Simon de montfort battle of evesham

Simon de montfort parliament

The Battle of Evesham was fought on the morning of 4 August The battle was a short clash, as the Royal army outnumbered the rebels by three to one and was able to resist a cavalry charge from the rebels before encircling the rebels and offering no quarter, to the nobles and knights at least. Edward , the eldest son of the king of England, having escaped from the custody of Simon which he did one evening when he went out into the fields for recreation with a very few persons of Simon s household , joined himself with many of the marchmen who had long held lands under him in the marches [of Wales] , that is to say, in the county of Chester, and by them he was welcomed with immense joy.

After having remained with them for two days, he hastened to the earl of Gloucester to procure the liberation of his father ; on his arrival the earl received him with sufficient respect. He collected his troops with the greatest expedition, and he marched with all haste against Simon, along with Edward and his marchers. At this juncture Simon was at Hereford, and the king was kept there in constraint along with him.

Now, as soon as Simon discovered that the earl of Gloucester was on the eve of marching against him along with his army to attack him, he sent without delay to such of the nobles as had continued firmly attached to the side of the barons in the late battle. As soon as this message reached the nobles and barons they were aghast at the unexpected escape of Edward, and they immediately went to Simon, whom they joined at Evesham, upon the day appointed.

Using that degree of caution which the circum stances required, Simon had left his son who bore the same name in one of the chiefest strongholds in all England, that is to say, in the castle of Kellingiswurthe [Kenilworth], together with many of the armed nobility, that if it so happened that Edward should attack Simon the father in the front, Simon the son and his army should assail Edward in the rear.

And this plan would have been carried out, but for the treachery of a certain knight, who betrayed to Edward the arrangement of Simon the elder respecting the large body of armed men who were in the said castle. Having intimation beforehand, through the intelligence of this traitor, that the armed men were to march out of the castle while it was yet daylight, and that they intended passing the night in the town which was close at hand, he that very night despatched a detachment from the army which he had collected to intercept the troops of Simon, who as we have mentioned had the day before, unfortunately for -themselves, abandoned the castle, meaning to sleep in the various dwelling-houses which were in its immediate proximity.

Their object in leaving the castle was this, that when they rose up from their beds early in the morning, they might have the comfort of a satisfactory bath, which would make them all the fitter for the battle on the morrow ; for the town afforded much more accommodation for the purpose of bathing, in the way of baths, than they could expect to find within the walls of the castle.

And this was the motive which induced them to abandon that strongly-fortified castle of Simon s ; and when the knight whom we have mentioned as having betrayed the circumstance of their departure to Edward made him acquainted with the fact, he did not fail to state that baths had been provided for them within the town. So it was, that towards midnight a loud cry was raised throughout the whole town when Edward s soldiers rushed in upon the sleeping troops of Simon.

When they heard the noise, they were beyond measure terrified by the outcry; for fear and trembling, terror and apprehension, seized them when they heard the noise of horses, and their riders calling out for them, and saying; Get up, get up, rise from your beds, and come out, ye traitors! You are the followers of that deep-dyed renegade, Simon, and, by the death of God, you are all dead men!