A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



The enmity between the royalist and baronial parties continued to 

 increase until in 1264, after the appeal to the King of France had 

 resulted in the condemnation of the Oxford statutes, war broke out. 

 The two leaders of the barons were Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester 

 and Gilbert de Clare Earl of Gloucester ; they each had some slight 

 connexion with Sussex, the former holding the manor of Sheffield and 

 the latter that of Rotherfield. At first the fortune of war favoured the 

 royalists, who captured Northampton, Leicester and Nottingham, relieved 

 the castle of Rochester which Earl Warenne had been gallantly defending 

 against Montfort and seized the Earl of Gloucester's castle at Tonbridge.' 

 London, on the other hand, being in the barons' hands and strongly 

 favourable to their cause, Henry evidently considered it advisable to con- 

 centrate his forces where they would have the support of the local lords 

 and their fortresses. For this purpose no county was more suitable than 

 Sussex ; Lewes castle was in the hands of the King's devoted brother-in- 

 law John de Warenne Earl of Surrey, and Pevensey and Hastings were 

 held by his uncle Peter of Savoy ; and William de Braose of Bramber, 

 and John Fitz-Alan of Arundel had both proved their loyalty by assisting 

 in the defence of Rochester Castle. Accordingly at the beginning of 

 May the royal army moved southwards from Tonbridge, passing through 

 Robertsbridge,' where they plundered the abbey, obliging the monks to 

 pay a heavy ransom for their lives, on to Battle, where, in spite of the 

 loyal welcome given them by the abbey, they repeated their sacrilegious 

 performances ; and so to Winchelsea,^ where the King vainly endeavoured 

 tosecure the assistance of the Cinque Ports fleet, which was refused, though 

 the hostages whom he took subsequently promised to obtain ships for his 

 use, and were released on that understanding.' Meanwhile Montfort, 

 with his army reinforced by a large contingent of Londoners, had left 

 London on 6 May and was marching in the direction of Lewes, to 

 which place the King now hastened, passing through Battle and 

 Herstmonceux and reaching Lewes on 10 May.^ The Earl of Warenne, 

 with Prince Edward and others, were quartered in the castle, but the 

 King preferred to take up his residence in the Cluniac priory. By 

 12 May the baronial forces had reached Fletching,^ about nine miles 

 north of Lewes, where they halted ; the choice of this locality was 

 probably due to Earl Simon's possessing the manor of Sheffield in 

 Fletching. Next day the bishops of London and Worcester were sent 

 to the King to make a final effx>rt for peace ; they were empowered to 

 offer compensation for damages and to submit the question of what 

 statutes should remain in force to a select committee of clergy. To this 

 Henry replied by a letter of defiance, and another of similar import was 

 sent by Richard King of the Romans and Prince Edward in the name of 

 all the loyal barons.'' 



The bishops returned with this challenge to Montfort, who at once 

 began to prepare his forces for the struggle. The Bishop of Worcester 



» Blaauw, The Barons' War (ed. 

 ♦ Close, 48 Hen. III. m. 6d. 



