Get Free Shipping on orders over $89
The Song of Simon de Montfort : England's First Revolutionary - Sophie Thérèse Ambler

The Song of Simon de Montfort

England's First Revolutionary

By: Sophie Thérèse Ambler, Sophie Ambler

Paperback | 25 August 2020

At a Glance

Paperback


$26.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $6.75 with

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

'Alive with human detail and acute political judgement, this book marks the arrival of a formidably gifted historian.' Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets and The Templars

It was around half-past eight in the morning, with summer rainclouds weighing heavy in the sky, that Simon de Montfort decided to die. It was 4 August 1265 and he was about to face the royal army in the final battle of a quarrel that had raged between them for years. Outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and certain to lose, Simon chose to fight, knowing that he could not possibly win the day.

The Song of Simon de Montfort is the story of this extraordinary man: heir to a great warrior, devoted husband and father, fearless crusader knight and charismatic leader. It is the story of a man whose passion for good governance was so fierce that, in 1258, frustrated by the King’s refusal to take the advice of his nobles and the increasing injustice meted out to his subjects, he marched on Henry III’s hall at Westminster and seized the reins of power.

Montfort established a council to rule in the King’s name, overturning the social order in a way that would not be seen again until the rule of Oliver Cromwell in the seventeenth century. Having defeated the King at the Battle of Lewes in 1264, Montfort and his revolutionary council ruled England for some fifteen months, until the enmity between the two sides exploded on that August day in 1265. When the fighting was over, Montfort and a host of his followers had been cut down on the battlefield, in an outpouring of noble blood that marked the end of chivalry in England as it had existed since the Norman Conquest.

Drawing on an abundance of sources that allow us to trace Montfort’s actions and personality in a depth not possible for earlier periods in medieval history, Sophie Thérèse Ambler tells his story with a clarity that reveals all of the excitement, chaos and human tragedy of England’s first revolution.

About the Author

Dr Sophie Thérèse Ambler is a historian of medieval Europe and the Crusades. She is a Lecturer in Medieval History at Lancaster University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She has appeared on radio and TV for BBC and Channel 4, and written for BBC History Magazine and The Historian. She divides her time between Lancaster and London.

More in British & Irish History

Abandoned Women : Scottish Convicts Exiled Beyond the Seas - Lucy Frost
Norse-Gaelic Paganism : Viking and Irish Myth and Magic - Annie Cúglas Humphrey
The Anarchy : The Relentless Rise of the East India Company - William Dalrymple
Revenge : Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors - Tom Bower
HOW TO KILL A WITCH : A Guide For The Patriarchy - Claire Mitchell

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Unruly : A History of England's Kings and Queens - David Mitchell

RRP $26.99

$21.99

19%
OFF
How England Began : From Roman Britain to the Anglo-Saxons - Nicholas J. Higham
Who Dares Wins : Britain, 1979-1982 - Dominic Sandbrook

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Thirty-Two Words for Field : Lost Words of the Irish Landscape - Manchán Magan