contented himself with watching silently the condition of England under Henry III.'s misgovernment. Barons, clergy and people were alike oppressed and disconcerted. Henry, surrounded with foreigners, carried on his government without paying heed to the native nobles. Many reasons determined Simon to throw in his lot with Henry's opponents. Although he owed to the king his position in England, and also his royal marriage, these favors had been cancelled by insults and suspicion. The personal insults of Henry to the Countess Eleanor had been as marked as they had been to her husband. The barons came to the council at Westminster in full armor. Earl Simon accused Henry for his extravagance towards Italian favorites, and his contempt of his English nobles. He ended by urging that the king's excesses demanded special measures of repression. On June 11, 1258, the barons again assembled at Oxford in what is called the "Mad Parliament;" they appointed a committee of twenty-four to reform the State. The venerated St. Louis, King of France, being chosen umpire in the dispute between King Henry and the barons, gave decision in Henry's favor. A civil war at once began. Simon de Montfort held London, and the citizens flocked round his banner. At Lewes, in Sussex, Henry was defeated and taken prisoner. Prince Edward gave himself up next day. The king and his two sons remained in close custody. Early in 1265 Simon de Montfort assembled a parliament at Leicester. He summoned, along with the prelates, barons, and knights of the shire, representatives from cities and boroughs. Prince Edward escaped from his guards and met Simon de Montfort at Evesham in Worcestershire. desperate battle ensued. The captive king had been taken into the fight by Simon, and would have been killed by his friends if he had not cried out, "I am Henry of Winchester." He was joyously led off the field by his son. Simon de Montfort fought with the utmost bravery. Thicker and thicker the royalists pressed round him, and called on him to surrender. "Never will I surrender to dogs and perjurers; but to God alone," was Simon's answer. He was wounded by a blow from behind, and sank amid the crowd of his assailants. A The body of Earl Simon was given over to the vengeful spirit of his foes. The hands and feet were cut off, and the head, fearfully mutilated, was sent to the wife of Roger Mortimer, at Wigmore. Some parts of the body were sent to different towns to be exposed; but the trunk was buried by the monks of Evesham, with due respect, in front of the high altar. Simon de Montfort exhibited in his character three distinct traits: personal piety, great military talents and patriotic devotion to the rights of England. His foreign birth, his domineering temper, his personal hostility to the king were things against him. He, however, opposed a weak king misled by sycophantic foreign favorites. To rid the land of aliens, and free the church from robbery, were the objects of Simon's endeavors. His motto was "England for the English," and he spared no pains and refused no sacrifices to give it due effect. THE BATTLE OF EVESHAM. In song my grief shall find relief; Sad is my verse and rude; I sing in tears our gentle peers Who fell for England's good. Our peace they sought, for us they fought, And where they sleep, a mangled heap, Where streams his gore, shall all deplore Ere Tuesday's sun its course had run While rush'd to fight each gallant knight, Still undismay'd, with trenchant blade They hew'd their desperate way: Yet by the blow that laid thee low, Not less at thine than Becket's shrine Shall rise our vows to heaven! Our church and laws, your common cause; 'Twas his the church to save, Our rights restored, thou generous lord, Dispenser true, the good sir Hugh, Our justice and our friend, Borne down with wrong, amidst the throng Has met his wretched end. Sir Henry's fate need I relate, Each righteous lord, who brav'd the sword And for our safety died, With conscience pure shall aye endure The martyr'd saint beside. That martyr'd saint was never faint To ease the poor man's care: With gracious will he shall fulfill Our just and earnest prayer. On Montfort's breast a haircloth vest And to assuage their impious rage, Whose powerful arm long saved from harm The realm his virtues graced. No good, I ween, of late is seen By earl or baron done; Nor knight or squire to fame aspire, Or dare disgrace to shun. Faith, truth, are fled, and in their stead E'en on the throne may soon be shown Brave martyr'd chief! no more our grief But for the few, the gallant crew, Who here in bonds remain, Christ, condescend their woes to end, And break the tyrant's chain. -Anglo-French Ballad, translated by G. ELLIS. EDWARD I. EDWARD I., of England, was a truly national king, a typical representative in body and mind of the race he ruled, and he was, therefore, to his subjects an object of intense admiration. He was the eldest son of Henry III., and was born at Winchester in 1239. The contests between his father and the discontented barons of his kingdom early called him forth to active life, and his military and political talents proved the chief support of the tottering throne. In 1270 Edward was led by the persuasions of Louis IX. of France to make an expedition against the Saracens in Africa. On his arrival at Tunis he found the French king dead; but he himself proceeded with his forces to the Holy Land, where he signalized his valor in several actions. Such was the terror he excited that an assassin was employed to murder him, who gave him a wound in the arm. A doubtful tradition relates that, upon suspicion of its being poisoned, it was sucked by his faithful spouse Eleanor of Castile; but those who were present mention no such devotion. He left Pales273 VI-18 |