June 21, 1377: Death of Edward III, King of England and Lord of Ireland

Tags

Charles IV of France, Edward II of England, Hundred Years War, Isabella of France, King Edward III of England and Lord of Ireland, Philippa of Hainault, Philippe VI of France, Roger Mortimer, She-Wolf of France

Edward III (November 13, 1312 – June 21, 1377) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377.

Edward was born at Windsor Castle on November 13, 1312, and was often called Edward of Windsor in his early years, before his accession.

Edward was the son of Edward II, King of England and Lord of Ireland and his wife Isabella of France (c. 1295 – August 22, 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France, was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of King Philippe IV of France and Queen Joan I of Navarre.

The reign of his father, Edward II, was a particularly problematic period of English history. One source of contention was the king’s inactivity, and repeated failure, in the ongoing war with Scotland. Another controversial issue was the king’s exclusive patronage of a small group of royal favourites. The birth of a male heir in 1312 temporarily improved Edward II’s position in relation to the baronial opposition. To bolster further the independent prestige of the young prince, the king had him created Earl of Chester at only twelve days of age.

In 1325, Edward II was faced with a demand from his brother-in-law, Charles IV of France, to perform homage for the English Duchy of Aquitaine. Edward was reluctant to leave the country, as discontent was once again brewing domestically, particularly over his relationship with the favourite Hugh Despenser the Younger. Instead, he had his son Edward created Duke of Aquitaine in his place and sent him to France to perform the homage. The young Edward was accompanied by his mother Isabella, who was the sister of King Charles, and was meant to negotiate a peace treaty with the French.

Edward was crowned at age fourteen after his father was deposed by his mother, and her lover Roger Mortimer. At age seventeen he led a successful coup d’état against Mortimer, the de facto ruler of the country, and began his personal reign.

Edward and Philippa of Hainault became engaged in 1326.

Philippa of Hainault was the daughter of Count William of Hainaut and French princess Joan of Valois, the second eldest daughter of the French prince Charles, Count of Valois, and Margaret, Countess of Anjou and Maine. Joan of Valois ws the sister of King Philippe VI of France

Their marriage was celebrated in York Minster on 24 January 24, 1328, some months after Edward’s accession to the throne of England and Isabella of France’s infamous invasion.

After her husband reclaimed the throne, Philippa influenced King Edward to take interest in the nation’s commercial expansion, was part of the successful Battle of Neville’s Cross, and often went on expeditions to Scotland and France.

After a successful campaign in Scotland he declared himself rightful heir to the French throne in 1337. This started what became known as the Hundred Years’ War.

Following some initial setbacks, this first phase of the war went exceptionally well for England; victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny, in which England made territorial gains, and Edward renounced his claim to the French throne. This phase would become known as the Edwardian War. Edward’s later years were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity and poor health.

Edward III Iis noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after the disastrous and unorthodox reign of his father, Edward II. Edward III transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe.

His fifty-year reign was one of the longest in English history, and saw vital developments in legislation and government, in particular the evolution of the English Parliament, as well as the ravages of the Black Death. He outlived his eldest son, Edward the Black Prince.

Around September 29, 1376 he fell ill with a large abscess. After a brief period of recovery in February 1377, the king died of a stroke at Sheen on June 21 and the throne passed to his grandson, Richard II.

Succession

In 1376, Edward III signed letters patent on the order of succession to the crown, citing in second position John of Gaunt, born in 1340, but ignoring Philippa, daughter of Lionel, born in 1338. Philippa’s exclusion contrasted with a decision by Edward I in 1290, which had recognized the right of women to inherit the crown and to pass it on to their descendants.

The order of succession determined in 1376 led to the throne the House of Lancaster in 1399 (John of Gaunt was Duke of Lancaster), whereas the rule decided by Edward I would have favoured Philippa’s descendants, among them the House of York, beginning with Richard of York, her great-grandson.

Edward was a temperamental man but capable of unusual clemency. He was in many ways a conventional king whose main interest was warfare. Admired in his own time and for centuries after, he was denounced as an irresponsible adventurer by later Whig historians such as Bishop William Stubbs, but modern historians credit him with some significant achievements.

As mentioned above, Edward III reigned for 50 years and from his death to the end of the reign of George III, who reigned for 59 years, Edward III was England’s longest reigning monarch. Although I must add James VI of Scotland reigned for 57 years in that realm.

April 15, 1282: Birth of Frédérick IV, Duke of Lorraine

Tags

Albrecht I of Germany, Charles IV of France, Duke of Austria, Duke of Lorraine, Edward II of England, Frédérick IV of Lorraine, Friedrich the Handsome, Holy Roman Empire, House of Habsburg, House of Wittlesbach, Ludwig IV of Bavaria, Philippe VI of France

Frédérick IV (April 15, 1282 – August 23, 1328), called the Fighter, was the Duke of Lorraine from 1312 to his death.

Frédérick was born in Gondreville, the son and successor of Theobald II, Duke of Lorraine and Isabella of Rumigny.

On October 18, 1314, at the Diet of Frankfurt, the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire failed to elect as successor to Heinrich VII, Holy Roman Emperor, either the Habsburg claimant, Friedrich the Handsome, the Duke of Austria, or the Wittelsbach, Ludwig IV of Bavaria.

