Montfort, Simon de

Montfort, Simon de Earl of Leicester (about 1208-65), statesman and soldier, b. in Normandy, France.

Simon de Montfort, the son of French parents, settled in England as a young man.

He became a friend of young Prince Henry (later King Henry III) and married Henry's sister, Eleanor Plantagenet.

In 1240-41, he took part in a Crusade and, from 1248-53, governed Gascony for the King. Then, in 1261, Henry quarrelled with the Barons of England, and the Barons asked Simon to lead them against him. Civil war followed.

King Henry was defeated in the Battle of Lewes in 1264 and captured, along with his son Edward (later Edward III). This placed the control of England in de Montfort's hands and he summoned a new Parliament in 1265. To this he called not only barons and churchmen, which was usual, but also two knights from each shire (county) and two citizens from each town. Because of this, he is said to have started the kind of Parliament Britain has today.

Within the year, Prince Edward escaped and many barons took his side against de Montfort. In a battle at Evesham on 4 August, de Montfort was killed standing over the dead body of his son.

See John Sadler SECOND BARON'S WAR: Simon de Montfort and the Battles of Lewes and Evesham