Eleanor de Montfort

This medieval aristocrat is not particularly well known. Nor is her contribution to Britain’s history much understood or appreciated. The youngest daughter of King John, worst of English monarchs, she was the Plantagenet King Henry III’s younger sister. But her record hardly conforms to expected royal identity and behaviour. Her strong, active support for the first English Parliament marks her out as unique - a female rebel politician - and her life as a whole bears the stamp of the revolutionary.

Early life

Eleanor was probably born in 1215 at Gloucester. Her mother was John’s second wife, Isabella of Angoulême. She never saw her father, who died on 19 October 1216 when she was a year old. Eleanor’s brother, Henry III, was nine when he became king on 28 October. But at that time most of England was under the control of the invading Prince Louis (the Lion). As a minor Henry lived under the protection of William Marshal, whose forces defeated Louis in 1217 at Lincoln. Isabella soon left her children and returned to her French base, and a new family with the Lusignan clan.

William Marshal died two years later, but had arranged for young Eleanor to be promised to his son, also named William. The two were married in 1224 when she was nine, and like her brother, she was for a while under the guardianship of Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester. The 25 year age gap between William and Eleanor was wide, but not especially unusual among the nobility at the time. Due to her youth the two mainly lived apart, though in 1230 she accompanied William on campaign in Brittany. But he died in 1231, leaving Eleanor a 16 year old widow.

Eleanor - image from the 13th century

She’d brought a dowry of 10 manors and £200 a year to this match though it wasn’t actually paid by Henry until 1229, perhaps marking the marriage’s consummation, when Eleanor was 14 or 15. A widow was legally allowed to retain one third of an estate during her lifetime. But her brother-in-law Richard Marshal took most of it, including her dowry, to pay William’s debts. Much of the next 40 years of her life was spent trying to recover, or get compensation for, this and other property on which she had a claim.

Young widow

In 1234 Eleanor, aged 19, took a vow of chastity. In the presence of Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, she swore a holy oath to devote her life to Christ. Given her royal status, and before the head of the Church, this was as serious a promise as she could make.

Her reasons are unclear. She might have been influenced by her erstwhile governess, Cecily of Sandford. But a rebellion at the time involved Richard Marshal, and another brother-in-law, Gilbert. Richard died in 1234 during its course, fighting in Ireland, and the chastity move may have been an indirect attempt by the mediating Archbishop to appease Gilbert hoping he would agree to peace. With Eleanor as a widow, it might be easier for the Marshal family at some stage to recover her dower lands.

But the vow also removed her from the marriage market. This would avoid her becoming, says historian Sophie Thérèse Ambler, “a pawn of her brothers and others…to be married off again in a match in which she had no say”. She would clearly enjoy some independence and freedom as a widow, with control of her own lands and dower. Indeed, this was hardly an unknown option at the time. But Eleanor was the daughter of a king and queen, and sister of three monarchs. Thoroughly royal, she was therefore a huge prize.

Attraction of Eleanor and Simon

Things changed quickly when Simon de Montfort came on the scene. He was an ambitious Frenchman, who had moved to England to press his claim for the earldom of Leicester - a long and complex story. Simon had thought of marrying the countess of Boulogne or the countess of Flanders. By 1237 he had ‘half an earldom’ - he’d assumed the Leicester title but it hadn’t been officially recognised. He was a famous name, yes, but a fair way down England’s aristocratic pecking order.

Simon de Montfort, from a Chartres Cathedral stained glass window

It was obvious Eleanor and Simon were strongly attracted. Chronicler Matthew Paris, famous for his often cynical tone, was clear. Simon ‘received her joyfully on account of freely given love’. Ambler writes, “The words were chosen carefully: gratuitus amor, unremunerated love, affection that came without interest in wealth or status. Eleanor herself must have been convinced of this, in order to give up her cultivated independence”. She would become Countess of Leicester.

