The Second Barons‘ War (1264-1267) was a pivotal conflict in medieval English history that saw a coalition of rebel barons led by Simon de Montfort challenge the rule of King Henry III. While the war was ultimately caused by a complex interplay of political, economic, and social factors, the personal relationships and actions of two royal women named Eleanor played a crucial role in setting the stage for the conflict.
Eleanor of Provence: The Controversial Queen
Born in 1223, Eleanor of Provence was the daughter of Raymond Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy. In 1236, at the age of just 12, she was married to King Henry III of England, who was around 28 years old at the time. The match was arranged by Henry‘s mother, Isabella of Angoulême, who sought to strengthen ties between England and Provence.
Despite her youth, Eleanor quickly adapted to her role as queen and exerted significant influence over her husband and the court. She was known for her intelligence, charm, and political acumen, as well as her patronage of the arts and literature. However, she also faced criticism and resentment from some quarters of the English nobility, who viewed her as a foreign interloper with too much power and influence.
One of the main sources of tension was Eleanor‘s promotion of her Savoyard relatives and other foreign favorites, many of whom were granted lucrative positions and estates by the king. This practice, known as "aliens" or "Poitevins," was deeply unpopular among the English barons, who felt that their own interests were being neglected in favor of outsiders.
Eleanor de Montfort: The Rebel Countess
The other key Eleanor in this story was Eleanor of England, the younger sister of King Henry III and the wife of Simon de Montfort, the leader of the baronial opposition. Born in 1215, Eleanor was the daughter of King John and his second wife, Isabella of Angoulême. In 1238, she married Simon de Montfort, a French nobleman who had recently been granted the earldom of Leicester by Henry III.
The marriage was controversial from the start, as Eleanor was a royal princess and Simon was seen as an upstart foreigner with a tenuous claim to his title. There were also rumors that the two had been intimate before the wedding, which would have been a major scandal at the time. Nevertheless, Henry III gave his blessing to the match, perhaps hoping to keep his ambitious sister and brother-in-law close.
Despite the initial controversy, Eleanor and Simon‘s marriage appears to have been a happy one, producing seven children over the next two decades. Eleanor was a devoted wife and mother, as well as a savvy political operator who actively supported her husband‘s cause. She was known for her piety, intelligence, and strong will, traits that would serve her well in the tumultuous years ahead.
The Roots of Conflict
The seeds of the Second Barons‘ War were sown in the early years of Henry III‘s reign, as the young king struggled to assert his authority and manage the competing interests of his barons. One of the main points of contention was Henry‘s reliance on foreign advisors and favorites, many of whom were relatives or allies of his wife, Eleanor of Provence.
This issue came to a head in the late 1250s, when Henry embarked on a series of unpopular and expensive foreign ventures, including a failed campaign in Sicily and a costly treaty with France. To finance these endeavors, Henry levied heavy taxes on his subjects and granted extensive lands and privileges to his foreign supporters, further alienating the English barons.
Another major grievance was Henry‘s treatment of Simon de Montfort, who had served as the king‘s lieutenant in Gascony (a region of southwest France under English control) from 1248 to 1252. During his tenure, Simon had made enemies among the Gascon nobility, who accused him of brutality and misrule. When Henry called him to account for his actions, Simon felt that he had been unfairly maligned and that the king had failed to support him.
The situation was further complicated by the fact that Simon‘s wife, Eleanor, had a long-standing financial dispute with her brother the king. As the daughter of King John, Eleanor was entitled to a substantial inheritance, including lands and revenues that had been promised to her upon her first marriage to William Marshal in 1224. However, after Marshal‘s death in 1231, Henry had failed to provide Eleanor with her full dower rights, leaving her and Simon in a precarious financial position.
In 1258, matters came to a head when the barons, led by Simon de Montfort, forced Henry to agree to a series of reforms known as the Provisions of Oxford. These measures aimed to curb the king‘s power and give the barons a greater say in government, including the right to appoint a council of 24 to oversee the realm. Henry initially agreed to the reforms under duress, but soon began plotting to overturn them with the help of his allies, including his brother Richard of Cornwall and the pope.
