SIMON 2014 LLC
BOCA RATON, FLORIDA

it did put me on a submarine, where I was able to use all that free time underwater pursuing history as a pastime, limited only by the amount of books I could stuff into my rack. Attending university afterwards, I decided to focus my studies on languages, Russian in particular, as preparation for a tour behind the Iron Curtain some day. Who would’ve guessed that curtain coming down one month before taking my degree. I live today in a corner of the Czech Republic, snug between Poland and Slovakia, but the Internet has allowed me to acquire the sources necessary for doing biographical work. Just after Strange such a squabble should erupt over a man whose most endearing fame are the speeches given to him by Shakespeare, the ‘winter of our discontent’ and all that business about a horse. What kind of king Richard would have made will never be known because he was literally unhorsed by Henry Tudor barely two years into his reign. This, of course, after the disappearance of his nephews, who may or may not have met their untimely end at his hands. The only thing certain after his brother Edward IV ate himself to death is that Richard had a slew of people executed and his nephews bastardized, none of which contributed to his popularity. His alienation of practically everyone of importance ensured his support would melt away the minute he was challenged in the field. The other problem for Leicester is the continuing debate over Montfort and the Jews. After getting the family domains back in 1231, Montfort expelled the handful of Jewish families living in Leicester at that time. Officially he did it for the good of his soul, an act of Christian piety quite familiar in those days, but it was also an act of patronage for his newfound tenants who were fed up with the ruinous business of usury. The leading scholar of the day, Robert Grosseteste, was also eager for the Jewish community to give up usury and find a trade, even if anti-Semitism made that impossible, and gave his support to Montfort’s act. In the end, these Jewish families crossed the border within Leicester to the side controlled by Montfort’s aunt. There they would remain until Edward I expelled all the Jews from the realm in 1290. But these lightly armed rebels scattering before his assault are civilian militia, Londoners, perhaps the same ruffians who abused his mother at London Bridge the year before. He can’t help but indulge in a killing spree, and so completely leaves the battlefield to hunt them down. Meanwhile, Henry and Richard’s divisions are making slow progress because of the steeper elevation and volley of stones pummelling them from slingers. Seeing Edward take off, Montfort orders his centre and right divisions to charge. They barrel into the royalist front lines with full impact. Richard’s men have barely absorbed it when Montfort throws in his reserve division. The royalist centre crumbles, and Richard, in the flight back to town, seeks shelter in a windmill. Montfort now throws everything against Henry’s division. The king takes blow after blow from sword and mace and loses two horses beneath him, but he’s able to fall back to the priory, where his household knights take up defensive positions. The fighting spills into the town. Montfort is preparing an assault on the castle when he’s alerted to a large group of horsemen approaching from the west. His attempt to rectify it is easily dispersed, but he and his closest comrades manage to fight their way into the priory. In doing so, he blunders for a second time that day. Henry’s trapped, but by no means beaten. He can hold out long enough for his son to regroup with reinforcements from nearby garrisons. Now they’re both stuck, and Richard, flushed out of the windmill, has been made a prisoner. The battle is over, but in order to make his victory at Lewes complete, Montfort needs the king to surrender, but Henry refuses.