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The Charter and its Guardian, Parliamen
Henry III, 1216 - 1272; Part 4

Henry III, 1216 - 1272; Part 4

In 1258 Henry, more pressed for money than ever, had to meet his barons. The assembly, known as the Mad Parliament, since all the barons came to it fully armed, drove out the foreigners, and appointed a council of twenty-four to carry out reforms. Adjourning to Oxford, it drew up a new scheme of government known as the " Mise of Oxford ". The main point was the establishment of a permanent council of fifteen to supervise the government, check illegal exactions, restore justice, and recover the royal castles: they were, in case of need, to confer with another council of twelve, chosen by the barons. The leaders in the fifteen were Simon de Montfort, and Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester.

These leaders, however, did not agree; for a time the quarrel was smothered by the death of Gloucester, but in the meantime the faithless Henry had once more given the slip to his promises. Following the precedent of his father he persuaded the Pope to absolve him of his oath, and got the question of whether he was bound by the Provisions of Oxford referred to Louis IX. Louis was probably the most virtuous king who ever sat on a throne, but he was certain to look on things from a king's point of view. He decided that Henry might do as he liked, provided he violated "no royal charter or praiseworthy custom". Henry had shown in the past that he cared not a jot for either.

Nothing was left but to try force. Simon gathered the barons to his standard, and was backed by the south. Henry's chief supporters came from the marches and the north. The division indeed was not unlike that in another King Henry's case; here Simon de Montfort plays the part which the Yorkist leader afterwards played, and the king's friends the part of the Lancastrians. The armies met at Lewes, Simon driving in an attack upon the town. The Londoners in his army were scattered by Henry's most capable leader, his son Edward. But Edward, then only twenty-four, had not yet become the cool, wary commander who was in future years to overthrow Scotland. Angered by the fact that these citizens of London had insulted his mother, he pursued his enemies furiously, without thinking of the rest of the battle. While he was away, Simon in the centre overthrew the Royal forces and captured the king. Henry had to submit, to accept once more the Provisions of Oxford, and to hand over Edward as a hostage.

So far there had been nothing to mark off Simon from the rest of the large class of nobles who from time to time have taken arms against their sovereign. He had employed the ordinary baronial remedy for misgovernment, namely rebellion. It was the familiar nostrum - the only one known to the radical politician of the time. Though Simon bore a higher character, had a better cause, and had met with greater success than was usual, these are only differences of degree, and not of kind. In essence he was a rebel, and the case is not altered by the fact that he was an abnormally virtuous one. His next step, however, was to lift him far above any other well-meaning rebellious baron, and mark in him that combination of theory with practice, that union of wisdom and opportunity, that belongs only to the statesman.

Chronology

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