By marriage to Elisabeth, daughter of Albrecht I of Germany, Frédérick was the brother-in-law of Friedrich the Handsome, called Friedrich III of Germany by his supporters, of whom Frédérick IV of Lorraine was one.

On September 28, 1322, at the Battle of Mühldorf, both Frédérick IV and Friedrich the Handsome were captured. This was an opportunity for Charles IV of France to strengthen the Lorrainer ties to France and he quickly procured the duke’s release on the promise that Lorraine would not interfere in imperial affairs.

In 1324, he participated in an expedition in Aquitaine against Edward II of England’s estates, for Charles IV had built a fortress illegally on Edward’s territory and had sent his uncle, Count Charles III of Valois, against the English possessions after Hugh le Despenser and the Younger Despenser imprisoned Isabella of France, Charles IV’s sister and Edward’s queen. He took part in the War of Metz in 1325 and 1326. He joined Philippe VI of France, on his succession in 1328, and fought and died at the Battle of Cassel.

Personal life
In 1304, Frédérick IV married Elisabeth of Austria (1285–1352), Elisabeth was the tenth of twelve children to Albert I of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol.

They had the following children:

1.Rudolph (1320–1346), Duke of Lorraine
2. Margaret
3. Four children who died during childhood

February 1, 1328: Death of King Charles IV of France and Navarre

Tags

Blanche of Burgundy, Charles IV of France, Charles of Valois, Edward II of England, Jeanne d'Évreux, King of France and Navarre, Marie of Luxembourg, Philippe VI of France, Pope John XXII, Tour de Nesle Affair

Charles IV (June 18/19, 1294 – February 1, 1328), called the Fair in France and the Bald in Navarre, was King of France and King of Navarre (as Charles I) from 1322 to 1328. Charles IV was the last king of the direct line of the House of Capét,

Charles was the third son of Philippe IV and Joan I, Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne from 1274 until 1305; the daughter of King Henri I of Navarre and Blanche of Artois.

Charles IV-I, King of France and Navarre

By virtue of the birthright of his mother, Joan I of Navarre, Charles claimed the title Charles I, King of Navarre. From 1314 to his accession to the throne, he held the title of Count of La Marche and was crowned King of France in 1322 at the cathedral in Reims.

Unlike Philippe IV and Philippe V, Charles IV is reputed to have been a relatively conservative, “strait-laced” king – he was “inclined to forms and stiff-necked in defence of his prerogatives”, while disinclined either to manipulate them to his own ends or achieve wider reform.

Beginning in 1323 Charles was confronted with a peasant revolt in Flanders, and in 1324 he made an unsuccessful bid to be elected Holy Roman Emperor.

As Duke of Guyenne, King Edward II of England was a vassal of Charles, but he was reluctant to pay homage to another king. In retaliation, Charles conquered the Duchy of Guyenne in a conflict known as the War of Saint-Sardos (1324). In a peace agreement, Edward II accepted to swear allegiance to Charles and to pay a fine. In exchange, Guyenne was returned to Edward but with a much-reduced territory.

Marriages

In 1308 Charles married his first wife, Blanche of Burgundy, the daughter of Count Otto IV of Burgundy and Countess Mahaut of Artois, she was led to a disastrous marriage by her mother’s ambition.

Eight years before her husband’s accession to the thrones, early in 1314, Blanche and her sisters-in-law Margaret of Burgundy, and her own sister, Joan of Burgundy were allegedly caught in an act of adultery in the Tour de Nesle Affair. Charles IV’s sister, and their sister-in-law, Isabella of France was a witness against them.

As were their cousin Blanche of Burgundy, Margaret and Joan of Burgundy were members of the ducal House of Burgundy, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Margaret and Joan were the daughters of Robért II, Duke of Burgundy (1248–1306) and Agnes of France (1260–1327), the youngest daughter of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence.

Margaret of Burgundy had married her first cousin once removed, Louis X, King of France and Navarre. Joan of Burgundy had married Philippe of Valois, Louis X’s cousin, in July 1313. From 1314 to 1328, they were count and countess of Maine; Philippe of Valois became Philippe VI of France in 1328.

Blanche was arrested and found guilty of adultery with a Norman knight. Margaret was imprisoned at Château Gaillard along with her sister-in-law Blanche of Burgundy. Joan of Burgundy was acquitted of the charge of adultery.

Blanche was imprisoned and not released even after becoming queen, until her marriage was annulled when she was moved to the coast of Normandy. After Charles assumed the throne he refused to release Blanche, their marriage was annulled, and Blanche retreated to a nunnery.

The date and place of her death are unknown; the mere fact that she died was simply mentioned on the occasion of her husband’s third marriage in April 1326.

Blanche had given birth to two children, Philippe and Joan, but both of them died young and Charles IV needed a son and heir to carry on the House of Capet.

On September 21, 1322 in either Paris or Provins Charles IV married Marie of Luxembourg, the daughter Heinrich VII, Holy Roman Emperor and Margaret of Brabant.

On May 15, 1323 Marie was consecrated Queen of France at Sainte-Chapelle by Guillaume de Melum, Archbishop of Sens. In the same year she became pregnant but she later miscarried a girl.

