When Montfort withdrew to France in 1261, he wouldn't accept the King's recoperative power and the overfrove. That might have been the end of it had it not been for catastrophic mistakes made by Henry,. His son Lord Edward quarreled with his closest followers - a group of very war-like violent men. And they thought the only way we can get back in, have revenge is to once, is to bring Montfort back and ally with him. So that was Montfort the general. And thirdly, there was Mont Fort the politician; an amazing feel for what would be popular causes.
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