |
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| Education: see also Matthew of Westminister's account of the rebellion |
| Occupation: 10th\1st Earl of Chester |
| Changed: 17 Feb 2005 |
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| Eleanor PLANTAGENET Princess of England (Wife) b. 1215 in Wincester, Hampshire, England [Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England]
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| Marriage: | 7 JAN 1238 in Kings Chapel, Westminster Palace, Middlesex, England; 'secretly and without dowry' (Enc Amer; v. 19, pg 407, 1955) |
| Children: | |
 Simon (VI) DE MONTFORT b. About 1240 in (ref: 'BK&Q, ' pg 533)
 Richard FitzSimon DE MONTFORT b. About 1243 in Coughton, Alcester, Warwickshire, England
- Guy DE MONTFORT Count of Nola b. 1243 in Coughton, Alcester, Warwickshire, England
- Eleanor DE MONTFORT b. 29 Sep 1252 in Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, England
- Henry DE MONTFORT b. 1238
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Individual:
Upon the death of his father,Simon IV, this son took over theAlbigensian Crusade, "but he was not his father's equal."Simon's son, also a Simon, was captured by Edward I in Apr 1264.On 16 May 1264, after a brilliantly led engagement at Lewes,Simon succeeded in capturing King Henry III and his son, EdwardI 'Longshanks.' This was also about the time of the 'Baron'sWar,' and a new constitution was drawn up (while King Henry IIIwas in custody) giving power to a council of nine, over whomwere three electors, and in this new regime Simon waspractically master of the kingdom.On 20 Jan 1265, Simon summoned a 'parliament' of 120 churchmen,23 barons, 2 knights from each shire, and 2 citizens from eachborough. Known as the 'Model Parliament' ( 'The Mad Parliament') was the [a] forerunner of the modern British Parliament. [morealso in ref: Encyc Amer, Vol. 49, pg 406, Ed. 1955)He was killed at the battle of Evesham; his head, and hands andfeet were cut off.-----------Simon de Montfort is said to have first sought an asylum inEngland from the hostility of Blanche, Queen of France, and tohave obtained a restitution of the Earldom of Leicester andstewardship of England from King Henry III through the petitionof his brother, Almaric [Amaury], then Earl of Montfort andconstable of France. Certain it is, however, that in 1232 (16thHenry III), he bore the title of Earl of Leicester and hadobtained a grant of all his mother's inheritance in England fromhis brother. In 1236, his lordship officiated as steward at thenuptials of Henry III, and held the ewer in which the kingwashed. In two years afterwards, he obtained the hand of theking's sister, Eleanor, widow of William Marshal, Earl ofPembroke, the marriage ceremony being performed by Walter, oneof the royal chaplains at Westminster, "within a little chappelat the corner of the king's chamber." This marriage was,however, opposed by the princess's other brother, Richard, Earlof Cornwall (afterwards King of the Romans), and the kingdom atlarge, because the lady had made in her widowhood a vow ofchastity in the presence of Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury andseveral of the nobility. So strongly did public discontentmanifest itself that the earl was obliged to repair in person toRome for the purpose of obtaining a dispensation, which withconsiderable difficulty he at length accomplished; and returningto England was most graciously received at court by the king,who appointed him his chief counsellor. Notwithstanding this,however, William de Abingdon, a Dominican friar, and many otherof the clergy continued to exclaim against the marriage. Butbefore the close of the same year, he experienced the caprice ofroyal favour. The king observing him and his countess amongstthe nobility who attended the queen at her purification, calledhim an excommunicated person and prohibited his entering thechurch. "Which sudden unkindness," says Dugdale, "much dismayinghim, he went away by water to Winchester House, which (thebishop being dead) the king had lent him. But there he could notbe permitted to stay, the king in great wrath causing him to beput out of doors. Whereupon he returned sorrowing and weeping,yet could not appease his anger, the king plainly telling himthat he had abused his sister before marriage, and that, thoughhe afterward gave her to him for a wife, it was unwillingly, andto avoid scandal. Upbraiding him that to ratify this, hisunlawful marriage, he went to Rome and there corrupted thatcourt with large bribes and promises, adding that, having