Simon de Montfort [Paperback]

J. R. Maddicott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 1996 | ISBN-10: 052137636X | ISBN-13: 978-0521376365

This book provides a new account of one of the most famous men of the English Middle Ages: Simon de Montfort. It is partly a study of the politics of Henry III's reign (1216-72), with which Montfort's career is closely interwoven; but it also looks at his lands, finances, following and religious ideals. Drawing on unusual sources, the author is able to make his biography as much a study of temperament and character as of a political career, and to write with a degree of psychological penetration rare in works on the medieval nobility.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a compelling biography of an astonishing man. Simon de Montfort is one of those historical figures whose life defies belief, and J. R. Maddicott has done an excellent job of rendering it in all its diversity." The Historian

"It is a tribute to the quality of J.R. Maddicott's biography that neither its length and seriousness nor the unattractive personality of Simon de Montfort that looms over it detracts from it ability to hold the reader. Maddicott's interpretation can take its rightful place as our point of reference for its famous subject." Joel Rosenthal, Speculum--A Journal of Medieval Studies

[Maddicott's] splendid new biography of Simon is deeply rooted in the sources, both chronicle and record, and makes use of a whole new generation of scholarship in assessing an extremely problematic figure." Times Literary Supplement

"...the general reader [will] be impressed by what the author and his predecessors have teased out of the 700-year-old records. Skilled warrior and politician, Montfort was simultaneously violent and introspective, greedy and idealistic. This biography presents him to us in all his vitality and paradox." Stephanie Martin, Wilson Library Bulletin

"That Montfort was a major figure is hardly in dispute, and he has now been accorded a major modern study worthy of his importance." Michael Altschul, American Historical Review

Book Description

Partly a study of the politics of Henry III's reign (l2l6-72), this study looks at Simon de Montfort's lands, finances, following and religious ideals. It draws on unusual sources, making his biography as much a study of temperament and character as a political career.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (June 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052137636X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521376365
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,367,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Medieval England's most famous Frenchman, April 25, 2006

By 

Readalots (South Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simon de Montfort (Paperback)

J.R. Maddicott brings a lively and informative narrative with "Simon De Montfort". This mid 1990s 404-page (paperback) book is popular with four reprints by 1999. Maddicott is thorough in this presentation. He searches many, if not all, documents from the era for composing the dramatic and interesting life of medieval England's most famous Frenchman.

With documented history Maddicott persuasively argues that De Montfort was a powerful pioneer for English baronial liberties. The book answers many questions about Simon's life, politics, religion, victories and defeats (in the political arenas and on battlefields). The reader also learns about Simon's family life (he married the king's widowed sister- Eleanor- without royal permission and had duplicitous sons), the life long quarrel between De Montfort and King Henry III, how the battle at Lewes brought Simon to the pinnacle of governmental power, and about his disastrous defeat and death at Evesham.

If you like medieval pageantry and romance, you will appreciate Maddicott's presentation with "Simon De Montfort". French aristocrat De Montfort arrives to England in 1230 to begin his colorful baronial career. At first Henry III warms to the young aristocrat. Soon their relationship sours and De Montfort diligently works to depose Henry and gain royal power for the remainder of his life. It is a gripping interesting story.

Although Maddicott tends toward run-on sentences and sometimes tediously examines each source (multiple footnotes appear on almost every page), this book is a good read. It opens with a helpful abbreviations list, presents an informative family tree, supplies more than 20 photos and maps, offers an exhaustive 12-page bibliography, and closes with a useable index.

This book is recommendable particularly for English history buffs, medieval scholars, military historians, and constitutional history students. The specialty reader and the general reader will find, through this text, Simon De Montfort exciting and well worth the price.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best biography on ol'Earl, May 27, 2004

By 

lordhoot "lordhoot" (Anchorage, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Simon de Montfort (Paperback)

This book proves to be a well-written if not very complex biography of Simon de Montfort, a revolutionary mediveal baron who dares to challenged the King of England about the limitation of the royal powers. While initially successful, he allowed that success to go to his head and he was finally defeated and killed.

The book revealed a highly complex character, its superbly researched, readable to a those who knoweledge of the period is pretty good, bit hard on those who may be entering this subject for the first time. The author managed to intergrate all elements of de Montfort's life, as a great soldier, as a politican, a man of God with a look of idealism and above all, a family man. Along with his strengths, lies his weaknesses, his ruthless ambition, self-centered on family promotion and wealth at expense of others and his overwhelming sense of pride that borderline on sheer arrogance. The book clearly show how his strength gained him his victories while his weaknesses sent him into defeat.

With great insight, perception and scholarship, I would say this biography of Mountfort is probably the best on the subject and one of the best on any mediveal personalities of the time period. (Although Michael Prestwich's biography on Edward I is also quite excellent.)

17 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most important man nobody has ever heard of, October 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Simon de Montfort (Paperback)

A very fair account of a truly remarkable individual. It presents him as a man dedicated to his ideals and as a man utterly obsessed with his well-being, even at the cost of his losing credibility for his government and the provisions he fought so hard for, making him believable as a real man. It is a shame so few people know about him. Highly recomended!