87 CHAPTER IV. SIMON DE MONTFORT IN GASCONY. CHAP. IV. 1248 Gascony. IT was in the year 1248 that Henry resolved to send Simon de Montfort as his viceroy to Gascony. Henrys own experience, gathered in the expedition of 1242, showed how untrustworthy were his allies, how rebel- State of lious his subjects. At the head of the restless nobility stood Gaston of Bearn; on the south the King of Navarre only waited for a chance of attack; on the north the progress of France was always a cause of anxiety.' Surrounded by jealous neighbours, and torn by internal faction, the rescue of the province demanded the best man that could be sent a soldier, statesman, and diplomatist in one. The condition of England and the fickleness of Henry had had a bad effect on the dependency; the seneschals had been changed nearly twenty times since Henry came to the throne. Many of the merchants were thinking of exporting their wine to Spain instead of England,2 and the King of Aragon was ready, as we shall see, to bring forward a claim to the province. Henry knew the danger, and gave Simon extraordinary powers. He was called Simons not by the usual title 'seneschal,' but 'locum-tenens' powers. Pauli, Simon de Mont. 51. 2 Royal Letters ii. 379. CHAP. 1248-49 Simons powers: he subdues the] the provinces, and re appears in England. He returns to Gascony : of the king.' Henry made him a grant of money, which however, like most of his promises, seems to have remained unfulfilled; and secured to him the revenues of his earldom for eight years after his death. Money was borrowed for his first expenses, and large sums extorted from the Londoners.2 With such funds hastily collected, and with royal authority for six years,3 Simon started in the autumn of 1248, and on his way through France succeeded in prolonging the truce, but only from September to Christmas 1248.* He immediately set to work with such energy that he brought Gaston of Bearn to submission, and compelled the King of Navarre to agree to the arbitration of a committee of four, to be chosen by the opposing parties. He had taken prisoner one of the most prominent freebooters, Bertram of Egremont, and returned at Christmas, much to the joy of the king and the whole Court, to bring the news of his success, and take counsel as to his future proceedings.6 In February 1249 he returned to the Continent. On his way through Paris he addressed a letter to the king, which shows the difficulty of his position in Gascony, and the uncertainty of support at home." his difficul- He tells the king he has received news of a conspiracy of the Gascon nobles who had forfeited their estates, ties abroad, He was however afterwards generally called 'Senescallus Vasconiæ.' Roy. Letters ii. 380; Mat. West. 235. Rot. Lit. Pat. 7 Sept. 1248; Matt. Par. 838. • Fœd. i. 269. 5 Ibid. Matt. Par. 757: mediocriter exhilaravit.' Cujus (sc. Comitis) adventus Regem non Roy. Letters ii. 52. The letter is not signed or dated, but, as Dr. Shirley says, it can hardly be from any one but Simon. If so, it is especially interesting, as it is the only literary production of his which we possess. IV. 1249 home. which would be certain to break out about Whitsun- СНАР. tide. His position is dangerous, since he befriends the lower classes and defends the rights of the Crown, and therefore is hated by the nobility. He wishes to speak with the king again, and to get sufficient forces, for of the royal rents he cannot get a penny. Another difficulty is the guerilla character of the war ; the rebels move in troops of twenty to forty, burning and pillaging as they go. But the most important and at reason why he must speak with the king is, that his enemies will accuse him at Court, and say he is the man who set the province all aflame with civil war. He then assures the king of the good state of his castles and garrisons in Gascony, and says that he will visit him as soon as his business in Paris is done.' His fear of Henrys fickleness was only too well justified. His position was indeed a hard one; no money, no troops of the right sort-he probably wanted some light-armed Welsh or Irish, such as were found useful on a later occasion-a series of isolated castles to take, secret foes at home, and the constant danger of a war with France. dues the province Whether he returned home or not seems uncertain; He subat any rate he found time in the course of the summer to bring the rebels again to subjection. This time he again. sent Gaston of Bearn and others to England, and proceeded to secure his conquests with a string of forts. His success appears to have delighted the king, for in June we find him renewing to Simon and his It seems This business was probably a prolongation of the truce. to have been prolonged from Christmas 1248 to mid-June 1249, when Peter of Savoy was sent out to prolong it to 1 Nov. of that year. In 1250 Richard of Cornwall went to prolong it for sixteen years.-Lettres de Rois i. 82. CHAP. 1249 son his former gift of the Norman escheats within his fief, and in November he allowed him the Irish revenues and the proceeds of the sale of the royal wine, to fortify and protect the province. But in his way. Henrys weakness already threw difficulties in his The king throws difficulties way. Some of the rebels seem to have escaped from Gascony, and to have come of their own will to England to beg the kings mercy. Of these Henry took hostages, and sent them back to be tried in Gascony, with injunctions that they were to be treated with moderation; at the same time destroying the whole effect of Simons work by pardoning Gaston of Bearn and Arnold de Hasta. Such a labour of Sisyphus was the service of Henry III.' It may have been on this account that he returned to England, for he was again in the country some time this year. We find the citizens of London appealing to him and other magnates for protection in their suit with the Abbot of Westminster-a sufficient proof that of London. he had already won a reputation as a friend of the people. The magnates, among whom was the kings brother, immediately attacked the king and the abbot with threats and reproaches, and compelled the former to retrace his steps. This intervention on the part of Leicester is not likely to have put him on better terms with the king. Nevertheless he went on bravely with his work. In the course of the year 1249 he took the castle of Egremont, and forced the Count of Fronzac, in accordance with his injunctions to submit." Appeal to him from the citizens He completes the subjection of Gascony. Roy. Letters ii. 55, 56, 380. 2 Fœd. i. 271. 3 Quart. Rev. cxix. 40. Lib. de Ant. Leg. 13 seq; Matt. Par. 783. The Count of Fronzac had been accused before the king last year (Fed. i. 271), and the latter had warned Simon of it.-Roy. Letters ii. 63. IV. Simon in need of money; England, Finally, on the first Sunday of Advent, he compelled CHAP. the citizens of Bordeaux to settle their quarrel,' and with this his victory, in spite of the kings folly, 1249-51 seemed to be complete. No wonder his praise was in every ones mouth, and that he was said 'in all his dealings to have followed nobly in his fathers steps.' 2 In a task like his constant effort was needed, and for constant effort constant supplies. But these it was impossible to obtain; a well-regulated finance was one of the most conspicuous wants in the England of the day. The scanty aid from home was soon exhausted; Simons private means followed. At returns to Epiphany 1251 he was again in England. He seems to have returned some time in the winter of 12501251, arriving worn and travel-stained at his home, with only three attendants. In February 1251 he was with the queen at Windsor, endeavouring, it would seem, to persuade his sister-in-law to use her influence in his behalf.3 But others had been there before him, and though the king could not resist his appeal when made face to face, the answer shows what had been going on behind the earls back. He had been accused of severity and injustice, and even treachery, and it is evident the king more than half believed the reports. Still, so bravely had he fought, and so emphatically did he deny the charge, and remind the king of his own experiences in Gascony, that Henry could not resist. By the head of God, who gives Sir Earl,' said he, thou hast said the truth, and I will not refuse thee aid, since thou hast fought so well. This peace, given in Fad. i. 275, was confirmed by the king on 3 June, 1253.-Lettres de Rois i. 83. Per omnia patrissare diceretur.'-Matt. Par. 767. and appeals to the king, way. |
