"The Song of Simon de Montfort" by Sophie Therese Ambler

I find the middle ages fascinating and this biography of Simon de Montfort is no exception. It covers, roughly, the period of rapid constitutional change from the issuing of Magna Carta, a document to protect the rights of barons and to limit kingship, via the first parliaments to the calling of the first parliament by Simon to include townspeople, ie the start of the House of Commons. The political theories are fascinating: Magna Carta applied to the 50% of the population who were 'freed' (ie not the serfs) whereas Simon's Provisions of Oxford applied to all people in the realm. For the first time royal officials became truly accountable for their actions and could be acted against by ordinary people in courts. The Franciscans and Dominicans were spreading like wildfire at this time, and learning was advancing rapidly (one of Simon's mentors was Robert Grosseteste, a seminal figure in the history of science, one of Simon's opponents founded Merton College in Oxford). Simon himself was an important figure who made what was almost certainly a love match with King Henry III's sister (to Henry's fury), ended up rebelling and defeating and capturing the King and his Heir, and was at one time offered the regency of France. Not all was progress. Henry III was the first king to order that Jews wore distinctive marks on their clothes and Simon encouraged the persecution and killing of Jews. But it was a key time in English history.

It was well written and very well explained and there were some very useful maps, but one of my criticisms is that the author expects you to remember which year you are in. She gives dates such as '9 June' (for the Oxford Parliament) but if I have forgotten the year I have to move back through the pages until I can find the year mentioned; in this case it was (by implication) in the previous chapter. There are also occasions when people are mentioned and more could have been said. For example, one of the magnates supporting SdM at Oxford is listed as "Hugh Despenser"; what is not mentioned is that he is the father of High Despenser the Elder and the grandfather of Hugh Despenser the Younger who was a controversial favourite of Edward II. Why did I have to to look this up on wikipedia?

Selected quotes:

• “The worst sort of decision was one made behind closed doors. King John had been guilty of this, and it had been a major cause of resentment amongst his nobles. ... It was expected that great matters of state, affecting the whole kingdom, would be discussed in a formal setting.” (Ch 3)
• "Henry had begun to seize estates from subjects simply because he wished to - the sort of action that could see a king labelled a tyrant.” (Ch 3)
• “Suffering is to the righteous what pruning is to vines, what cultivation is to untilled land, what washing is to dirty garments, what a healing but bitter drink is to those who are ill, what shaping with a hammer is to vessels that are not yet fully moulded, what proving in fire is to gold.” (from a letter of Robert Grosseteste to SdM; quoted in Ch 4)
• “Trial by ordeal was in effect banned by Pope Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, on the basis that it did not work.” (Ch 7, footnote).
• “The barons ... were seeking to protect lesser folk ... from the iniquities of royal justice. But what is most remarkable is how they were also determined to protect lesser folk even against baronial injustices.” (Ch 9)
• “The kings of England had carried a dragon banner perhaps since the Anglo-Saxon age ... By the thirteenth century, the raising of the dragon standard carried a particular meaning: no enemy was to be spared.” (Ch 13)

September 2022; 339 pages

This review was written by the author of Motherdarling  and The Kids of God