URPoint Details
Battle of Lewes - 1264
Baronial forces: Simon de Montfort, Gilbert de Clare, Nicholas de Segrave
Royal forces: Henry III, Prince Edward, Richard of Cornwall
Result: Baronial victory
Location: Lewes
The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes on 14 May 1264. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and made him the ''uncrowned King of England". The battle occurred because of the vacillation of King Henry III, who was refusing to honour the terms of the Provisions of Oxford, an agreement he had signed with his barons, led by Montfort, in 1258. The King was encamped at St. Pancras Priory with a force of infantry, but his son, Prince Edward (later King Edward I) commanded the cavalry, at Lewes Castle 500 yards to the north. A night march enabled Montfort's forces to surprise Prince Edward and take the high ground of the Sussex Downs, overlooking the town of Lewes, in preparation for battle. They wore white crosses as their distinguishing emblem
- Type:
- Battlefields