Earl of Gloucester and Roger de Mortimer, occupied Henry III. with their troops the two other roads, by which De A.D. 1265. Montfort might approach Kenilworth. In order to deceive the enemy, the Prince's troops carried the banners of the knights, whom they had taken prisoners at Kenilworth. The plan was well devised, and was completely successful. De Montfort knew nothing of his son's defeat, and marched from Kempsey to Evesham, on his way to Kenilworth in expectation of joining his son's forces. When he saw The battle soldiers posted on the hill carrying his son's banners, of course he mistook them for his friends. He was soon undeceived, and felt that there was very little of Eves ham, Aug. 3rd, Knights fighting. (From Royal MSS. 2 B. 7. 186. Brit. Mus.) chance, even of escape; for he was shut in, in the narrow tongue of land, formed by the Avon, on which the town of Evesham stands. But nevertheless he at once prepared for battle. His first object was to cut his way through the troops on the hill. But failing in this, and in danger of being surrounded, he ordered his troops to form a circle, and oppose on all sides the pressure of the enemy. The combat was fierce: De Montfort and his troops fought with the energy of despair; and the battle lasted from the middle of the day till the evening. For a time, the result was doubtful. 228 LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Henry III. The King was compelled to fight on De Montfort's unhorsed, and his assailant was about to kill him, when he called out, "Hold, fellow, I am Harry of Winchester." The Prince heard his father's voice, and rushed to the rescue. At length the Welsh troops fled, De Mont- De Montfort and his eldest son Henry were killed, and the King's victory over the bar ons was complete. fort and his son are killed, and the King Character of Simon de Mont fort. debted to him for establishing tion. Historians are divided in their opinion of De Monttriumphs. fort. Some represent him as an ambitious traitor, desirous only of accomplishing the selfish ends suggested by his own criminal ambition; while others, and as it appears to me with greater truth, represent him as the wise and patriotic leader, of the popular old English, or even Anglo-Saxon party, in their struggles against Henry's oppressions and foreign predilections. We are in Whatever may have been his motives, it is certain that to him we are indebted for the beginning of popular popular re- representation, by his having for the first time sumpresenta moned town representatives to Parliament. Other popular leaders, might possibly have seen the wisdom of giving the people a share in the government, but this might not have been the case, and it might have been long delayed. At any rate, it was Simon de Montfort. who did it, and it is to him that we are indebted for that which, in the language of Sir James Mackintosh, may be termed "the practical discovery of popular representation." 50 The same historian adds, "The nion of the particulars of the war are faintly discerned at this value of De distance of time. But the reformation in question, parliamen- as first affording proof from experience that liberty, order, greatness, power, and wealth are capable of being blended together in a degree of harmony which the wisest men before had not believed possible, will be held in everlasting remembrance." Sir James tosh's opi Montfort's tary changes. fort's me "His memory was long revered by the people as Henry III. one who had died a martyr to his defence of their A.D. 1265. liberties. During the vigorous reign which followed, De Montpopular feeling was overawed; but by the following mory generation, when that feeling could be more freely revered by the people. uttered, he was called 'Sir Simon the Righteous." " 51 Miracles were attributed to him, and many were the ballads sung in his honour; and his name though held in abhorrence by the powerful, was distinguished by the blessings of the poor. The following is a part of a modern version of a ballad written soon after the fatal battle of Evesham, an early MS. of which, in Anglo-Norman French, still exists in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. It describes in a touching manner the popular feeling towards De Montfort: "In song my grief shall find relief; Sad is my verse and rude; I sing in tears our gentle peers, Who fell for England's good. Our peace they sought, for us they fought, For us they dared to die; And where they sleep, a mangled heap, Their wounds for vengeance cry. On Evesham's plain is Montfort slain, Where streams his gore shall all deplore, "Ere Tuesday's sun its course had run, While rushed to fight each gallant knight, Still undismay'd, with trenchant blade, On Evesham's, &c. * Alluding to the flight of the Welsh. Ballad describing the battle of Evesham. Henry III. A.D. 1265. The King victory. "Yet by the blow which laid thee low, Shall rise our vows to Heaven. Our Church and Laws, your common cause, Conduct of the King after the Battle of Evesham. 11 52 The victory at Evesham enabled the King to resume abuses his his tyranny. In the words of Sir James Mackintosh, "After the battle of Evesham, and the death of De Montfort, the baronial party appeared to be extinct. The Parliament assembled by the royalists, was the pliant instrument of their rapacity and revenge. The followers of De Montfort were proscribed, and their lands distributed among the conquerors. The King distinguished himself by nothing but the unmanly insolence of a feeble mind intoxicated by undeserved Henry summoned a Parliament to meet him at Winchester; and found no difficulty in obtaining its consent to severe measures against the defeated barons and their followers. The citizens of London were deprived of their charter, and the estates of all who had followed De Montfort were confiscated. But these measures did not quiet the kingdom. The dispossessed knights and barons spread themselves as banditti all over the country, and among the number was Robin Hood, of whom I shall presently give you a more particular account. Charters repealed and estates confiscated. The country not easily quieted. success.' It took Prince Edward a long time to put down these opponents. He first took possession of the Cinque Ports, which had almost always been on De Gordon. Montfort's side. He then captured Winchelsea, from Henry III. whence he proceeded to Hampshire, which, with the A.D.1265. neighbouring counties of Berkshire and Buckingham- Adam de shire, were ravaged by Adam de Gordon, who was said to be the strongest man of his age. He and his followers were surprised in Alton Wood, in Hampshire, and were defeated. The Prince was a more generous man than his father, and, having by his own. personal courage overcome Adam Gordon, in admiration of his bravery he at once pardoned him, and took him to the Queen at Guildford that very night. He thus made him a fast friend and a loyal subject for life. Many of the barons took refuge in the Isle of Ely, where they long resisted the King's forces. Kenilworth also held out; but it was at length reduced by famine in November, 1266. While the siege was going on, attempts were made by some of the king's adherents, who disapproved of his severity, and were anxious to secure the good government of the country, to bring about an accommodation between the parties. A committee was therefore appointed, consisting of twelve prelates and barons, and they drew up a document, called "The Dictum of Kenilworth," dated October, 15, 1266, which was confirmed by the King in Parliament. A.D. 1266. Siege of worth. The Dic- tum of worth tem severity. By this it was provided that the liberties of the Church should be preserved; that the charters should be observed, which, it was stated, "the King is ex-pers the pressly bound by his oath to keep ;" so necessary was King's it, even in the moment of victory, to remind the King of his duties. It was also decreed that the confiscated estates should be restored to their owners on payment of certain sums of money. |