7th Crusade II

One point about the naming of this crusade. You will find some source material (such as the Salles des Croisades) numbering it as the Sixth Crusade. This is due to debate in the past as to whether Frederick II's crusade counted; he was excommunicate at the time and he achieved his aims by the rather unknightly method of negotiation rather than by slaughtering the heathen.

Anyway, more on the participants. This crusade was predominantly French, though the Wikipedia article are a bit off the mark with the reason. Henry III of England was not involved in conflict with de Montfort at this point - relations had been strained but Henry actually stopped de Montfort going on crusade as he wanted him to govern in Gascony. Allowing him to return to Syria could have been a convenient method of getting him out of the way if necessary.

Some English did take part however. The most famous was William II Longespée, son of the 3rd Earl of Salisbury. He is often styled Earl of Salisbury, and claimed the title himself, but his father only had the title by marriage and the younger William's mother still lived. He was not an exile and, according to a letter he sent to the Pope, accepted that the denial of the title to him was in accordance with the law. (See the Wikipedia article). In fact, he was even given an annuity by the king and Henry may have been instrumental in William gaining additional land. See the History of Poole from around page 16 for more detail of this character. The figure on the left of the picture is painted as Longespée.
His standard is borne by a member of the de Vere family. I have used one of the variants of the standard arms with a black engrailed border. The figure on the mail barded horse bears the arms of the de Bohun's. I'm now doubtful that a prominent member of the family carried out his crusading vows but I kept them anyway.
The figures are all Old Glory 15s.

These are also Old Glory 15s - lances have been replaced as those moulded on are rather flimsy.

They are painted as some of the knights from Frankish Romania. In the centre is de la Roche, Duke of Athens (though he was in the 8th, not 7th, crusade). On the right of the picture are the rather plain arms of the decidedly unplain sounding Katzenellenbogen.

More OG15s. The centre arms are those of Ibelin, borne by the Count of Jaffa. There is an interesting passage in Joinville:
"The Count of Jaffa came ashore upon our left, who was cousin-german to the Count of Montbeliart, and of the lineage of Joinville. He it was who made the most noble show at landing; for his galley came up all painted above and below water with his escutcheons, the arms of which are "or with a cross gules patee." He had about three hundred oarsmen in his galley, and each oarsman bore a target with his arms, and to each target was attached a streamer with his arms embossed in gold."
This is one of the few instances I have seen where it shows the rank and file also bearing the arms of their lord.

Finally, some more French knights.
The main reason I have included this is because it shows a mix of Old Glory (right) and Mirliton (left). The two ranges mix very well. The OG shields are slightly smaller. I do have some gripes with the range. They are sold as 3rd crusade whereas they are far more suitable for the mid-13th century though some have an older style helm. They also lack a saddle cloth on either the figure or the horse and there is a ridge underneath which stops them sitting well on the horse.However it was easy enough to make a green stuff saddle cloth and this helped the figures to sit well. I like the full mail bard on some of the horses and there is a wider range of horse pose than Mirliton.

The Marcher Lords and the Welsh

The English conquest of Wales was largely driven by the actions of the Marcher lords, those who held lands along the English-Welsh border. These were some of the most powerful subjects of the Kings of England at any time. They had far more independence than the majority of the barons with legal powers "like unto a king".  These powers are summaried in the Wikipedia article. One point I would disagree with is the opening staement that they were 'trusted'. That was the theory but in practice their power meant that they had to be carefully handled by the king.

 At the time of the 2nd Barons' War, the three Marcher Earls were those of Hereford, Pembroke and Gloucester. The Earldom of Shrewsbury had become extinct and the Earldom of Chester was held by Prince Edward. Another earldom, that of March, was created under Edward I and first held by Roger Mortimer.

I've already mentioned Hereford and Pembroke, so here is Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and of
Hertford. 'Red' Gilbert (probably on account of his hair) had inherited the earldom at an early age - he wasn't actually knighted until de Montfort did so just before the Battle of Lewes. He threw in his lot with the Barons despite being married to the king's niece who was also daughter of the  Earl of Pembroke. His actions probably led to their estrangement so that they were legally separated after the war.

