Montfort may have seen himself as the all conquering and really imagined that there was an opportunity for this regime to last in the long term. The difficulty was that he had particularly the balance of the march of Wales, haranging him from one side but also the threat of invasion from France again. In 1264 after Lewis where the Queen of England has raised an armada which could potentially sail to put Henry the third back in power in the end it doesn't sail. But then had the Montfortians won the battle of Yvesham I always imagined that what would happen next well. The Pope would once again ally with the King and Queen of France and bring an army across the channel sanctioned
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