The Song of Simon De Montfort

On 4 August 1265 Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, was cut down in battle at Evesham and his body mutilated. His brutal death signalled the end of a period of revolution in England (the ‘Barons’ War’), during which a council ruled in the name of King Henry III. In this talk Dr Sophie Thérèse Ambler will explore the life of Simon – a great warrior, devoted husband and father, charismatic political leader and England’s first revolutionary.

The talk will include a display of original documents which reflect the changes that Simon’s movement wrought in government, Parliament and wider society in 13th-century England.