He led the central division of the Baronial army at Lewes. However, he fell out with de Montfort and began to aid the royalist party, joining Edward for Kenilworth and Evesham. He reaped the rewards, being given further lands in Wales. He had various disagreements with Llewellyn and led Edward's southern forces against the Welsh though without success.

He even engaged in a private war with de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. This was within the rights of a Marcher Lord but Edward stamped on it, prosecuting both parties and briefly imprisoning them to make the point.

 One feature of  Marcher warfare were the muntatores, the light cavalry known to have been used in Staffordshire and Shropshire from the late 11th century. They are described as having hauberk, iron helmet and lance. The lack of any mention of shields may not be significant - they are also not mentioned for the infantry the Assizes of arms and it is generally assumed that the infantry had them so the muntatores may also have done so. This article describes them and proposes a link between them and the hobelars which are often thought to have originated in Ireland. 

There may not have been any noticeable difference between the muntatores and the lesser equipped part of the Welsh cavalry. For my muntatores I have simply used some of the Legio Heroica sergeeants, mostly with no leg armour, on unbarded horses. However, for my Welsh cavalry I have used some Outpost cavalry and these may also be suitable for muntatores. Outpost's later sergeants are also suitable - they have kettle hats and cerveillieres. I don't have any comparison photos for Outpost yet but I would judge them pretty compatible with Mirliton and similar.

The English conquest of Wales relied to some extent on the fractious nature of Welsh politics. The Marcher lords and the King often involved themselves in a dispute between two Welsh parties and came away with gains from the loser. Some other gains were made through marriage and others through blatant annexation.

The Welsh also involved themselves in English politics - much of de Montfort's army at Evesham was composed of Welsh infantry and Llewellyn 'the last' was married to de Montfort's daughter.

By the mid-13th century, most of the south of Wales was under Marcher control and this seems to be the main area where archery was dominant.The north seems to have been fonder of spearmen and there were various occasions where they stood up to and defeated English knights, though often with the aid of favourable terrain.

The dress of these spearman is somewhat debateable.There is evidence that the standard form of dress found over most of Western Europe was becoming normal but there is other evidence that a more distinctive mode of dress remained in use. This has been dismissed as being English writers dismissing a more barbarous style of dress but the description seems no more outlandish or unsuitable than the broadly similar clothing worn in the Scottish highlands i.e. linen shirt and woolen cloak. Note - I don't think the overall appearance of these two forms of dress would have been similar, just the components. This article summarises the evidence. You can find Giraldus Cambrienensis' 12th century description here and some later depictions of Welsh soldiers here. This is one of the pictures from the National Archives of Wales.

There is a Flemish description which seems to confirm the appearance of the Welsh at the end of the 13th century. The Flemish version of van Velthem's Spiegel Historiael is here - the relevant section is around line 90. The link above has a translation into English.

One thing which I've pondered is the translation of 'roden rocke'. These are the red tunics which are mentioned in various books. I have absolutely no evidence for this, but I wonder if there is a Medieval Flemish equivalent of 'rude' (from the latin 'rudis') which this could represent. 'Rude garment' is a phrase which crops up in English to mean a simple or rough piece of clothing often used for something like St Francis's garb. The usual explanation however is that the king donated red cloth to them as an early form of livery. I have painted up some of my Welsh spearmen in red and the remainder in a motley collection using colours in the laws of Hywel Dda and here.

These are some of my Welsh spearmen.

From left to right they are from Lancashire, Donnington, Khurasan, Donnington, Khurasan and Lancashire.

Overall, my favourites are the Donnington figures. They have a proper hood and the proportions are IMHO the best. as can be seen, the three makes are very compatible in size. These are the first Lancashire figures I've used for a while and was largely as a result of them putting photos on their website. There is a third pose which I haven't used - it may well paint up well enough but I didn't like the figures as much. For the price it is affordable to discard the odd figure! Incidentally, their English foot such as these spearmen are very good figures - despite the number of feudal infantry I already have I shall have to find a home for them. I shall also probably use their Welsh archers as I seem to have accidentally found myself in possession of most of a Welsh army! I already have a few as samples but haven't painted them. They have a lot more action in the pose than Essex's Welsh.

