Simon de Montfort and the Rise of the English Nation: The Life of Simon de Montfort

By Darren Baker

Like his crusading father before him, Simon de Montfort's combination of charisma and fearlessness made him one of the greatest men of his age. This biography follows his life from his birth in France and arrival in England to his defeat and death at Evesham in 1265. Along the way he succeeded in establishing a constitutional monarchy and, in the act he is most famous for, broadening the scope of representation in Parliament.King Henry III's long reign (1216–1272) saw many changes taking place in England and on the Continent, including a re-awakening in national identity not seen since before the Norman Conquest two centuries earlier. Simon de Montfort's recognition and cultivation of this growing awareness was instrumental in his rebellion and takeover of the government. Not for another four hundred years, until the advent of Oliver Cromwell, would England see a revolution led by a figure of comparable stature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amberley Publishing
• Release date: Oct 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781445692876

Darren Baker

DARREN BAKER is a translator and historian who took his degree at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of With All For All: The Life of Simon de Montford (Amberley).

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For Eva, Dagmar and Michal

First published as With All For All in 2015

This fully updated and revised edition published 2018

Amberley Publishing

The Hill, Stroud

Gloucestershire, GL5 4EP

www.amberley-books.com

Copyright © Darren Baker, 2015, 2018

The right of Darren Baker to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781445660110 (PAPERBACK)

ISBN 9781445645780 (eBOOK)

Map design by Thomas Bohm, User design.

Typesetting and Origination by Amberley Publishing.

Printed in the UK.

Contents

Preface

Timeline

Maps

Introduction: All the Thunder and Lightning in the World

1 Act of Kindness, 1208–1232

Crusading family, birth and upbringing in France

Meeting Henry III, receiving his inheritance

2 More of the Great Bounty, 1233–1238

Getting started, searching for a wife, favour at court

Marrying well, journey to Rome, becoming a father

3 On the Margins of Favour, 1239–1247

Invested as earl, the churching, crusade, return

Family life, money woes, the infernal dower

4 Greater Glory Still, 1248–1253

Gascony, insurgency, fallout with the king

Trial, vindication, buyout

5 Beleaguered Kingdom, 1254–1257

Sicily and the business nobody liked

Discontent in the shires, infighting at court

Peace negotiations with France, onset of famine

6 To the Profit of the Realm, 1258

The confederacy, reforms begin, Lusignans out

Montfort at the forefront, drafting his will

7 Wither Led by Zeal, 1259–1260

Idealism and self-interest, obstructing peace

Showdown over Parliament, Edward joins Simon

8 Resurgence, 1261–1263

Tower diplomacy, Henry overthrows the Provisions

Exile, arbitration, call to return

Uprising, Montfort sweeps into power

Montfort’s first regime, the brink of war

9 Faith and Fidelity, 1264

Mise of Amiens, war breaks out, Montfort cornered

Battle of Lewes, the captive monarchy begins

Ordinance of 1264, first great Parliament, the legate

Stability, Song of Lewes, Christmas at the Montforts

10 Castles in the Air, 1265

Second great Parliament, treachery, escape

Beginning of the end, slaughter at Evesham

Aftermath, the Disinherited, the end of Henry’s reign

Legacy

Plates

Appendices

The Confederation of Magnates

Simon de Montfort’s Will

Simon de Montfort’s Grievances

The Provisions of Oxford

A Contemporary Estimation of Simon de Montfort

Notes

Bibliography

List of Illustrations

Preface

Historian John Maddicott observed that Simon de Montfort is one of those ‘masters of their times’ who needs a biography every half a century or so, but so definitive was his own work on this enigmatic nobleman-turned-revolutionary that it seemed to close the book on him. I nevertheless undertook another biography less than twenty years later to coincide with the 750th anniversary of the famous Parliament that ensured Montfort’s place in history. As fate would have it, that remembrance in 2015 was usurped by the whole Richard III reburial thing, in Montfort’s home county of Leicester no less. It was probably fitting, given that the whole idea of Montfort as the founder of Parliament is a modern invention anyway. If anyone deserves the honour, it’s the man he usurped, King Henry III.

