Simon de Montfort

“ In these days of exactness even a child’s historical romance must point to what the French term its pièces justficatives. We own that ours do not lie very deep. The picture of Simon de Montfort drawn by his wife’s own household books, as quoted by Mrs. Everett Green in her Lives of the Princesses, and that of Edward I. in Carte’s History, and more recently in the Greatest of the Plantagenets, furnished the two chief influences of the story. The household accounts show that Earl Simon and Eleanor of England had five sons. Henry fell with his father at Evesham. ”

“ We may perhaps ask whether Simon de Montfort deserves that character of a hero, the hero of mediæval history, which is commonly attributed to him. We can only attempt to realize the motives that swayed him. There is no doubt that he was a great man, a much greater man as he was a much better and wiser man than Henry, and perhaps better, certainly [Pg 211] wiser and greater, than such men as Gloucester. ”

“ Simon's skill, courage, energy, and ruthlessness carried all before him, and speedily made him master of all southern Gaul. He continued to style himself Earl of Leicester, and he seems to have kept up his communications with England and to have been an object of deep interest and admiration to his fellow-barons there, for in 1210 John was scared by a rumour that they were plotting to set up Simon of Montfort as king in his stead. One of the conditions required by the pope for reconciliation with John in 1213 was that Simon should be restored to his rights. ”

“ However, William of Tudela's statement, that he was with Simon de Montfort in 1209, is clearly inaccurate; but there is no other obstacle to the identification. In 1211 he advised Simon to take the offensive against the Count of Toulouse, and in 1214 he appears as lord of Castelnaudry and Laurac. ”

“ Henry III, in 1266, had been obliged to forbid Simon de Montfort being considered as a saint, although Simon having died under excommunication, as was represented to the king by the bishops and barons, authors of the petitions comprised in the “Dictum de Kenilworth,”470 had little chance of ever being canonized. ”

“ For the love that thou bearest to pretty Bessee.
"Then give me leave, nobles and gentles, each one,
One song more to sing, and then I have done;
And if that itt may not winn good report,
Then doe not give me a GROAT for my sport.
"Sir Simon de Montfort my subject shal bee;
Once chiefe of all the great barons was hee,
Yet fortune so cruelle this lorde did abase,
Now loste and forgotten are hee and his race.
"When the barons in armes did King Henrye oppose,
Sir Simon de Montfort their leader they chose;
A leader of courage undaunted was hee,
And oft-times he made their enemyes flee. ”

“ He grasped Richard’s hand, and under his breath uttered the name “Isabel.”
“Isabel Mortimer!” exclaimed Richard, who had been, of course, aware of his brother’s betrothal, when the two families of Montfort and Mortimer had been on friendly terms; “we heard she had taken the veil!”
“And so thou sawst me slain!” said Henry de Montfort dryly.
“But how—how was it?” asked Richard eagerly.
“Men sometimes tie knots faster than they intend,” said Henry. “When Roger Mortimer took Simon’s doings in wrath, and vowed that his sister should never wed a Montfort, he knew not what he did. ”

“ Then there befell an adventure which weighed heavily upon the host; for one of the great barons of the host, by name Simon of Montfort, had made private covenant with the King of Hungary, who was at enmity with those of the host, and went to him, abandoning the host. With him went Guy of Montfort his brother, Simon of Nauphle and Robert Mauvoisin, and Dreux of Cressonsacq, and the abbot of Vaux, who was a monk of the order of the Cistercians, and many others. ”

“ When the sacristan of the abbey asked him in wonder why with his handful of men he was attacking so famous a chieftain as the Aragonese, Count Simon drew from his pouch an intercepted letter from Pedro to a mistress of his, the wife of a Languedocian baron, in which the King had written that it was for her sweet sake that he was fighting to drive out the “French.” “I do not fear this king,” said de Montfort, “who opposes the work of God for the sake of a harlot.” Already he was expecting an attack on Muret, the most exposed of his garrisons. ”