Whilst pregnant again in March 1324, Marie and Charles IV were travelling to Avignon to visit the pope when Marie fell out of the bottom of the coach. As a result, she went into labour and her child, a boy (Louis), was born prematurely, and died several hours later; Queen Marie died on March 26, 1324 and was buried at Montargis in the Dominican church.

Charles IV married again in 1325, this time to Jeanne d’Évreux: she was his first cousin, the daughter of Louis, Count of Évreux and Margaret of Artois. Since Jeanne was Charles’s first cousin, the couple required papal permission to marry, which they obtained from Pope John XXII.

They had three daughters, Jeanne, Marie and Blanche, who were unable to inherit the throne under principles of the Salic Law. The royal couple’s lack of sons caused the end of the direct line of the Capetian dynasty.

During half of his reign Charles IV relied heavily on his uncle, Charles of Valois, for advice and to undertake key military tasks.

Charles of Valois was a powerful magnate in his own right, a key advisor to Louis X, and he had made a bid for the regency in 1316, initially championing Louis X’s daughter Joan, before finally switching sides and backing Philippe V. Charles of Valois would have been aware that if Charles died without male heirs, he and his male heirs would have a good claim to the crown.

After the death of Charles of Valois, Charles became increasingly interested in a French intervention in Byzantium, taking the cross in 1326. Andronicus II responded by sending an envoy to Paris in 1327, proposing peace and discussions on ecclesiastical union.

A French envoy sent in return with Pope John XXII’s blessing later in the year, however, found Byzantium beset with civil war, and negotiations floundered. The death of Charles the next year prevented any French intervention in Byzantium.

Charles IV died on February 1, 1328 at the Château de Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, and is interred with his third wife, Jeanne d’Évreux, in Saint Denis Basilica, with his heart buried at the now-demolished church of the Couvent des Jacobins in Paris.

When Charles IV died without a male heir, the senior line of the House of Capet, descended from Philippe IV, became extinct. He was succeeded in Navarre by his niece Joan II and in France by his paternal first cousin Philippe of Valois.

However, the dispute on the succession to the French throne between the Valois monarchs descended in male line from Charles’s grandfather Philippe III of France, and the English monarchs descended from Charles’s sister Isabella, was a factor of the Hundred Years’ War.

Titles of the British Monarch. Part II.

Tags

Battle of Agincourt, Charles IV of France, Charles VI of France, coronation, Edward III of England, Henry VI of England, Hundred Years War, Joan of Arc, Philippe VI of France, Reims Cathedral, Salic Law, Siege of Orléans, Titles of the British Monarch, Treaty of Troyes

Claims to the French Throne

When King Charles IV of France died on February 1, 1328 without a surviving male heir, it ended the direct line of the Capetian Dynasty which had ruled France since the election and accession of King Hughes Capét on July 3, 987 by the prelate of Reims.

King Charles VI of France

Twelve years prior to the death of Charles IV, a rule against succession by women, arguably derived from the Salic Law, had been recognised – with some dissent – as controlling succession to the French throne. The application of this rule barred Charles’s one-year-old daughter Mary, by Jeanne d’Évreux, from succeeding as the monarch, but Jeanne was also pregnant at the time of Charles’s death.

Since she might have given birth to a son, a regency was set up under the heir presumptive Philippe of Valois, son of Charles of Valois and a member of the House of Valois, the next most senior branch of the Capetian dynasty.

After two months, Jeanne gave birth to another daughter, Blanche, and thus Philippe became king and in May and was consecrated and crowned Philippe VI. Edward III of England argued, however, that although the Salic law should forbid inheritance by a woman, it did not forbid inheritance through a female line – under this argument, Edward III, son of Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II and daughter of Philippe IV, should have inherited the throne.

At first, King Edward III seemed to accept Philippe VI’s succession. However, in 1337 Edward III declared himself the rightful heir to the French throne. This started what became known as the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). Following some initial setbacks, this first phase of the war went exceptionally well for England; victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny, in which England made territorial gains, and Edward renounced his claim to the French throne.

Revival of the claims to France

By 1378, under King Charles V the Wise and the leadership of Bertrand du Guesclin, the French had reconquered most of the lands ceded to King Edward III in the Treaty of Brétigny (signed in 1360), leaving the English with only a few cities on the continent.

Arms of Henry VI of England.

In the following decades, the weakening of royal authority, combined with the devastation caused by the Black Death of 1347–1351 (with the loss of nearly half of the French population and between 20% and 33% of the English population) and the major economic crisis that followed, led to a period of civil unrest in both countries. These crises were resolved in England earlier than in France.

Lancastrian Phase of the Hundred Years War

The newly crowned Henry V of England seized the opportunity presented by the mental illness of Charles VI of France and the French civil war between Armagnacs and Burgundians to revive the conflict.

In 1415 the army of Charles VI was crushed by the English at the Battle of Agincourt, which led to Charles’ signing of the Treaty of Troyes, which entirely disinherited his son, the Dauphin and future Charles VII, in favour of his future son-in-law Henry V of England. Henry was thus made regent and heir to the throne of France, and Charles VI married him to his daughter Catherine de Valois.