Evidently a love match, the wedding on 7 January 1238, was in secret, at the Westminster chapel, celebrated not by an archbishop but by the chaplain of St Stephen’s. No public spectacle then, as the king alone arranged the wedding and gave the bride away. He’d not taken the customary advice before allowing his sister to marry, despite the fact that she was after all, a valuable international property. Simon’s relatively low status was a barrier, as was Eleanor’s chastity vow. Henry avoided the usual path of consultation fearing the bishops and earls wouldn’t agree to the match.

Well, he was probably right. The reaction in court circles when the story got out was volcanic. In particular her royal brother Richard, earl of Cornwall, was livid, as for different reasons, was Gilbert Marshal. Again rebellion was threatened. Henry was anxious. The papal legate sought a peace deal, promising Richard lands from Henry in compensation. A conference with mediators was called for 22 February in London where, says Matthew Paris, “Simon humbled himself to earl Richard and received the kiss of peace”.

Henry III at his coronation  

Settling things with the nobility, Simon was keen to authenticate the marriage. Clandestine weddings had their problems, but the main difficulty was Eleanor’s chastity vow. A lifetime commitment? It wasn’t as if she’d entered a convent, binding her until death. For their union, and the legitimacy of their children, the marriage had to be established as valid. So Simon rode quickly to Rome and by 7 May, despite opposition from Archbishop Edmund, but with help from new kinsman Emperor Frederick II, he’d secured papal approval.

Another wedding concern emerged in 1239, the following year. Matthew Paris quoted Henry’s words to Simon as, “you seduced my sister before marriage - because of which, when I discovered it, I gave her to you, though reluctantly, in order to avoid scandal”. Years later, in his account of things, Simon lamented that Henry “spoke insulting and shameful words to me that are painful to recall”. It’s impossible to know the truth from this distance.   

Whether or not Eleanor was ‘seduced’, their physical and emotional relationship was strong. Why else endure the tortuous process of rescinding her chastity vow and facing the related marriage problems? The two worked in tandem and apparently stayed happily together for 27 years until Simon’s death in 1265. Unusually for the time they shared the same friends, including Franciscan friar Adam Marsh who, says historian Louise Wilkinson, took Eleanor to task in his letters for “her forthright behaviour, for being quick to anger and for her love of ostentatious dress and finery”. She was definitely an Angevin by temperament. She accompanied her husband to Italy, and for spells when he was Henry’s lieutenant in Gascony. Eleanor bore him seven children.

Relations with her brother Henry III 

In this period, despite being given Odiham manor in 1237, Eleanor’s main residence was Simon's seat at Kenilworth. She travelled with her husband at times - her daughter, Joanna, was born in Bordeaux. Henry, according to medieval historian David Carpenter, had an “amiable, easy-going and sympathetic” personality. But he had been furious when in 1239 Simon had used his name as guarantor for a loan without asking him. Despite his early threats, relations were later patched up but Henry often seemed bent on making their lives difficult.

Ruin of Odiham Castle

As Simon’s close confidante over a quarter of a century, Eleanor shared in a series of quarrels with her brother - charges brought against Simon for supposed failures in Gascony, compensation for his poorly resourced time there, non-repayment of loans etc. Apart from Henry’s apparently shabby treatment of the pair, the king’s government in general became steadily more inefficient and corrupt. Potentially ruinous plans in concert with the papacy to invade and occupy Sicily were never far from Henry’s mind but created strong and prolonged opposition. And his favouring at the English court members of the despised and aggressive Lusignan clan (to which his mother had become attached), further factionalised the nobility and clergy.

Provisions of Oxford and the French treaty

Henry’s misrule was blatant and attenuated. By 1258 a baronial reform movement had forced a change in government. Simon Schama said “1258 ought to be one of those dates engraved on the national memory. The Provisions of Oxford were at least as important as Magna Carta”. The king was placed under the authority of a Council of Fifteen chosen by 24 men ultimately responsible to regular parliaments - the first revolution in English history and the most radical reform until the 1640s. The reformers, including Simon, not only controlled the central government, but urged on by discontented townspeople and others, began overhauling local rule. Crucially, the barons, bowing to popular feeling, introduced some reforms inimical to their own interests.