The de Montforts

The name of De Montfort is effectively synonymous with the 2nd Barons' War.

There were actually two families of that name prominent in the conflict, both on the same side. One branch had come over with the Conqueror and were soon given the manor of Beaudesert in Warwickshire. The other branch was headed by Simon de Montfort. They had recently arrived in England - rather ironically one of the main complaints of the party headed by Simon was the influence of foreigners on the King.

First, the de Montforts of Beaudesert. 


The head of the family was Peter de Montfort. His arms are still used by the local high school as their badge. He was a major player in the 1250s and was apparently involved in various embassies. He could also be claimed to have been the first to hold the office which became the Speaker of Parliament.

He was a leader of the party which opposed much of the King's policy and his seeming dominance by his half-brothers and other foreigners.

He and his son were captured at Northampton and so missed the fighting at Lewes. He was with Simon de Montfort at Evesham, dying in the battle there. His son, Piers, was wounded but survived, regaining his father's lands after the treaty made at Kenilworth.

Beaudesert has now effectively been absorbed by Henley in Arden, a small but pleasant town in Warwickshire near where I live. The parish of Beaudesert still exists and rather oddly the parish churches of Henley and Beaudesert are little more than 100 yards apart. The Beaudesert church still contains much of its Norman structure. (I went there for a wedding once!) It sits at the foot of a fairly long ridge which is now pretty much hidden from view by the town. However, once past the houses you can see it rise abruptly above the surroundings.

This ridge was the site of Beaudesert Castle, long since disappeared. It is, however, possible to see the earthworks which formed part of the defences and may even date back to pre-Roman times.

Here is a photo I took a couple of days ago (this was in July).

What looks like a slight depression is a substantial ditch. You can only see about half of the steps (and the treads of each one are far too high, and I'm not short!) The grass is kept short by rabbits and the main area of the castle is covered by scrub and wild flowers. A nice walk :)

This is a view of what once would have been the park around the castle. The area was once far more heavily wooded. It is quite rolling (and IMHO the best countryside in the world!) The grass looks short but was around two feet deep.

This was a patch of marsh at the foot of the ridge which I though would be useful for modelling. At least, it would be marsh if we weren't having a long dry spell round here.









The Time Team carried out an excavation of the castle which is available on 4oD, though you have to forgive them the references to the prevalence of the longbow in the Barons' Wars. I think they must have mown the whole hill top which wasn't exactly environmentally friendly!

I've added a link to the Gatehouse site, a great resource for castle hunters. It shows the position of a large number of fortifications in England and Wales, and their state of preservation as well as some pictures. I found out that a place where I used to sit around on an escaprment as a teenager was actually the site of the Beauchamp castle just outside Alcester.



The other de Montfort family was headed by Simon. 

He had come to England as a young man to claim his father's English lands - his elder brother received the French inheritance. He soon married the king's sister. Henry later claimed that Simon had seduced her and that the marriage was to prevent scandal. He certainly managed to gain  a great deal of influence at court. His career is covered by a number of websites and various books, so I won't go into detail.

Interestingly, his arms are shown by Matthew Paris as the reverse of these, as are the ones showing his gruesome end at Evesham. I have kept to the ones shown in most of the rolls and the picture of his father linked to below.
The banner is shown in a picture of his father and is said to be borne in honour of the lands at Hinckley. Some of the rolls of arms give these as the de Montfort arms.

A while before Lewes, Simon had been injured in an accident and had needed to travel in some kind of carriage. Various accounts mention this as he cunningly placed this conveyance in view while deploying for Lewes, with his banner displayed next to it. The histories say that the Royalists focussed their attentions here although the only souls contained in the carriage were three Londoners who had opposed his entry into the city. They were held inside the carriage and some accounts say that they were killed by their own side as their entreaties could not be heard.

The actual type of vehicle is debateable. At least one author believed it was suspended between two horses. Another, almost contemporary account, said it was made of iron specifically to hold the Londoners. I decided to scratchbuild a canopy on top of a Magister Militum base and wheels to create a similar effect to the one in the Lutrell Psalter. I think I have overdone shape of the top and it could perhaps do with being longer. It currently looks a bit too much like a Romany caravan!  However, it is pretty similar to this later carriage.

