In the late 1250s England was in crisis. Royal abuses of power such as the appointment of corrupt officials and the gifting of land and privileges to foreign favourites at court, led to a rapidly deteriorating relationship between Henry III and his barons.
In 1258 Henry needed money to fund a crusade in Sicily. Disaffected nobles seized the opportunity to force Henry to accept the establishment of a reforming council made up of twelve knights of the realm and three royal councillors. Both king and barons swore to uphold the proposed government reforms in what became known as the Provisions of Oxford.
The Road to War
Henry had no intention of keeping his word and the reform movement stalled. In 1261 the King felt strong enough to renounce the Provisions after the Pope absolved him of the oath he had been obliged to take at Oxford. Negotiations and political manoeuvring between the two sides continued for a further three years but only led to stalemate.
The leader of the reforming faction by this time was Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester and he realised that the only way to curb Henry’s excesses was by force of arms. An experienced and accomplished solder de Montfort raised his standard at St Albans in April 1264.
A Clash of Arms
After skirmishes between the two armies at Northampton and Rochester, Henry marched west and arrived at Lewes in Sussex on 11 May. De Montfort ,in pursuit, rested his army at Fletching only 8 miles to the north of Lewes a few days later. In the early morning of 14 May 1264 Simon surprised the royal host and arrayed his forces for battle on Offham Hill only a mile to the north-west of the town.
The rebel army was considerably outnumbered having a force of some 5,000 men of which only 600 were cavalry. The royal army on the other hand had over 10,000 soldiers including 1,500 cavalry. De Montfort organised his army into three divisions: the right commanded by his sons Henry and Guy, the centre under Gilbert de Clare and the third composed of untried infantry recruited in London. In addition, De Montfort commanded the reserve division.
The unannounced appearance of de Montfort caused alarm in the royal camp and Henry’s army arrived on the battlefield piecemeal. First to arrive was Prince Edward who commanded most of the cavalry. He immediately charged the London contingent who broke and fled under the onslaught. Edward pursued the fugitives with enthusiasm and promptly disappeared from the field.
The remainder of the royal army now formed up into two divisions, the first commanded by Henry and the second by Richard of Cornwall. Both attacked uphill but could not dislodge the rebels and when de Montfort counter-attacked with his reserves the royalists fell back in disorder into the town of Lewes.
After several hours Prince Edward finally managed to rally his cavalry and returned to the battle where he found the royal forces routed and both his father Henry and Richard of Cornwall prisoner. Edward joined the small number of royalists still fighting and he too was captured.
A Victory for Simon De Monfort
Probably around 2,800 soldiers died in the battle, mostly from Henry’s army and certainly many more were captured. For Simon de Montfort it was an emphatic victory. Both the King and Prince Edward were prisoners and the government of England was under his control. However, it was not to last.
Edward escaped, raised a new army and defeated de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham on 4 August 1265. De Montfort was killed in the battle and King Henry III regained his throne.
Sources:
David Smurthwaite, Battlefields of Britain, (Webb & Bower, 1984)
Ian Heath, Armies of Feudal Europe 1066-1300, (Wargames Research Group, 1978)
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