A Family Divided
As tensions between the king and the barons escalated, the two Eleanors found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. Eleanor of Provence remained loyal to her husband and worked tirelessly to defend his interests, even as she faced increasing criticism and hostility from the English people. In 1263, she was forced to flee to France with her children after a mob attacked her London residence, accusing her of being a "she-wolf" who had corrupted the king.
Meanwhile, Eleanor de Montfort threw her full support behind her husband‘s cause, using her wealth and influence to gather allies and resources for the rebel army. She was a key figure in the negotiations leading up to the Mise of Amiens in 1264, a French-brokered settlement that ultimately failed to resolve the conflict. When war finally broke out in earnest, Eleanor played a critical role in rallying support for the baronial cause and keeping up morale among the troops.
The turning point of the war came at the Battle of Lewes on May 14, 1264, where Simon de Montfort‘s forces defeated the royalist army and captured both Henry III and his son, Prince Edward. In the aftermath of the battle, Simon effectively became the ruler of England, establishing a new government based on the Provisions of Oxford and summoning a parliament that included representatives from the towns and shires, not just the nobility.
For a brief moment, it seemed that the Montfortian revolution had succeeded in creating a more representative and accountable system of government. However, the new regime faced significant challenges and opposition, both from within and without. Many of the barons who had initially supported Simon began to turn against him, while the king and his allies plotted to regain power.
In the end, the Montfortian experiment was short-lived. In August 1265, Prince Edward escaped from captivity and raised a new royalist army. On August 4, he confronted Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham and won a decisive victory, killing the rebel leader and many of his key supporters. In the aftermath of the battle, the baronial cause collapsed and Henry III was restored to the throne.
The Aftermath and Legacy
The Second Barons‘ War had far-reaching consequences for England and its system of government. Although the Montfortian reforms were largely undone in the short term, they set important precedents for the development of parliament and the idea of representative government. In the centuries that followed, the memory of Simon de Montfort and his struggle against royal tyranny would be invoked by those seeking to limit the power of the monarchy and expand the rights of the people.
For the two Eleanors, the war had more personal consequences. Eleanor of Provence spent the rest of her life in relative obscurity, having lost much of her influence and prestige in the wake of the conflict. She retired to a convent in Amesbury, where she died in 1291 at the age of around 68.
Eleanor de Montfort, meanwhile, was left a widow and an exile after her husband‘s death. She fled to France with her children, where she spent several years in captivity under the watchful eye of the French king. In 1275, she was finally allowed to return to England and reclaim some of her lands and titles, but she never fully regained her former status and influence.
Despite their differences and the tragic circumstances that divided them, the two Eleanors remain fascinating figures in the history of medieval England. Their lives and actions offer a glimpse into the complex web of family, politics, and power that shaped the course of events in this turbulent period. As queens, wives, mothers, and political actors in their own right, they played critical roles in the unfolding drama of the Second Barons‘ War and left a lasting legacy on the development of English government and society.
Table 1: Key Figures in the Second Barons‘ War
| Name | Role |
|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| Henry III | King of England (1216-1272) |
| Eleanor of Provence | Queen consort of England (1236-1272) |
| Simon de Montfort | Earl of Leicester, leader of baronial opposition |
| Eleanor de Montfort | Wife of Simon de Montfort, sister of Henry III |
| Richard of Cornwall | Brother of Henry III, supporter of the king |
| Prince Edward | Son of Henry III, later King Edward I (1272-1307) |Table 2: Timeline of Key Events in the Second Barons‘ War
| Date | Event |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1258 | Provisions of Oxford force Henry III to accept baronial reforms |
| 1263 | Conflict escalates, Eleanor of Provence flees to France |
| May 1264 | Battle of Lewes, baronial victory, Henry III and Prince Edward captured |
| Aug 1265 | Battle of Evesham, royalist victory, Simon de Montfort killed |
| 1267 | Treaty of Marlborough ends the war, restores Henry III to power |Sources:
- Carpenter, D. A. (1996). The Reign of Henry III. London: Hambledon Press.
- Maddicott, J. R. (1994). Simon de Montfort. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Prestwich, M. (1988). Edward I. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Ridgeway, H. W. (2004). Henry III and the Lord Edward: The Community of the Realm in the Thirteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Treharne, R. F. (1932). The Baronial Plan of Reform, 1258-1263. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