EDIT:
I've found a picture of a carriage which looks very similar to mine. It's in a 19th century book - the pictures aren't originals but are to help painters with getting the right look and are based on earlier source material. It was written by the same man who produced the book I used for my Flemish. The book is available as a full view in Google books here.
NEW EDIT: I passed this on to someone else and scratchbuilt a new wagon which is on another post.


Advancing on the carriage are some Legio Heroica peasants. One banner is that of St. Edward, the other is St. Edmund's. Henry had a particular reverence for these English saints, hence his choice of names for his sons. There are some nice pictures of these banners used in decoration at the now lost royal chambers of Westminster. There is a picture of them in 'A Great and Terrible King' - copies were made after the rediscovery in the early 19th century which was just before the palace was damaged by fire.

One of the only 'names' killed on the Barons' side was Simon's standard bearer, Blount. He commanded the guard left around the carriage and banner. I've put him on the same base as Simon, as I liked the heraldry :)

I don't have any pictures, but I've also painted a couple of de Montfort's (with Mirliton figures) to use with my French and Florentines. Two of Simon's sons, Guy and Simon the younger escaped from England after Evesham. They joined Charles of Anjou's invasion. Guy became Charles' Vicar-General in Tuscany and led some forces alongside a Florentine army. He gained the title of Count of Nola. However, their cousin Henry of Almain, son of Edmund of Cornwall and grandson of Henry III, passed into Italy while Edward carried on to the Holy Land. He may have had a mission to repair relations with the de Montforts but it ended in tragedy. While he was praying, the de Montfort brothers stormed into the church and hacked at him even as he clutched the altar. Pleas for mercy were met with the response that their father and brothers had been given no mercy - though it seems that Edward had actaully tried to save Simon the Elder at Evesham. While Henry lay on the church floor dying, the brothers left, but once outside they were reminded of the mutilation meted out on their father, so they returned to do the same. Henry's bones and heart were returned to England

 The two were excommunicated and forced to flee, though there are suggestions that they were not pursued as vigourously as they might have been. Simon soon died, but Guy soon returned to the favour of Charles of Anjou. He continued to work for the king though he was later captured in the war of the Sicilian Vespers and died in an Aragonese prison. For his crime against Henry, Dante placed Guy in the Seventh Circle of Hell, up to his neck in boiling blood: "Within God's bosom he impaled the heart that still drips blood beside the Thames"

The Londoners

A substantial portion of the Baronial army at Lewes was provided by the London Militia.

The citizens had not endeared themselves to the King or his son - they had pelted the queen with refuse and insults as she escaped the city by boat. Virtually all the Londoners seem to have been in favour of the Barons, though four who tried to bar de Montfort's entry into the city were held hostage by him and met a sticky end which I may relate another time.

The (theoretical) arms and armour of the English militia of this period are set out in a 1253 Assize (p.431). As in many such cases, these are ideals and not necessarily adhered to. I shall be doing some other militia as armed peasants. Hopefully Legio Heroica will one day produce some spearmen with gambesons but no mail. 

Incidentally, this assize has been cited by the US Congress in support for the right to bear arms.

I based the flag in this source: it dates from the time of King John*. The flag of London, since sometime in the 14th century and before Wat Tyler's rebellion, has been what looks like the cross of St George but with a sword in one corner (as shown here). This is the flag of St Paul**. I really couldn't decide what kind of flag to use. I originally painted it as a banner, which is perhaps more suitable for the description of Fitzwalter carrying it on horseback.  I then saw a modern version which is a vexillium type, still used by churches. Since the flag was donated by the cathedral, I thought I'd do this kind. Unfortunately, I prefer the painting I did on the other banner! I think I shall have a third attempt, with this seal as a guide.

  The arms on the shield of the 'officer' are those of Fitzwalter.  This is Robert Fitzwalter's seal (from the British Museum) from around the time of John's death. As shown in the above source, the Fitzwalter's, Lords of Baynard's Castle, had the right to be the bearers of the banner of London. I have used some licence in this case - at Lewes the militia were not lead by a Fitzwalter as the young head of the family had been captured at  Northampton. He was freed as part of the treaty after Lewes.

