Henry called a parliament, which criticised his policies and drew up new rules for the king to follow. They were known as the Provisions of Oxford where the parliament met. A permanent council was set up to supervise the appointment and actions of the royal officers. Simon de Montfort was a leading member of the group. In , the two sides were evenly matched and quarrels flared into civil war. The king himself was captured and Prince Edward also became a hostage.
De Montfort and his allies now ruled England in the name of the captive king. They tried hard to arrive at a lasting settlement and called parliaments in June and January , but both failed.
The parliament of included a new element: representatives of several towns were summoned to attend along with lords, bishops, abbots and knights of the shires. At this point de Montfort's support began to crumble. The towns and the Church stayed with him, but his fellow barons began to desert him.
The civil war resumed. He took his leave of Walter de Cantilupe, Bishop of Worcester, embracing him and receiving his blessing. Simon addressed his knights, offering any who wished the opportunity of absenting themselves from the impending conflict. As he rode out of Evesham up the bare slope of Greenhill, his standard — a lone lion with divided tail — proudly displayed, the task confronting Simon de Montfort must have seemed formidable indeed.
De Montfort's knights tried to force their way through the centre. Attempts to break out, first through one wing, then the other, proved unsuccessful, being defeated with heavy casualties.
Edward had selected twelve of his strongest and most able men-at-arms to seek out and kill Simon de Montfort once the battle was under way.
He was surrounded and unhorsed, yet continued to fight bravely on foot. Swords clashed as a storm brewed overhead. As thunder roared, de Montfort was encircled. Several beat him to the ground and struck with their steel. Finally, Roger de Mortimer swung the final and fatal blow. It appears likely that the infantry had already broken and begun to flee, but if not then they were soon routed. The rebel forces were pursed mercilessly back into the town, the killing continuing right through the streets and even in the abbey itself.
Though peace was not finally restored across the country for another two years, the battle of Evesham had completely broken the rebellion, for almost all of its major supporters had been intentionally killed on the field. Evesham is one of the few early battles for which a genuinely new primary source has been recently identified, one that has transformed our understanding of the event.
This is now a battle where the broad character and location of the action is clearly understood and where the location of the action is fairly tightly constrained by the physical topography. Though there has been 20th century development in the area, a substantial part of the battlefield still remains undeveloped. This makes Evesham one of the few early medieval battles where a visit to the battlefield can be very clearly focussed and a relatively secure outline of the battle provided.
For the same reason it is one where there appears a high potential for detailed reconstruction of the historic terrain and investigation of the battle archaeology.
Although parts of the battlefield are accessible, a new scheme is being developed which should greatly improve that access and provide the first on site interpretation. Printer Friendly Version Close Window. You are currently here. Other pages about: Battle of Evesham. The Evesham Campaign. Evesham battlefield OS Explorer map. Evesham context map.
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