668 silver and silversmiths
A History(New York: Facts On File, 1986); Luca Molà,
The Silk Industry of Renaissance Venice(Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2000); John H. Munro, “Silk,”
DMA11.293–296; Anna Muthesius, Studies in Byzantine
and Islamic Silk Weaving(London: Pindar Press, 1995);
Anna Muthesius, Byzantine Silk Weaving: A.D. 400 to A.D.
1200 (Vienna: Fassbaender, 1997).
silver and silversmiths SeeMETALSMITHS AND METAL
WORK, METALLURGY.
Simeon I(Symeon) (r. 893–927)prince, czar of the
Bulgars
Simeon was studying for a religious career in CON-
STANTINOPLE, when he was recalled by his father, BORISI,
who had just blinded his eldest son and successor,
Vladimir (r. 889–93), because he had given permission
for, and actually restored, pagan practices. During
Simeon’s reign there was a series of victorious campaigns
against Byzantium, which even reached the city of Con-
stantinople in 913. His military successes in eastern
Thrace against the Magyars and Petchenegs by 920 again
took him to the Byzantine capital. He could not take the
city and died suddenly in 927. In the meantime he had
temporarily annexed SERBIA. Contemplating having him-
self crowned at Constantinople, Simeon, in imitation of
the Eastern emperors, took the title of czar of the Bulgars
and Romans. Deeply religious, he was a protector and
patron of literature and the arts. His reign marked the
cultural apex of medieval BULGARIA.
Further reading:John V. A. Fine, the Early Medieval
Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth
Century(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991).
Simon IV de Montfort, the Elder (ca. 1160–1218)
one of the leaders of the Albigensian Crusade
Born about 1160, Simon de Montfort was an important
lord of the Yvelines, on the margins of the French royal
domain. He was called the earl of Leicester, although he
had long been dispossessed of that English county. In
1202, he became a crusader with many other barons of
FRANCE, but he refused to go to CONSTANTINOPLEand set
out with his own band of soldiers to wage war in SYRIA.
In August 1209 he took the cross again against the
ALBIGENSIANheretics of southern France. He agreed to
become the viscount of Béziers and Carcassonne in
place of others who had already refused that honor. He
clung tenuously to this power in the south with his
companions and the bishop of TOULOUSE. In 1210 he
was reinforced with new crusaders just in time to hold
out longer. In 1211 he managed to capture several of the
main strongholds of the HERETICS. In the late spring of
1211, he invaded the lands of the recently excommuni-
cated Raymond VI of Toulouse (r. 1194–1222). In the
late summer of 1211, he won a battle at Castelnaudary.
During the next year he reduced the strongholds of
heretics. He then had to delay further warfare, short of
total victory, because of the start of the preaching of the
Fifth CRUSADEand an order from INNOCENTIII. Despite
this, he skillfully won on September 13, 1213, the
Battle of Muret, at which King Peter II of Aragon
(r. 1196–1214), an ally of Raymond VI, was killed. In
1214 he completed his conquest and was joined by the
future king, Louis VIII (1187–1226). In 1215, he was
made count of Toulouse at the Fourth Lateran Council,
which had disinherited Raymond VI. He was recognized
as count by King PHILIPII AUGUSTUS. His luck then
changed. He could not prevent the retaking of Beaucaire
by Count Raymond VII (r. 1222–49) or the revolt in the
city of Toulouse that expelled his friend the bishop and
allowed the return to the city of Raymond VII and his
son. The rest of PROVENCEthen rose against him. He
was killed besieging Toulouse by a catapult, operated
perhaps by women, or in a skirmish with the enemy on
June 25, 1218.
Further reading:Joseph R. Strayer, The Albigensian
Crusades,with a new epilogue by Carol Lansing (Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992); Michael
D. Costen, The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade
(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997).Simon de Montfort, the Younger (ca. 1200–1265)
one of the leaders of the Barons’ Revolt against the English
Crown
French by birth, Simon went to ENGLANDin 1230 to
press the claim of his grandfather, SIMON DEMONTFORT,
THEELDER, to the earldom of Leicester. He secured his
inheritance between 1231 and 1239 and so impressed
King HENRYIII that he rose quickly in royal favor. In
1238 he married Eleanor (d. 1275), the king’s sister. More
masterful and tenacious of his rights than other royal
favorites, he soon quarreled with the king. Over the next
two decades their relations were stormy, especially after
Simon’s controversial period as a brutal governor of Gas-
cony between 1248 and 1252. However, he was away in
France on a diplomatic mission and actually little
involved in the movement that forced Henry to submit to
baronial control in the Provisions of Oxford in 1258.
These went much further than MAGNACARTAin limiting
royal prerogatives, in effect reviving the council that
ruled while Henry was a minor. After the disintegration
of the baronial government, Simon became a focal point
of opposition to the king. Early in 1264 he rejected the
Mise of Amiens, an attempt by LOUISIX of France to arbi-
trate the dispute. He took Henry III and his son, the
future EDWARDI, prisoners at the Battle of LEWESon May
14, 1264. A new scheme of government was then drawn
up later that year, the Mise of Lewes, and Simon became a
leading member of a triumvirate empowered to control