Виктория Холт - The Queen from Provence

His company would be delighted. They need not prepare for war but for the happy reunion. The two armies together would be invincible and young Simon would have his tale to tell of victory.

Nicolas came to him white-faced and trembling.

‘My lord, I see other banners. It is only in the van of the army that they carry the de Montfort ensigns.’

‘What do you see? Tell me quickly.’

‘My lord, I can make out the triple lions of Edward and Roger Mortimer’s ensigns.’

‘God held us,’ cried Simon. ‘We have been deceived. What does this mean? How have they come by my son’s banners?’

There was no time to speculate. They must go into action without delay. But precious time had been lost and the enemy was almost upon them.

Simon was a man of great military ability but he realised that the advantage had been lost. With as much speed as he could muster he gathered his troops together. Many of them still believed that the advancing army was their ally and it took some time to get them to realise that they must prepare for battle.

Indeed the advantage was lost and full well did Simon know the importance of that.

We have been deceived, he kept thinking. What has happened to my son? This Edward has become a man, and I have been thinking of him as a reckless boy.

They had tricked him, and they should be tricked. Thank God he had the King in his possession here. The King should be placed in the forefront of the battle. He should stand against his own son who had come to rescue him.

Simon had time to marshal his troops and took up his stance at the top of a hill where he could watch the advancing enemy.

‘By the arm of St James,’ he cried, ‘they come on skilfully. Edward has learned his methods from me. He will never commit the folly of Lewes again. In conflict with me he has become a great general.’

It was two hours after noon and the hot August sun was almost overhead. The battle had begun.

* * *

The shame of it! To be there in the front of the enemy troops. He, the King, to be so treated! How dared Simon de Montfort, his own brother-in-law, inflict this indignity on him. Was this to be the end? Killed in battle … by his own son who mistook him for the enemy!

He thought of his adored Eleanor working so hard for him across the water. He thought of his beloved son. What anguish would be his when he knew that his men had killed his own father.

A curse on you, de Montfort! he thought. Would to God I had never shown you favour.

There was the pride of seeing the superiority of Edward’s forces; the advantage that initial surprise had given him. Edward would be the victor this day. He knew it. He would rejoice but how he would mourn when he came upon his father’s dead body on the battlefield.

The fight grew more fierce; Edward’s men were closing in. A spear pierced the King’s shoulder blade, and he turned and saw the murderous eyes of his assailant, his arm raised ready to finish what he had begun.

‘Hold!’ cried the King. ‘I am Henry of Winchester. Placed here by the traitor de Montfort. Kill me and you answer to the lord Edward.’

The man hesitated. For a second or two it seemed as though he was going to treat the King’s outburst with contempt. But one of the barons was nearby and Henry recognised him as Roger of Leyburne.

He shouted to him.

‘By God,’ said Roger. ‘It is indeed the King. Hold man! Take care not to harm the King. Come … my lord …’

When Edward saw his father he was overcome with joy.

He took the King’s arm and drew him to a place of safety.

There were tears in Henry’s eyes.

‘My son,’ he said, ‘I was never more proud than I am on this day.’

* * *

It was dark before the battle was over – a complete victory for Edward and the royalists. The slaughter had been terrible. Both Simon de Montfort and his son Henry had been killed. No quarter was given. The carnage was frightful; one hundred and sixty of de Montfort’s knights were slain on that battlefield and countless numbers of ordinary soldiers.

That was not enough. As night fell the rabble of Edward’s army roamed the battlefield and coming upon the bodies of Simon de Montfort and his son Henry they set up a cry of delight; they fell upon them, stripped them of their armour and with hideous cries of glee that sounded like no human noise, they proceeded to mutilate them in every obscene manner they could devise. And this was the end of the great earl Simon de Montfort.

* * *

The young Simon de Montfort who had escaped from Kenilworth had gathered together the remnants of his army and was marching on Evesham.

He saw in the distance a band of drunken revellers who held something high above their heads and sang ribald songs as they came along.

As young Simon came near he saw what they held. It was a sight which he would never forget while he lived.

His own father’s head being carried on a pike!

‘Would I had died,’ he cried, ’ere I had seen such a sight.’

He turned his horse and with his followers rode back to Kenilworth.

There he mourned for the loss of his father and his cause; and in time his sorrow was replaced by a great yearning for vengeance on those who had so debased a great man.

Meanwhile the soldiers with their gruesome burden marched on.

Their trophy was a gift from Hugh Mortimer to his countess who had ever been a faithful supporter of the King’s cause.

She was at prayers in her chapel when they arrived, and when she saw what they had brought her she cried out in great joy and gave thanks to God for His goodness.

Edward now had a little son whom they had named John and his wife was pregnant again. There was great rejoicing throughout the family for now the Queen was back and their delight in being together again was boundless. Henry was beside himself with joy and pride in his family. Eleanor had worked devotedly all through their separation and it was the brilliant tactics of his son Edward which had saved him from his enemies.

The battle of Evesham, though decisive and resulting in the death of Simon de Montfort, did not completely end the war.

Simon and Guy de Montfort, determined to avenge their father, kept bands of rebels together in various parts of the country. There were battles for the castles whose castellans had declared themselves against the King; but Edward was now a seasoned warrior and he was beginning to emerge as a general of great ability, a rival to his great uncle Richard Coeur de Lion.

Richard, King of the Romans, had married again, although the general opinion was that he might have been thinking of making his peace with God rather than starting a new life. Richard had suffered a great deal during his captivity and those periods when he had been listless and unable to work had increased. But his marriage to the beautiful young Beatrice of Falkenberg revived him and it was with great pride that he brought her to England to introduce her to his brother.

Edward meanwhile was clearing up the rebel patches throughout the country. He was fast becoming a hero to his fellow countrymen. His height and good looks made him immediately recognisable; he was clearly a man of great strength and while he could be affable there was no sign of his father’s weakness in him.

The fact that they had such an heir to the throne was one of the main factors in giving the country a feeling of security. They despised Henry who had brought so much trouble to the country through his folly; but they were inclined to forgive him and his arrogant avaricious queen because whatever they had taken, they had given them Edward.

In due course Edward had freed the country of the rebels. Young Simon and Guy de Montfort were in exile in France. Edward had added further to his aura of heroism by meeting in single combat the last of the rebels. This was Adam Gurdon, a man of almost superhuman strength whom no one had ever been able to overcome. Edward achieved what had seemed impossible; and when he had Adam at his mercy he continued in his noble role and gave him his life out of respect for his valour. Rounding off this romantic episode in the perfect manner, Adam asked to be able to serve Edward and as long as he lived acted as one of his closest servants and bodyguards.

It was incidents like this that were circulated about the heir to the throne which delighted the people. They forgot Simon de Montfort and his cries for justice and his introduction of a parliament of which the like had never been seen before.

The country was settling down.

Edward now had a daughter, Eleanor, after his wife, and that obliging lady was once more pregnant. In due course she gave birth to a son who was named Henry after his grandfather.

Henry was delighted. He imposed a fine of 25,000 marks on the Londoners, who surprisingly paid it, and the whole of it was put to the Queen’s use.

‘This is for you, my love, and only now can I begin to forgive those wicked people for their treatment of you.’

Eleanor was ready to be placated as the sum was so large. The people would always hate her – and in particular the Londoners – but she could shrug that aside in the pleasure she took in her family.

News came from France that Louis was contemplating going on a crusade. People were beginning to regard him as a saint and it seemed to the whole world that he was the most fitted to lead such a venture.