Simon de Montfort V receiving the Sacrament with his

companion knights before battle in Evesham

Simon de Montfort IV (1160 - 25th June, 1218) will be remebered as a great crusader and supporter of the Roman Church, who made himself notorious as leader of the brutal Albigensian Crusade and the bloody prosecution of the Cathars of the Languedoc.

Simon de Montfort V 6th Earl of Leicester (1208 – August 4, 1265) Pictured above, son of the infamous leader of the Albigensian Crusade, was born in Northern France probably in 1208. Making his way to England around 1230 to the court of Henry III, Simon initially intended only to succeed in his claim to the title of earl of Leicester. By marrying the King's sister he became one of the leading magnates of the realm and his place in English history was sealed when, after a stormy relationship with his brother-in-law, he became the leader of the baronial reform movement that sought to re-establish rights granted under Magna Carta that had been eroded by Henry III. In the end the reform movement led, through Earl Simon, sowed the seeds of representative government. Simon defeated Henry III at the battle of Lewes but his attempts to rule through Henry as a puppet king alienated many of his supporters and Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, died for his cause at the Battle of Evesham on August 4th 1265, surrounded by his implacable enemies.