failedin payment of the money, he ought justly be excommunicated."This storm ultimately drove his lordship from the kingdom, butonly for a short period, as we find him returning in 1240, andhaving then an honourable reception from the king and all hiscourt. Soon after this he made a journey to Jerusalem, havingpreviously disposed of one of his woods to the knightshospitallers and canons of Leicester for somewhat less thanú1000 to defray part of the necessary expenses of theundertaking. Henceforward, he appears for a series of years tohave enjoyed the high favour of the king and to have fullymerited it by his eminent services.In the 32nd Henry III [1248], his lordship was appointedcommander-in-chief of the forces in Gascony and in the end ofthat year he sat in the great convention of parliament held atLondon; about which time he obtained from the king a grant ofthe custody of Kenilworth Castle, for Eleanor, his wife, to holdduring her life, and returning into Gascony, he forced Guastonde Bearne, who had raised the standard of rebellion, to anhonourable truce. The earl came back to England the next yearand was received at court with great honour. Soon after which,in fulfillment of a vow he had made as penance for his marriage,he began a journey to the Holy Land, and in the 34th of the samereign returned safely with his brother-in-law, Richard, Earl ofCornwall, and others. For the two following years he wasactively and victoriously employed in Gascony until the king,hearkening to complaints against him for his cruelty andoppression, which appear to have been unsustainable, removed himfrom the seneschalship of that country.Upon the subsequent insurrection of the barons against the king,the Earl of Leicester, siding with the former, was appointedtheir general-in-chief, in which character he fought the greatbattle of Lewes where the royal army sustained so signal adefeat the king himself being made prisoner with Prince Edward,his son, his brother, Richard, King of the Romans, and manyother personages of eminence attached to his cause. This victoryplacing the government in the hands of the earl and hisadherents, himself, the bishop of Chichester, the Earl ofGloucester, and a few others of less note were nominated todischarge the executive functions. One of the earliest acts ofthe usurpation was to summon a parliament in the king's name bywrits dated 24 December, 49th Henry III [1265], directed to thebishops and abbots and to such lay lords as could be relied uponby which, signifying "the realm to be then in peace and quiet,and the desire of the king to establish the same to the honourof God, and benefit of his people," they were summoned to meetat London on the octaves of St. Hilary, there to sit inparliament, "to treat and give their advice." At the same time,precepts were issued to the sheriffs ordering them to return twoknights for each county; to the cities and boroughs the likenumber of citizens and burgesses; and to the barons of theCinque Ports, a certain number of their discreetest men for thesame purpose. This is deemed the first precedent of aparliament, such as ever since has been established, and SirWilliam Dugdale thus speculates upon the causes of therevolution -- "If I may be so bold as to give my opinion, whatreasons these potent rebels then had, thus to alter the formerancient usage, I shall take leave to conjecture that it wasbecause they, discerning what large retinues the nobility andother great men in those elder times had , as also a greatnumber of the king's tenants in capite, then called baronesminores, it might have proved dangerous to themselves to permitsuch a multitude to come together."The new government did not, however, endure long, for a breachtaking place between the two chiefs, Leicester and Gloucester,the arms of those powerful persons were directed against eachother, and Prince Edward effecting his escape about the sametime, the Earl of Gloucester reared the royal standard andformed a junction with the forces of the prince. With this army,marching towards Kenilworth, they surprised young SimonMontfort, the earl's son, and made prisoners of no less thanthirteen of his chief adherents, almost without resistance.Elated with this triumph, they proceeded to Evesham, where theEarl of Leicester and his great force lay, expecting the arrivalof his son whose banners the royal arms as a stratagem of waralone displayed and thereby completely deceived this ablecommander. His lordship undismayed, however, drew out his armyin order of battle and, fighting gallantly to the last, fell inthe midst of his