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fandomhigh2006-02-28 01:50 pm
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History of Medieval England - Tuesday 6th Period: Lecture 7: Simon de Montfort and the bare beginnin
Simon de Montfort and the Bare Beginnings of Representitive Government
Simon de Montfort was a thoroughly aristocratic nobleman. He married the daughter of King John -- which is either a romantic love story or a shockingly inappropriate alliance, depending on who you ask. And yet, somehow he managed to become the champion of the common people.
Crediting him with creating the modern representative government is a huge stretch; it never would have occurred to him that God did not place people in their appropriate status, and he firmly believed that the nobility existed to care for and rule over the lower classes. He did, however, also firmly believe that the lower classes deserved a voice in their governance. One might say, "No execution without representation."
Simon's crusade was helped along by the fact that his king, Henry III, was indecisive and given to petty rages. Henry resented that his sister had married so far below herself, and that he'd been manipulated into allowing it. Accordingly, for the next twenty years, he alternately depended on Simon and reviled him. The final blow to Simon's loyalty to the king was when Henry put Simon on trial for failing to subdue a rebellious Brittany -- which was outside of Simon's control entirely.
Simon and various nobles who remembered the provisions of the currently-defunct Magna Carta, fought back. But they also enlisted the common people. Among them, well-educated and wealthy London businessmen, who wanted a voice in the taxes and laws that governed them.
At his height, Simon held the king captive and made him a figurehead, and summoned the first proto-Parliament in English history. But at his worst, in 1265 at the Battle of Evesham, Simon lost to a brilliant battle commander -- his teenage nephew, Prince Edward, the heir to the throne. Simon was killed in battle, his body desecrated, and, after it had been buried in holy ground, Edward caused it to be dug up and thrown away.
But, much as with the Magna Carta, something had been brought up that the people of England weren't going to forget. Representative government was centuries away, but the idea of limiting the king's power remained in the collective consciousness.
[[OOC: OCD threads arecoming up!!]]
Simon de Montfort was a thoroughly aristocratic nobleman. He married the daughter of King John -- which is either a romantic love story or a shockingly inappropriate alliance, depending on who you ask. And yet, somehow he managed to become the champion of the common people.
Crediting him with creating the modern representative government is a huge stretch; it never would have occurred to him that God did not place people in their appropriate status, and he firmly believed that the nobility existed to care for and rule over the lower classes. He did, however, also firmly believe that the lower classes deserved a voice in their governance. One might say, "No execution without representation."
Simon's crusade was helped along by the fact that his king, Henry III, was indecisive and given to petty rages. Henry resented that his sister had married so far below herself, and that he'd been manipulated into allowing it. Accordingly, for the next twenty years, he alternately depended on Simon and reviled him. The final blow to Simon's loyalty to the king was when Henry put Simon on trial for failing to subdue a rebellious Brittany -- which was outside of Simon's control entirely.
Simon and various nobles who remembered the provisions of the currently-defunct Magna Carta, fought back. But they also enlisted the common people. Among them, well-educated and wealthy London businessmen, who wanted a voice in the taxes and laws that governed them.
At his height, Simon held the king captive and made him a figurehead, and summoned the first proto-Parliament in English history. But at his worst, in 1265 at the Battle of Evesham, Simon lost to a brilliant battle commander -- his teenage nephew, Prince Edward, the heir to the throne. Simon was killed in battle, his body desecrated, and, after it had been buried in holy ground, Edward caused it to be dug up and thrown away.
But, much as with the Magna Carta, something had been brought up that the people of England weren't going to forget. Representative government was centuries away, but the idea of limiting the king's power remained in the collective consciousness.
[[OOC: OCD threads are
ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
Re: ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
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Especially Cam.Re: ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
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QUESTIONS: MEH Lecture 8
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Re: QUESTIONS: MEH Lecture 8
Valasome of the students were turning last week with the discussion of King John's atrocities, to not expand upon the term "desecrated".Re: QUESTIONS: MEH Lecture 8
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Re: QUESTIONS: MEH Lecture 8
((p.s. Unless Methos has actually looked at Zero before this, he may not have noticed she was in class. It's a Powers Week thing, she's invisible when no one looks at her.))
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Re: TALKING IN CLASS: MEH Lecture 8
Then she frowns. Dammit, that's what the teacher was for, right?
"O.K., what's a 'protoparlamant'? And is it going to be on the test?"
Because she knows that is every teacher's very, very favorite follow-up question!Re: TALKING IN CLASS: MEH Lecture 8
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TALKING IN CLASS: MEH Lecture 8
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Hoo boy.
AFTER CLASS: MEH Lecture 8
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OOC: MEH Lecture 8
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"...his body being mutilated, eviscerated and the remains scattered. His head was awarded to Roger Mortimer, who took it home as a gift for his wife."
More colorful descriptions emphasize how his arms, legs and head were cut off, his genitals cut off and stuffed in his mouth, and the torso tossed to dogs.
Re: OOC: MEH Lecture 8
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*g*
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