Simon de Montfort was born in around 1208 in the Montfort family lands outside of Paris. His father, Simon de Montfort the Elder, was elected leader of the Abigensian Crusade against the so-called Cathar Heretics. When Simon came of age he came to England to press this claim to the Leicester Oldham. He raised himself partly through becoming close to Henry III at court and marrying the King's sister Eleanor. But also throughout the 1240s and into the 1250s, he really made his reputation not just within England, but internationally. So coming from this family of Crusaders, he was very keen to take part in a crusading expedition himself.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the years of bloody conflict that saw Simon de Montfort (1205-65) become the most powerful man in England, with Henry III as his prisoner. With others, he had toppled Henry in 1258 in a secret, bloodless coup and established provisions for more parliaments with broader representation, for which he was later known as the Father of the House of Commons. When Henry III regained power in 1261, Simon de Montfort rallied forces for war, with victory at Lewes in 1264 and defeat and dismemberment in Evesham the year after. Although praised for supporting parliaments, he also earned a reputation for unleashing dark, violent forces in English politics and, infamously, his supporters murdered hundreds of Jewish people in London and elsewhere.
With
David Carpenter
Professor of Medieval History at King’s College London
Louise Wilkinson
Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Lincoln
And
Sophie Thérèse Ambler
Lecturer in Later Medieval British and European History at Lancaster University
Producer: Simon Tillotson