enemies, when victory declared for the royalcause. It is said that, when the earl discerned the superiorityand disposition of the royalist forces, he swore "by the arm ofSt. James (his usual exclamation), they have done discreetly,but this they learned from me; let us therefore commend oursouls to God because our bodies are theirs." Nevertheless,encouraging his men, he told them, "it was for the laws of theland, yea, the cause of God and justice, that they were tofight." The principal persons slain in the memorable engagementwere the Earl himself, Henry de Montfort, his eldest son, Hughle Despenser, then justice of England, Ralph Basset, of Drayton,and about one hundred and sixty knights and many other gentlemenof his party. Amongst the prisoners were Guy de Montfort, ayounger son of the earl; John Fitz-John, Humphrey de Bohun, theyounger; John de Vesci, Peter de Montfort, junr., and Nicholasde Segrave. The body of the Earl was removed from the field ofbattle by some of his friends upon an old ladder covered with apoor torn cloth, and thus conveyed to the abbey of Eveshamwhere, folded in a sheet, it was committed to the grave. Butwithin a short time, some of the monks alleging that the earl,being an excommunicated person and attainted of treason, hisremains were unworthy of Christian burial, the body was taken upand interred in a remote place known but to few. Thus fell, in1264, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester; one of the mosteminent soldiers and statesmen of the period in which he livedand, under his attainder, the earldom became extinct. Of hiswidow, Eleanor, the king's sister, it is stated that, after thefatal battle of Evesham, she fled into France and took up herabode in the nunnery of the order of preachers, at Montarges,which had been founded by her husband's sister.Of his issue:Henry fell at Evesham, leading the van of the baronial army.Simon, who for some time gallantly defended the castle ofKenilworth, was eventually made prisoner in the Isle of Ely byPrince Edward; afterwards effecting his escape, he fled intoFrance and, in 1270, being at Viterbuirm, in Italy, he joinedwith his brother, Guy, in the murder of their cousin, Henry,eldest son of Richard, King of the Romans, in the church of St.Silvester, as the prince assisted at mass.Guy fought in the van of the baronial army at Evesham, and beingmade prisoner, was confined in Dover Castle from which escaping,he fled into Tuscany and there, acquiring high reputation as asoldier, he obtained the dau. and heiress of the Earl Rufus forhis wife. Meeting with Prince Henry, son of the King of theRomans, Guy and his brother, Simon slew him in revenge in thechurch of St. Silvester, at Viterbuirm, for which barbarous at,being first excommunicated by Pope Gregory X, he was thrown intoprison but released in 1282 by Pope Martin II, and placed at thehead of an army, in which situation he displayed hischaracteristic prowess. He subsequently, at the decease of hiswife's father, returned to Tuscany and inherited a veryconsiderable fortune. Charles I, King of Naples, made him Countde Nola. He d. in 1288, leaving by Margaret, his wife, dau. ofRodolph, Count de Languillara, on only dau., Anastasia deMontfort, Countess de Nola, m. to Raymond des Ursins.Almaric, who, when conveying his sister from France to be m. toLlewelyn, Prince of Wales, was taken prisoner with her at seaand suffered a long imprisonment. He was at last, however,restored to liberty, and his posterity are said to haveflourished in England under the name of Wellesbourne.Eleanor, b. about Michaelmas, 1252, at Kenilworth, m., by proxy,early in 1275, and in person at Worcester, 13 October, 1278,Llewelyn ap Griffith, Prince of North Wales. By Llewelyn apGriffith, who was slain 10 December, 1282, she had issue, twodaus., Princess Catherine, heiress of the monarchs of NorthWales, m. Philip ap Ivor, Lord of Cardigan, who was probablydead 20 September, 1334, the date of a quo warranto against hisbrother, Owen ap Llewelyn; and a younger dau., PrincessGwenllian, b. 19 June, 1281, was a nun of Sempringham, and d.there 7 June, 1337. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant,Forfeited and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage Ltd, London,England, 1883, p. 376-77, Montfort, Earls of Leicester]----------Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester (b. c. 1208, Montfort,Ile-de-France, Fr.