Nottingham he was recalled into Kent by the danger of his nephew
Henry, besieged in the castle of Rochester, At his approach the enemy,
who had taken and pillaged the city, retired with precipitation; and
the King, after an ineffectual attempt to secure the cooeperation of
the Cinque Ports, fixed his head-quarters in the town of Lewes.

Leicester, having added a body of fifteen thousand citizens to his
army, marched from London, with a resolution to bring the controversy
to an issue. From Fletching he despatched a letter to Henry,
protesting that neither he nor his associates had taken up arms
against the King, but against the evil counsellors who enjoyed and
abused the confidence of their sovereign. Henry returned a public
defiance, which was accompanied by a message from Prince Edward and
the King of the Romans, declaring in the name of the royal barons that
the charge was false; pronouncing Montfort and his adherents perjured;
and daring the earls of Leicester and Derby to appear in the King's
court and prove their assertion by single combat. After the
observation of these forms, which the feudal connection between the
lord and the vassal was supposed to make necessary, Montfort prepared
for the battle. It was the peculiar talent of this leader to persuade
his followers that the cause in which they fought was the cause of
heaven. He represented to them that their objects were liberty and
justice; and that their opponent was a prince whose repeated violation
of the most solemn oaths had released them from their allegiance, and
had entailed on his head the curse of the Almighty. He ordered each
man to fasten a white cross on the breast and shoulder, and to devote
the next evening to the duties of religion. Early in the morning he
marched forward, and, leaving his baggage and standard on the summit
of a hill, about two miles from Lewes, descended into the plain.
Henry's foragers had discovered and announced his approach; and the
royalists in three divisions silently awaited the attack. Leicester,
having called before the ranks the Earl of Gloucester and several
other young noblemen, bade them kneel down, and conferred on them the
order of knighthood; and the Londoners, who impatiently expected the
conclusion of the ceremony, rushed with loud shouts on the enemy. They
were received by Prince Edward, broken in a few minutes, and driven
back as far as the standard. Had the Prince returned from the pursuit,
and fallen on