Battle of Lewes

The Battle of Lewes was fought on 14 May 1264 between the royal army of Henry III and the baronial forces led by Simon de Montfort. Montfort’s victory brought the king, his brother Richard of Cornwall and Lord Edward into captivity and transformed the balance of power in the Second Barons’ War.

After Lewes, Montfort became the dominant political figure in England and attempted to govern through a reforming baronial regime. The victory was therefore both a major battlefield success and the foundation of the short-lived political order that collapsed the following year.