On this day, 20^th January, in 1265, parliament met in Westminster. Nothing remarkable about that you may think, but this was no ordinary parliament. It was to be a first in the history of English governance, and this groundbreaking gathering would go on to shape the face of modern British democracy.

Medieval kings believed they had a divine right to rule. A wise king took counsel, like this one, but not all of them did…

This was an extraordinary parliament for more than one reason. For a start, it had been called not by the king, Henry III (1239-1272) as was the custom, but in his name by his captor, rival and brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester. Moreover, it involved a new and unprecedented innovation in the system of government. For the first time, people other than the nobility were summoned to discuss the political issues of the day. For over twenty years,  the weighty matters of state had been dealt with by only the monarch and a select group of noble advisors in a Great Council of lords. However, in December 1264 writs were issued by de Montfort, in the king’s name, calling a group of lesser mortals, knights of the shires and notable citizens, to attend parliament alongside their social superiors. Little did they realise, but these members of the lower orders, the ‘commoners’, would be setting a precedent for a new house of political representatives.

The precedent for the House of Commons was set on this day, 760 years ago

Born in France around 1208, Simon de Montfort was a landless younger son of a famous French crusader, but what he lacked in income he made up for in military prowess, a strong sense of duty and ruthless ambition. In 1229 he came to England to reclaim the earldom of Leicester through his grandmother’s inheritance of lands following the death of his great uncle, Robert de Beaumont, 4^th earl of Leicester, who had died in 1204.

The arms of Simon de Montfort, 6th earl of Leicester

Simon wasted no time in ingratiating himself with King Henry III, who duly awarded him the honour of Leicester in 1231. Simon did homage to the king that same year, and in 1238 he married Henry’s sister, Eleanor, deftly immersing himself into the English royal family. In 1236, as grand seneschal, which was part of the office of his Leicester title, he officiated at the coronation of Henry’s queen, Eleanor of Provence. By 1244, he had been fully invested as earl, was established as one of the king’s favourites, and had been awarded custody of the grand royal fortress of Kenilworth, an honour further enhanced in 1253 when Simon was granted the castle for life. Not a bad CV for a penniless noble from France. But medieval politics were prone to instability, especially when an autocratic king made unpopular decisions, and Henry was seriously upsetting the baronial apple cart.

Eleanor of England (d.1275), sister of Henry III, married Simon de Montfort in 1238

Henry had filled his court with a group of French-born relatives, on whom he lavished lands, honours and titles, and these foreign incomers caused bitter resentment among the English barons. Furthermore, at the behest of the Pope, the king had taken on a massive financial commitment to expand Plantagenet dominions by taking the island of Sicily, and he couldn’t afford it. He needed taxes to fund the project, but the sums required were too big an ask. It’s an unwise king who alienates his barons, but Henry’s mishandling of his foreign lands, his bias towards his French relatives and his excessive spending meant that the interests of the royal family were coming before those of the barons. Simon, along with many of his peers, came to believe that Henry wasn’t fit to rule, and the bubbling resentment came to a head in April 1258. Kitted out in full armour to show they meant business, a group of powerful magnates, including Simon, confronted a startled Henry in Westminster Hall. They demanded the king dismiss his foreign relatives and accept far-reaching reforms designed to curb royal power and change the way England was governed.

Henry III, an unpopular king who failed to read the feeling in the political room

With no choice but to submit, Henry reluctantly swore an oath that he would accept his barons’ counsels. Accordingly, a committee of twenty-four, half chosen by the king and half by the barons agreed a set of historic reforms, known as the Provisions of Oxford. For the first time in history, power would be shared by the monarch and a fifteen-member council.

Things started off well enough, but soon the barons began to quarrel among themselves, and Henry took advantage of the division to appeal to the Pope to get the agreement thrown out. He then allied himself to the more moderate baronial faction who had only wanted to prevent the king’s abuse of power. As the political temperature rose, Simon’s arrogance and his desire for radical reform made him increasingly isolated. He believed that Henry had lost touch with his people, and that he was the one who must save England from royal injustice. 