Montfort may not have been the founder of that fledging political institution, but he saw its potential and used it as the test battleground for the upcoming conflict between himself and Henry. His victory in the war that followed allowed him to install a constitutional monarchy, the first of its kind, with parliamentary approval. He claimed he was acting on principle, and he was right. The king had agreed to reform the realm and Montfort was making him stick to it. Detractors insisted he was just in it for himself and his family. They too were right. The Montforts benefited as much as anyone during his time in power. This improbable mix of idealism and self-interest is what makes Simon de Montfort such an intriguing figure. He can be praised and condemned in a single breath.

His supporters didn’t have a problem with the less becoming side of his character in any case. They were engaged in a struggle with the king over a form of government far ahead of its time. No ordinary warrior or statesman would do. Montfort, like his crusading father before him, had the charisma, determination and fearlessness to pull it off. And yet it did not happen just like that. From the foreign adventurer who makes good until he loses it all in the end, his tale spans decades of success, failure, success, failure. It’s safe to say that anyone coming across it for the first time is in for quite a ride.

This biography first appeared as With All For All, an expression used by another leading Montfortian scholar, David Carpenter, to describe Simon’s courage and conviction when he was on the verge of losing the war. He risked everything on one last bid for victory and won. The current title of the book is meant to reflect the more complete story of the times that made him and his achievements possible. The loss of Normandy in 1204 put England on a course to forging a national identity similar to what existed before the Conquest of 1066. For better or worse, it was Montfort who recognised and cultivated the political power inherent in this reawakening and used it to overthrow the king. It may be a peculiar irony, a Frenchman rallying the English nation, but it was the logical conclusion of the movement that Montfort himself called ‘the common enterprise’.

For all his gifts, however, there would be no Simon de Montfort without Henry III. He too was a peculiar creature in many ways, nothing like the Plantagenet kings who preceded him. He was a generous family man who appreciated the arts and preferred peace and reconciliation to warfare and strife. Far from being the weak, inept ruler of lore, Henry was quite clever and capable, easily Simon’s equal in their struggle. Unfortunately, my first version too often fell back on the old-school view of Henry, which still has a surprising number of adherents today. This edition seeks to correct that portrayal and restore the balance between these two historic antagonists.

Tradition has always referred to this part of history as ‘The Second Barons’ War’ and indeed the term ‘barons’ was used in the documents and chronicles of the time. Here it’s ‘Montfortians’ because of the near total identification of the reform movement with this one man. While Simon had some support among younger barons, he drew most of his strength from peasants, freeholders, urban dwellers and, most importantly, the clergy. It’s this broad sweep of the realm sitting in Parliament under his direction that earned him his everlasting fame. Of course, Montfort saw it only in terms of survival. His career engendered so much hostility that when the end came, as inevitably it would, he was chopped up into pieces on the battlefield by his fiendish enemies. If people know anything about him at all besides his Parliament, it’s his grisly dismemberment.

I still remember reading about Simon de Montfort for the first time in my youth. I had come across a story about this Frenchman who captured his brother-in-law the king and ruled in his name. Something exceptional, if confusing, was going on here. It was on a chance visit to Lewes in 2011 that my road to a biography about him began. I was standing on the probable site where Montfort addressed his troops before the battle. There’s no statue or plaque marking the event and the ridge overlooking the town is much as it was all those centuries ago. Just right for reflection and inspiration. At some point I did notice a small sign in the distance. Upon closer inspection it read, ‘In this field there are no sheep.’

As mentioned before, John Maddicott provided the comprehensive biography with his Simon de Montfort, released in 1994 but already deservedly acclaimed as a classic. For an in-depth look at Montfort in the context of Henry’s reign, Charles Bémont’s pioneering Simon de Montfort is still remarkably resilient. The English edition of his 1884 work was published in 1930. Henry himself gets the best scholarly treatment in Maurice Powicke’s King Henry III and the Lord Edward (1947) and David Carpenter’s The Reign of Henry III (1996). It goes without saying that the present book wouldn’t have been possible without their work.

