The Prince joined the Earl of Gloucester at Ludlow. The Earl of
Leicester, with a part of the army and the stupid old King, was at
Hereford. One of the Earl of Leicester’s sons, Simon de Montfort, with
another part of the army, was in Sussex. To prevent these two parts
from uniting was the Prince’s first object. He attacked Simon de
Montfort by night, defeated him, seized his banners and treasure, and
forced him into Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, which belonged to
his family.
His father, the Earl of Leicester, in the meanwhile, not knowing what
had happened, marched out of Hereford, with his part of the army and
the King, to meet him. He came, on a bright morning in August, to
Evesham, which is watered by the pleasant river Avon. Looking rather
anxiously across the prospect towards Kenilworth, he saw his own
banners advancing; and his face brightened with joy. But, it clouded
darkly when he presently perceived that the banners were captured, and
in the enemy’s hands; and he said, ‘It is over. The Lord have mercy on
our souls, for our bodies are Prince Edward’s!’
He fought like a true Knight, nevertheless. When his horse was killed
under him, he fought on foot. It was a fierce battle, and the dead lay
in heaps everywhere. The old King, stuck up in a suit of armour on a
big war-horse, which didn’t mind him at all, and which carried him into
all sorts of places where he didn’t want to go, got into everybody’s
way, and very nearly got knocked on the head by one of his son’s men.
But he managed to pipe out, ‘I am Harry of Winchester!’ and the Prince,
who heard him, seized his bridle, and took him out of peril. The Earl
of Leicester still fought bravely, until his best son Henry was killed,
and the bodies of his best friends choked his path; and then he fell,
still fighting, sword in hand. They mangled his body, and sent it as a
present to a noble lady—but a very unpleasant lady, I should think—who
was the wife of his worst enemy. They could not mangle his memory in
the minds of the faithful people, though. Many years afterwards, they
loved him more than ever, and regarded him as a Saint, and always spoke
of him as ‘Sir Simon the Righteous.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account