Henry V and Catherine de Valois had a son, Henry, born on December 6, 1421 at Windsor Castle. The young Henry succeeded to the throne as King Henry VI of England at the age of nine months on September 1, 1422, the day after his father’s death; he remains the youngest person ever to succeed to the English throne. On October 21, 1422, in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420, he became titular King of France upon the death of his grandfather King Charles VI of France. His mother, the 20-year-old Catherine of Valois, was viewed with considerable suspicion by English nobles as Charles VI’s daughter. Therefore she was prevented from playing a full role in her son’s upbringing.

However Charles VI’s own son, the disinherited Dauphin, was regarded as the true heir by the French. At the same time, a civil war raged in France between the Armagnacs (supporters of the House of Valois) and the Burgundian party (supporters of the House of Valois-Burgundy allied to the English).

With his court removed to Bourges, south of the Loire River, Charles VII was disparagingly called the “King of Bourges”, because the area around this city was one of the few remaining regions left to him. However, his political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a spiritual leader in France.

Joan of Arc and other charismatic figures led French troops to lift The Siege of Orléans in 1429 which announced the beginning of the end for English hopes of conquest.

With the local English troops dispersed, the people of Reims switched allegiance and opened their gates, which enabled the coronation of Charles VII in 1429 at Reims Cathedral.

In reaction to the coronation of Charles VII on July 17, 1429, at Reims Cathedral, Henry was soon crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on November 6, 1429, aged 7. This was folowed by his own coronation as King of France at Notre-Dame de Paris on December 16, 1431, aged 10. He was the only English king to be crowned king in both England and France.

Despite the eventual capture of Joan of Arc by the Burgundians and her execution in 1431, a series of crushing French victories such as those at Patay in 1429, Formigny in 1450 and Castillon in 1453 concluded the Hundred Years War in favour of France and the Valois dynasty.

England permanently lost most of its continental possessions, with only the Pale of Calais remaining under its control on the continent, until it too was lost in the Siege of Calais in 1558.

Despite his brief reign in France, Henry VI of England is not recognized as a legitimate King of France.

The claim to the title of “King of France” was nonetheless not relinquished and was retained in pretense by the English/British monarchs until the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, by which time the French monarchy had been overthrown by the French Revolution.

The Life of Edward II, King of England and Lord of Ireland. Part VI.

Tags

Abdication, Charles IV of France, Earl of Lancaster, Hugh Despenser The Elder, Isabella of France, King Edward II of England, Parliament, Roger Mortimer, Westminster Abbey

Fall from power (1326–1327)

Isabella, with Edward’s envoys, carried out negotiations with the French in late March. The negotiations proved difficult, and they arrived at a settlement only after Isabella personally intervened with her brother, King Charles IV of France. The terms favoured the French Crown: in particular, Edward would give homage in person to Charles for Gascony. Concerned about the consequences of war breaking out once again, Edward agreed to the treaty but decided to give Gascony to his son, Edward, and sent the prince to give homage in Paris.

Edward now expected Isabella and their son to return to England, but instead she remained in France and showed no intention of making her way back. Until 1322, Edward and Isabella’s marriage appears to have been successful, but by the time Isabella left for France in 1325, it had deteriorated. Isabella appears to have disliked Hugh Despenser the Younger intensely, not least because of his abuse of high-status women. Isabella was embarrassed that she had fled from Scottish armies three times during her marriage to Edward, and she blamed Hugh for the final occurrence in 1322.

When Edward had negotiated the recent truce with Robert the Bruce, he had severely disadvantaged a range of noble families who owned land in Scotland, including the Beaumonts, close friends of Isabella’s. She was also angry about the arrest of her household and seizure of her lands in 1324. Finally, Edward had taken away her children and given custody of them to Hugh Despenser’s wife.

By February 1326, it was clear that Isabella was involved in a relationship with an exiled Marcher Lord, Roger Mortimer. It is unclear when Isabella first met Mortimer or when their relationship began, but they both wanted to see Edward and the Despensers removed from power. Edward appealed for his son to return, and for Charles IV to intervene on his behalf, but this had no effect.

During August and September 1326, Edward mobilised his defences along the coasts of England to protect against the possibility of an invasion either by France or by Roger Mortimer. Roger Mortimer, Isabella, and thirteen-year-old Prince Edward, accompanied by King Edward’s half-brother Edmund of Woodstock, landed in Orwell on September 24, with a small force of men and met with no resistance. Instead, enemies of the Despensers moved rapidly to join them, including Edward’s other half-brother, Thomas of Brotherton; Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, who had inherited the earldom from his brother Thomas; and a range of senior clergy.

London descended into anarchy, as mobs attacked Edward’s remaining officials and associates, killing his former treasurer Walter Stapledon in St Paul’s Cathedral, and taking the Tower and releasing the prisoners inside. Edward continued west up the Thames Valley, reaching Gloucester between October 9 and 12; he hoped to reach Wales and from there mobilise an army against the invaders. Mortimer and Isabella were not far behind.

