Henry de Montfort - Aftermath For Henry's Family

Aftermath For Henry's Family

"‘Thus the whole weight of the battle fell upon the earl of Leicester, who was an old and shrewd warrior. He stood the shock like a strong tower; but, surrounded by few followers, and overcome by numbers, he fell, and thus terminated an hereditary prowess, rendered famous by many glorious deeds'".

Henry's brother Simon arrived at Evesham in time to see his father's head mounted on a spear. Another brother, Guy de Montfort, was captured during the battle and imprisoned. Guy later escaped and joined the younger Simon in flight to Europe. They found fortune in the service of Charles of Anjou, and later avenged the father and brother's deaths by killing Henry of Almain, the nephew of the King, and their own cousin. This act taking place in a church, the brothers were excommunicated, which retarded sympathy for them in England. Simon died soon thereafter. As Count of Nola, Guy had two daughters, becoming in time an ancestor to several European Royal Families, including the British. Another brother Amaury de Montfort also fled to Italy. A cleric, he worked in the papacy before accompanying his sister Eleanor de Montfort to Wales for her marriage to Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales. Captured by pirates in the employ of King Edward, the siblings were eventually released and Eleanor's marriage took place. Eleanor died on 19 June 1282 giving birth to Gwenllian of Wales. Amaury returned to the continent, worked as a cleric, and died sometime after 1301.