Wicked sons

 

In June 1265 Simon de Montfort's regime was looking seriously fragile. His chancery at Hereford continued to pump out orders in the name of the captive king, Henry III, but the military situation was dire. After his escape from Simon's custody, Lord Edward was joined by a host of nobles: Gilbert de Clare, Roger Mortimer, John de Warenne, William de Valence, Warin Bassingburne, Robert Walerand, even the justiciar, Roger Bigod. The prince raised his standard at Wigmore castle, where men of the border counties came flocking in.

To an extent, Simon owed this situation to his sons. Whatever one makes of the earl himself, contemporaries regarded his male offspring with horror. One of his own knights begged Simon to restrain them:

“For thou hast wicked sons, foolish and unwise,
You do not reprove their deeds,
Nor will you at all chastise them.
I warn you to give good heed, and correct them soon.
You may be blamed for them,
For vengeance is a granted boon.”

This impression is borne out by their behaviour. Simon's eldest son, Henry, was nicknamed 'the wool-carder' for his unjust seizure of English wool exports. He and his brother, Simon junior, were accused by the annalist of Tewkesbury of butchering two hundred Mortimer tenants – serfs, probably – in one day.

Simon junior in particular seems to have been a lovely drop of stuff. A lengthy court document exists, in which he is accused of chasing Isabella de Fortibus, the widowed Countess of Devon, all the way into Wales. He did this so he could force her to marry him and gain her vast estates. This was not an uncommon tactic, and required the abductor to rape his victim: the woman would thus be dishonoured, with no choice but to wed.

Fortunately for Isabella, she managed to escape. The same could not be said for another of Simon junior's victims, Henry of Almaine, nephew to Henry III. In 1271, six years after the battle of Evesham, Henry was butchered in a church in Italy by Simon and his brother Guy. When he tried to cling to the altar, they cut his fingers off and dragged him into the street. He was then hacked to death.

Young Simon died in Siena 1271. Penniless, excommunicate, utterly despised. The Italian poet, Dante Aligeri, described him thus: “Cursed by God, a wanderer and a fugitive”.