--d. Aug. 4, 1265, Evesham, Worcestershire,Eng.), leader of the baronial revolt against King Henry III andruler of England for less than a year.Simon de Montfort, wholly French by birth and education, was theson of Simon de Montfort l'Amaury, leader of the crusade againstthe heretical Albigenses. On coming of age, he renounced to hiseldest brother, Amaury, his claims on the family lands in returnfor the sole right to revive the Montfort claim to the Englishearldom of Leicester. This claim derived from his mother,Amicia, sister of Robert IV (died 1204), the last Beaumont earlof Leicester, whose lands had been divided between Amicia andher younger sister Margaret, countess of Winchester. King Johnhad recognized Simon's father as earl (c. 1205) but had deprivedhim as a French subject (1207), and the Montfort claim had thenlapsed.Simon came to England in 1229 and, helped by his cousin Ranulf,earl of Chester, the tenant of the confiscated estates, obtainedthe honour of Leicester and did homage to Henry III in 1231,though he was not formally styled earl of Leicester until April1239. He speedily became one of Henry's favourites, receiving anannual fee of 500 marks to compensate for the dividedinheritance and exercising the hereditary stewardship at thecoronation of Queen Eleanor (Eleanor of Provence; 1236). Henryarranged for his sister Eleanor to marry Simon on Jan. 7, 1238,thus breaking Eleanor's earlier vow of chastity and offendingthe English noblemen, who were not consulted. Henry's brother,Richard, earl of Cornwall, led an angry baronial protest, andHenry, alarmed, turned against Simon and Eleanor, driving themfrom England (August 1239). Simon went on crusade (1240-42) withRichard, with whom he was now reconciled, and won great prestigeamong the lords of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, who askedtheir absentee king, the emperor Frederick II, to appoint Simonas his viceroy there. Returning to England, Simon joined Henry'sdisastrous invasion of France (1242), winning distinction bycovering Henry's escape after his defeat at Saintes. Reconciledwith Henry, and accepting an unfavourable settlement of CountessEleanor's dower claims, Simon now made Kenilworth Castle (aroyal grant) his headquarters. He cultivated the friendship ofthe radical reformer Robert Grosseteste, bishop of Lincoln, andtook Robert's friend, the Oxford Franciscan Adam de Marisco, asspiritual director. Although regarded as a king's man, Simon wasone of the committee of 12 appointed to handle the acute crisisof 1244 between Henry and his angry barons. He also took part inmany important embassies to the French, papal, and imperialcourts, and as a result he won many influential friends.In 1248 Henry asked Simon to pacify the English-held Duchy ofGascony, in southwestern France. Simon, eager to join Louis IX'scrusade, accepted reluctantly, stipulating for full powers asregent for seven years, without fear of recall and with fullrefund of expenses incurred. Treating the Gascon nobles asfaithless rebels outside the law, he ruthlessly crushed therevolt and restored order; the Gascons appealed to Henry,accusing Simon of illegal procedure and oppression andthreatening to renew their revolt. The matter was complicated bySimon's personal contest with Gaston de Béarn, the leadingrebel. Henry, frightened, recalled Simon for trial on therebels' charges; the English magnates acquitted him (1252), andhe returned to Gascony to suppress the renewed revolt, but Henrynow terminated his lieutenancy. Simon, accepting a partialfinancial settlement, withdrew to France, though Henry had toimplore his help in his own campaign against the rebels in 1253.Such was Simon's international reputation that when Louis IX'smother, Blanche of Castile, died (November 1252) while Louis wasstill on crusade, the French magnates invited Simon to succeedher as regent.Henry's behaviour over Gascony, though not wholly unjustified,convinced Simon that Henry was unfit to rule, and the King'sdisastrous undertaking, at Pope Innocent IV's behest, to conquerSicily for his son Edmund, strengthened this conviction.Discussions with Grosseteste, Marisco, and other Franciscanintellectuals had fired Simon's mind with visions of a new orderin both church and state, and he joined the other leadingEnglish barons in forcing upon Henry the revolutionaryProvisions of Oxford (June 1258). The reformers began well, butby October 1259 divisions appeared between the conservativewing, led by Richard de Clare, earl of Gloucester, that soughtonly to limit abuses of royal power, and the radical element,led by Simon, that sought to bind the entire baronage to observethe reforms forced upon the King and his officers. Simonexacerbated the quarrel by his arrogant vehemence and puthimself