Louise: Simon has a domineering personality where he doesn't suffer fools. But I think we also have to bear in mind the radicalism of the regime that the Montfortians had set up. The idea of effectively removing the king from power, setting up a council to govern the kingdom was entirely radical and it made people incredibly uncomfortable. So Sophie and David both mentioned how Simon and Montfort alienated key, magnet support. This was critically important because by the spring of 1265, Gilbert Declare had travelled to the Welsh marches. And shortly afterwards, towards the end of May, Henry III's eldest son, who was a Montfortian captive, actually engineered with the help of
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