Instead, the wing containing the Londoners was lead by Nicholas Segrave who had escaped from Northampton.

Segrave was the step-son of de Somery, a leadiing royalist, and this may have helped his rapid rehabilitation after Evesham. He, and his sons, are mentioned in the Caerlaverock roll. He changed the family arms from the bushels to a crowned lion, though it is unclear when he did so. I have hedged my bets and shown his banner with the older arms and his shield and caparison with the newer version.

*I went to Worcester Cathedral today and while I was there I went to see King John's tomb again. There is also one of the 14th century Beauchamps there.

 ** Worcester Cathedral is also St Paul's - I didn't know until today that they use the same arms as London.

Henry's Brothers

Henry III's mother, Isabella of Angouleme, was betrothed when still a child to Hugh of Lusignan. Soon after John became King of England, he annulled his marriage and effectively kidnapped the 12 year old Isabella who was already considered a beauty. John married her and they had five children. The oldest was Henry and the second child was named Richard. A daughter, Joan, was betrothed to her mother's erstwhile suitor and she was sent to live at his court.

 However, when John died, Isabella returned to her lands in Angouleme and soon after married Hugh - her daughter instead being promised to Alexander of Scotland. Isabella proceeded to have another nine chidren. All fourteen of her offspring survived to adulthood - her daughters married a variety of notables including the Emperor Frederick II, Alexander II of Scotland, Raymond of Toulouse and Simon de Montfort.

Her second son, Richard, was from the age of 16 Count of Poitou and Earl of Cornwall. His Cornish lands provided a considerable amount of wealth and he became one of the richest men in Europe. He would later build his property portfolio through some shady purchases of debts. He also made a rich marriage and was paid off by the King on several occasions after rebelling.

One way in which he spent his money was on the reconstruction and expansion of the fortifications at Tintagel. This was an era which was fascinated in the stories around King Arthur and it seems that the castle was built because of the legend rather than for any strategic purpose. It is an interesting place to visit - unless you dislike heights! 

Richard went on Crusade from 1240-3 although he fought in no battles. On the way home, he met his soon to be second wife, Sanchia. She was one of four sisters - the others married Henry of England, Louis IX of France and Charles of Anjou. Soon after, the Pope offered to sell Richard the throne of Sicily. Matthew Paris says that he replied by saying "You might as well say 'I make you a present of the moon - step up to the sky and take it down'." His brother Henry had less sense, purchasing the right for his son which accomplished nothing except to strain the royal finances.

However, Richard was more tempted by the title of Emperor and bribed various Electors to acquire the crown. However, his title was challenged by Alfonso of Castile and neither could enforce their will on the Empire. Contemporary historians refer to Richard as King of the Germans and his son was known as Henry of Almain.

Richard had opposed Simon de Montfort at various points and joined the King when war broke out. He commanded a battle at Lewes but when things went badly he tried to take refuge in a windmill, coming out when the rebels threatened to set it aflame, calling "Come out you bad miller!" He remained in captivity until after Evesham.  See http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/luttrell/accessible/page14lge.html for a roughly contemporary windmill.

Richard's son, Henry of Almain, was later murdered by two of the de Montforts while journeying through Italy. This earned them a place in Dante's Inferno - I'll add more when I get around to posting pictures of the de Montforts.

A possible link between Richard of Cornwall's arms and those of Richard I is covered here - go to the section on 'tricky arms'. This may also explain the lion of the de Joinville/de Geneville arms (I've painted a couple of figures in variations of these arms).

Henry's ties with his Lusignan brothers were one of the causes of the Barons' War. The English nobility resented the foreigners gaining land and influence - though French was still their main language and many held French lands. The ultimate leader of the barons, Simon de Montfort, was of course of French birth himself.

Henry does seem to have favoured his half-brothers excessively - he made Aymer de Valence Bishop of Winchester despite him being decidely unqualified for the job.

