In 1229, Simon de Montfort came to England
under the auspices of his cousin Ranulf, the earl of Ches-
ter, who had held the lands since the departure of the
Montfort family. Montfort met King Henry III and con-
vinced him to regrant the title of earl of Leicester back
to him; this was promised in 1231 but not fulfilled until
- His rapport with Henry led Montfort to become
one of the king’s advisers, and in 1238 he married Elea-
nor of Provence, Henry’s sister, thus becoming a member
of the royal family. This marriage, however, did not sit
well with English noblemen, who felt that Eleanor’s vow
of chastity, taken after the death of her first husband,
should be honored. Henry’s own brother Richard, the
earl of Cornwall, persuaded Henry to remove Montfort
from his council of advisors, and Simon fled to the Eu-
ropean continent. Richard soon realized his error, and
wrote to Montfort to resolve their differences.
Starting in 1240, Montfort accompanied Richard
on a year-long crusade to the Holy Land. He returned
to France in 1242 and fought for Henry III in the cam-
paign in Gascony (1242–43). In 1248, Henry sent him
back into Gascony to bring some stability to a part of
France wracked by internal dissension and rebellion
against English invaders. However, Montfort’s harsh
suppression caused the barons in Gascony to complain
to Henry, who recalled him. Montfort subsequently
convinced Henry that he could bring order to Gascony,
but shortly after he returned to France, he was recalled
again so that Henry’s son Edward—later King edWard
I of England—could take control of the region.
Angered by his treatment at the hands of a king
he had served so faithfully, Montfort returned to En-
gland, where in 1254 he became one of a number of
barons who wanted an end to Henry’s dictatorial pow-
ers. The group eventually forced the king to enact a se-
ries of reforms called the Provisions of Oxford, in which
they demanded that Henry accept the appointment of
a committee of 24 noblemen, half selected by the king,
who would meet and draft a number of constitutional
reforms. Montfort had been one of the barons who had
drawn up the provisions of the plan at Oxford in June - Henry accepted the panel, and a year later their
plan, which expanded on the Provisions of Oxford, was
presented as the Provisions of Westminster, which called
for tax reforms. However, Henry was unhappy with this
second code, and, calling on papal intervention in the
crisis, received the blessings of Pope Urban IV to re-
nounce the reforms. This rejection of their demands led
to a period of warfare now called the Barons’ War, which
began in 1263 and lasted until 1267.
As the head of the barons’ army, Montfort won a
victory at Lewes (1264), took Henry prisoner, and then
took control of England. As the country’s new leader,
he intended to institute the Provisions of Westminster
and called Parliament into session, summoning not just
knights but representatives from different boroughs.
This was the first time such a thing had been done, and
it formed the basis of the modern House of Commons.
However, Montfort ruled as a dictator and gradually
alienated his supporters. Soon after Parliament came
into session, another baron, Gilbert de Clare, the eighth
earl of Gloucester, defected from Montfort’s side and
joined Prince Edward. Montfort called on his armies to
defend the new government, and the opposing forces
met in battle at Evesham on 4 August 1265. Montfort’s
army was dealt a horrific defeat, and he was killed in
the battle.
The monk Matthew Paris, known as Matthew of
Westminster, wrote of the battle of Evesham in Flores
Historiarum per Matthaeum Westmonasteriensem Collecti
(The Flowers of History, 1307):And when Simon, the son of the aforesaid earl
of Leicester, had, with many barons and knights,
traversed and plundered all Kent, and the coun-
try about Winchester and the other southern
districts of England, and then proceeded, to his
own misfortune, with great speed to Kenilworth
to meet his father, the aforesaid Edward and Gil-
bert and their armies, being, by the favor of God,
forewarned of his approach, attacked his army at
dawn on the day of Saint Peter ad Vincula, and
took them all prisoners, except Simon and a few
with him who escaped into the castle, and put
them in chains, and stripped those robbers and
plunderers of all their booty, and so celebrated a
day of feasting at the New Chains.
The earl of Leicester and his companions,
being ignorant of this event, and marching on
with all speed, reached the river Severn that very
same day, and having examined the proper fords,
crossed the river at twilight with the design of
meeting and finding the aforesaid Simon and
his army, who were coming from England, and
having stopped the two next days on the borders
of Worcestershire, on the third day they entered0 montFoRt, Simon De, eARl oF leiceSteR