“ On 27 March Henry commended to the pope "our trusty and well-beloved brother Simon of Montfort, whom we are sending to Rome on business touching the honour and welfare of ourself and our realm." The business was to get a dispensation for Eleanor's marriage; this was granted 10 May. In England, however, the marriage was not yet wholly forgiven, and Simon gave time for the storm to die down by lingering on the continent throughout the summer. It was probably now, rather than, as Matthew Paris says, on his way to Rome, that he engaged for a while in military service under the emperor. ”

“ Leicester's Welsh infantry broke at once before the charge of the mail-clad horsemen, and took 128refuge behind hedges and walls, where they were hunted out and butchered after the main fight was over. But the men-at-arms struggled valiantly against Edward's superior forces, though they were soon borne down by sheer numbers. Simon fought like a hero and met a soldier's death. With him were slain his son Henry, his faithful comrade Peter Montfort, the baronial justiciar Hugh Despenser, and many other men of mark. ”

“ Montfort, Henry, lawless conduct of; his death at the battle of Evesham; ballad lore version of his fate. Montford, Simon, the elder, history of; his death. Montford, Simon, the younger, marries a sister of Henry III.; his popularity; the king’s jealousy of him; his dispute with the king; his conduct in taking the oath to the Acts of Oxford; in the Barons’ war; his behavior in prosperity; violence and lawlessness of his sons; his death at the battle of Evesham; his noble character; fate of his family. Montford, Simon (3d) , his conduct at the siege of Northampton; his lawless conduct ”

“ Ere he had reached the stone at the crossing of the roads, however, three or four horsemen, at headlong speed, came down from the rising ground in front, and in a moment after the whole advance-guard were seen in full retreat.
"What is this?" asked De Montfort, spurring on his horse to meet the first of the men-at-arms who was approaching. "What news bring you in such haste?"
"My lord, there is a mighty power coming down upon you," cried the man; "we saw them from the edge of the slope beyond--full twenty thousand men." ”

“ Mont-Fitchet (Sir Conrade) , a preceptor of the Knights Templar.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.) .
Montfort (De) , the hero and title of a tragedy, intended to depict the passion of hate, by Joanna Baillie (1798) . The object of De Montfort’s hatred is Rezenvelt, and his passion drives him on to murder.
*** De Montfort was probably the suggestive inspiration of Byron’s Manfred (1817) .
Montgomery (Mr.) , Lord Godolphin, lord high treasurer of England in the reign of Queen Anne. The queen called herself “Mrs. Morley,” and Sarah Jennings, duchess of Marlborough, was “Mrs. Freeman.” ”

“ In his young days Simon had been one of the gayest and most active youths of the neighbourhood, but as he grew old and stiff he found it very difficult to walk, and his faithful servant urged him to get a horse so as to save his poor old bones. At last Simon gave way to the request and persuasive eloquence of his housekeeper, and betook himself one day to the market where he had seen a mule, which he thought would just suit him, and which he bought for seven gold pieces. ”

“ Aubyn cannot imagine why her pity and a very kind look should have any effect on Lord de Montfort."
"Pity and a gentle look from so much beauty," replied Sir James Hamilton, with affected gravity, "must certainly have a most powerful effect on the heart of any man—assuredly still more on that of one so devoted as De Montfort's appears to be."
"I know not, Sir," said Ellen, with modest grace, yet with spirit, "if I am to consider this as a specimen of that fashionable sort of wit which you call quizzing or hoaxing. Are not these the elegant terms of the day? ”

“ Lord Montfort at Newmarket would ask half a dozen men who had been at school with him, and were now members of the Jockey Club, to be his guests, and the next day all over the heath, and after the heath, all over Mayfair and Belgravia, you heard only one speech, “I dined yesterday,” or “the other day,” as the case might be, “with Montfort; out and out the best dinner I ever had, and such an agreeable fellow; the wittiest, the most amusing, certainly the most charming fellow that ever lived; out and out! It is a pity he does not show a little more.” And society thought the same ”

