Montfort's idealism came out very well and I do believe that I think he did believe very strongly this was a righteous cause. But obviously we didn't really sketch out why he felt so badly treated by Henry when it came to being the lack of a land in the state to go with the marriage to Eleanor. The widow of William Marshall at a Pembroke was entitled to a third of his lands for the rest of her life and the Montfort's constantly complained they'd never received them. Those two material grievances played a large part in in Montfort's you know antagonism to Henry and his role in the revolution of 1258. They also helped to explain why he was
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