He did not altogether succeed in surprising his
foes, but in everything else he was successful. The royalists were
aware of his approach only at the last moment, so that when they
poured out of the Castle and Priory and town they were in some
confusion. Then Prince Edward, observing the standard of Simon over
the litter, flung himself upon the Londoners, who broke and fled while
he pursued them, nor did he stay his hand till he was far away from
Lewes. He returned at last victorious and triumphant to find Simon's
banner floating from Lewes Castle, the King of the Romans and the King
of England in Simon's hands and the day lost. Weary though he was, he
attempted with all the impetuosity of youth to reverse that verdict.
Through the streets of Lewes he fought, till at length he was forced
to take refuge in the church of the Franciscans, where indeed Simon
found him.
Such was the battle of Lewes, which gave all England to De Montfort for
more than a year; till indeed Lewes was reversed, by Prince Edward who,
escaping from his hands at Hereford, gathered a new army about him and
forced Simon to meet him upon the field of Evesham where, when the
great soldier-mystic saw the royal banners upon the dawn, he cried out
that last great word of his, "The Lord have mercy on our souls for our
bodies are Prince Edward's": to be answered when he demanded mercy,
"there is no treating with traitors.
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