in the wrong by attempting to use Henry's subordinationto secure settlement of his own and his wife's justifiablepersonal claims on Henry. Henry, allying with the Gloucesterfaction, shattered baronial unity early in 1260, and Simonemerged leading the extremist defenders of the reforms. ByOctober 1261 Henry had isolated Simon, who went abroad; but theKing's annulment of the Provisions, after he had received papalabsolution from his oath to observe them, revived generaldisaffection (1262), and Simon returned (April 1263) to lead arebellion that restored the Provisions (July 1263). But baronialunity had vanished, and, despite passionate support from thelesser barons, the county knights, the men of London and theCinque Ports, and many clergy, Simon was forced to acceptarbitration by Louis IX (December 1263). By the Mise of Amiens(January 1264) Louis totally annulled the Provisions and allconsequent reforms: Simon rejected the award and afterunsuccessfully attempting direct negotiations, defeated Henry atLewes (May 14, 1264), capturing Henry and his son, the lordEdward.Simon then governed England by military dictatorship, strivingunsuccessfully for a legal basis of consent, both bynegotiations with Henry's supporters and by callingrepresentatives of both shires and boroughs to Parliament (1265)to counterbalance his lack of baronial support. But hismonopolization of power alienated his chief ally, the youngGilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester, who joined the royalistMarcher lords and secured Lord Edward's escape at Hereford (May1265). By rapid and skillful maneuvering, Edward isolated Simonbehind the Severn, destroyed at Kenilworth (August 1) the largearmy coming to his rescue, and trapped Simon's little force atEvesham (Aug. 4, 1265), slaying Simon and most of his followers.The most outstanding English personality of his day, Simon isremembered as an early advocate of a limited monarchy, rulingthrough elected councillors and responsible officials, and ofparliaments including county knights and burgesses as well asthe great nobles. [Encyclopædia Britannica CD 97]MATTHEW of WESTMINSTERSimon de Montfort's Rebellion, 1265This account, ascribed to a monk Matthew, living in WestminsterAbbey, describes the rebellion of Simon de Montfort and hisshort-lived success, during the reign of Henry III, in 1265. Thechronicler is by no means sympathetic to the rebellion. Theprominence of these events is because the parliament summoned bySimon was seen, with some exaggeration, by 19th centuryhistorians, as the first modern parliament. The chronicler isless impressed.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Simon de Montfort, the illustrious earl of Leicester , and thebarons, having assembled their forces from all quarters, andcollected troops, both of the Londoners, whose army hadincreased to fifteen thousand men, and of men from other partsin countless numbers, marched thither with great impetuosity andcourage. Accordingly, they encamped at Flexinge, in Sussex,which is about six miles from Lewes, and three days before thebattle, they addressed a message of the following tenor to theirlord the king-- "To the most excellent lord Henry, by the grace Of God, king ofEngland, &c. The barons and others, his faithful subjects,wishing to observe their oaths and the fidelity due to God andto him, wish health, and tender their lawful service with allrespect and honor. As it is plain from much experience thatthose who are present with you have suggested to your highnessmany falsehoods respecting us, intending all the mischief thatthey can do, not only to you but also to us, and to your wholekingdom, we wish your excellency to know that we wish topreserve the safety and security of your person with all ourmight, as the fidelity which we owe to you demands, proposing tooverthrow, to the utmost of our power, all those who are not ourenemies but yours too, and the foes of the whole of yourkingdom; and if any other statement is made to you respectingthese matters, do not believe it; for we shall always be foundyour faithful subjects. And we, Simon de Montfort, earl ofLeicester, and Gilbert de Clare, at the request of the rest,have, for us and for them too who are here present, affixed ourseals. Given at," etc. But the king, despising this letter from his barons, was eagerfor war with all his heart, and sent them back the followingletter of defiance:- "Henry, by the grace of God, king of England, &c., to Simon deMontfort and Gilbert de Clare, and their partisans. Since, fromthe war and general confusion existing in our