Life Of Simon De Montfort - Earl Of Leicester (1902) (Hardcover)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. Simon's goutf) auH elder Simon de Moutfort was looked upon -A- by the men of his age as a model of all knightly virtues. Tall and of a commanding appearance, he won the hearts and secured the respect of his followers no less by his martial prowess than by his affability, his prudence, and his strictness in all religious duties. He had married, about 1190, a noble lady, Alice de Moiit- morency, who accompanied and helped him in his fixpeditions. She seems to have been always by her husband's side in the hour of danger. " Her religion," says a monkish chronicler, " adorned her wisdom and diligence; her wisdom informed her diligence and religion; her diligence exercised her religion and wisdom." She bore her husband three daughters and four sons, of whom Simon was the youngest, and died in 1221, having survived her husband three years. We have regarded Simon de Montfort only as a crusader in the south of France; but besides thishe was connected with English affairs. He tore the title of Earl of Leicester, and had inherited from his mother 'half of the possessions of the earldom. But King John was ill-pleased to see Simon's advancing power in south France. He himself lay under a papal interdict, and resented the doctrine that popes might depose princes, and hand over their territory to others. Moreover, Count Raymond of Toulouse was his brother-in-law, having married his sister Joanna, and John could not with patience see him despoiled of his goods. John believed, or affected to believe, a rumour of a conspiracy raised against him by his disaffected barons with the privity of Simon de Montfort: it was said that they had offered to make Simon king in John's stead. In 1210 Simoa-was deprived of his estates in England, thoughJie, and his eldest son Arnaury afte...