This edition has a wonderful addition in the form of the complete English translations of Montfort’s will of 1259 and his testimony of grievances three years later. I owe Ian Short many thanks and appreciation for undertaking them from the original documents at the brilliant Bibliothèque nationale de France. David Carpenter, Michael Clanchy, David D’Avray, John Maddicott and Huw Ridgeway also have my heartfelt thanks not just for their scholarship, but the assistance they have given me in bringing forth my own work on Simon and Henry. Even though I was neither trained nor educated in their field, and indeed have expressed views far different from their own, they have welcomed and encouraged me throughout. It should be noted that they are part of the older generation of Montfortian scholars, where professionalism and courtesy to newcomers are a matter of course.

Others who deserve my thanks outside the field, who accompanied me on trips and listened to endless runs of this story in the making, are Jana and Chris Veyres, Milan Hrabec, Paul Heley, and Ondřej Urban. The exchange of letters with my editor Alex Bennett, also touching on topics beyond the scope of the book, made sure the production process was smooth and friendly. The biggest mark of my appreciation goes to my wife and children, who have been there all along, fully supportive of our own peculiar irony, that of an American living in the Czech Republic, seemingly obsessed with a Frenchman at the centre of English history.

Timeline

Mainland Europe during Simon de Montfort’s lifetime.

The British Isles during the thirteenth century, with key locations highlighted.

Note on money, lineage and births

The coin in circulation during Henry’s reign was the silver penny. There were 240 pennies in a pound (£), which was a currency of account. The mark was another currency of account in widespread use during the thirteenth century, generally worth two-thirds of a pound. For simplification purposes, all payments in marks have been converted to pounds, hence the sometimes odd configurations like £6,667 (10,000 marks).

It was common for the men of the Montfort family to carry the names Amaury, Simon and Guy. This makes it difficult to pinpoint their exact number through succeeding generations. The Simon de Montfort of this biography has been designated IV in the line, in keeping with the previous two biographies.

INTRODUCTION

All the Thunder and Lightning in the World

Like any major river at the height of summer, the Thames offers a retreat for those eager to take their meals outdoors. In July 1258, the king of England was just such a person. It had been a troublesome year, a troublesome few years really, and he needed a respite. He was a man of exquisite tastes, and we can be sure that Henry, the third with that name after the Norman Conquest, had taken care in choosing his dinner before setting out. He was also a temperamental and finicky sort, and if his attendants knew what was good for them, they would have his boat stocked and ready by the time he left his palace at Westminster.

There is no record of who accompanied the king on this excursion. Most likely the queen was not at his side. The court had been marked by infighting lately between their relatives, with hers coming out on top in the latest round. Their son also missed the trip. He was apt to switch from this side of the family to that one, all in a bid to ease the strict controls his parents imposed on him. He certainly needed a firm hand. Almost twenty now, he had a reputation for violence and hanging out with the wrong people. There were already whispers that England would rue the day this man became king.

Henry was beset by more than just family problems, however. The Welsh were making incursions at will, and rather than mobilising to beat them back, his barons had decided to take him on instead. They demanded he carry out certain reforms of the realm and he agreed. He had been plagued by a series of setbacks and was exhausted after more than forty years on the throne. But their reforming partnership got off to a rough start when a cabal of barons purged his advisers and took control of his household. If they continued in this direction, Henry might easily end up with no power or authority, just a figurehead.

These events weren’t going to ruin his dinner. He was the lord king. The barons couldn’t expect to boss him around and not get the same treatment from their own vassals. He could afford to ignore them for now, only there was no ignoring the weather in England, and on top of everything else, incessant rains the previous year had ruined crops and led to famine throughout the realm. Now it was threatening his outing on the water. Suddenly there was a thunderclap and that was it. And things were about to get worse.

