A panel of historians and legal experts are set to hold a mock trial of one of the most divisive figures of the European Middle Ages, Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester (1175–1218). The famous leader of the Albigensian Crusade will be tried for war crimes on Friday, 18 November at 5pm as part of a special event organised by the Centre for War and Diplomacy.

The Albigensian Crusade remains one of the most controversial conflicts in medieval history, and Simon, the crusade’s original leader, has a mixed reputation. He has long been perceived as a brutal man who used the crusading banner to his own ends. Recently, though, some scholars have characterised Simon as a devoted crusader, arguing that the violence he employed, whilst abhorrent, was a legitimate means of bringing about social change during the thirteenth century.

Warfare on Trial seeks to set these opposing sides against each other, accusing Simon of potential war crimes and allowing his supporters and those he persecuted to present their cases to a jury. In doing so, the event will explore attitudes towards violence, the persecution of ‘others’ in society, and the rightfulness of warfare.

Using a trial format, including a judge and barristers for the defence and prosecution, Simon will be charged with exceeding the limits of just war and using extraordinary levels of violence in the Albigensian Crusade. The barristers will present their cases and cross-examine witnesses for each side before giving a final statement.

Our expert participants will then accept questions from the audience and discuss the legal implications raised by the trial, which include questions of jurisdiction and enforcement, along with current approaches to the legality of warfare. The trial will close with the decision of the jury, consisting of students from the History and Law Departments.

The event takes place 17.00-19.00 on Friday 18 November 2022, in the Mock Court Room of the Faraday Building. It will be followed by a wine reception. All are welcome.

Participants:

Dr Rory Cox is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of St Andrews. He has published widely on the ethics of war, history of violence and intellectual history. In 2014, his book John Wyclif on War and Peace was published by Boydell & Brewer.

Dr Gregory Lippiatt is a Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Exeter. He is a historian of aristocratic government in the High Middles Ages and its intersection with Christian movements such as the crusades. His previous works include Simon V of Montfort and Baronial Government, 1195–1218 published in 2017 with Oxford University Press.

Harry Potter LLB is a criminal defence lawyer and barrister. He has also published on various aspects of law. His publications include Hanging and Heresy, published with Kent University Press in 1994, A Brief History of the Common Law, with Boydell & Brewer in 2015, and Alexander Paterson: Prison Reformer, with Boydell & Brewer earlier this year.

Joshua Rice is a doctoral candidate at Royal Holloway, University of London, and is supervised by Professor Andrew Jotischky and Professor Jonathan Phillips. His thesis focusses on literary debates between the Church, heretics, and the laity in southern France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. He also wrote a piece in History Today earlier this year on Heresy in Orlèans in 1022.