The Battle of Evesham & Death of Simon De Montfort

hi my name's Kevin Hicks welcome to the history Squad now today's video has been voted in by our patreon members hey guys thanks a million it's all about an Infamous battle the battle of IAM fought on the 4th of August 1265 it's in the Midlands of England and it involves Simon De monford the sixth Earl of Leicester and Henry III the battle would cost Simon De monford his life and he's often referred to as the murder of IAM so let's have a little look what led up to this most terrible battle so Battle of ersham Pinnacle high point if you want to call it that I wouldn't of the second Baron War now the second Baron War you got to go back 200 years and see what's been happening in England's history including William the Conqueror and Henry theii the king involved in this second Baron War that's eight separate Kings basically it's it's the French influence the overwhelming French influence on the nobility of England John King John who inherited a bankrupt Throne from his brother Richard he loses his lands his Holdings in France this leads to that first Baron War the one with the Magna carter and William Marshall what a story future film stand by but it's his son Henry III who should have learned from his father mistakes but no he in turn loses more land in France he in turn brings his French favorites over the PO and also his favorites from saoi in Northern Italy in the Alps there he brings them to positions over the nobleman over the Barons puts them in high positions in church he just doesn't understand what he's doing to the nobility of England so Simon De monford what a guy however French father raised in France spoke French gave up his French lands and entitlements coming to England for an English inheritance he was a favorite of Henry III in fact he was so much of a favorite he married the King's sister Eleanor they were brother-in-laws now Simon De monford fell out of favor with the King I suppose it could easily be done in those days and he embarked upon The Baron's crusade to the Holy Land but he returned in 1241 to assist Henry III on his expedition into France to reclaim lost family land in puu in France it was a disaster it was a debacle and it was pretty much down to Henry III Henry III what a reckless King uncontrollable able spending his preference of foreign dignitaries and churchmen being brought into England this is what SED the seeds of discontent between him and his Barons and by 1254 Simon De monford is at the head of opposition in government with the Barons against the king this led to the Mad Parliament and in 1258 the king ratifies the provisions of Oxford which hands over rights to the Barons one of the things Parliament will meet three times a year and it initially was successful but unfortunately the King renaged on this agreement and by 1263 the first battles of the second Baron's War have already begun now I promise we'll get to the Battle of IAM but you can't talk about the Battle of IAM without first mentioning the Battle of Lewis Lewis in East Sussex in the south of England there was a battle there 14th of May 1264 just over a year before the Battle of IAM this is important because it was here that Simon De monford forces could have surprised the king's Army whilst they were still in their beds but instead the rebel Army Simon De monford and his Barons they stand off they will not attack they will wait on the top of the hill just outside of leis they wait for the king's Army to come up the hill because to attack them in their beds would be wrong the chivalry involved there instead they will let the king gather his forces and tire themselves as they climb the hill to meet Simon De monford forces now I've made a model and I'm going to explain what happened at the Battle of Lewis right so before we actually get into the battle these figures are from my 100 Years War and some of them from the War of the Roses I've just got no figures from the baron War so just accept the fact that they in the wrong armor you see the armor they had in those days if you could afford it was male what people call chain mail from mayor mesh a gamerson padding they would have elbows pads and knee pads you don't want an arrow to the knee do you and a great Helm now I've got one here and I'm going to put it up right so the great Helm they had now I'm going to put this on so you can see how it works now you would have a padded koif over your head then you would bring up your mail so bear with me this is where you need a squire and also you need to make all this big enough so you can put the padding underneath big mistake but now I'll put the great Helm on now I don't know if you can hear me but I can see you I've got quite good Vision I can move all the way around so this isn't too bad and not too heavy I'm going to take it off now but I tell you this if somebody hit you the back of their head with a hammer you put a steel bucket on your head and try it out because I guarantee he would hurt but it might not kill you but if somebody stuck a dagger through the icelet that might just do the job so these armies of the second Baron War but they were not the armies of the H Hundred Years War there were no massed ranks of English and Welsh Bowman here it simply hadn't developed now amongst the foot soldiers there were bowmen there were crossbowmen but it appears they were intermingled so they wouldn't have these massed volleys of arrows that was to develop later so your mounted man he would of course have have his sword and I have my trusty single-handed blade it's a good sword this if we sharpen it up I know it would take a razor edge but have a look at this Lance Point here this it's actually ow it is razor sharp and I guarantee this would go right through a body I would like to demonstrate this but I'm not allowed so clubs sickle size Bill hooks the whole lot hammers that would be the weapons of your foot soldiers so let's now get into this battle battle of Lewis 14th of May 1264 now my model it's only a representation of the amount of men that were on the field I only have a few hundred not thousands upon thousands so just bear with me the way it was Cavalry in the front infantry behind and the way this battle opened up is the rebel forces are all on the top of the hill here we have Simon De monford in the reserve battalia but in the front center here is Gilbert declair there's his coat of arms that's what I've put it there this is important to note now in the royalist forces on the Left Flank you have the king himself Henry III of England not the best soldier in the world then you have in the center his brother Richard Earl of Cornwall he's quite a tough guy but on the far side here that's Lord Edward the King's son in fact he would become king Edward I it's long Shanks himself now what happens here is quite something because as they approach before the rebels can attack down the hill Lord Edward charges the Left Flank of the Rebel Army these are made up of a London Army and Edward hates them because they have insulted the name of his mother so whilst Edward pursues the londoners off the battlefield and chases them away what happens next is decisive but before I can actually continue I need to rearrange some of the figures so as you can see now now that Lord Edward has actually ch bed off the londoners it leaves the right flank of the king's Army totally exposed and de monford at the top of the hill here has an entire division that he is going to bring