Simon de Montfort saw himself as the man to save England from royal tyranny

Now emerging as Henry’s leading opponent, Simon de Montfort raised an army against the king from his headquarters at Kenilworth Castle, and in 1264 his troops confronted those of Henry and his son, Prince Edward, outside Lewes in Sussex. Despite being outnumbered, Simon inflicted a humiliating defeat on the royalist army and captured Henry and Edward. With the king held in suitable comfort in London and Edward a prisoner, Simon himself became the de facto ruler of England, governing in Henry’s name. But with few baronial friends, he needed a substantial boost in support.

Kenilworth Castle, Simon’s headquarters from where he planned his uprising against Henry

This monument to the Battle of Lewes was presented to the town in 1964 to mark the 700th anniversary of the conflict

His solution was to send for burgesses and knights representing the shires and boroughs, each elected to parliament by England’s landowners. These commoners were to join the usual group of barons and bishops – or at least those that supported Simon’s rule – who we know today as the House of Lords. And so the new-look parliament met on 20^th January 1265, and the foundations for a new house ‘of Commons’ were laid.

As it was, Simon’s success was short-lived. Just months later the second and final battle of what became known as the Second Baron’s War was fought at Evesham. On 28^th May, Prince Edward dodged his captors in Hereford and escaped whilst out exercising his horse under guard. He immediately began rallying his many allies to his side before setting out in pursuit of de Montfort to see to him once and for all. The two opposing sides met at Evesham in Worcestershire on 4^th August, but this time Edward had the upper hand and some devious tricks up his sleeve.

The Second Barons’ War

In a cunning deception, he fooled Simon into thinking vital reinforcements had arrived when he saw his son’s banners flying at the head of an approaching army. In fact, it was Edward. De Montfort was outnumbered and outwitted, and defeat was inevitable. But then, just to make sure, as battle commenced Edward sent in a death squad, a dozen of ‘the strongest and most intrepid [men] in arms’, tasked with seeking out Simon and killing him. This they did, brutally murdering the earl and carving up his body in a theatrical display of posthumous humiliation. Simon’s body parts were sent out across the land as a pointed warning to anyone who dared challenge royal authority again.

Simon de Montfort may have been dead, but he wasn’t gone. Ultimately he had shown himself to be a man of the people, a voice for wider representation in government and a crusader against the tyranny of kings. Soon after his brutal death he was hailed as a hero by many, swiftly gaining status as a popular saint. Henry crushed this burgeoning cult by having the earl’s remains exhumed and reburied in secret to prevent people visiting his tomb. But nevertheless, something had fundamentally changed in England.

King Edward I. Although as prince he had disposed of Simon de Montfort and his radical reforming views, as king he was mindful of his father’s mistakes, taking on some of the earl’s ideas to avoid another rebellion

Simon de Montfort had sewn the seeds for ordinary people to have their voices heard in the heart of English government, and now there was no turning back. It was many years before commoners had a permanent place in the corridors of power, but in 1275, Henry’s son, King Edward I, held his first parliament. As usual he summoned his trusted barons and churchmen, but in addition he called for two elected knights from each shire and two burgesses from each town and city to join them. He did the same again in 1295, in what’s known as the Model Parliament, as from this time the inclusion of commoners became standard, a practice consolidated in 1327 when Edward II was removed from power. Finally, in 1341, for the first time the Commons met seperately from the Upper House.

Back when it all began: Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, quarrelling with Henry III, from a 19th Century illustration

In many ways, Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester was a man ahead of his time. His groundbreaking parliament, held 760 years ago on this day in 1265, set the template for a new structure of English democracy, and his legacy lives on in the shape of our modern House of Commons. I can’t help wondering, though, what he’d make of the state of the nation today…