Another brother was William de Valence who acquired the title of Earl of Pemboke in right of his wife. He fought at Lewes and fled into exile. He returned the following year, landing with various other Royalists and a sizeable force in William's Welsh territory. They seem to have been in communication with Gilbert de Clare and soon met up with him. He fought at Kenilworth and at Evesham. One of his postwar gains was the manor of Inkberrow which is just under ten miles from where I live.

The picture of my figures at the top of the page shows the arms of Richard and of William. The other armigerous figure bears the arms of Oddingseles. They held land at Solihull and the arms are still part of the badge of Solihull School.

The Beauchamps

Well over a decade ago I took part in my one and only archaeological dig at my local abbey's ruin. After a few days washing industrial slag, they asked if I would mind helping to clean some skeletons as this was the last dig for a few years and they wanted to get quite a few up.
 I then spent a couple of weeks cleaning bones, including a number of skulls. From the context, they were believed to be 13th century - as it happens the same period that I now cover in this blog. The preservation varied according to the soil - the boundary between two types passes through the site so in some cases half of the bones were very well preserved while the other half instantly crumbled.
 I think I dealt with about half a dozen skulls and some were so well preserved that even the ear bones survived, washing out as I swilled the skulls round like some kind of macabre Tom-Cruise-in-Cocktail. One particular skeleton stays in my memory. It was a man and going by his long bones he was probably around 6 feet tall. He had marks on his bones showing that he'd had a lot of muscles - the on-site experts said that they showed he had probably been a rider and likely a knight which would explain his presence in a high status part of the abbey. A number of bones had broken at some stage in his life, including a leg, some ribs and one arm I think. They had all healed very well.
 The most impressive injuries were to his head. There were two cuts in the skull, probably from a blade. One went from front to back along the top left of his skull and the other went from side to side across the upper back of his head. Although some healing had begun, the experts thought they were serious enough to have led to his death. A possible victim of Kenilworth or Evesham perhaps - the abbey lies within easy reach of both. Of course, it may have been some kind of accident or a local brawl, but I can daydream!

 What does this have to do with the Beauchamps? When I was helping there, a couple of people mentioned that the Black Dog of Arden was buried there. I knew nothing of the period then and only recently found out that he was one of the Beauchamp Earls of Warwick, dubbed with that name as an insult by a favourite of Edward II. His grave had been discovered years ago, but it was nice to know that one of the great magnates had apparently chosen to be buried in my hometown.



 The Beauchamps made their mark under Edward I, acquiring the Warwick title by marriage. Various branches gained land in the area, including at Alcester. It seems that the Beauchamp arms were originally a simmple gules, a fesse or but cross crosslets or martlets were adopted as differences - the crosses being taken from the traditional arms of the Earls of Warwick.

In the photo, Beauchamps are second, fifth and seventh from the left. I haven't worried too much about whether the arms are suitable for the Barons' War. Others in the line up include Hastings and Mortimer. Mortimer was an especially major player in the war.
One of the branches of the d'Abitot family is to the extreme left. I haven't found out much about them except that they had various branches holding lands in my area of the country and that they had some nice looking coats of arms!

Incidentally, my output of Medieval figures is on hold for a while as I'm working through a backlog of Classical period stuff (Simon de Montfort sits on my painting table half-finished!). I may set up a different blog to cover some of this stuff but continue to update Dante's Wars in my current lacksdaisical manner.

The Nobility of England

For a few months, I have concentrated on English knights of the reign of Henry III.

The reign was a period which saw some conflict in France and Wales as well as the Second Barons' War. Many of the same characters saw action in the next reign as Henry's son, Edward Longshanks, fought in Wales and Scotland.


 The figures are all 15mm by Legio Heroica. I used a mix of the early 13th century and mid 13th century ranges. The early period helmets would have been obsolete by the time of the Barons' War, so unlikely to have been worn by the nobility, but the figures are nice and it gives me more variety plus some of the poorer knights may have still used them. By Edward I's wars, helmet styles had evolved even further.

 I originally decided to just do a few English, representing my local area. However, the more I read and researched, the more carried away I became so that I have ended up with a full size army.