Charles IV, King of France

Edward’s authority collapsed in England where, in his absence, Isabella’s faction took over the administration with the support of the Church. Her forces surrounded Bristol, where Hugh Despenser the Elder had taken shelter; he surrendered and was promptly executed. Edward and Hugh the Younger fled their castle around November 2, leaving behind jewellery, considerable supplies and at least £13,000 in cash, possibly once again hoping to reach Ireland, but on 16 November they were betrayed and captured by a search party north of Caerphilly. Edward was escorted first to Monmouth Castle, and from there back into England, where he was held at the Earl of Lancaster’s fortress at Kenilworth. Edward’s final remaining forces, by now besieged in Caerphilly Castle, surrendered after five months in April 1327.

Isabella and Mortimer rapidly took revenge on the former regime. Hugh Despenser the Younger was put on trial, declared a traitor and sentenced to be disembowelled, castrated and quartered; he was duly executed on November 24, 1326.

Queen Isabella

Edward’s position, however, was problematic; he was still married to Isabella and, in principle, he remained the king, but most of the new administration had a lot to lose were he to be released and potentially regain power.

There was no established procedure for removing an English king. Adam Orleton, the Bishop of Hereford, made a series of public allegations about Edward’s conduct as king, and in January 1327 a parliament convened at Westminster at which the question of Edward’s future was raised; Edward refused to attend the gathering. Parliament, initially ambivalent, responded to the London crowds that called for Prince Edward to take the throne.

Shortly after this, a representative delegation of barons, clergy and knights was sent to Kenilworth to speak to the king. On January 20, 1327, the Earl of Lancaster and the bishops of Winchester and Lincoln met privately with Edward in the castle. They informed Edward that if he were to resign as monarch, his son Prince Edward would succeed him, but if he failed to do so, his son might be disinherited as well, and the crown given to an alternative candidate.

In tears, Edward agreed to abdicate, and on January 21, Sir William Trussell, representing the kingdom as a whole, withdrew his homage and formally ended Edward’s reign. A proclamation was sent to London, announcing that Edward, now known as Edward of Caernarvon, had freely resigned his kingdom and that Prince Edward would succeed him. The coronation took place at Westminster Abbey on February 2, 1327.

The Tour de Nesle Affair: Part II.

Tags

Adultery, Charles IV of France, John I of France, Philip IV of France, Philip the Fair, Sandal, The Tour de Nesle affair, Tour de Nesle

Philippe IV placed the knights under surveillance for a period, and the scandal began to take shape. The accusations centred on suggestions that Blanche and Margaret had been drinking, eating and engaging in adultery with Gautier and Philippe of Aunay in the Tour de Nesle over a period time. The Tour de Nesle was an old guard tower in Paris next to the river Seine and had been bought by Philippe IV in 1308. The third sister-in-law, Jeanne , was initially said to have been present on some of these occasions and to have known of the affair; later accusations were extended to have included suggestions that she had also been involved in adultery herself.

Most historians have tended to conclude that the accusations against Blanche and Margaret were probably true, although some are more skeptical. Some accounts have suggested that Isabella’s accusations were politically motivated; she had just given birth to her son, the future King Edward II, and in theory the removal of all three of her sisters-in-law might have made Edward II of England’s accession to the French throne more likely. Others have argued that this seems an unlikely plan, given the normal probability that at least one of the three brothers would have successfully remarried and enjoyed a male heir in the coming years. Some contemporary chroniclers suggested that Philippe IV’s unpopular chamberlain Enguerrand de Marigny might have been responsible for framing the knights and women involved.

Following the period of surveillance, Philippe IV broke the news of the accusations publicly and arrested all involved. There are some suggestions that Walter and Philippe of Aunay attempted to escape to England but in due course both knights were interrogated and tortured by French officials. Both confessed to adultery and were found guilty, therefore, of lèse majesté. Blanche and Margaret were tried before the Paris Parlement and found guilty of adultery. The two women had their heads shaven and were sentenced to life imprisonment. Jeanne was also tried before the Parlement but was found innocent, partially as a result of her husband Philip’s influence.

Impact

The Tour de Nesle scandal led to the imprisonment of Blanche and Margaret, and the execution of their lovers. Having been tortured, the guilty knights Gautier and Philippe were then killed; most histories agree that they were first castrated and then either drawn and quartered or flayed alive, broken on a wheel and then hanged. The episode came as a severe shock to Philippe IV and some suggest that it contributed to his death later that same year. Isabella was criticized by some in France for failing to stand by her sisters-in-law, although this passed with time; Isabella’s own marriage failed catastrophically in due course, with many historians believing that she was responsible for the murder of her husband Edward II in 1327 after Isabella’s seizure of power in England with her lover Roger de Mortimer in 1326.

Abdication: What to Call a Former Monarch? Part III

Tags

Abdication, Charles IV of France, Duke of Lancaster, Henry IV of England, House of Lancaster, John of Gaunt, King of England, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of France, Kings and Queens of England, Lord Appellant, Radcot Bridge, Richard II of England, Second Crisis, Tyranny

Second crisis of 1397–99

After having his Royal authority clipped Richard gradually worked to re-established royal authority in the months after the deliberations of the Merciless Parliament. The aggressive foreign policy toward France of the Lords Appellant failed when their efforts to form a wide, anti-French coalition came to nothing. Shorty thereafter the north of England fell victim to a Scottish incursion. In 1389 the king’s ncle, John of Gaunt, returned to England and settled his differences and made peace with the king, after which the old statesman acted as a moderating influence on English politics.

