06/08/2024
A little bit of background to Simon de Montford
On a Day Like Today ~ August 4, 1265. Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, a 2x great grandson of King Henry I, died.
Simon was born circa 1208 in Montfort-l'Amaury, France as the second child and eldest son of Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester and his wife Alix de Montmorency. With the irrevocable loss of Normandy, King John refused to allow Simon's father to succeed to the earldom of Leicester and instead placed the estates and title into the hands of Montfort senior's cousin Ranulf, the Earl of Chester.
Simon arrived in England in 1229, with some education but no knowledge of English, and received a sympathetic hearing from King Henry III. However, Henry III was in no position to confront the powerful Earl of Chester, so Simon approached the older, childless man himself and convinced him to cede him the earldom. It would take another nine years before Henry III formally invested Simon with the title Earl of Leicester.
In early January 1238 Simon married Eleanor of England, daughter of King John. Eleanor had been previously married and widowed in 1231. It is said that Simon was attracted to Eleanor's beauty and elegance as well as her wealth and high birth. They fell in love and married secretly at the King's chapel in Westminster Palace. The marriage was controversial because of Eleanor had sworn an oath several years before in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury to remain chaste in her widowhood. The marriage produced 7 children, 6 of which survived into adulthood.
Shortly after the birth of the future King Edward I, there was a falling out between Simon and King Henry III. Simon owed a great sum of money to Thomas II of Savoy, uncle of the Queen Consort and named Henry III as security for his repayment. Henry III evidently had not approved this and was enraged when he discovered that Simon had used his name.
In early August 1239 Henry III is reported to have confronted Simon and threatened to imprison him in the Tower of London. "You seduced my sister", Henry III said, "and when I discovered this, I gave her to you, against my will, to avoid scandal." Simon and Eleanor fled to France to escape Henry's wrath.
Simon then led the baronial opposition to the rule of King Henry III of England, which culminated in the Second Barons' War. Following his initial victories over royal forces, he became de facto ruler of the country, and played a major role in the constitutional development of England. During his rule, Simon called two famous parliaments. The first stripped the King of unlimited authority, while the second included ordinary citizens from the towns. For this reason, Simon is regarded today as one of the progenitors of modern parliamentary democracy.
As Earl of Leicester Simon expelled Jews and as he became de facto ruler of England he also cancelled debts owed to Jews through violent seizures of records. Simon's party massacred the Jews of London, Worcester and Derby, killing scores of Jews from Wi******er to Lincoln.
The reaction against Simon's government was not entirely popular. The Welsh Marcher Lords were friends and allies of the future Edward I and they rallied around his opposition. The final nail was the defection of Gilbert de Clare, the Earl of Gloucester, the most powerful baron and Simon's ally at Lewes. Clare had grown resentful of Simon's fame and growing power. When he and his brother Thomas fell out with Simon's sons Henry, Simon the Younger, and Guy, they deserted the reforming cause and joined Edward.
Though boosted by Welsh infantry sent by Montfort's ally Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Simon's forces were severely depleted. On this day in 1265 an ominous black cloud hung over the field during the Battle of Evesham as Simon led his army in a desperate uphill charge against superior forces. Before the battle, the future Edward I had appointed a twelve-man death squad to stalk the battlefield, their sole aim being to find Simon and cut him down. Simon was hemmed in; Roger Mortimer killed Simon by stabbing him in the neck with a lance. His last words were said to have been "Thank God".
Simon's body as mutilated in a frenzy by the royalists. News reached the mayor and sheriffs of London that "the head of the earl of Leicester ... was severed from his body, and his testicles cut off and hung on either side of his nose". In such guise the head was sent to Wigmore Castle by Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer, as a gift to his wife. His hands and feet were also cut off and sent to diverse places to enemies of his as a great mark of dishonor to the deceased.
Whatever remains could be found were buried before the altar of Evesham Abbey church by the canons. The grave was visited as holy ground by many commoners until Henry III caught wind of it. He declared that Simon deserved no spot-on holy ground and had his remains reburied in another "secret" location, probably in the crypt.
Groom's Family sequence:
#1
HM King Henry I (2x Great Grandfather)
Alice FitzRoy (Great Grandmother)
Bouchard V de Montmorency (Grandfather)
Alix de Montmorency (Mother)
Shared from History & Lives of the British Royals
https://www.facebook.com/History-Lives-of-the-British-Royals-122845112442353/