 A major resource which I used was British History Online. This includes many county histories. I live on the border of Worcestershire and Warwickshire and luckily these two are covered. The histories give a great deal of detail of who owned land where through most of recorded history. I think that at times the heraldry is inaccurate but it is a very useful starting point. Early Rolls is very useful for checking the heraldry though be sure to cross check as some arms vary from roll to roll. I also used Grazebrook's Heraldry of Worcestershire, trawling through to find places which were local to me and arms which were carried in Henry or Edward's reigns.

 Over the next couple of weeks I'll upload a series of photos of various figures, with a bit of gossip about many of them.

To start, here's Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford and Constable of England.

He was at times in opposition to the king, but was in the King's army at Lewes. Some books put him on the Barons' side at Evesham but this is probably a confusion with his son - also called Humphrey. The younger Humphrey can be seen to the rear. He was a commander for the Barons at Lewes and again at Evesham. He seems to have earned de Montfort's displeasure at Evesham for choosing to remain in command of the Welsh. He probably did not flee with them immediately - he was mortally wounded and died soon after the battle.

 The arms in black are those carried by the de Spineto family who held land at Coughton, about 5 miles from where I live.

Henry of Winchester

Henry of Winchester - Henry III of England - became king at a young age, crowned with a simple circlet as the crown jewels had been sold or lost in the Wash. His father, John, died while still at war with many of his barons. In some ways, this set the tone of the next fifty odd years, with frequent disagreements between the King and many of the most powerful men of the realm. Frequent political strife broke out into open warfare - the Second Barons' War. Much of the strife was down to the King's failure to recover land lost in France; the Saintoge War being the main example. Another cause of tension was Henry's attempt to buy the Kingdom of Sicily for his younger son. The cost was huge - Henry's brother had already declined the offer - and the chance of success was low. In the end, the only result was that the King was desparate for money.
 The various twists and turn of the Barons' War can be followed in many place. One old but seemingly useful source can be found here. One useful section is the appendix where participants of the two factions are named. I think there are a few errors, but handy nonetheless.
 This has a variety of primary and near secondary sources covering the War.
 Dante mentions Henry as one of the group at the base of the mountain of Purgatory, alongside some of the other characters I've covered.
  "You see the king who led the simple life

    seated alone: Henry of England—he
    has better fortune with his progeny."

 

  I hadn't originally intended painting an English army, but decided I'd just do a few of the local lords. I already had a fair number of Legio Heroica's figures which I started to paint as French, but I quickly decided that they wouldn't work too well alongside the French I'd already done.
 I soon found myself researching the various nobles of England and within a short time I'd commited myself to paint up a full army. I'll go into some of the sources I used another time.

 Legio Heroica do two kingly figures. The one which I used for Henry is designed for the early part of the 13th century and in theory is too early for Henry, especially for the Barons' War period. His seal show him in a full helm and riding a horse with no caparison but artistic licence was mine to take! I especially liked the pose - in DBMM Henry is an inert general and this pose leant itself to a level of inertia.

I was heavily influence by the style of painting used for this figure on the Legio Heroica site - I even copied the ermine trim.



I was intruiged by the description of a dragon standard used at Lewes. Hobilar (the magazine of the Lance and Longbow society) had a bit of a debate about whether this would have been a flag or a windsock style. After a bit of deliberation, I decided on the windsock. This was for a couple of reasons. The first was that Henry seemed interested in his Saxon predecessors - using the names Edward and Edmund for his sons was very unusual at the time. It was their saintliness which was their main draw, but he may have been aware that the Saxon kings probably carried dragon standards, as shown on the Bayeux Tapestry.

What swayed my decision finally was coming across this picture. It seems to have been from the time of Edward I, who is also known to have used a dragon standard. The picture is an illustration of the story of King Arthur, another subject which was of interest to Henry - he probably ordered the construction of the Winchester Round Table.
 I scratchbuilt the dragon using fuse wire and milliput. The first attempt was okay but I decided to try again and even then had to rebuild the head.

The arms of his standard bearer are, I think, those of the knight who held the land where our wargaming club meets.

I shall post some more pictures of the flower of English chivalry once I get the basing done!