around and he's going to hit the king's Army from the side from the flank so what happens is this is just the point of impact literally as it's about to smash together so here you have Gilbert declair most important coat of arms in both of the Battle of Lewis and later eam so he smashes forward smashes into the center of the king's Army here the Earl of Cornwall ends up being isolated and captured at a nearby windmill another story in its own right the king his own division is plowed into but it's what happens all the way around Simon De monford brings his division around smashes into the flank and starts to come up behind the king's army they are going to be surrounded it's over very quickly the kings men they Retreat back into Lewis the king himself ends up at the prior but then later on Edward Lord Edward returns to the battlefield sees that it's all over the Barons Are Victorious and he then goes into the prior with his father where he is captured so both the King Henry III of England and and his son Edward they're captured this ends up with What's called the mise of Lewis which is basically a transfer of power from Henry III to Simon De monford now Simon De monford with his victory at Lewis allowed him to install the first constitutional monarchy of England he ran the country with a council and Parliament for the best part of a year to me that's wow you just think about that this is the first constitutional monarchy where the council and Parliament ruled with the king in the background just the way it run in England or in Britain today but just a year later Henry the third's exiled supporters return to England he gains support he gains an army and on 4th of August 1265 we find ourselves on Green Hill just outside the town of ersham werer in in England ready to face battle so I'm going to change these models around now because now we're going to fight the Battle of IAM so the Battle of IAM bit of a background Simon De manford's son the younger Simon De monford has actually been defeated at a battle just outside of Kenworth in the Midlands young Simon had made a mistake instead of bedding down inside k nor Castle he decided to be out there on the lovely Fields outside of the prior and Lord Edward surprised him and give him a sound thrashing now Simon De monford Senor expected his young son to bring the rest of the army down to IAM and actually tra the king's Army here between them but young Simon isn't coming so Simon De monford himself as he's approaching the top of Green Hill he can see that the king's Army outnumbers him at least 3 to one and the King's Army is formed up in three divisions you have Gilbert declair on the king's Left Flank although it's Edward's Army really deair has changed sides as he did if I understand several times during this war but he's fallen out with Simon De monford and he's now on the king's side on the right side here we have Roger Mortimer a staunch King supporter and in the center we have just a mounted division which originally was set further back this is Lord Edward the king's son's Division and what from what I understand is Simon De monford here with his little Banner has decided that he's going to go for it he's formed a wedge ofum and he's going to charge dead center and try and smash through this mounted division so as you can see I've rearranged the model so I can show you what happens the moment that Simon De monford kunam his wedge plow into Lord Edward's division as Simon De monford charges forward he leaves behind his infantry obviously he's on horses he's Galloping up to the hill and his infantry can see as he smashes into the King's Center division there into Lord Edward's horse that the flanks on either side Roger Mortimer and Gilbert declair now close in around for the kill so the Infantry they turn around and run run for their lives these men will be caught and butchered in the streets of IAM or drowned in the river Avon there is a small group of foot soldiers belonging to the rebel Army some Knights and some foot soldiers these apparently fight on Till The Bitter End but what happens in the middle of the battle as you can imagine there is Carnage what happens is we have Roger mortimer's division which is on the right wheel round to attack the mounted Cavalry of Simon De monford in their Left Flank and likewise Gilbert declair who has changed sides he is now smashing in to the right flank of the rebels I've added the king here Henry III he was was put into borrowed armor of the time and actually dragged along with Simon De mord's forces now as Rebel Cavalry come around the king who apparently was on foot at this stage is attacked and wounded in the shoulder and he's crying out I am Henry of Winchester I am your king don't kill me and somebody knocked off his helmet to have a look and they saw there it was the old man and he was recognized and led off the field back into IAM for some medical attention ition they reckon there was between 4 and 6,000 dead on the Battle of IAM but there are varying numbers so why is it called the murder of IAM well rumor has it and there is a little bit of evidence for this that the royalist Army under Lord Edward put together a murder Squad of 12 Knights their job was simply in The Clash of battle to kill Simon De monford and his Close Associates apparently um Gilbert declair and Lord Edward had been heard to say that if they captured Simon De monford and his associates and his sons they would simply put them to death now we do know that in the very early clash of the battle that Roger de Mortimer put a lance straight through the neck of of Simon and Montford killing him but that was just shortly after Simon had witnessed his son his youngest son Henry being CLE in two with a sword and the center shell of the Tower of London that's the baron in charge of the Tower of London Hugh dispenser was killed with a dagger right next to Simon De monford so Simon De monford body riddled in wounds was stripped of his armor and then he was decapitated his hands were severed From Below the elbow and his feet from below the knees then he was castrated his genitalia were placed either side of the nose and then shoved into his mouth the head together with the genitalia were sent to Lady Mortimer because being the wife of s rogel Mortimer they were mortal enemies of Simon De monford apparently when she saw the head she dismissed it now the the other parts of the body the hands and the feet were sent to different parts of England the body itself though was buried at evam Abbey that's the trunk and there's a bit of a problem because it becomes a pilgrimage site and it was forbidden to actually do that the one thing they didn't want and it was outlawed was to venerate Simon De monford as a saint so to sum up the devast ation caused by Edward's Army at IAM was so great that a contemporary of Edward a historian Robert of Gloucester he describes it as a murder of evish for battle it was none well I hope you enjoyed that video if you did like share and subscribe and if you'd like to support the channel further have a look at our patreon community the link is in the description now before I go i' like shout out to some of our patreon members now miss Bobby hi I met her on one of our Google Hangouts that was pretty good she's invited me to shoot on her range down in British Columbia looking forward to that we have PC brummy now I'm a brommie from Birmingham so hey buddy and Haley L amarani I hope I pronounced it correctly so folks bye for now