kingdom, which hasall been caused by you, and by the conflagrations and otherlawless mischiefs, it is distinctly visible that you do notpreserve the fidelity which you owe to us, and that you have inno respect any regard for the safety of our person, since youhave wickedly attacked our nobles and others our faithfulsubjects, who have constantly preserved their fidelity to us,and since you still design to injure them as far as in yourpower, as you have signified to us by your letters, we considertheir grievances as our own, and look upon their enemies asours; especially since those our faithful subjects beforementioned are manfully standing by us and maintaining theirfidelity in opposition to your disloyal conduct, and we do notcare for your safety or for your affection, but defy you, as theenemies of us and them. Witness my hand, at Lewes, on thetwelfth day of May, in the forty-eighth year of our reign." "Richard, by the grace of God, king of the Romans, alwaysAugustus, and Edward, the illustrious eldest son of the king ofEngland, and all the other barons and nobles who constantly withthe labors of sincere good faith and devotedness have adhered tothe aforesaid king of England, to Simon de Montfort, Gilbert deClare, and each and all the others who are accomplices in theirtreason. By your letters which you have sent to the illustriousking of England, our dearest lord, we understand that we aredefied by you, although a verbal defiance of this kind was longago sufficiently proved to us by actual reality, through yourhostile pursuit of us, your burning of our properties, andgeneral devastation of our possessions; we, therefore, wish youto know that you are all defied by each and all of us, as publicenemies, and that we are your enemies; and that we will laborwith all our might to the damage of your persons and property,whenever any opportunity of injuring either is offered . to us.But as to what- you falsely charge us with, that we give neitherfaithful nor salutary counsel to the king your master, you donot at all say the truth; and if you, Simon de Montfort orGilbert de Clare, choose to assert this same thing in the courtof our lord the king, we are prepared to procure a safe conductand to come to the said court, and to prove the truth of ourinnocence in this particular, and your falsehood as perfidioustraitors, by another who is your equal in nobleness and blood.And we are all content with the seals of the lords abovementioned, namely, of the king of the Romans and the lordEdward. Given as above." As, therefore, God did by no means admit of their coming toagreement, a most terrible battle took place between them, atLewes, on the fourteenth of May, such as had never been heard ofin past ages. The barons (among whom there was in all things andin every danger but one faith and one will, since they were sounanimous in their fraternal affection that they feared not evento die for their cause,) came the first thing in the morning infront of Lewes, and placed their tents and baggage on a hill,the chariot of the earl of Leicester, with his standard, beingcarefully placed below under the brow. And so the army and lineof battle were arranged, and a speech of great persuasivenesswas made to the soldiers by their general, Simon de Montfort, bywhich all were encouraged, and prepared to fight for theircountry with every feeling of security. Moreover, all of themhaving made a confession beforehand, crossed themselves on theirshoulders and breasts. Therefore, the king and the other nobles,being informed of their sudden advance, wakened up all throughthe camp, and speedily assembled in arms, and marshaled theirarmy for battle, arraying a vast multitude of men armed withbreastplates; but the greater number of them being false andfactious, and destitute of all proper principle, marched forwardon that day without any order, and with precipitation, andfought unskillfully, and showed no steady perseverance. And inthe actual battle the noblest of the knights and esquires, tothe number of about three hundred, lost all courage, and turningtheir backs, fled to the castle of Peneneselli. Among them, wereJohn, earl of Warrenne, William de Valence, Guy de Lizunac, boththe two last being brothers of the king, Hugh Bigod, and manyothers. But the king's army, which was adorned with the royalstandard, which they call the dragon, and which marshaled theway to a fierce contest to the death, advanced forward, and thebattle began. For the royal troops rapidly opened their closebattalions, and boldly urged their horses against the enemy, andattacked them on