Dressing a thirteenth century Countess of Leicester

Medievalists.net has a short article about the clothing recorded as having been purchased for Eleanor de Montfort, Countrss of Leicester, in 1265, the year which saw the death of her second husband Simon, and their eldest son, Henry, at the battle of Evesham. The youngest child of King John, and hence sister of King Henry III, by birth and marriage she was at the centre of the political disputes which dominated the middle and later years of her brother’s reign.

The article, which has a useful and impressive come on by the mini bibliography as well as links to other articles on medieval women’s attire, can be seen at Inside Eleanor de Montfort’s Lavish Medieval Wardrobe

Wikipedia has a biographical account, with all the appropriate links, of the Countess, at Eleanor of England, Countess of Leicester

John Maddicott’s acclaimed biography of Earl Simon discusses the fact that the Montforts wore russet or similar simple fabrics when at their country estates and castles as, he argues, an aspect of their lifestyle influenced by Franciscan ideals. He also makes the point that Countess Eleanor was still keen on her finery, as per Adam Marsh’s letter. If this choice of simple attire was a conscious choice then it was perhaps rather more than the thirteenth century equivalent of “smart casual” or “dressing down ”, or indeed modern photographs of aristocrats posing in immaculately ironed jeans and tee shirts in the grand rooms of their ancestral homes for newspaper articles.

Battle of Evesham 1265

Today is the 750th anniversary of the battle of Evesham in 1265, when the Royaloist troops led by the Lord Edward, later King Edward I, defeated the baronial army led by Simon de Montfort, who had ruled the realm since the battle of Lewes the previous year - there is an account of that battle at Battle of Lewes - and had kept King Henry III, who was his brother-in-law, as a virtual prisoner. 

There is an online account of the background and to the fighting at Battle of Evesham.
There is also a picec from the Battlefields Trust about the battle at their site Battle of Evesham 
and the current commemorations and celebrations are covered at  Battle of Evesham: Home

 Image: eveshamtown.co.uk 

At the website of the National Archives the post Battle of Evesham, 1265 - The National Archives has an account of the battle, and the death of Simon de Montfort in an extract taken from the chronicle attributed to Arnald FitzThedmar

 King Henry III

Image:fameimages.com

 Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester

A drawing of a window at Chartres Cathedral

Image: Wikipedia

There is an online biography of Earl Simon at  Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and there is the excellent and comprehensive biography by Dr John Maddicott.

My sympathies are with King Henry III and his cause - as I have opined before I think that for the King Earl Simon turned out to be the Brother-in-Law-from-Hell.

For some time after his death there appears to have been at the Earl's burial place (or such of him as was buried at Evesham) in the abbey church a cult of sorts - which clearly did not attract the favour of the King.

 The modern memorial to Earl Simon on the site of Evesham Abbey.
This was unveiled and dedicated in 1965

Image: Wikimedia

Despite the major defeat of the baronial party at Evesham agroup held out at Kenilworth against a Royalist siege until the settlement known as the Dictum of Kenilworth in 1267. It was with theassignment of the Leicester estates to King Henry's younger son, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster , that there began that agglomeration of lands which was to create the fourteenth century Earldom and Duchy of Lancaster, which since 1399 has been held by the Sovereign.

750 years of the House of Commons

Today is being celebrated as the 750th anniversary of the first meeting of an English parliament that included the Commons - Parliaments had already met earlier in the reign of King Henry III, but had been more like the later Great Councils, consisting of the nobles alone gathered around the monarch to give advice and consent. 

The 1265 Parliament was essentially called by Simon de Montfort, Earl ofc Leicester and brother-in-law to the King, who had been in his power since the Battle of Lewes the previous year. Earl Simon may well have thought having representitives of the knights of the shire and the towns would strngthen his regime, which was to collapse at the Battle of Evesham in August 1265. However the idea was not new - that noted constitional innovator and reformer King John had had a similar plan in 1212, even if the assenbley never actually met.

Most meetings of the Commons were in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey until the mid-sixteenth century,when the Commons were given the Chapel of St Stephen in the palace of Westminster for their meetings in 1547. 

This had an effect on how the House worked. In the Anonimalle Chronicle of St Mary's Abbey York is a detailed insider's account of what occurred during the Good Parliament of 1367. The Knights sat on the floor, the townsmen behind them along the wall. The member speaking addressed the assembly from the lectern. In other words, something rather like a continental Parliament today with a half-moon of seats, reflecting the political spectrum - hence the "left" and the "right". By moving into St Stephen's in the time of King Edward VI and occupying the choir stalls facing each other across the floor, and with the Speaker sitting where the altar had been, the modern adversarial arrangement came into being, favouring a two party system of Government and Opposition.

 

The Chapter House of Westminster Abbey

Some of the glass dates from Sir George Gilbert Scott's restoration 1866-72, which revealed medieval encaustic floor tiles in excellent condition. On the walls are early fifteenth century paintings, including a scene of the Last Judgement. 

Image:volokh.com