Evesham Abbey

Evesham Abbey

I wrote recently about the 750th anniversary of Simon de Montfort’s great Parliament at Westminster, and to mark that event, I went along to the Worcestershire town of Evesham where de Montfort, the former ruler of England, is buried at Evesham Abbey. Evesham Abbey was founded by St Egwin around 700AD, with the legend being…

The grave of Simon de Montfort

England’s First Modern Parliament: Simon de Montfort

Today is the 750th anniversary of what is often claimed to be the first parliament as we would recognise it today, when, on the 20th January 1265 during the Second Barons’ War, an English parliament met at the Palace of Westminster. It was not the first parliament to have met in England, but what differentiated…