The texts in this edition are all related to the sudden death of Simon de Montfort earl of Leicester, which occurred on 4 August 1265 at the battle of Evesham in Worcestershire. As a revolutionary politician and soldier he had been so popular and successful in England that during his lifetime some had begun to portray him as a Christ-like saviour. The shock of his death, magnified by horror at the royalist mutilation of his corpse, launched a miracle cult so vigorous that it soon spread to parts of the British Isles that were well beyond his burial place at Evesham abbey. In defiance of royalist threats the cult lasted some fifteen years, during which Earl Simon's devotees compiled a miracle book and composed laments, prayers and hymns.

The miracle book

The monks of Evesham welcomed pilgrims at Simon de Montfort's grave and recorded every miracle story that came to them. Some miracles had been generated locally but reports of many more were received from other parts of the country. It seems that they usually came by word of mouth; in only two instances is there some indication that a report was delivered in writing (127, 190). When a story was given orally, the monks’ first task was to write a summary, not necessarily in complete sentences, of what may have been a long-winded or unstructured tale. At Evesham the note needed to record the identity (not necessarily the name) of the miracle's recipient and that of the informant (if it was someone else); where the recipient lived (unless they were a prominent person whose residence was well known); the nature of the miracle; and who else could vouch for the story. When the informant referred to a minor place outside Worcestershire and beyond the adjoining counties nearest to Evesham (Gloucestershire and Warwickshire) they were asked for its county or its nearest well-known town. Those details were enough to make the story credible and verifiable. There are only two references to testimony on oath (127–8) and none was needed, for there was no prospect of the formal canonization proceedings that would have called for sworn statements. The recording monk could choose to include more details than those described, but he often settled for the minimum. In particular, the date of a miracle was not of the essence and was not routinely taken down.