REMEMBERING SIMON DE MONTFORT
ON Wednesday, 20th January, the House of Commons met to remember a very special occasion.
After Prayers and a short statement from the Speaker, Members went to join the Peers in the Royal Gallery and there they saw documents relating to the famous Parliament summoned by Simon de Montfort in January, 1265. They also saw a copy of his seal and of a stained glass window showing a portrait of Simon.
The point of it all was that before 700 years representatives of English towns had been, for the first time, summoned to attend Parliament. Until then only noblemen and churchmen had been considered worthy to advise the king.
The great man who was the wisdom of this step – though he was in advance of his time – was Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. He was leader of a reform party of barons, 50 years after Magna Carta, and had recently defeated Henry III and the opposition party at the Battle of Lewes (a place which is 50 miles from London).
The opposition party had their revenge six months after the summoning of this famous parliament, when Earl Simon and one of his sons were defeated and slain at the Battle of Evesham.
The celebrations of the origins of Parliament were witnessed by the American and French Ambassadors. This is because the US shares with the English the early days of English history; and because Simon was born in Normandy.
Earl Simon inspired great devotion, and even popular songs, in the humble folk of England, who regarded him as their champion.
From “Coming Events in Britain” (Adapted)
Text 7.
MARY STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTLAND
Mary Stuart had become queen of Scotland when only a few days old. Sent to France at the age of five to be brought up by her mother’s family, she was married to Dauphin in 1558, the year that Elizabeth became queen of England. Her husband only reigned for one year as king before his death in 1560, and Mary returned as a widow to her own capital of Edinburgh. There she found that the country had been converted to Protestantism by the reformer John Knox and she had to consent to the undisturbed maintenance of the new creed.
The question of her second marriage was of high importance, her choice falling on her cousin Lord Darnley. The latter however was a weak and unworthy husband and within two years of the marriage was murdered by the simple method of blowing him up with gunpowder. This was almost certainly done with the agreement of the queen, as was her “kidnapping” by the Earl Bothwell, who had been the instigator of the murder.
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Within a very short time she was married to Bothwell, but this immediately led to the rebellion all over the country. With her subjects in both political and religious opposition to her, Mary was forced to abdicate, and then, after escape from prison and raising an army, which was defeated, to flee across the border to England.
This fateful choice of country for her exile took place in May 1568. Her reason for choosing England rather than France was that it was nearer and might provide her with the quickest chance of revenge. But there was no help coming from Elizabeth, for whom Mary’s presence was an embarrassment. She was therefore detained in various castles for almost twenty years, since to have restored her to her throne by force was impossible politically and to have handed her over to the Scots for execution unthinkable treachery.
However Mary, as was almost inevitable, became involved in plots to overthrow the Queen and gave eager encouragement to the designs for a Spanish invasion. Mary was therefore tried and condemned to death, her son, James VI of Scotland, agreeing to “digest” his resentment provided her execution did not prejudice his own claim to the English succession on Elizabeth’s death.
The death-warrant was signed in February 1587 and execution carried out a few days later at Fotheringay Castle.
The following year saw the defeat of the Invincible Armada and Elizabeth’s reign gradually drew to a close, with the great events over and England’s position firmly established.
On the queen’s death in 1603, James VI of Scotland succeeded peacefully to the English throne as James I, thus uniting the two thrones and ending the hostility between the two countries.
From “Butterfly”
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