Richard was now over twenty-one years old and could with confidence claim the right to govern in his own name. Therefore, on May 3rd, King Richard II assumed full control of the government, claiming that the difficulties of the past years had been the result of listening to bad councillors. He outlined a foreign policy that reversed the actions of the Lords Appellant by seeking peace and reconciliation with France instead of war. Richard promised to lessen the burden of taxation on the people significantly. These decisions allowed Richard II to rule peacefully for the next eight years, the most tranquil part of his reign.

King Richard II of England

With national stability secured, Richard began negotiating a more permanent peace with France. A proposal put forward in 1393 that would have greatly expanded the territory of Aquitaine, possessed by the English crown, failed because it included a requirement that the English king pay homage to King Charles VI of France – a condition that proved unacceptable to the English public. Instead, in 1396, a 28 year truce was agreed to, wherein Richard agreed to marry Isabella, daughter of the King of France, when she came of age. There were some misgivings about the betrothal, in particular because the princess was then only six years old, and thus would not be able to produce an heir to the throne of England for many years.

Despite the peaceful years of Richard’s rule he had not forgotten or forgiven the indignities he perceived. In particular, the execution of his former teacher Sir Simon de Burley was an insult not easily forgotten. These resentments simmered within the king.

The period referred to as the “tyranny” of Richard II began towards the end of the 1390’s. The king had the Duke of Gloucester, the Earl’s of Arundel and Warwick arrested in July 1397. The timing of these arrests and Richard’s motivation are not entirely clear. Although one chronicle suggested that a plot was being planned against the king, yet there is no evidence that this was the case. The most likely scenario is that Richard had simply come to feel strong enough in his powers and position as king and to safely retaliate against these three men for their role in events of 1386–88 and eliminate them as threats to his power. In simpler terms it was time for the king’s revenge.

The Earl of Arundel was the first of the three to be brought to trial, at the parliament of September 1397. The Earl of Arundel and Richard II had a antagonistic relationship that began during the First Crisis.

In August 1387, the time known as the First Crisis, the King dismissed the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Arundel from the Council and replaced them with his favourites – including the Archbishop of York, Alexander Neville; the Duke of Ireland, Robert de Vere; Michael de la Pole; the Earl of Suffolk, Sir Robert Tresilian, who was the Chief Justice; and the former Mayor of LondonNicholas Bremb

Radcot Bridge

The King summoned Gloucester and Arundel to a meeting. However, instead of coming, they raised troops and defeated the new Councilors of the king at Radcot Bridge on December 22, 1387. During that battle, Gloucester and Arundel took the favourites prisoner. The next year, the Merciless Parliament condemned the favourites.

Arundel was one of the Lords Appellant who accused and condemned Richard II’s favorites. He made himself particularly odious to the King by refusing, along with Gloucester, to spare the life of Sir Simon de Burley who had been condemned by the Merciless Parliament. This was even after the queen, Anne of Bohemia, went down on her knees before them to beg for mercy. King Richard never forgave this humiliation and planned and waited for his moment of revenge.

By 1394, Arundel was again a member of the royal council, and was involved in a quarrel with John of Gaunt, in the parliament of that year. Arundel, further antagonized the King by arriving late for the queen’s funeral. Richard II, in a rage, snatched a wand and struck Arundel in the face and drew blood. Shortly after that, the King feigned a reconciliation but he was only biding his time for the right moment to strike.

Arundel was persuaded by his brother Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, to surrender himself and to trust to the king’s clemency. On July 12, 1397, Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel was arrested for his opposition to Richard II as well as plotting with Gloucester to imprison the king. He stood trial at Westminster and was attainted. He was beheaded on September 21, 1397 and was buried in the church of the Augustin Friars, Bread Street, London.

Thomas of Woodstock (The Duke of Gloucester) was imprisoned in Calais to await trial for treason. During that time he was murdered, probably by a group of men led by Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, and the knight Sir Nicholas Colfox, presumably on behalf of Richard II. This caused an outcry among the nobility of England that is considered by many to have added to Richard’s unpopularity.

Warwick was also condemned to death, but his life was spared and his sentence reduced to life imprisonment. Arundel’s brother Thomas Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was exiled for life. Richard then took his persecution of adversaries to the localities. While recruiting retainers for himself in various counties, he prosecuted local men who had been loyal to the appellants. The fines levied on these men brought great revenues to the crown, although contemporary chroniclers raised questions about the legality of the proceedings.

Despite the destruction of the Lords Appellant a threat to Richard’s authority still existed in the form of the House of Lancaster, represented by John of Gaunt and his son Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford. The House of Lancaster not only possessed greater wealth than any other family in England, they were of royal descent and, as such, likely candidates to succeed the childless Richard II.

John of Gaunt had been at the centre of English politics for over thirty years, and when he died on February 3, 1399 at the age of led to insecurity within the government. Rather than allowing Bolingbroke to succeed to his father’s title, Duke of Lancaster, Richard extended the term of his exile to life and confiscated all of John of Gaunt’s his properties. The king felt safe from Henry Bolingbroke, who was residing in Paris, since the French had little interest in any challenge to Richard and his peace policy. Richard II left the country in May for another expedition in Ireland.

