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The fate of the remains of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, has long been a mystery. Since his death at the battle of Evesham in 1265, one foot of the dismembered corpse has been confidently traced to Alnwick abbey in Northumberland, from where it disappeared, probably at the Reformation. A skull displayed in the Almonry Museum and Heritage Centre at Evesham may belong to a member of the Montfort family. Stories abound, of secret tunnels under the River Avon, and of remains collected by Montfort’s widow and interred in St Mary’s abbey, Kenilworth. In this booklet Dr Cox reviews the evidence for an alternative last resting place of Earl Simon’s bones, and outlines the circumstances under which they might be recovered and identified. A challenge thus awaits us to provide for Simon de Montfort the discovery and preservation accorded to the last Plantagenet king of England, Richard III.
£5.50
In Medieval England political martyrs were not uncommon, particularly in periods of political unrest, expressed in deeply religious terms, and in many cases that hostility was directed toward two Kings, Henry III (r.1216-1272) and Edward II (r.1307-1327). Two leaders of political reform and opposition came to prominence: Simon de Montfort and Thomas of Lancaster. In life they presented a dangerous opposition to an over-powerful monarchy, yet in death, they joined a long line of anti-royal saints and martyrs, allowing their followers to continue in their resistance. Adapting from his MA dissertation, Edward Gamble develops his thesis to investigate the political, religious, social and cultural phenomena that were political cults in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.
William de Nangis’ account of the Battle of Evesham is an important source predating some of the other chronicler accounts. Although some sentences and the paragraph describing the death of Simon de Montfort have been translated, for example by John Nichols in his History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, the whole passage has not previously been translated.
An account of the Battle of Evesham compiled by Walter of Guisborough in the fourteenth century translated and with commentary by Tony Spicer of the Battlefields Trust.
Pilgrimage is the most essential of medieval studies – that’s a conclusion which Tim Porter has drawn from years of reading, research and exploration. Religion, politics, economics, travel, industry, art, architecture – pilgrimage opens into all these fields, and many more! And it cuts across classes and genders like nothing else, because nobody could be denied the vocation, if it was held to be genuine. Scores of places had some kind of pilgrimage attached to them: but the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire region was especially rich, with a host of saints and shrines reflecting every aspect of the ethos. Hailes and Winchcombe in particular offer in a nutshell so much of what we need to know.
For many, Kilpeck church is the quintessential example of an English parish church. Its very appearance has been influenced through restoration by an antiquarian’s view on how the medieval church should look. In this building the efforts and agendas of successive generations of historians, archaeologists, art and architectural historians have all been brought together, answering some questions but constantly posing others and developing new ways of understanding the building in context, whether that be physical, social or cultural. Kilpeck remains something of a special place for scholar and visitor alike.
A new account of the death of Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham, found on a fourteenth-century roll belonging to the College of Arms.
