AT the time when Bibars Bendocdar was pursuing his victorious career in Palestine, there was often seen in England, riding about the country with dogs and falcons, and enthusiastically engaged in field sports, as if for him life had no other attraction, a prince, in his twenty-eighth year, whose presence seldom failed to command admiration. His complexion was fair; his hair light brown; his expression frank; his features regular; his brow marked with thought; and his eye bright with genius. But what most struck the beholder was his grand stature; for he was taller by the head and shoulders than ordinary men; and his limbs, which were elegantly proportioned, had been trained to the endurance of fatigue in forests, in tilt-yards, and on battle-fields. He was Edward Plantagenet, eldest son of the third Henry and Eleanor of Provence; and husband of a fair princess, afterwards well-beloved by the English people as Eleanor of Castille.
However absorbed Prince Edward might appear in hunting and hawking, he had, in his day, been engaged in business more serious than chasing the deer at Windsor, or flying his falcons at El thorn. At an earlier period, while his chief delight was frequenting tournaments and exhibiting his prowess in the lists, he had been summoned from the Continent to aid in defending the English throne against Simon de Montfort and the Anglo-Norman nobles, and he had taken an energetic part in that fierce struggle known as "The Barons' War."
Montfort, second son of that Simon de Montfort who figured so conspicuously in the war against the Albi-genses, was, in right of his mother, Earl of Leicester; and, having been banished from France for disturbing the government of Queen Blanche, he found refuge in England, and won the hand of Henry's sister, the widowed Countess of Pembroke. Scarcely, however, had Montfort become the brother-in-law of Henry, when disputes arose; and, as years passed on, the Earl became the King's mortal foe.
Henry the Third, a weak though well-meaning man, had surrounded the English throne with so many of his wife's continential kinsmen and his own, that a cry was raised by the Anglo-Norman barons that the land was devoured by aliens. Ere long, the clergy, the citizens, and the populace manifested their sympathy with the baronial prejudices, and the discontent became deep and general. At length the King and the barons appealed to the sword; and, after the struggle had been maintained for years by skirmishes and sieges, they met on the 14th of May, 1264, to decide their quarrel, at Lewes, in Sussex.
At Lewes, Edward, then in his twenty-fifth year, commanded the King's cavalry, and, mounted on his celebrated steed Gray Lyard, commenced the battle by charging so vehemently, that he dispersed Mont-fort's van, to which he was opposed; and, coming into contact with the militia of London, chased the burgher-soldiers from the field so fiercely, that they never halted in their flight till they found safety at Croydon. On returning to Lewes, however, the prince discovered bow great had been his imprudence. Montfort had meanwhile won a complete victory; King Henry, and Richard Earl of Cornwall, who since his crusade had been elected King of the Romans, were his prisoners.
Undaunted at this mortifying circumstance, Edward challenged Montfort to another field. But Simon treated the Prince's bravado with contempt. "If," said he, "Sire Edward attempts more mischief, I will cause the heads of the captives to be struck off, placed on lances' points, and carried as ensigns for our army." In great alarm, Edward and his cousin, Henry of Cornwall, surrendered to save their father; and the Prince was sent to the castle of Dover.
Montfort now called a Parliament to confirm his power; but that assembly, contrary to his expectation, passed an order for the liberation of Edward. The Prince was in consequence removed from Dover Castle; but, in spite of Parliament, Montfort, who feared Edward's genius, treated him as a prisoner.
It happened, however, that Montfort's sons gave mortal offence to Gilbert de Clare, the young Earl of Gloucester, who was their father's chief ally. Upon this, Gloucester, who, as the most powerful of English nobles, was jealous of Montfort's supremacy, resolved on changing sides, and opened a correspondence with Roger de Mortimer, who had already been won over to the royal cause by the entreaties of his wife. Emboldened by Gloucester's communication, Mortimer sent Edward a swift steed, with a secret message to make his escape at a given signal.
Meanwhile, Montfort, carrying the King and the Prince in his train, had moved westward to punish Gloucester for his change of sides, and kept his court during Whitsun week within the walls of Hereford. One day, while Montfort was in council with his friends, he was informed that the Prince had escaped. "Escaped!" exclaimed Montfort; "then by St. James's arm, he will find us work to do."
A great battle being now inevitable, the trumpet of war roused England to arms, and fighting-men gathered to the hostile standards. A campaign, which excited breathless interest, was the consequence; and the Prince and' his more experienced, but far less gifted foe, exerted all their skill as war-chiefs. For a time Montfort was confident of a crowning triumph; but at length every delusion vanished.
It was the morning of the 4th of August, 1265, and Montfort lay in the abbey of Evesham, awaiting tho arrival of his son Simon, who had been raising a force in Yorkshire, when informed that an army was approaching.
"My son, doubtless," said Montfort.
"Alas I great Earl," was the answer, "it is not your son who comes, but your foe."
"Then," exclaimed Montfort mournfully, "may the Lord have mercy on our souls, for our bodies aro Prince Edward's."
No time now remained for farther discussion; and Montfort, obliged to hazard a battle, drew up his army in a large field near the town of Evesham, and, placing his men in a circular form, prepared for a struggle. The baronial army, composed for the most part of nobles and their retainers, was certain to make a desperate resistance; and the oligarch could not be altogether without hope of adding a decisive triumph to his many victories.
But whatever Montfort's anticipations, the day opened inauspiciously for his party; for the Earl had placed his Welsh allies in front, and when Edward, mounted on Gray Lyard, the good steed on which he " ever charged forward," came upon them at the head of his knights, the Celtic warriors fled as hastily from Evesham as the Londoners had done from Lewes. Still Montfort's array was most formidable; and the Earl, showing himself a grim champion on that, his last field, several times repulsed Edward's fiery charge. But there could exist little doubt how the day would terminate.
After the conflict had lasted for hours, the sky was suddenly overcast; the lightning flashed; and the thunder rolled; and Montfort's heart failed him. However, he made a last desperate effort to baffle fortune; but his horse was killed under him, and his eldest son slain by his side.
"Is there any quarter for us?" he cried.
"What grace for such a traitor?" was the reply.
"Then," exclaimed Montfort," May God have mercy on our souls, "and with these words he fell, sword in hand, amidst a host of foes.
Having won the battle of Evesham, Edward used his victory with singular moderation, prevented any blood from being shed on the scaffold, and exerted his influence with so much effect to save the vanquished, that many foes were converted into friends. Disturbances, nevertheless, broke out; for Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, discontented with his share of the victory, and the citizens of London, enraged at being deprived of their charter, formed an alliance, and proceeded to fearful excesses. At Alnwick, also, John de Vesci held out for the barons.
Edward, not dismayed by the menacing aspect of affairs, boldly faced the insurrections in the south, and succeeded in suppressing them, and bringing Gloucester to submission.
After bringing the Bed de Clare and the Londoners to reason, Edward went northward to besiege the castle of Alnwick. Reduced to the utmost perplexity, John de Vesci yielded, and submitted to the mercy of his conqueror. Edward talked to the vanquished baron with that frank courtesy, which seldom failed to win manly hearts; and De Vesci became one of his most favored knights.
It was when Edward had just accomplished the pacification of England, that Ottobon, cardinal-deacon of the title of St. Adrian, was sent to England as papal legate, and appeared in London to preach a crusade.
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From John G. Edgar
The Crusades and the Crusaders, 1860
