My lord Ferrers (4)

In 1264 Robert de Ferrers was drawn into the wider conflict between Henry III and Simon de Montfort. Robert has traditionally been viewed as a wild card who deserted the barons to pursue his own interest, but this has been challenged recently.

In February his army arrived outside the walls of Worcester. The citizens occupied the walls and gates, and managed to resist his attack for a while. At last Robert discovered a secret entrance by the castle, and his troops flooded into the town.

Whatever good might be said of Robert, there is no way of glossing the sack of Worcester. His men plundered everything they could ‘outside of the cathedral’ and imprisoned and murdered members of the Jewish community. The Close Rolls record that Robert seized the ‘archa’ - the chest containing documents relating to loans issued by Jewish moneylenders - and took it to his castle at Tutbury.

This was part of a deliberate baronial policy. Robert’s allies, Simon de Montfort and Gilbert de Clare, organised similar pogroms at London and Canterbury. They attacked and killed defenceless Jews for two reasons—to erase their debts and whip up support among the populace. This was a brutal and bigoted time, in which Ant-Semitism was rife.

Robert’s sack of Worcester has been seen as act of brigandage, by a marauder out for himself. In fact it was part of a wider strategic objective.

There was a third motive. Simon, the head of the baronial faction, was allied with Prince Llywelyn of Wales. Control of the Severn, and the key towns of Worcester and Gloucester, was vital to maintain contact with the Welsh.

By April 1264 both were in the hands of the barons. Lord Edward, King Henry’s heir, now came west to try and retrieve the situation. To be continued…