​

 

Early 1264. Fifty years on from the violent tumult that gave rise to Magna Carta, England divides again into full-scale civil war.

 

On one side - the royalist elite of Henry III. A Plantagenet king who has scorned the Great Charter throughout a long and forgettable reign. Against him - an alliance of barons, churchmen, citizens, students. All now wearied by the old King’s misrule. All now united by a knight and leader whose moment it was... 

 

On May 14th 1264, Simon de Montfort proves himself a commander of genius. Despite setbacks and squabbles amongst his comrades, the Earl of Leicester manoeuvres the King into a single, full-scale clash of arms – a rare event in an age of warfare by siege.

​

Sir Simon knows how to take a castle by siege. At Rochester, he deploys a really big piece of 13th century artillery. But at Lewes, he prevails by skilful disposition of field forces. Skilful and costly. An entire division is sacrificed. But victory is gained.

 

The Battle of Lewes is a disaster for the King. And his fawning courtiers. And his tall and chilly heir. On the day, Prince Edward’s grimly medieval sense of honour is brilliantly exploited by his uncle and former tutor Simon. Edward is outplayed. He does not deny. 

 

Simon de Montfort is now the master of England. The king is his puppet, and Edward his captive. For sure, this is no harsh confinement in a dungeon. During Christmas at Kenilworth, the prince has a place of honour at the banqueting table, and plenty of time for high-level chess with his jailor. 

 

But Simon remains boss of the board. And a new political order seems established when a new kind of Parliament is summoned. In the name of King Henry, of course. Now, for the first time, common English men are invited to speak freely of their concerns in the presence of their sovereign. 

​

Today, the January Parliament is recalled as a landmark in the history of democracy. By convening this first House of Commons, Simon de Montfort succeeded for the ages. 

 

And a stellar career attained its zenith. 

​

Even as Simon prompts the miserable King at Westminster, his alliance begins to fracture. Earl Leicester is not without faults of his own, and his temper costs him the backing of ally Earl Gloucester. His decision to entrust Edward's custody to son Henry also proves a mistake, while Simon de Montfort the Younger shares only his father’s name and none of his gifts of leadership.

 

In the spring of a fresh new year, the Countess Leicester feels changes in the wind. Eleanor de Montfort knows that her husband’s political mentor once foresaw his death in battle. The grim vision of Robert Greathead may yet be fulfilled in 1265...

​

On May 28th, Edward escapes. At once, he takes sole command of a new and superior royalist army. A year on from Lewes, he is older and wiser. Much has he learned from Simon, militarily and politically. When Edward succeeds, he will rule with wisdom wholly absent from his father’s dismal reign. But first there must be peace in England, and before there can be peace, there must be war again.  

​

Simon is checked. But he still has the King. He orders Henry de Montfort into south Wales, taking with him Henry Plantagenet and a ragged band of men. Simon himself makes for the Welsh heartland - and an unforgettable summit in the mountains. He follows the fabled footsteps of King Arthur, and there are many myth-like scenes in Wales – beneath endless summer skies – as a worthy knight of history plots a route back into England.

 

But Edward Plantagenet will be there. He is now boss of the board. The prince will have a reckoning with Simon de Montfort; and the settlement he intends will be bloody and permanent.

​

Indeed, Edward embodies values of an often brutal age, and there is little public warmth to his character. But even as he makes plans for a final solution of arms, a more human side of a future king of England is revealed, from a surprising and delightful source.

​

And still his great rival has not lost. If Simon the Younger can come from London with his own contingent and join his father and brother in the West, the prince may yet be defeated again...

​

As all forces converge on Evesham, in the early days of August 1265, the fate of a nation will be settled, one way or another. And as a curtain of storm clouds makes ready to fall on a real-life story of men at war, the decisive contribution is made by a plucky young woman whose real name was Margoth...

​

And then there is only blood and folksong.

​

​

​