In 1398 Richard summoned a packed Parliament to Shrewsbury—known as the Parliament of Shrewsbury—which declared all the acts of the Merciless Parliament to be null and void, and announced that no restraint could legally be put on the king. It delegated all parliamentary power to a committee of twelve lords and six commoners chosen from the king’s friends, making Richard an absolute ruler unbound by the necessity of gathering a Parliament again.

Overthrow and death

In June 1399, Louis, Duke of Orléans, gained control of the court of Charles VI of France who had become debilitated by his mental Illness. The policy of rapprochement with the English crown established by Richard II did not suit Louis’s political ambitions, and for this reason he found it opportune to allow Henry Bolingbroke to leave for England. With a small group of followers, Bolingbroke landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire towards the end of June 1399.

Men from all over the country soon rallied around the duke. Meeting with Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who had his own misgivings about the king, Bolingbroke insisted that his only object was to regain his own land and titles. Percy took him at his word and declined to interfere. The king had taken most of his household knights and the loyal members of his nobility with him to Ireland, so Henry experienced little resistance as he moved south. Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, who was acting as Keeper of the Realm, had little choice but to side with Bolingbroke. Meanwhile, Richard was delayed in his return from Ireland and did not land in Wales until July 24, 1399.

The king He his way to Conwy, where on August 12, he met with the Earl of Northumberland for negotiations. On August 19, Richard II surrendered to Henry at Flint Castle, promising to abdicate if his life were spared. Both men then returned to London, the indignant king riding all the way behind Henry. On arrival, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London on September 1, 1399.

King Henry IV of England

Henry was by now fully determined to take the throne, but presenting a rationale for this action proved a dilemma. It was argued that Richard, through his tyranny and misgovernment, had rendered himself unworthy of being king. However, Henry was not next in line to the throne; the heir presumptive was Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, who was descended from Edward III’s third son, the second to survive to adulthood, Lionel of Antwerp. Bolingbroke’s father, John of Gaunt, was Edward’s fourth son, the third to survive to adulthood. The problem was solved by emphasising Henry’s descent in a direct male line, whereas the Earl of March’s descent was through his grandmother.

According to the official record (read by Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, during an assembly of lords and commons at Westminster Hall on Tuesday September, 30, 1399), Richard gave up his crown willingly and ratified his deposition citing as a reason his own unworthiness as a monarch. On the other hand, the Traison et Mort Chronicle suggests otherwise. It describes a meeting between Richard and Henry that took place one day before the parliament’s session. The king succumbed to blind rage, ordered his release from the Tower, called his cousin a traitor, demanded to see his wife and swore revenge throwing down his bonnet, while the duke refused to do anything without parliamentary approval.

When parliament met to discuss Richard’s fate, the bishop of St Asaph read thirty-three articles of deposition that were unanimously accepted by lords and commons. On October 1, 1399, Richard II was formally deposed and on October 13, the feast day of Edward the Confessor, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, was crowned Henry IV of England. Henry had previously agreed to let Richard live after his abdication.

Coat of Arms of King Henry IV of England

This all changed when it was revealed that the earls of Huntingdon, Kent and Salisbury and Lord Despenser, and possibly also the Earl of Rutland – all now demoted from the ranks they had been given by Richard – were planning to murder the new king and restore Richard in the Epiphany Rising. Although averted, the plot highlighted the danger of allowing Richard to live. He is thought to have starved to death in captivity on or around February 14, 1400, although there is some question over the date and manner of his death. His body was taken south from Pontefract and displayed in the old St Paul’s Cathedral on February 17, before burial in King’s Langley Priory on March 6, 1400.

King Richard II of England did not live long after his abdication. Although he was removed from the throne he did retain his title of King of England.

Royal Standard of King Henry IV of England

Knightfall and the history of the fall of the Knights Templar.

Tags

Avignon, Charles IV of France, Clericis Laicos, Edward I of England, Guillaume de Nogaret, History Channel, Jews, Joan I of Navarre, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Navarre, Knightfall, Knights Templar, Papal Bull, Philip the Fair, Philippe IV of France, Pope Boniface VIII, Pope Clement V, Roman Catholic Church, Unam Sanctam

Knightfall is an upcoming historical fiction drama television series on the History Channel. The 10-episode series is set to premiere on December 6, 2017. It recounts the fall, persecution, and burning at the stake of the Knights Templar as orchestrated by King Philippe IV of France on October 13, 1307. The series focuses on Templar leader Sir Landry, a brave warrior discouraged by the Templars’ failures in the Holy Land who is reinvigorated by news that the Holy Grail has resurfaced.

While I love historical fiction it contains just that, fiction. So here is some historical background that goes into the events of the series Knightfall. 

The King

Philippe IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), also known as Philippe the Fair and the Iron King was King of France from 1285 until his death in 1314. Through his marriage to Joan I, Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne 1274-1305, (daughter of King Henri I of Navarre and Blanche d’Artois) he was also Philippe I, King of Navarre from 1284 to 1305. Though his wife was Countess of Champagne in her own right, Philippe IV briefly took the reigns of government into his own hands by Right of his wife. Philippe IV was known as handsome, however, his obstinate character won him from friends and enemies. His fierce opponent, Bishop Bernard Saisset of Pamiers, said of the king, “He is neither man nor beast. He is a statue.”

