Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 17.djvu/24

Edward I  over the king by the Earl of Leicester was to be done away with, the ancient powers of the crown were to be restored, and the king was on his side to govern England by Englishmen. Besides the marchers, several great nobles, Earl Warenne, William of Valence, Hugh Bigod, and others, now joined Edward, and his army was recruited from every quarter. Meanwhile, on 8 June, the bishops were ordered to excommunicate him and his adherents. Worcester was surrendered to him, he was master of the neighbouring towns and castles, and on 29 June he took Gloucester, after a stout resistance, allowing the garrison to depart with their arms and horses, and merely exacting a promise that they would not serve against him for a month. He broke down the bridges across the Severn and took away the boats, hemming Leicester in behind the line of the river, and cutting him off from his son, the younger Simon, who was raising troops in and about London. Hearing that the earl had sent to Bristol for transports to convey him from Newport to that town, he went on board three galleys belonging to the Earl of Gloucester, and in his company dispersed the Bristol ships, taking and sinking several of them, and then landed and drove Leicester's force across the Usk into Newport, where they saved themselves by breaking down the bridge (, p. 167;, p. 43). Towards the end of July the younger Simon arrived at Kenilworth, and Leicester now hoped that he would be able to shut Edward and Gloucester in between his own force and that of his son (Ann. Wav;. p. 364). Edward, who was stationed at Worcester, sent the young lord notice that 'he would visit him,' and being informed by spies(, p. l70; one of these spies, according to, i. 322, was a woman named Margot, who dressed in man's clothes) that the troops at Kenilworth kept no strict watch, set out on the night of the 31st, and at dawn the next day surprised them in their quarters round the castle before they were out of their beds, and made so many prisoners that 'the larger half of the baronial army was annihilated (, p. 356). On 3 Aug., hearing that the earl was making for Kenilworth, he left Worcester, and after advancing about three miles northwards, in order to deceive the enemy, turned to the east, crossed the Avon at Cleeve, and pressed on towards Evesham to intercept Leicester's army (ib. pp. 358-40). Mindful of the mistake he had made at Lewes, he now ordered his army with prudence (,p.l72),and detached a force under Gloucester to act in conjunction with that which he himself commanded, and with which early on the 4th he began the battle. His victory was complete, and the Earl of Leicester, his eldest son, Henry, and many nobles of their party were slain.

The sweeping sentence of forfeiture pronounced against the rebels drove them to further resistance. Edward, who received the goods of the rebel citizens of London, captured Dover Castle probably in October, and in November marched with a considerable force against the younger Simon, who with other disinherited lords had occupied the island of Axholme in Lincolnshire, and was ravaging the surrounding country. The position of the rebels was strong, and the attacking force had to make wooden bridges to enable them to reach the island, which was not surrendered until 28 Dec. Edward brought Simon to the council which his father was holding at Northampton, where he was sentenced to banishment. He then took him with him to London, and kept him at his court until he escaped, on 10 Feb. 1266, and went to Winchelsea, where the men of the Cinque ports who adhered to his family were expecting him. The king sent Edward to compel the submission of the ports. He defeated the Winchelsea men in a battle fought in their town on 7 March, and was persuaded to spare the life of their leader in the hope that he would persuade his fellow-rebels to return to their allegiance. This merciful policy was successful, and he received the submission of the ports On the 25th (Ann. Wav. p. 369; Liber de Ant Leg. p. 82). In the middle of May he was engaged in an expedition against a disinherited knight named Adam Gurdon, one of the most mischievous of the many freebooters who infested the country. He came upon him in Whitsun week near Alton in Hampshire. Gurdon, who was a man of great strength, had his band with him, and Edward at the moment that he lighted on him was alone; for he was separated from his men by a ditch. Nevertheless, he at once engaged him single-handed, wounded him severely, and afterwards took him off to Windsor (, p. 189; Trivet's story, p. 269, that Edward, delighted with Gurdon's valour, caused him to be reinstated in his lands and made him one of his friends and followers, seems mere romance). In the July of this year Eleanor, who had returned to England the previous October, bore Edward his first-born son, named John. All this time the disinherited lords in Kenilworth were still holding the castle against the king; for hitherto the royal forces had been so much employed elsewhere that no great effort had been made to take it. At midsummer, however, Edward joined his father in laying