+Source.+--Continuation of _Matthew Paris_ (attributed to William
Rishanger), vol. iii, pp. 353-354. (Bohn's Libraries.)
About this time the King's son Edward, who was detained in custody in
the Castle of Hereford, obtained permission from his guards to take
exercise in a field outside the city, and to amuse himself with trying
the speed of their horses. On one occasion, after trying several horses
and tiring them out, he at length chose a good one, which he mounted,
and, urging him to speed with his spurs, he bade farewell to his guards,
and, crossing the River Wye, he directed his course, accompanied by two
knights and four esquires who were aware of his design, to the Castle of
Wigmore. His guards gave pursuit to him, but seeing the banners of Roger
Mortimer and Roger de Clifford, who were come to assist Edward in his
escape, they were out-manœuvred, and so returned to Hereford. These
occurrences took place on the eve of the Trinity, and were arranged with
the counsel and assistance of the aforesaid knights. Thus released from
his imprisonment, Edward assembled a large army, as numbers flocked to
join him, and the counties of Hereford, Worcester, Salop, and Chester
entered into an alliance with him, the towns and villages, cities and
castles pouring forth their inhabitants to join his standard. He at once
besieged and took the city of Gloucester, of which the Earl had lately
gained possession, the garrison left therein taking flight to the
castle; but after fifteen days they surrendered the castle also, and on
giving their oath not to bear arms against Edward for the future, they
were allowed to depart at liberty. The Earl of Leicester in the meantime
attacked the Castle of Monmouth, which the Earl of Gloucester had lately
taken and fortified, and having compelled the garrison to surrender,
rased the castle to the ground. He then entered Glamorganshire, the
territory of the said Earl of Gloucester, and being met by the Prince of
Wales with assistance, the two chiefs together ravaged the whole country
with fire and sword. Edward in the meantime, hearing that many of the
partisans of Earl Simon had flocked together to the Castle of
Kenilworth, joined his forces with those of the Earl of Gloucester, and,
setting forth from Worcester in the evening, reached that place by
forced marches. Coming on the place suddenly, he made prisoner of the
Earl of Oxford, and about thirteen knights bannerets, before they could
enter the castle, in which Simon, the son of Earl Simon, had already
shut himself up. Simon, Earl of Leicester, always keeping the King in
his company, returned from the south of Wales, and on the Festival of S.
Peter ad Vincula, arrived at Kempsey, a manor of the Bishop of
Worcester, and stayed there on the day following. Edward then returned
from Kenilworth to Worcester, which is only three miles distant from the
above-named manor; and Simon, on hearing of his arrival there, went away
with the King at nightfall, and took up his quarters in the town of
Evesham, where he awaited his unhappy destiny. For, on the morrow, which
was the day of the finding of S. Stephen, Edward moved from Worcester,
crossed the river near the town of Claines, and cut off the approach of
the Earl to his son, who was in the Castle of Kenilworth, and prevented
all chance of the father and son meeting. On the following day he drew
near the town of Evesham on one side, and the Earl of Gloucester and
Roger Mortimer came up with their respective forces in two other
directions; thus the Earl of Leicester was hemmed in on all sides, and
was under the necessity either of voluntarily surrendering or of giving
them battle. On the fifth of August, which fell on the third day of the
week, both armies met in a large plain outside the town, where a most
severe conflict ensued, till the partisans of the Earl began to give
way, and, the whole weight of the battle falling on him, he was slain on
the field of battle. At the time of his death a storm of thunder and
lightning occurred, and darkness prevailed to such an extent that all
were struck with amazement. Besides the Earl, there fell in that battle
twelve knights bannerets ... and a great number of others of inferior
rank, such as esquires and foot-soldiers, the greatest loss being among
the Welsh.