Everyone knew that the king was terrified of thunder and lightning. He had been crowned as a boy, during equally troubled times, and in a way the insecurities of that period never left him. His crew knew right away to make for the nearest landing. It happened to belong to a stately palace where, of all the dumb luck, the Earl of Leicester was just then residing.¹

He was the king’s brother-in-law, married to his sister. Although he owed everything to Henry, he had been a thorn in his side ever since the king humiliated him at a public gathering twenty years earlier. Now, as part of this baronial cabal, he was clearly out to get him. But on this occasion, Simon de Montfort readily came out to meet his lord and show him all due deference.

Seeing Henry still trembling, Simon assured him that the storm had passed and there was nothing more to be afraid of. The king told Simon that it was true, he did fear thunder and lightning beyond measure. ‘But,’ he continued, ‘I fear you more than all the thunder and lightning in the world!’² Simon tried to assure him that he was his friend, one who was ever faithful to him and the kingdom of England. It was the king’s enemies, his false flatterers, he said, that he ought to fear.

Matthew Paris, the chronicler who reported this interview, died the following summer. A scathing advocate for reform, he did not live to see the tumultuous years that followed, as the king struggled to regain power. He could not know that Henry came very near to nipping the whole movement in the bud as one reformer after another fell by the wayside. All but one, Simon de Montfort, a charismatic Anglo-French nobleman who embodied the highest ideals and lowest opportunism of the age. His determination to force the king to abide by the Provisions of Oxford, the Magna Carta of its day, would end in a clash of wills and armies, and ultimately in one of the most compelling and dramatic periods in English history.

1

Act of Kindness

1208–1232

Crusading family, birth and upbringing in France

It’s thanks to the feud between Henry and Simon that we know as much as we do about Montfort’s beginnings in England. In the summer of 1262 the king had sought to destroy him politically before the French court, where he was held in high regard, and brought all manner of charges against him during arbitration. Simon’s replies show that an air of dissatisfaction marked their relationship from the very beginning:

Our lord the king declares in the first place that he did me a great kindness when he received my homage, as I had not been my father’s eldest son. And so that people can see what sort of kindness it was, my brother Count Amaury de Montfort ceded to me all the rights he had to our father’s inheritance in England if I was able to secure them, in exchange for which I ceded to him the inheritance that I had in France. So I went to England and asked my lord the king if he were willing to restore my father’s inheritance to me, to which he replied that he could not do so because he had granted it all by charter to the Earl of Chester and his heirs. Whereupon, not having found favour, I returned to France.¹

In all probability, neither Henry nor anyone privy to their dispute knew much about Simon’s life before he came to England, not unless they asked Amaury. They would have the chance to do so when he came to England in 1239 to witness Henry invest his brother with the earldom of Leicester, indicating his suit with the king had eventually paid off.² This, of course, raises the question why Amaury, as the eldest, did not receive the earldom himself, and what was behind the claim of this French family for acceptance among the higher nobility of England.

That chapter begins with another Simon, their grandfather and number two in the line, who belonged to a noble clan in northern France. The founder of that clan, another Amaury, was charged in the early part of the eleventh century with building ramparts around a castle overlooking a strategic trade route about fifty kilometres west of Paris, near the border that separates Normandy from Ile-de-France. This hilltop fortress, or Mont Fort, became the seat of his descendants, none of whom it seems took any noticeable part in the Norman Conquest of 1066. About a hundred years later, Simon II married into a family that did, the Beaumonts, becoming the brother-in-law of Robert, 4th Earl of Leicester. When Robert de Beaumont died childless in 1204, his estates were divided between his two sisters. The widow of Simon II, Amicia, inherited the half of Leicester with the earldom. She claimed it for her son Simon.

This Simon, the father of ours, had just returned from the Fourth Crusade, where he vigorously opposed attacks on Christian cities like Zara and Constantinople. His appeal to King John for the earldom of Leicester was successful, but it was confiscated in 1207, presumably because of outstanding debts.