“ In accordance with the orders he had received, Simon allowed his prisoner to go down into the garden every day, and sometimes took him with him when he went up on the roof of the Tower to breathe the air and smoke his pipe undisturbed. The boy followed him with hanging head, like a whipped dog; he never ventured to raise his eyes to his master’s face, knowing he should meet only hatred and abuse. ”

“ They turned instinctively to each other, as all turn to those who can recreate for them the young beginnings of their lives. On the marsh Simon always felt immeasurably old, weighted as with an actual burden by the years. He saw himself looking behind him at them as at monsters created in his pride, which now and for ever were out of his control. With Will beside him, they would lie in front as they used to do, rolling meadowlands still untouched by the plough of time. Because they had been young together it would be impossible for them to be really old. ”

“ Lady Montfort herself made Montfort Castle her home, paying sometimes a visit to her family in the neighbourhood, and sometimes receiving them and other guests. Lord Montfort himself did not live in absolute solitude. He had society always at command. He always had a court about him; equerries, and secretaries, and doctors, and odd and amusing men whom they found out for him, and who were well pleased to find themselves in his beautiful and magnificent Princedown, wandering in woods and parks and pleasaunces, devouring his choice entrees, and quaffing his curious wines. ”

“ After growing rich with his accumulated booty, Simon was inclined to become respectable, a recourse which was always open to him—France, England, Spain, the United Provinces, vieing with each other to secure him by high rank and pay as an honoured member of their national marine. ”

“ Montfort, twisting the note, and frowning at the window. "Precisely! and so, you were saying, Sophronia—ahem! that is, you are obliged to leave us?"
"Yes, my dearest John, I must go. I could not, no! I could not sleep another night beneath this roof. I have told Willis. I am cut to the heart at leaving you, so helpless, with only this poor child here, and those—those dreadful children of Anthony's. I [253] would so gladly have made a home for you, my poor cousin. I live only for others; but still it seems my duty to live, and I am convinced that another night here would be my death." ”

“ Let us see what is in the royal warrant,” and he drew the parchment from his pocket.
“What is it about, Simon, for I am no hand at the law.”
Thereupon Simon related the tale, as he had it from his master, I suppose, of how I had fought on the side of Duke Monmouth, and had been adjudged a traitor, but had escaped ere I could be sold to slavery. As Simon progressed I saw the Captain’s face grow grave and stern, for, it seemed, he was a great friend at court, and all his people had been against Monmouth. Therefore he had little liking for a rebel like myself, and one who was accused of treason. ”

“ She said when she had seen Simon:
“’Tis a good match, Kristin; this Simon will go forward in the world—you will be spared many cares, and he will be good to live with. But to my mind he seems something too fat and too cheerful—Were it now in Norway as it was in days gone by, and as it is still in other lands—that folk were not more hard to sinners than is God himself, I would say you should find yourself a friend who is lean and sorrowful—one you could have to sit and hold converse with. Then would I say, you could not fare better than you would with Simon.” ”

“ Simon, do us the favour to tie us up in sacks and throw us into the river that we may give up our thieving ways and become the owners of flocks.’
‘I am ready,’ answered Simon, ‘to do what you please; there’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for you.’
So he took three strong sacks and put a man in each of them, and fastened them up so tightly that they couldn’t get out, and then he threw them all into the river; and that was the end of the three rogues. But Mr. Simon returned home to his faithful Nina rich in flocks and gold, and lived for many a year in health and happiness. ”

“ But over and above all this, Simon himself is a most vehement orator, trained in the dialectic art, and in the meshes of syllogisms; and what is worse than all, he is greatly skilled in the magic art. And therefore I fear, lest haply, being so strongly fortified on every side, he shall be thought to be defending the truth, whilst he is alleging falsehoods, in the presence of those who do not know him. ”

“ For these Orwoods and he and Andrea had all been shamed by the crude literal child and by Mrs. West herself.
"God help me!" said Simon, and lay down on the tall, dry grass. Life pressed upon him like a weight, as if life were but a mode of death. ”