John Sadler - The Second Barons War: Simon de Montfort & the Battles of Lewes & Evesham

The Second Barons War: Simon de Montfort & the Battles of Lewes & Evesham — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "The Second Barons War: Simon de Montfort & the Battles of Lewes & Evesham" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

1234567...41

First published in Great Britain in 2008 by
Pen & Sword Military
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright John Sadler, 2008

9781783460830

The right of John Sadler to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Typeset in 11.5pt Ehrhardt

Printed and bound in England
by Biddles

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of
Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military,
Wharncliffe Local History, Pen & Sword Select,
Pen & Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail: enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements

T he death of chivalry, a description applied to the Battle of Evesham, is an emotive title, especially to any of my generation who was brought up on fifties and early sixties childrens TV programmes such as Knights of the Round Table , Robin Hood (the version with Richard Greene in the title role), William Tell and, of course, Ivanhoe Roger Moore in his pre Saint days. These went in tandem with reading such books as the Puffin version of Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn-Green, the novels of Rosemary Sutcliff, Henry Treece and survivors from G.A. Henty, Stevenson and Dumas, naturally. Knighthood and the manly virtues of chivalry were paramount, and the medieval tradition was carried forward by Biggles, Beau Geste and Karl the Viking.

Nowadays I imagine all of these are frowned upon as extolling the unfashionable or, worse, inappropriate ideals of elitism, militarism and imperialism and, along with Enid Blyton, have been banished by the dead hand of political correctness. Now, even the most ardent romantic amongst us must concede that the Middle Ages and medieval warfare were neither pretty nor honourable; the battles of which I will write hereafter were savage and bloody, merciless, cruel and vicious. Virtue and compassion are hard to detect.

Sword and lance will, nonetheless, continue to smack far more of honour than a cruise missile or thermobaric bomb. Medieval battles were at least fought over small areas, generally without any long-term, detrimental impact the odd pile of bones to be sure, but these are bio-degradable. Most of those who fought were household men or mercenaries; armies were far fewer in number and the bulk of casualties by far were the combatants themselves. This is not to say that war was gentlemanly; it was not. It was, however, more gentlemanly and less destructive than today. The profession of arms was the only career route open to a gentleman of birth, bar the church, and quite frequently leading prelates managed to combine the mace and the mitre quite seamlessly, Anthony Bek, the Prince Bishop of Durham in Edward Is reign, being a significant example.

The events described here of the early and mid-thirteenth century were pivotal to the social and cultural history of Britain. Magna Carta, the core concept of consensual government, as opposed to the unfettered exercise of the royal prerogative, was a key step in the countrys political history, shaping the way the British live today. Whether those fathers of what became democratic rule would recognize the government of today is hard to assess. It is inconceivable they could applaud a generation of politicians so irretrievably enmired in spin and venality, though corruption and nepotism were scarcely unknown in their day.

A note on money: in the thirteenth century the pound sterling comprised twenty shillings, each of twelve pennies, but marks were also used, being equal to two-thirds of the value of the pound, i.e. thirteen shillings and four pence. Attempts to provide comparative values are particularly fraught and must be treated with caution. At this time a wealthy magnate of the first rank might enjoy an annual income of, say, 5,000 per annum; knights were paid at the rate of 2 per diem and the lowly foot a mere two pence.

During the early thirteenth century a pernicious practice had arisen of clipping or counterfeiting coins; overseas moneychangers who, like jackals, followed papal tax-collectors and itinerant merchants were not well regarded. This continual debasement of the English coinage aroused much ire. Henry III certainly attempted to curtail these practices and declared that every penny must be of standard weight and size. Jewish money-lenders were much blamed, justly or otherwise. Coin was the currency, primarily, of the urban commercial bourgeoisie; the knights of the shires probably saw relatively little. Paper money of course and promissory notes were unknown.

In writing this present volume I am indebted to the following for their generous assistance: Rupert Harding and Philip Sidnell at Pen & Sword; Chloe Rodham, who drew the maps; the staff of the National Archives, Royal Armouries, Leeds; the Wallace Collection; and the Almonry at Evesham. Rosie Serdiville and Philip Walling for proofreading and trenchant editorial advice; Ed Wimble; Catherine Turner of Durham Cathedral Library; Iain Dickie and Michael Rayner of the Battlefields Trust; Tony Whiting of Evesham Tourist Centre; John Wollaston; Beryl Charlton; and particularly Tony Spicer, who has been most generous with his researches. Lastly, and as ever, I am indebted to my wife for her continuing patience during the gestation and birth of yet another history.

Any errors or omissions are, of course, and remain my sole responsibility.

John Sadler
Northumberland, winter 2007 2008

Dedication

This one is for Philip

List of Illustrations

The Almonry. This monastic survivor now houses an information centre and battle room.

St Lawrences Church. The Abbey Park marks the muster point for the Montfortians on the morning of the battle.

The Abbey Tower. This survives (altered since the thirteenth century) in the Abbey Park in the centre of the modern town.

Green Hill, looking eastwards toward the field. Edwards division would have been deployed on the left and de Clares on the right.

Green Hill, looking westwards back towards the town. It was up the line of the present High Street that de Montforts knights rode on the day of the battle.

The Leicester Tower. Built by Edward Rudge in 1842, it is said to be based on Guys Tower at Warwick Castle.

The Leicester Tower commemorative plaque.

The Obelisk, north panel.

The Obelisk, east panel. I am Henry of Winchester your King: Do not kill me.

The Obelisk, south panel.

The Obelisk, west panel.

The Obelisk viewed from the north. Rudge also erected the pleasingly proportioned Obelisk, now obscured by planting.

Next page

1234567...41

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «The Second Barons War: Simon de Montfort & the Battles of Lewes & Evesham»

Look at similar books to The Second Barons War: Simon de Montfort & the Battles of Lewes & Evesham. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.

Sophie Thérèse Ambler

The Song of Simon de Montfort: The Life and Death of a Medieval Revolutionary

Patrick Little

The English Civil Wars: A Beginners Guide

John Paul Davis

The Gothic King: A Biography of Henry III

John Miller

After the Civil Wars: English Politics and Government in the Reign of Charles II

John Sadler

The Second Baron’s War: Simon de Montfort and the Battles of Lewes and Evesham

Darren Baker

Crusaders and Revolutionaries: De Montfort

John Sadler

Towton: The Battle of Palm Sunday Field 1461

Warner

Blood roses: the Houses of Lancaster and York before the Wars of the Roses

West

1215 and all that: Magna Carta and King John

Brooks Richard

Lewes and Evesham 1264-65: Simon de Montfort and the Barons War

Bicheno Hugh

Battle royal: the Wars of the Roses, 1440-1462

Lewis

A Glimpse of The Wars of the Roses

Discussion, reviews of the book The Second Barons War: Simon de Montfort & the Battles of Lewes & Evesham and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.