The Battle of Evesham was fought on the morning of 4 August 1265. It brought to an end the Baron’s Revolt led by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester and culminated in the death of the carl. The battle was a short clash, as the Royal army outnumbered the rebels by three to one and was able to resist a cavalry charge from the rebels before encircling the rebels and offering no quarter, to the nobles and knights at least.
The Battle of Evesham
Battle of Evesham, from The Melrose Chronicle
Edward, the eldest son of the king of England, having escaped from the custody of Simon (which he did one evening when he went out into the fields for recreation with a very few persons of Simon s household), joined himself with many of the marchmen who had long held lands under him in the marches [of Wales] , that is to say, in the county of Chester, and by them he was welcomed with immense joy. After having remained with them for two days, he hastened to the earl of Gloucester to procure the liberation of his father ; on his arrival the earl received him with sufficient respect. While they were eventually discussing the king’s detention in the hands of Simon, and the prince begged the earl to aid him in the liberation of the king, the earl promised that he would place all his army at the king s disposal. He collected his troops with the greatest expedition, and he marched with all haste against Simon, along with Edward and his marchers. At this juncture Simon was at Hereford, and the king was kept there in constraint along with him.
Now, as soon as Simon discovered that the earl of Gloucester was on the eve of marching against him along with his army to attack him, he sent without delay to such of the nobles as had continued firmly attached to the side of the barons in the late battle. As soon as this message reached the nobles and barons they were aghast at the unexpected escape of Edward, and they immediately went to Simon, whom they joined at Evesham, upon the day appointed. Using that degree of caution which the circum stances required, Simon had left his son (who bore the same name) in one of the chiefest strongholds in all England, that is to say, in the castle of Kellingiswurthe [Kenilworth], together with many of the armed nobility, that if it so happened that Edward should attack Simon the father in the front, Simon the son and his army should assail Edward in the rear. And this plan would have been carried out, but for the treachery of a certain knight, who betrayed to Edward the arrangement of Simon the elder respecting the large body of armed men who were in the said castle.
Having intimation beforehand, through the intelligence of this traitor, that the armed men were to march out of the castle while it was yet daylight, and that they intended passing the night in the town which was close at hand, he that very night despatched a detachment from the army which he had collected to intercept the troops of Simon, who (as we have mentioned) had the day before, unfortunately for -themselves, abandoned the castle, meaning to sleep in the various dwelling-houses which were in its immediate proximity. Their object in leaving the castle was this, that when they rose up from their beds early in the morning, they might have the comfort of a satisfactory bath, which would make them all the fitter for the battle on the morrow ; for the town afforded much more accommodation for the purpose of bathing, in the way of baths, than they could expect to find within the walls of the castle. And this was the motive which induced them to abandon that strongly-fortified castle of Simon s ; and when the knight (whom we have mentioned as having betrayed the circumstance of their departure to Edward) made him acquainted with the fact, he did not fail to state that baths had been provided for them within the town.
So it was, that towards midnight a loud cry was raised throughout the whole town when Edward s soldiers rushed in upon the sleeping troops of Simon. When they heard the noise, they were beyond measure terrified by the outcry; for fear and trembling, terror and apprehension, seized them when they heard the noise of horses, and their riders calling out for them, and saying; Get up, get up, rise from your beds, and come out, ye traitors ! You are the followers of that deep-dyed renegade, Simon, and, by the death of God, you are all dead men ! Thus these persons who had been so shamefully betrayed all rose up, and escaped by the backs of the houses, leaving behind them their horses, their arms, their clothes, and all the baggage which they possessed. Had you been there you might have seen some of them running off entirely naked, others with nothing upon them save a pair of breeches, others in their shirts and drawers; and of all of them there were very few, perhaps not one, who was so fortunate as to be able to dress entirely. Many of them carried off their clothes under their arms ; and just as they had hurried out of the house in the hottest haste in this plight (God in his infinite mercy giving them their lives), Edward’s armed soldiers rushed in and made plunder of the horses, and armour, and everything .else which (as we have said) had been left behind them by the fugitives.
In the morning the foot- soldiers, who the day before had followed at the tails of the knights horses, clothed themselves in the armour of those noblemen who had escaped, and mounted their horses. You might there have seen the accomplishment of the prophecy of the Preacher; I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth; [Eccl. x. 7.] When all these rascally fellows came to Edward, well armed, and riding upon the horses of the noblemen, he rejoiced with an exceeding great joy; and so Edward marched with a large army towards Evesham, against Simon.
