In 28 Henry III., Simon de Montfort appears as governor for the king; and, in 32 Henry III., Alianor, the king’s daughter, and Earl Simon’s wife, has the custody of the castle for life. In 34 Henry III., such was the state of the district that the constable of the castle was ordered to cut away the woods to a breadth of six acres between Coventry and Warwick. In 38 Henry III., the Earl of Leicester and his countess had a grant of the castle for their lives, a concession by which Henry made over to his most dangerous enemy the strongest and most central fortress in his dominions. The events by which the king and the earl became opposed in arms in the field, and the succession of great events which led to the death of the earl, and the celebrated siege of Kenilworth, belong to the history of England rather than to that of Kenilworth, and form one of its most interesting and most valuable chapters. The subject has fallen under the pen of Mr. Green, and has found a place in the pages of the _Archæological Journal_ (vol. xxi. p. 277), where the course of the events is disentangled, and very clearly narrated, and their political significance and bearing upon the constitutional history of our country treated in a manner both brilliant and profound. Earl Simon had evidently prepared Kenilworth as the base of his operations in the impending struggle; and upon his fall and death at Evesham, his son at once completed the preparations, and made his arrangements for a protracted defence. It was under the walls of Kenilworth that the younger Simon was surprised and nearly captured by the superior activity of Prince Edward, and it was from Kenilworth that he was marching when intercepted by the superior generalship of the prince, on the eve of the battle of Evesham. The death of the earl and the defeat of his party brought out into strong relief the immense military value of Kenilworth. Thither fled all who escaped from the field, and they were employed in scouring the country, and adding to the immense stores already accumulated there. Richard, Earl of Cornwall, the king’s brother, was a prisoner there, and the conduct of Sir Simon towards him bears testimony to the prudence and moderation of the captor. He set free Richard, his son, and his followers, and despatched them to the Parliament convoked in September at Winchester, in the hope, not altogether in vain, that moderate counsels would ultimately prevail.