Lewes and Evesham 1264-65: Simon de Montfort and the Barons' War

by Richard Brooks, Graham Turner (Illustrator)

Overview

At the crescendo of the Second Barons' War were the battles of Lewes and Evesham. It was an era of high drama and intrigue, as tensions between crown and aristocracy had boiled over and a civil war erupted that would shape the future of English government. In this detailed study, Richard Brooks unravels the remarkable events at the battles of Lewes and Evesham, revealing the unusually tactical nature of the fighting, in sharp contrast to most medieval conflicts which were habitually settled by burning and ravaging. At Lewes, Simon de Montfort, the powerful renegade leader of the Baronial faction, won a vital victory, smashing the Royalist forces and capturing Henry III and Prince Edward. Edward escaped, however, to lead the Royalist armies to a crushing victory just a year later at Evesham. Using full color illustrations, bird's eye views and detailed maps to generate an arresting visual perspective of the fighting, this book tells the full story of the battles of Lewes and Evesham, the only pitched battles to be fought by English armies in the mid-13th century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472811509
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	07/21/2015
Series:	Campaign , #285
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Richard Brooks is a freelance military historian with a particular interest in the intersection of naval and military history, and the use of hitherto untapped sources to develop fresh insights into past campaigns. Richard has published seven books, beginning with a biography of Fred T. Jane, the founder of Jane's Fighting Ships. His other books have covered naval brigades, the Royal Marines and battlefields of Britain and Ireland; previous books for Osprey include Solferino 1859 and Walcheren 1944. He was also Consultant Editor for The Times History of War. He has a BA in Modern History from Oxford University and an MSc in International Relations from Southampton. The author lives in Southsea, England.

Table of Contents

Introduction 4

Chronology 7

Opposing Commanders 8

Royalist commanders

Baronial commanders

Opposing Forces 12

Royalist forces

Baronial forces

Opposing Plans 18

Royalist plans

Baronial plans

The Lewes Campaign 23

The capture of Northampton

The siege of Rochester

The King's march to Lewes

Lewes and its surroundings

Prelude to battle

The battlefield

Numbers and dispositions

The Wretched Battle of Lewes

The Campaign of Evesham 63

Renewed hostilities

The Younger Simon's campaign

The Kenilworth raid

The field of battle

The Royalist approach

Earl Simon's death ride

The Mordre of Evesham

After the Battle 88

The Battlefields Today 91

Further Reading 93

Glossary 94

Index 95