SIMON DE MONTFORT
Real Name: Simon V de Montfort
Identity/Class: Human (12th century);
citizen of France
Occupation: Nobleman, knight, military commander, crusader
Group Membership: Crusaders
Affiliations: Pope Innocent III
Enemies: Cathars, King John of England, Raymond VI of Toulouse, many others
Known Relatives: Alix de Montmorency (wife),
Amaury VI, Simon VI, Guy II, Count of Bigorre (sons), Amicie, Petronilla II (daughters),
Simon IV (father), Amicia de Beaumont (mother),
Guy I, Lord of Sidon (brother), Petronilla I (sister),
Ranulph de Meschines, 4th Earl of Chester (cousin),
Simon III (grandfather), Matilda (grandmother),
Amaury V (uncle), Bertrade II (aunt),
Amaury III (great-grandfather), Agnés de Garlande (great-grandmother),
Amaury IV, Simon III (granduncles), Agnès, Dame de Gournay-sur-Mame (grandaunt),
Simon I (great-great grandfather), Agnès d'Évreux (great-great grandmother),
Amaury II, Richard, Simon II, Amaury III, Guillaume, (great granduncles), Adeliza, Betrade, Isabel (great grandaunts)
Amaury I (great-great-great grandfather), Bertrade (great-great-great grandmother),
Mainier (great-great granduncles), Eva (great-great grandaunt),
Guillaume de Montfort (great-great-great-great grandfather), Albreda de Nogent (great-great-great-great grandmother), more distant relatives
Aliases: Simon, Lord of Montfort, Simon de Montfort the Elder
Base of Operations: Montfort l'Amaury in Northern France
First Appearance: X-Statix#24 (August, 2004)
Powers/Abilities: He was a magnificent military leader during the Middle Ages and trained in armed combat with contemporary weapons used by knights.
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: Unknown
Hair: Unknown
History:
(History) - He was born at some point between 1160 and 1175 as the son of Simon IV de Montfort and Amicia de Beaumont. In 1188 he became the Lord of Montfort following the death of his father.
In 1202 he and his brother Guy went on the Fourth Crusade, which fell under Venetian control. He opposed their attack on other Christians in Zara because Pope Innocent III had specifically told Crusaders not to attack fellow Christians. He later left the Fourth Crusade because he didn't support to restore the Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelus. He and his brother deserted to Hungary and then made their way to Palestine.
In 1207 he became the Earl of Leicester due to his mother inheriting the earldom, but King John of England took possession of the lands himself and later passed it to Simon's cousin Ranulph de Meschines, 4th Earl of Chester.
In 1209 he participated in the Albigensian Crusade and was instrumental in confiscating the territories of the Raymond-Roger Trencavel family. He was rewarded with the territory conquered from Raymond VI of Toulouse.
(X-Statix#24 (fb)) - In 1210 in the Southern France village of Minerve Simon butchered (actually burned) Cathars in the thousands (historically correct would be 140) on the orders from Pope Innocent III.
(History) - He gained so much favor with the English lords that they even considered making him King of England instead King John's stead, but Simon rather concentrated on Toulouse and defeated Peter of Aragorn in 1230 at Muret to end the Abligenses "threat". He continued on to conquer more territory and murdered innocent people indiscriminately in the name of the church in their war on heretics because according to him he would kill all and let God decide who was heretic or not. By the end had killed 20,000 people.
In 1216 he waged war in Nimes until a rebellion in 1217 led by Raymond VII, the son of Raymond VI, broke out in Toulouse. His brother Guy supported him, but in 1218 Simon was killed during the siege of Toulouse by a stone from a mangonel (a catapult) that smashed in his head.
Comments: Adapted by Peter Milligan & Mike Allred.
Simon's brother Guy also participated in the Third Crusade with King Richard I and was adapted to Marvel Comics in the first Black Knight series in 1955 as an antagonist to the Crusader (El Alemain).
There is a lot more to this man's history, but I give only the abridged version because he only appeared in a flashback to one of his most fearsome acts and Middle Age history is sometimes a bit vague. FYI he possibly had more children and we have no clue when he was born. In addition to being the Lord of Montfort he was also the Earl of Leicester, Viscount of Béziers, Albi, Carcassonne and Nimes and the Count of Tolouse. War and inheritances in the Middle Ages!
Check out his history on the Catholic Encyclopedia: Simon de Montfort.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Simon de Montfort has no known connections to:
images: (without ads)
X-Statix#24, p1, pan2 (main)
Appearances:
X-Statix#24 (August, 2004) - Peter Milligan (writer), Mike Allred (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
First Posted: 02/24/2025
Last updated: 02/25/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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