The political progress of 1258 stalled the following year, with the proposed Anglo-French peace treaty. France added a new stipulation - not only must Henry renounce all claims to the lands of King Louis and his brothers, (Normandy and Anjou), but so too must Henry’s brother Richard and sister Eleanor. Richard soon renounced, but not Eleanor. Henry still owed the de Montforts £400 worth of land, promised in 1253 as Eleanor’s marriage portion. While Henry had provided cash in lieu, the agreement was that the land must be heritable to help form an endowment for the children.

Eleanor refused to provide the required renunciation, thus holding up the treaty. Henry blamed Simon for working up the king of France to demand this renunciation. Simon replied, “I never arranged nor suggested this, nor did I get anyone else to do so, and on this charge I will stand or fall by the memory of the king of France”. Simon and Eleanor estimated their annual losses from the unpaid dower at 1,400 marks. But with all their other claims included they demanded compensation from Henry of 36,400 marks (over £24,000) a sum close to the total annual royal income. Despite arbitration talks, Eleanor still refused to provide her renunciation. King Louis then took up the issue himself. As part of the treaty he would hold back 15,000 marks until such time as Henry satisfied Eleanor’s claim. Agreement was reached on 3 December 1259 and next day Simon and Eleanor jointly declared she had made a full renunciation.

The Angevin lands’ claim showed Eleanor’s stubborn determination on an issue she saw as important, even if it should delay a crucial state treaty. Henry seemed to think it was all Simon’s doing and he was undoubtedly closely involved. But time was to prove Eleanor rather a dog with a bone on questions of her own rights and property, even long after the death of her husband.

The move to civil war

Henry was angry about this but particularly incensed that Simon had not taken leave of him when he returned from France. He was also incandescent that a parliament was called for Candlemas, in early February 1260. The 1258 Provisions stipulated that three annual parliaments should be central to running the country whether or not the king called one himself or thought it necessary. Henry apparently hadn’t fully realised that things had now changed.

Henry’s son Edward had joined the reformers, though the struggle between them and the king continued for years, with first one side then the other getting the upper hand. Edward himself changed sides four times. Some heavy hitters left Simon’s group to become allies of the royal camp, and the French king’s various actions swung the balance several times. In 1262 a demoralised Simon departed for France with Eleanor.

On Simon’s return it was full civil war and he emerged as the clear leader of the baronial party. The conflict later became known as the Second Barons’ War. Simon and Eleanor had fortified their base at Odiham with thick walls, turning it into a strongly defendable castle. Eleanor assumed a planning and organisational role, acting as a communications hub between her husband and sons as they took control of key areas. She also networked with supporters like the Bishops of Lincoln and Worcester, and held royalist prisoners.

In May 1264 against the odds Simon’s forces defeated Henry’s at Lewes. The king and his son Edward were taken prisoner. Simon became de facto ruler of the realm. Eleanor, seen as the most reliable figure for the task, was charged with confining her brother Richard and nephew Edward at Wallingford after the battle. She later presided with Simon over Kenilworth’s great Christmas court. Eleanor had a lead role as a political hostess, supporting Simon’s allies. Wilkinson writes “ The sheer strength of the countess’s relationship with her husband and her personal importance to him was clearly illustrated when Earl Simon set out to join Eleanor at Odiham after the great Hilary Parliament of 1265 dispersed, arriving there on 19 March for a family conference”. 

