In my previous post, I provided two short poems from Volume 2 of Harley 2253, which give insight into medieval ideas of ‘dust to dust’ and the brevity of life, as well as the hope for an afterlife. Another recurring theme in the same volumes is that of blood sacrifice and the glorification of death in battle.
The lamentation for Simon De Montfort, Chaunter m’esoit, or ‘Sing I must’, is a perfect example of this.
The poem tells of the tragic story of De Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, who was slain in battle, after being ambushed by the forces of Henry III during the second Baron’s war. The poem was written down by Scribe B, the Ludlow Scribe, the best known of the scribes of the Harley 2253. The scribe uses descriptive, even graphic, language to portray the death of Simon and his companions:
Sing I must,
“Art. 24, Chaunter m’estoit | Robbins Library Digital Projects.” n.d. https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/fein-harley2253-volume-2-article-24. Lines 1-12
My heart wishes it,
In a sorrowful strain.
Entirely in tears
Was made the song
Of our gentle baronage,
Who for the sake of peace
(So long deferred)
Let themselves be destroyed,
Their bodies hacked
And dismembered,
To save England.
Although Simon’s cause was political rather than religious, the Scribe compares him to St Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was assassinated and declared a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church less than a century before the death of Simon.
Simon doesn’t seem to fit the conventional criteria for martyrdom, and was never declared a martyr by the Catholic Church, so it seems strange that the scribe compares him to Beckett.
However, there are some other comparisons that can be made between De Montfort and Beckett, as both of them died in opposition to the official king of England. Beckett was assassinated by Henry II’s men, after opposing the control Henry wanted to impose on the Church in England, and De Montfort died in opposition to Henry III’s desire for unlimited power in England.
If anything, there is an argument that De Montfort was a political martyr, fighting for a more constitutional and democratic approach to medieval feudalism and monarchy.
This idea of blood sacrifice, and the glorification of death, compliment the other theme of earthly transparency found in volume two. If ‘Carnel love is folly’ and ‘What allures is momentary’, then it seems logical that dying a pre-mature and even violent death is worth doing for the sake of a cause which one feels strongly about.
“Art. 24, Chaunter m’estoit | Robbins Library Digital Projects.” n.d. https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/fein-harley2253-volume-2-article-24.