THE EVESHAM CAMPAIGN (1265).
Source.—Continuation of Matthew Paris (attributed to William Rishanger), vol. iii, pp. 353-354. (Bohn's Libraries.)
About this time the King's son Edward, who was detained in custody in the Castle of Hereford, obtained permission from his guards to take exercise in a field outside the city, and to amuse himself with trying the speed of their horses. On one occasion, after trying several horses and tiring them out, he at length chose a good one, which he mounted, and, urging him to speed with his spurs, he bade farewell to his guards, and, crossing the River Wye, he directed his course, accompanied by two knights and four esquires who were aware of his design, to the Castle of Wigmore. His guards gave pursuit to him, but seeing the banners of Roger Mortimer and Roger de Clifford, who were come to assist Edward in his escape, they were out-manœuvred, and so returned to Hereford. These occurrences took place on the eve of the Trinity, and were arranged with the counsel and assistance of the aforesaid knights. Thus released from his imprisonment, Edward assembled a large army, as numbers flocked to join him, and the counties of Hereford, Worcester, Salop, and Chester entered into an alliance with him, the towns and villages, cities and castles pouring forth their inhabitants to join his standard. He at once besieged and took the city of Gloucester, of which the Earl had lately gained possession, the garrison left therein taking flight to the castle; but after fifteen days they surrendered the castle also, and on giving their oath not to bear arms against Edward for the future, they were allowed to depart at liberty. The Earl of Leicester in the meantime attacked the Castle of Monmouth, which the Earl of Gloucester had lately taken and fortified, and having compelled the garrison to surrender, rased the castle to the ground. He then entered Glamorganshire, the territory of the said Earl of Gloucester, and being met by the Prince of Wales with assistance, the two chiefs together ravaged the whole country with fire and sword. Edward in the meantime, hearing that many of the partisans of Earl Simon had flocked together to the Castle of Kenilworth, joined his forces with those of the Earl of Gloucester, and, setting forth from Worcester in the evening, reached that place by forced marches. Coming on the place suddenly, he made prisoner of the Earl of Oxford, and about thirteen knights bannerets, before they could enter the castle, in which Simon, the son of Earl Simon, had already shut himself up. Simon, Earl of Leicester, always keeping the King in his company, returned from the south of Wales, and on the Festival of S. Peter ad Vincula, arrived at Kempsey, a manor of the Bishop of Worcester, and stayed there on the day following. Edward then returned from Kenilworth to Worcester, which is only three miles distant from the above-named manor; and Simon, on hearing of his arrival there, went away with the King at nightfall, and took up his quarters in the town of Evesham, where he awaited his unhappy destiny. For, on the morrow, which was the day of the finding of S. Stephen, Edward moved from Worcester, crossed the river near the town of Claines, and cut off the approach of the Earl to his son, who was in the Castle of Kenilworth, and prevented all chance of the father and son meeting. On the following day he drew near the town of Evesham on one side, and the Earl of Gloucester and Roger Mortimer came up with their respective forces in two other directions; thus the Earl of Leicester was hemmed in on all sides, and was under the necessity either of voluntarily surrendering or of giving them battle. On the fifth of August, which fell on the third day of the week, both armies met in a large plain outside the town, where a most severe conflict ensued, till the partisans of the Earl began to give way, and, the whole weight of the battle falling on him, he was slain on the field of battle. At the time of his death a storm of thunder and lightning occurred, and darkness prevailed to such an extent that all were struck with amazement. Besides the Earl, there fell in that battle twelve knights bannerets ... and a great number of others of inferior rank, such as esquires and foot-soldiers, the greatest loss being among the Welsh.