the flank. And thus the two armies encounteredone another, with fierce blows and horrid noises. Therefore, inthis way, the line of battle of the barons was pierced andbroken; and John de Giffard, a gallant knight, who had beenambitious to gain the honor of striking the first blow, wastaken prisoner, and led, away to the castle. But Edward gotamong the forces of the Londoners, and pursued them when flying,and letting the nobles escape, he followed them, as it is said,for a distance of about four miles, inflicting on them a mostlamentable slaughter. For he thirsted for their blood as apunishment for the insult they had offered to his mother, for,as has been already recorded, they had heaped a great deal ofabuse on his mother. But a part of the king's army, in themeantime, thirsting for the spoils, and booty, and plunder ofthe baggage which was on the hills, slew some of the citizens ofLondon, who, for security's sake, had been introduced into theearl's chariot, hoping that they had found the earl himselfthere. But that earl, and Gilbert de Clare, and the otherbarons, acting with more sagacity, put forth all their strengthto effect the capture of the king of England, and the king ofGermany, and the rest of the chiefs. And there the fiery valorof the barons was visibly displayed, who fought eagerly fortheir country, and at last gained the victory. For the king ofEngland was taken prisoner, after a very fine horse had beenkilled under him; and Richard, king of the Romans, was takenprisoner, and many others were taken also, namely, John deBalliol, Robert de Bruce, John Comyn, and other barons ofScotland , and nearly all the men-at-arms whom they had broughtwith them from Scotland were slain, to a very great number. There was but little mention made for a year of the deliveranceof Edward, the king's eldest son, until he himself, as the priceof his release, gave his palatine county of Chester to theaforesaid earl of Leicester, and thus he purchased hisliberation from the imprisonment and custody of the knights, hisenemies. No one can adequately relate the condition of thenobles of the Marches, and the persecutions which they enduredfor a year and more. But when the earl of Leicester endeavoredto banish these lords marchers into Ireland, they, entering thecamp of the king's eldest son, on the extreme borders of Wales,plundered the Welsh castles of their enemies before mentioned,and thus furnished themselves with the necessary supplies, untilthe aforesaid earl of Leicester, having taken prisoner earlFerrars, who secretly inclined to the party adverse to thecapture of the earl of Gloucester, who has been often mentioned,and whom they suspected of similar sentiments, came havingunited with the to Gloucester. For then the lords marchers earlof Gloucester to meet their common danger, when the earl ofWarrenne and William de Valence came with a large company ofcross-bowmen and knights and landed in South Wales, they wereinspired with greater boldness to resist the attacks of theirpersecutors; and to march to encounter the earl of Leicester andhis friends, who were leading the king of England and his son toHereford as prisoners; who marched on, being accompanied by hisown army, and that of the prince of North Wales, while Simon,his second son, as the general and commander of the royal army,which had been levied throughout the kingdom, advanced from theother side, so that the two hemmed in the earls of Gloucesterand Warrenne, and the lords marchers, and slew them all. But bythe overruling providence of God, who is the doorkeeper ofprisons, the release of the prisoners was effected, and on theThursday in Whitsun week, the eldest son of the king went outinto the fields about Hereford with his comrades and guards totake exercise, and then, when they had all mounted theirdestrier horses, and fatigued them with galloping, he, afterthat, mounted a horse of his own which was not tired, andrequesting leave of his companions (though he did not obtainit), he went with all speed to the lord Roger de Mortimer, atWigemor. And the next day, the earls of Gloucester and Warrenne,with their followers, met Edward at Ludlow, and forgetting alltheir mutual injuries and quarrels, and renewing theirfriendship, they proceeded with courage and alacrity to breakdown the bridges and sink the ferry-boats over the Severn.Afterwards, as their force was increased by the friends of theaforesaid Edward, whom the power of the adverse party had longcompelled to lie hid, and when they had taken Gloucester, andtreated the prisoners with most extravagant cruelty, the earl