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The conflict between Henry III, King of England and his Barons. 1258 had started badly due to a wet winter that had lead to poor harvests and cattle disease. This had seriously affected ordinary people of England and instead of their king assisting them, it appeared that his loyalties were with his foreign relatives to whom he had given important posts in his circle of advisors. Poor harvests were the last thing of the minds of his Poitevin advisors who took what they needed at the expense of everyone else. Churches were suffering high taxes again leading to more hardship for ordinary people who in turn had to pay the Church. Henry's expenditure on conflicts with the Welsh, disastrous campaigns in France and extensive building work on new churches had cost the country dear. Henry had agreed to a deal with the Pope that was supposed to make his youngest son Edmund, King of Sicily. The Pope had wanted to add Sicily to the Papal domains and suggested that Henry should pay for the Pope attempts to do so. Although he failed, the Pope was now requesting the money and he was threatening to excommunicate the King if the money was not paid. Unhappy with an ever worsening situation, several Barons decided to make a stand against the King. They signed an oath and formed a commune in which they swore to look after each others interests. They were Richard de Clare (Earl of Gloucester), John Fitz Geoffrey, Roger Bigod (Earl of Norfolk), Hugh Bigod (Roger's brother), Peter of Savoy, Peter de Montfort (not a relation of Simon), and finally Simon de Montfort. In April 1258 the Barons called Henry to meet them at Westminster to voice their concerns. Although the meetings began calmly, the Barons eventually arrived at one meeting in full armour. The Barons demanded that Henry should give some of the control of managing the country's affairs over to the Barons. The meetings ended with no general agreement apart from the fact that they should all meet again at Oxford on June 11th. At Oxford a Committee of 24 drew up a series of proposals know as The Provisions of Oxford. They elected a Council of Fifteen Barons who were to jointly run the country alongside with the King. Henry agreed to the proposals mainly because the Barons had come heavily armed and he wasn't given much choice. One important proposal of the Provisions was that castles on both sides should be handed over to nominated parties. Castles were extremely important assets and this move was designed to limit the power of both the King and the Barons themselves. As an act of faith, Simon de Montfort handed over his castles at Odiham and Kenilworth. Henry's foreign advisors were shaken by the change in their fortunes and felt it wise to leave the country as soon as possible. They got as far as the castle belonging to Aymer of Valance, Bishop of Winchester who was one of the foreigners invited in by Henry and were besieged by the Barons. Lead by Hugh Bigod, the Barons got the foreigners out and banished them from the country, confiscating their castles and warning them not to return. Henry's brother, Richard Earl of Cornwall was not in England as this point and he was warned to stay away. In November 1295 Henry went to France to sign a treaty with the French King Louis IX. The French were taking advantage of the problems in England and were threatening to invade. Henry had to give up his lands of Anjou, Maine, Normandy and Poitou. He also had to do homage to Louis for Gascony and Aquitaine. This had some advantage for Henry as it brought Louis onto his side against the Barons which would be useful later. Back in England things for the Council of Fifteen did not go well. The Earls of Leicester and Gloucester did not see eye to eye and they began to argue amongst themselves. When Simon de Montfort went to France to assist the King with a treaty with the French things got worse. The minor nobles complained to Edward that the Barons were not complying with the terms of the Provisions. At Winchester, the monks attempted to elect a new Bishop, but the Pope intervened and reelected Aymer of Valance. Edward used the troubles to his advantage and created a movement based on Simon's own ideas. In early 1260, Simon although in France was aware of the problems back in England and returned to join Edward's new party. As part of the agreed deal, a parliament should have been held three times a year. Henry stalled the proceedings by writing to the Barons stating that he could not return to England due to pressures in France and that actions should be taken against the threat from the Welsh. The stalling tactics worked in weakening the Commune's solidarity even more. Henry was also worried by Edward's apparent move to take the side of the Barons. In April 1260, Henry returned to England and sided with Gloucester against Montfort and Edward. A conflict was averted by the intervention of Henry's brother, Richard. Henry reconciled his differences with his son. In 1261, the Pope absolved Henry from the Provisions which allowed Henry to cancel out all the reforms that had taken place and to reinstate all of his foreign relatives. Over the next couple of years no main changes happened on either side. The decision to free Henry from the Provisions became ineffective when the Pope died and Henry had to wait for a new Pope to be elected for a new decision could be made. In 1262 Montfort caught Henry in the Tower of London and the King was forced to reaccept the Provisions of Oxford. As no ground was being won on either side it was decided that the King of France, Louis IX should arbitrate between the two parties. In January of 1264, Louis' Mise of Amiens found in favour of Henry III. Henry was absolved from the Provisions of Oxford, but the Great Charter signed by John was not to be invalidated. Simon de Montfort was not prepared to accept the findings and the only course of action open to him was war. Henry had the support of his son, Prince Edward. He also had the support of Richard of Cornwall, Henry of Almain and other important and powerful nobles. Simon de Montfort had the support of the young Earl of Gloucester, the ports known as the 'Cinque Ports', the citizens of London and most of the lesser nobility. Simon de Montfort had most power in the south of the country while the king held the north. Henry needed to reach the south coast, both to join up with a force from Normandy lead by his wife, and also to re-equipe his army who were having difficulty getting supplies. In May 1264, Simon learnt that Henry was camped at Lewes and early in the morning of the 14th, Simon attacked. Simon won the battle of Lewes capturing Henry, Edward, Richard of Cornwall and Henry of Almain. Simon ruled England for over a year as a dictator, taking the king as his prisoner with him as he traveled. A parliament was called early in 1265, but it was carefully controlled by Simon so that he did not lose any of his power. Although the country was being run more efficiently than before under the king, there were barons who were unhappy with the power that Simon had. Simon's party was becoming more disjointed when in May 1265, Prince Edward managed to escape from captivity and the war was restarted. In the summer of 1265, Simon's son was attacked by an army lead by Edward and was forced to retreat to Kenilworth Castle. Edward had captured the flags used by Simon's son, and using these flags himself, Edward approached Simon's army at Evesham on the 3rd of August. Simon was taken by surprise and having no means of escape had to stand and fight. The Battle of Evesham on the 4th lead to the death of Simon de Montfort and most of the nobles who followed him. The revolt itself was not over until July of 1267 as small pockets of resistance remained in different parts of the country, most of which were sorted out by Edward using military means or by coming to agreements with the barons. Timeline See Also | ||
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