Simon and Eleanor de Montfort at Odiham Castle
As one of the royal residence of Simon and Eleanor de Montfort, Odiham played a unique role in the events surrounding Simon de Montfort’s 1265 Parliament.
The manor and castle of Odiham were granted by King Henry III to his sister, Eleanor when she turned 21 in 1236. Already widowed, Eleanor had taken solemn vows not to remarry, but caused a scandal when she secretly married Simon de Montfort in 1238. In doing so she made Simon one of the most powerful men in England. After Simon’s took power from King Henry III in May 1264, Eleanor made Odiham castle her principal residence. From here Eleanor received and sent out messages to her husband, sons and allies, acting as a central point of contact for all three. In spring 1265 Simon gathered the Montfort family and their armed forces at Odiham, following the Parliament, to discuss strategies for maintaining power after Simon had fallen out with Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester.
Eleanor stayed at Odiham castle until the end of May 1265 when Edward, the king’s son, escaped from captivity and joined forces with the earl of Gloucester. While Simon moved to meet this army, Eleanor left Odiham for Dover Castle. It was at Dover where she finally received news that her husband, son Henry, and many of their allies, had been killed at the battle of Evesham on 4 August 1265.
Odiham Castle surrendered to royalist forces later in August, along with many other Montfortian strongholds. The king regained full power and Eleanor de Montfort went into exile in France, entering the Dominican nunnery of Montargis in France, where she lived until her death in 1275. Eleanor was pious and gave regularly to the poor, notably feeding 800 with bread and cider on 14 April 1265.
Simon de Montfort’s 1265 Parliament
In 1258, the barons of England, fed up with the way Henry III had been governing England, forced him to agree to a set of reforms called the Provisions of Oxford, placing the king under the authority of a Council of Fifteen men. However, by 1263 King Henry had regained control and it was clear that Henry was going to turn his back on the Provisions of Oxford. Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, one of the most powerful men in the country, rallied support and captured the king on May 14, 1264, and took over control of the country. De Montfort reintroduced the Provisions of Oxford and held regular parliaments, but in addition to the barons, he also invited representatives of the counties and towns of England to attend parliament to discuss events of national concern for the first time. These representatives of the country came to be distinct from the Lords, and the Commons became a recognisable feature of the English parliament as it remains today.
Text courtesy of 2015 Anniversaires – Parliament in the Making
Image: Eleanor and Simon de Montfort prepare a banquet by Andy Bardell