Document calling the Hilary Parliament of 1265

Disaster at Evesham and the Dover siege

But it was not to last. Edward effected a cunning escape from Hereford Castle and Simon, losing more allies, sent messengers to Eleanor, worried about her security. She and her son Simon, with their household, rode overnight on borrowed horses the 40 miles from Odiham to Portchester. Gathering supplies and supporters in mid-June she travelled to Dover Castle. Maybe this was for her greater protection. But Ambler has a more plausible explanation. Henry’s wife Eleanor of Provence, had brought an army to northern France to threaten the de Montfort regime. Its likely invasion route, as in 1216, was via the Pas de Calais. Eleanor de Montfort wasn't being rescued or preparing her escape, but (with Simon occupied in the west country) she was defending the key to the realm. Says Ambler, “In establishing Eleanor at Dover the Montforts were appointing a commander whose resolve would be impregnable”.

Great Tower of Dover Castle

She brought in a siege engine and prepared for an extended fight. She was in a position to influence the vital Cinque Ports in preparing to defend an attack. This role was way beyond that of a typical medieval noblewoman. Unusually, her accounts for this period survive, offering a clear insight into her arrangements for the castle. Personal details are shown, such as the names of servants who wouldn’t normally appear in the historic record, like William the carter and Petronilla the laundress.

But on 4 August Simon’s depleted force was annihilated by Edward at Evesham. He and his eldest son Henry were killed in the battle, and Simon’s body horribly mutilated. It was catastrophic for the de Montforts as some 40 of their supporters among the nobility were also killed. Rather than surrender Dover, Eleanor held out against the political reversal. This was in contrast for example, to the wife of Hugh Despenser who surrendered the Tower of London once she heard of her husband’s death at Evesham. Eleanor’s accounts show the purchase of cloth and other goods for mourning.  

Surrender and exile

Political messages were sent from Dover, but food supply was getting harder. 14 royalist prisoners held there managed to convince the guards to release them. When Edward heard this he besieged the castle. Eleanor, having sent her sons Richard and Amaury safely to France, now faced an internal besides an external threat. The siege ended on 26 October. Eleanor negotiated exile for herself and pardons for her supporters, having sent 11,000 marks to France for the family’s use. She had earlier agreed with Henry £500 a year for her dower lands and provision for son Simon, the family heir. 

Eleanor made her way to France and entered the Dominican abbey of Montargis, 70 miles south of Paris. This had been founded by her sister in law Amicie, the abbess. From there she continued her negotiations for a further family settlement and recovered more of the money owed her. Her sons Simon and Guy joined her in 1266, so all her remaining family were now safe. Eleanor died at Montargis in April 1275.

Eleanor's place in history

Why was she important? Says Carpenter, Simon was “the first sole leader of a political movement in English history and the first political opponent of the king to seize power and govern the country in his name”. So could Simon even have attempted this without Eleanor’s resolute support? Apart from providing the emotional buttress of a strong partner the effect would have been to compromise King Henry, her brother. And she fought for a long time against her own royal family. This alone made her rather a one off.

Later (14th century) image of Eleanor

Why else should Eleanor be included in a list of under-appreciated historical figures? An influential woman at the centre of a civil war, she was a strong, assertive and determined player, not just a bystander. This was an important period, the start of a true English parliament. The de Montfort revolution took place against huge social uproar. She guarded hostages. The 1265 Hilary parliament was unlike the old royal councils, in the breadth of its composition and the topics debated. Writes Simon Schama, “By the standards of feudal and absolutist Europe, it was breathtakingly radical”.

Unusually for the time Eleanor had almost certainly married for love. This caused all sorts of problems and itself singled her out. She’d also strongly supported first, the 1258 Oxford reforms, then her husband’s rebellion against her brother. In 1265 she held Dover Castle for months against a threat from his wife in France, and was politically adroit enough to negotiate a withdrawal to safeguard her supporters. She also fought determinedly and independently to recover her lands and rights, and protect her sons from the tumult of this era.

Based on two fine studies: Louise J Wilkinson, Eleanor de Montfort: A rebel Countess in Medieval England (London 2012); and Sophie Thérèse Ambler, The Song of Simon de Montfort (London 2019)