Local History

He's passed by countless thousands every day as he stands on Leicester's clock tower, there's a hall named after him in the city as well as a University.

But how much do you know about Simon de Montfort and his associations with Leicester which stretch back hundreds of years ago?

Listen: The History of Simon de Montfort

BBC Leicester's Tony Wadsworth spoke to local historian Richard Gill and Leicestershire man John Marlow to find out more...

Simon de Montfort was the Earl of Leicester; he kept the city land in order for the King at a time when most of the ruling families were French.

He called together all the various knights of the shires together in an attempt to create his idea.

Richard Gill comments, "On this ground he is counted as the father of English democracy".

Eventually Henry III felt that Simon had overstepped the mark, resulting in the Battle of Evesham being fought in 1265 at which Simon was defeated and killed:

"Interestingly they buried him in front of the high alter. Which rather suggests that they thought he was important."

Richard believes that one of the main reasons that the people of Leicester do not widely know about Simon de Montfort is because the 13th Century is a neglected period in schools.

Despite his clear links to the city there is no evidence that Simon ever actually visited Leicester.

Battle of Evesham site

In the Family

Leicester born John Marlow has recently been delving deep into his first wife's past and has discovered it is very likely to be a descent of Simon de Montfort.

He believes that about 24 generations stand between the two, who are linked by the Italian offspring of Simon's fourth son Guy de Montfort:

"Simon de Montfort's only grandchild to produce known children was my wife's ancestor Anastacia de Montfort."

Listen: What's in a Name?

BBC Leicester's Julie Mayer spoke to De Montfort University's David Alder about the establishment's ties to its namesake...

David Alder said, "As a university one of the key things we've always had is a strong link to the city, we're very linked with Leicester, so it's very appropriate obviously that we have a name that reflects one of Leicester's best known historical characters.

Simon de Montfort is not a completely angelic or heroic figure of the past. Amongst his more shady actions he expelled Jews from Leicester:

"I think we need to see that in historic context. I think anyone in their right mind in this day and age would realise that's an appalling thing.

"I think at the time things were very, very different and so I think it's far better to remember him for the very positive things he did."

David thinks it unlikely that anyone comes to the university purely based on the connotations of it's title, however he believes that in retrospect many students may appreciate the historical links.

"You learn from your history what you'll be doing in the future and I think if we forgot our history we do that at our peril."