The mounting Crisis.

In 1290, King Edward I of England (1272-1307) had ordered the Jews to leave England. In turn, Philippe IV, the Iron King, also expelled the Jews from France in July of 1306. With the Jews out of France, Philippe IV had to appoint royal guardians to collect the loans made by the Jews, with the money being passed to the Crown. These actions did not go well in France. The Jews were looked upon as honest and good businessmen who not only satisfied their customers but were held in high esteem by the general populace. In contrast the king’s money collectors were universally reviled.

In 1315 the people of France complained and complained loudly, to the point where the Jews were invited back to France and were given a guarantee of 12 years free from government interference. In 1322, the Jews were expelled once again by the King Charles IV of France and Navarre 1322-1328, third son of King Philippe IV, who did not honour his fathers commitment after the great leper scare of 1321.

Philip IV’s financial treatment of the Jews was anti-semitic, but Christians, the wealthy and poor, clergy and lay people alike all suffered due to the Kings actions. Another prominent group wounded by Philippe IV’s policies were wealthy abbots and Lombard merchants. The merchants, who had made extensive loans on the pledge of repayment from future taxation, were expelled from France and their property sized. To further demonstrate his cruelty Philippe IV reduced the value of French coinage. In 1306 these policies which had a harsh impact on all less-wealthy people of France, led to a two-thirds loss in the value of the livres, sous and deniers in circulation. This financial crisis led to rioting in Paris which forced Philippe IV to briefly seek refuge in the Paris Temple – headquarters of the Knights Templar.

Philippe IV vs. Boniface VIII.

Pope Boniface VIII 1294-1303 condemned Philippe IV for his damaging policies along with his spendthrift lifestyle and his treatment of the Jews. The king levied taxes on the French clergy, calling for at least half their annual income, causing a major conflict with the Roman Catholic Church and the papacy, prompting Pope Boniface VIII to issue a Papal Bull, Clericis Laicos (1296), which forbade the transference of any church property to the French Crown.

In response to the Papal Bull, Philippe IV convoked an assembly of bishops, nobles and grand bourgeois of Paris in order to condemn the Pope. This assemble was a precursor to the Etats Généraux, appeared for the first time during his reign. This assembly was viewed as a measure of the professionalism, order and legitimacy that his ministers were trying to implement into the government. This assembly gave support to Philippe IV’s condemnation of the pope. Pope Boniface VIII retaliated and escalated the conflict with the ground breaking Papal Bull, Unam Sanctam* (1302) which declares papal supremacy.

King Philippe IV emerged as the victor in the conflict. Philippe sent his agent Guillaume de Nogaret to arrest Pope Boniface VIII at Anagni. Prior to the arrival of the French garrison Boniface excommunicated both Philippe IV and Nogaret. However the pope was able to escape, after being beaten, but died soon afterward. With the Holy See vacant French archbishop Bertrand de Goth was elected pope as Clement V beginning the Babylonian Captivity of the papacy (1309–77), during which the official seat of the papacy moved from Rome to Avignon, an enclave surrounded by French territories, and was subjected to French control and became a virtual puppet of the French monarchy.

Suppression of the Knights Templar

With the aid and refuge given to Philippe IV by the Knights Templar the king was substantially indebted to them. The Knights Templar were a monastic military order whose original role was that of protectors of Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land during the Crusades. By the time of Philippe IV’s war against Pope Boniface VIII the influence and need for the Knights Templar had waned. In order to free himself from his indebtedness to the Knights, Philippe IV used a disgruntled complaint of heresy ** against the Knights Templar as an excuse to move against the entire organization and destroy both its religious and financial power and influence in France.

Another prime motive for Philippe to squash the Knights Templar was in order to consolidate power into a royal theocracy where the monarchy had both secular and spiritual power/authority in France. This foundation was built upon the Franco-papal rift at the time of Boniface VIII. With the Papacy now a fixture in France, Philippe IV saw himself as the ultimate defender of the Catholic faith, and felt empowered with a Christlike function giving him authority above the pope. This places the need for the Papal Bull Unam Sanctam of 1302 by Boniface VIII, in a proper historical context.

At daybreak on Friday, October 13, 1307, hundreds of Templars in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of Philippe IV, and were later tortured into admitting heresy into the Order. In their view the Knights rejected the spiritual authority claimed by Philippe IV and believed they were only answerable to only the Pope. With Pope Clement V under the direct control of the French king, ordered the Knights Templar to disband. At first Pope Clement V did attempt to hold proper trials, but Philippe IV used previously forced and coerced confessions to condemn the Knights Templars who were promptly burned at the stake before a proper defense could be made.

* The Bull lays down dogmatic propositions on the unity of the Catholic Church, the necessity of belonging to it for eternal salvation, the position of the pope as supreme head of the Church, and the duty thence arising of submission to the pope in order to belong to the Church and thus to attain salvation. The pope further emphasizes the higher position of the spiritual in comparison with the secular order.

** The heresy levied against the Knights Templar stem from claims that were made that during Templar admissions ceremonies recruits were allegedly forced to spit on the Cross, deny Jesus Christ, and engage in indecent kissing. The Nights were also accused of worshipping idols, and the order was said to have encouraged homosexual practices. None of these claims have ever been historically verified.