Cox's view necessitates the Evesham town
bridge being left open to Simon de Montfort, and might have remained a
minority one but for a document which subsequently came to light and gave
strong support to much of his argument. It is dated about 1330 but
appears to be a copy of an earlier version by somebody who had access to
witnesses of the events of the time. It is set out in full as 'The
last hours of Simon de Montfort: A New Account' in English Historical
Review vol. C X V (2000) p 378, and I summarise the points where it
differs from other chroniclers.
1. It was suggested to Simon senior that
his army should defend itself in the abbey precincts. Simon refused "No,
fair friend no. One ought to see knights on the battlefield and
chaplains in churches."
2. As the army came out of Abbey Gate
Sir Guy of Balliol shattered the lance bearing the standard against top of
the gate . The earl said: 'God help us now'.
3. When they came to the 'lavour' of the
town Simon addressed his followers to the effect that some of them,
particularly the younger ones, could escape over the bridge.
4. Edward and Gilbert Clare had knighted
several men in a meadow called Mosham between Craycombe and Evesham and
had designated 12 men to seek out and kill Simon de Montfort. They then
came up the hill, (i.e. Greenhill) in three divisions.
5. Simon saw the Earl of Gloucester's
banner coming up alongside over towards the river.
6. Simon was killed by Roger de
Mortimer.
As with other chroniclers, the author of
the "new account" gives verbatim detail of what Simon de Montfort
supposedly said prior to the battle. It is difficult to know what to make
of this. We do not know who the witnesses were and there must have been
more than one as the same person could hardly have been at the 'lavour' with de Montfort and in Mosham
meadow with Edward. The words supposedly said could have passed through
several people before reaching the chronicler. The more sententious
phrases attributed to him may well have been influenced by the
circumstances of his death with his admirers eager to preserve, no doubt
quite sincerely, what they thought would have been his last words. On the
other hand this was the chroniclers' way of telling their stories so I am
assuming, particularly where a practical matter is concerned, that
something of that nature was said or discussed.
Of the six points mentioned above by far
the most compelling is the information that Edward and Clare were together
in Mosham meadow before the battle. This meadow has been identified and as
being between the River Avon and the Worcester / Evesham Road (A 4538
recently renumbered A44) and below Craycombe Hill. "Meanwhile Sir Edward
and Sir Gilbert de Clare Earl of Gloucester had knighted several men in
the meadow called Mosham between Craycombe and Evesham". This is strong
evidence that Edward and Clare had simply marched along the road from
Worcester to Evesham and had not been involved in any complicated
manoeuvres of crossing the Avon at Cleeve Prior and recrossing it at
Offenham.
At first glance, point 3 seems to
confirm that there were no royalist troops south of the Avon and that the
whole army was with Edward and Clare in Mosham meadow. "And when they came
to the 'lavour' of the town of Evesham, the Earl addressed everyone
together and said 'Fair Lords there are many among you who are not as yet
tried and tested in the world and who are young; you have wives and
children and for this reason look to how you might save yourselves and
them; cross the bridge and you will escape from the great peril that is to
come.'" This, on the face of it, indicates that the bridge was not
blocked by Mortimer's men and that de Montfort's army could have escaped
over it. However, I do not think it is as simple as that. I cannot
believe that De Montfort would simply have allowed Mortimer to march up to
the bridge on the other side of the river and block it. I suggest that
the bridge was still held by de Montfort's army, probably with pickets on
the other side of the bridge to defend it if an attack came from that
direction. It would be quite possible for some of the "Fair Lords" to
escape over the bridge on an individual basis. Probably Mortimer remained
some way off and would need time to prepare an attack on the bridge. But
what de Montfort's army could not cope with was a simultaneous attack from
the royalists on Greenhill. If the army tried to cross the bridge to the
south east, it would be attacked in the rear from Greenhill and in the
flank by Mortimer's division, probably cutting the army in half. De
Montfort did not see much future in being besieged in the Abbey and so
chose to lead his army out against the royalists on Greenhill where at
least he could fight them in the open and have some control over what went
on.