ofLeicester and his army, being hemmed in the district aboutHereford, were compelled to lead their nominal king about as aprisoner, and to subject him, against his will, to all thehardships of captivity. And when Simon, the son of the aforesaid earl of Leicester, had,with many barons and knights, traversed and plundered all Kent,and the country about Winchester and the other southerndistricts of England, and then proceeded, to his own misfortune,with great speed to Kenilworth to meet his father, the aforesaidEdward and Gilbert and their armies, being, by the favor of God,forewarned of his approach, attacked his army at dawn on the dayof Saint Peter ad Vincula, and took them all prisoners, exceptSimon and a few with him who escaped into the castle, and putthem in chains, and stripped those robbers and plunderers of alltheir booty, and so celebrated a day of feasting at the NewChains. The earl of Leicester and his companions, being ignorant of thisevent, and marching on with all speed, reached the river Severnthat very same day, and having examined the proper fords,crossed the river at twilight with the design of meeting andfinding the aforesaid Simon and his army, who were coming fromEngland, and having stopped the two next days on the borders ofWorcestershire, on the third day they entered the town ofEvesham, and while they were occupying themselves there withrefreshing their souls, which had been long fainting underhunger and thirst, with a little food, their scouts brought themword that the lord Edward and his army were not above two milesoff. So the earl of Leicester and the barons marching out withtheir lord the king (whom they took with them by force) to therising ground of a gentle hill, beheld Edward and his army onthe top of a hill, not above a stone's throw from them, andhastening to them. And a wonderful conflict took place, therebeing slain on the part of the lord Edward only one knight ofmoderate prowess, and two esquires. On the other side there fellon the field of battle Simon, earl of Leicester, whose head, andhands, and feet were cut off, and Henry, his son, HughDespenser, justiciary of England, Peter de Montfort, William deMandeville, Radulph Basset, Roger St. John, Walter de Despigny,William of York, and Robert Tregos, all very powerful knightsand barons, and besides all the guards and warlike cavalry fellin the battle, with the exception of ten or twelve nobles, whowere taken prisoners. And the names of the nobles who werewounded and taken prisoners were as follows: Guy de Montfort,son of the earl of Leicester John Fitz-John, Henry de Hastings,Humphrey de Peter de Montfort the younger, Bohun the younger,John de Vescy, and Nicholas de Segrave. . . . Therefore, the battle of Evesham having been thus gallantlyfought, the king and the nobles of the kingdom assembled atWinchester, and ordered that the richer citizens of the city ofLondon should be thrust into prison, that the citizens should bedeprived of their ancient liberties, and that the palisades andchains with which the city-was fortified should be removed,because the citizens had boldly adhered to Simon de Montfort,earl of Leicester, in contempt of the king and also to theinjury of the kingdom; all which was done, for the more powerfulcitizens were thrown into prison at the castle of Windsor, andwere afterwards punished with a pecuniary fine of noinconsiderable amount. All liberty was forbidden to thecitizens, and the Tower of London was made stronger by thepalisades and chains which had belonged to the city. After this, a sentence of confiscation was pronounced atWestminster, on the feast of the translation of the blessedEdward, against the king's enemies, whose lands the kingbestowed without delay on his own faithful followers. But someof those against whom this sentence was pronounced redeemedtheir possessions by payment of a sum of money, others unitingin a body lay hid in the Woods, living miserably on plunder andrapine; the most powerful and mischievous of whom was Robert,earl Ferrars, who was restored to the full possession of hisproperty, on condition that his loyalty to the king, he shouldlose his if ever he departed from earldom. . . http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/simondem.html
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- Type: Web Site
Author: jimweber@nwint.com
Title: The Phillips, Weber, Kirk, & Staggs families of the Pacific Northwest
Date: 2002 [Index . . . great URL]
Text: Search Surname field for individual wanted. Many biographical
Text: notes.
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