So in 1230 aged 21 Simon de Montfort, born in France without title or money, came to England to see the King, Henry 3^rd. Fortunately the king liked Simon and not only gave him back his family estate but also the title Duke of Leicester in return for £100 and a promise to supply 60 knights in time of war.

For all his good luck, his new title and his estate Simon was still short of cash so he set out to find himself a wife with some money. The woman he chose was Eleanor Plantagenet, one of the wealthiest women in the land and almost unbelievably, the sister of the king, Henry 3^rd! Although the king was not initially keen on the match, he eventually accepted Simon as a brother-in-law, a military commander and one of his chief advisers. In 1248 he sent Simon to take control of Gascony, one of the few remaining areas in France still belonging to England. During his time working for Henry Simon began to realise that he was not a very good or a very just ruler. He felt that the only way that things would improve would be if the barons - of which Simon was one - were given a more active role in running the country. The other barons liked that idea. A lot. In 1258 they decided to do something about it.

In May of that year they went to see the king and suggested that in future he should consult his barons before making any decisions.. Fearing a civil war that he knew he would lose Henry 3^rd grudgingly accepted the so called “Provisions of Oxford” which allowed the barons to form an advisory council and a parliament. Everyone looked forwarded to a brighter and more liberal future but it was not to be. In 1262 the King wrote to the Pope…

Simon and the barons didn’t care for this at all. On 29^th June 1263 they held a series of meetings to discuss their grievances with the king who was staying in Isleworth. The place where they set up camp for their conference was Isleworth Park (a.k.a Twickenham Park) or what we who live in St Margarets now call - “The Barons”

Now there are many questions to be asked in St Margarets e.g - Do we need more bike racks in Crown Road? Shall we have a ‘whip round’ and see if we can refurbish the changing rooms on Moor Mead Park? but in the summer of 1263 there was only one question on everybody’s mind, peasant and peerage. What shall we do about the king and his unjust rule? After two weeks of negotiation in Isleworth Park the barons decided to ask the King of France to arbitrate. Now everybody knows that kings like to stick together and predictably the King of France voted in favour of his monarchical mate Henry 3^rd. The barons were very upset and took up arms. On the 14^th May 1264 at the Battle of Lewes the barons defeated the king and took him prisoner along with his brother, the Earl of Cornwall and Lord of the Manor of Isleworth. When the citizens of London, who fiercely supported de Montfort, heard this last item of news they marched out to Isleworth and burnt the Manor House down!

After his victory Montfort immediately organized a new parliament. As well as barons and leaders of the church, two representatives from each town- the ‘burgs’- were invited to attend. The day-to-day running of the country was carried out by three men: Simon de Montfort, Gilbert the Red and the Bishop of Chichester. However within a few months the barons started to complain that Montfort was acting like a king himself. Gilbert the Red was particularly upset. In June 15 1265 Gilbert met the king’s son, Prince Edward Longshanks, in Ludlow and together they raised a large army. When Montfort heard about it, he is reported to have said: “Let us commend our souls to God, because our bodies are theirs.”

On 3^nd August 1265 Montfort’s main army was attacked at Evesham. Prince Edward and Gilbert the Red had an easy victory and Montfort was slaughtered. His head was cut off and displayed round the country as a warning of what happened to people who rebelled against their king.

After de Montfort’s death another baron, the Duke of Gloucester, decided to have a pop at King Henry 3^rd. He raised an army of Londoners and as the chronicler Holinshed reported “approached Hounslow Heath. The king coming hither in the morning found no men to resist him.” Actually the Duke, seeing the size of Henry’s army, decided that it would be better all round if he quietly went home- so he did!

And so ends the story of Simon de Montfort - not a local lad but someone who recognised a decent campsite when he saw one. Born in France, without title or money, supported by popular acclaim he lived to challenge the supremacy of the monarchy and institute the concept of the House of Commons. For this he received mixed reviews…

‘Earl Simon, who gave up not only his property, but also his person, to defend the poor from oppression, and for the maintenance of justice.’

MATTHEW PARIS, English History (c. 1275)

‘Simon de Montfort… desired to put down the mighty and ruin their power… so that he might more freely and easily subdue the people, after having destroyed the strength of the magnates.’

THOMAS WYKES, Chronicles (c. 1290)

– from Martyn Day