When he had come within two miles of Evesham, Simon came out to oppose him; hoping where there was no hope. For, as I have already mentioned, he had trusted that his son Simon (who had fled with the others) would join him, and assist him, by attacking Edward on the rear; and so he went out, with the little army which he had. It marched forward boldly; but all who were with him, before going out to the battle, had made confession, and had communicated in the viaticum of the holy Eucharist. Edward had six or seven men, where Simon had scarce two.
Then the powerful and terrible army of Edward, and the insignificant troop of Simon de Montfort, joined in battle ; the latter being preceded by that bold knight, Guy de Balliol, carrying Simon s standard. Close by him was Simon s eldest son, Henry, a gallant knight, who had been so named after king Henry. It was he who struck the first blow in the battle; the blow was returned, and he was the first of the many who fell there and died, for he was pierced by several mortal wounds, inflicted by various hands. On the side of Edward very few fell, on account of the multitude of the soldiers who were on, the side of the conquerors; but on the other side nearly all were slain, along with Simon himself, because their numbers were so few, and they were so soon exhausted. A few only escaped, by surrendering to Edward s soldiers, and laying down their arms. That Guy, whom I have lately mentioned as a valiant Scottish knight, might then have been saved from a temporal death, but he would not ; he was killed, as well as a great number of the English nobility, who had come out to fight for justice to England ; and of the rightfulness of their cause no greater proof could be given than that afterwards frequent miracles were wrought, as well by Hugh Despenser, the chief justice of England, (a man most just and equitable in every decision, as well in regard to the poor as the rich,) as also by Simon, and some others, who kept their faith to God, even to the death, for the sake of justice to the realm of England ; and this they had rightly undertaken, to preserve against the foreigners, and even against the king himself, who had wrongfully kept them back (as we have already mentioned) from receiving the remission of their sins at the hands of that holy man, Robert Grostete, bishop of Lincoln, in the edict made respecting the battle of Lewis. Since then they were fighting for a just cause, they died in justice; and therefore, after their deaths, some of them were permitted by God to work miracles, and so to preserve for themselves glory and veneration; in consequence of which it is believed that they are reigning with God in glory. Amongst these valiant heroes was Roger de Rewle, a companion of the Guy whom we have mentioned, and who also, like him, was killed.
As for king Henry (who, by his undue partiality for foreigners, had inflicted an injury upon England), he went out in arms to engage in this battle against Simon, in order to restore justice to England, wearing, however, the armour of some other person ; I might have said that the king had gone out to fight for the justice of England, unless his escape from the battle, and his restoration to his kingly power, would have enabled him once more to have collected aliens against born Englishmen, and so the last error should be worse than the first. It seems then to have been the intention of the barons that the king should die along with them, should it have become necessary that they should fall in the battle in which the king was engaged ; their plan was that he should be unknown to his own adherents, and should fall under the heavy weight of their blows. Being unable to fight like the others, he kept calling out at the extent of his voice; I am Henry, the old king of England; swearing sometimes by the love of God! at other times by God s head! and constantly affirming that he was the king ; and he exclaimed to the men who were striking at him; Do not hit me, for I am too old to fight; It was his use and wont to swear such oaths as these. As he was making use of these exclamations, they took his helmet from off his head; and discovering by his countenance that he really was the king, he was removed out of the battle, and on the day following he was restored to his kingdom, to the great satisfaction of the enemies of Simon and the barons who had been killed. A few weeks afterwards, when the king was enabled to act according to the uncontrolled wishes of himself and some of his nobility, he outlawed from his kingdom his own sister, the wife of Simon, along with her daughter, a most beautiful damsel, who afterwards married the prince of Wales, and three sons of the same Simon.
Thus, upon the death of Simon and Hugh Despenser, and the other nobles of the land, there was a great lamentation among the people of England; but this was afterwards turned to equal joy, while the mighty acts of God were shone forth in the precious death of his saints. For God gave many miracles of the undoubted holiness of Hugh: at his tomb the blind received their sight, the lame walked, and many were the wonders which God performed for him; a privilege which he had obtained from God, for he was always truly just, to the best of his ability, as far as regards his dealings, both towards God and man, a course from which he could never be withdrawn. So therefore, after his death, God worked divine wonders through him; for during his whole life, up to the hour of his death, he always held the accurate line of truth.
