November 16, 1272: Death of Henry III, King of England and accession of Edward I as King of England.

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Edward I of England, Edward the Confessor, Eleanore of Provence, Fontevraud Abbey, Henry III of England, Louis IX of France, Sicily, St. Louis of France, The Eighth Crusade at Tunis, Westminster Abbey

The future King Edward I of England was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of June, 17–18 1239, to King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence, the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and his wife Margaret of Geneva.

Edward took the crusader’s cross in an elaborate ceremony on June 24, 1268, with his brother Edmund Crouchback and cousin Henry of Almain. Among others who committed themselves to the Ninth Crusade were Edward’s former adversaries – like the Earl of Gloucester, though de Clare did not ultimately participate. With the country pacified, the greatest impediment to the project was providing sufficient finances. King Louis IX of France, who was the leader of the crusade, provided a loan of about £17,500.

Edward formally left for the Eighth Crusade, led by Louis of France, in 1270, but his father, King Henry III, became increasingly ill; concerns about a fresh rebellion grew and the next year the King wrote to his son asking him to return to England, but Edward did not turn back.

Henry III recovered slightly and announced his renewed intention to join the crusades himself, but he never regained his full health and on the evening of November 16, 1272, he died in Westminster, probably with Eleanor in attendance.

At his request, Henry III was buried in Westminster Abbey in front of the church’s high altar, in the former resting place of Edward the Confessor. A few years later, work began on a grander tomb for Henry and in 1290 Edward moved his father’s body to its current location in Westminster Abbey. His gilt-brass funeral effigy was designed and forged within the abbey grounds by William Torell; unlike other effigies of the period, it is particularly naturalistic in style, but it is probably not a close likeness of Henry himself.

Eleanor probably hoped that Henry would be recognised as a saint, as his contemporary Louis IX of France had been; indeed, Henry’s final tomb resembled the shrine of a saint, complete with niches possibly intended to hold relics.

When the King’s body was exhumed in 1290, contemporaries noted that the body was in perfect condition and that Henry’s long beard remained well preserved, which at the time was considered to be an indication of saintly purity. Miracles began to be reported at the tomb, but Edward was sceptical about these stories. The reports ceased, and Henry was never canonised. In 1292, his heart was removed from his tomb and reburied at Fontevraud Abbey with the bodies of his Angevin family.

In June 1272 an assassination attempt on Edward by a Syrian Nizari (Assassin) supposedly sent by Baibars forced him to abandon any further campaigning. Edward was initially defiant, and although he managed to kill the assassin, he was struck in the arm by a dagger feared to be poisoned, and became severely weakened over the following months.

It was not until September 24, 1272 that Edward left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, he was met with the news that his father had died on November 16, 1272. Edward was deeply saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home at once, he made a leisurely journey northwards. This was due partly to his still-poor health, but also to a lack of urgency.

The political situation in England was stable after the mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king after his father’s death, rather than at his own coronation, as had until then been customary. In Edward’s absence, the country was governed by a royal council, led by Robert Burnell. The new king embarked on an overland journey through Italy and France, where among other things he visited Pope Gregory X. Only on August 2, 1274 did he return to England, and he was crowned on August, 19.

April 30, 1245: Birth of King Philippe III of France.

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Edward I of England, Henry III of England, Isabella of Aragon, Kings and Queens of France, Louis IX of France, Louis of France, Marie of Brabant, Philip III of France, Philip the Bold, Philip the Fair, The Eighth Crusade at Tunis

Philippe III (April 30, 1245 – October 5, 1285), called the Bold was King of France from 1270 to 1285.

Philippe was born in Poissy to King Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence, the eldest of four daughters of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy.

King Philippe III “The Bold” of France

Margaret of Provence younger sisters (thus aunts of Philippe III) were Queen Eleanor of England (wife of King Henry III of England), Queen Sanchia of Germany (wife of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, brother was Henry III of England. Richard was elected in 1256 as King of Germany by a majority of the seven electoral princes, with the title of King of the Romans, a preparatory step in being named Holy Roman Emperor by the pope).

Margaret’s youngest sister was Queen Beatrice of Sicily (was ruling Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1245 until her death, as well as Countess of Anjou and Maine, Queen of Sicily and Naples by marriage to Charles I of Naples).

Becoming Heir to the Throne

As a younger son, Philippe was not expected to become King of France. He had an elder brother Prince Louis (1244-1260). Philippe’s elder brother fell ill after Christmas 1259 and died shortly after New Year, aged fifteen, a month before his sixteenth birthday. At the death of his elder brother Louis Philippe became the heir to the throne. He was then 15 years old and had less skill than his brother, being of a gentle character, submissive, timid and versatile, almost crushed by the strong personalities of his parents.

His mother Margaret made him promise under a solemn oath to remain under her tutelage until the age of 30, but his father King Louis IX preferring to improve his son through education. Pope Urban IV released Philippe from his oath on June 6, 1263.

Marriages of Philippe III

On May 6, 1262, Philippe married Isabella, daughter of King James I of Aragon and his second wife Yolande of Hungary. They had four sons:

Louis (1265–1276)
Philippe IV “the Fair” (1268–1314), King of France
Robert (1269–1271)
Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325)

Isabella accompanied her husband on the Eighth Crusade against Tunis. On their way home, they stopped in Cosenza, Calabria. Six months pregnant with her fifth child, on January 11, 1271 she suffered a fall from her horse. After they had resumed the trip back to France, Isabella gave birth to a premature stillborn son.

She never recovered from her injuries and the childbirth, and died seventeen days later, on January 28. Her death was a devastating emotional blow to her husband, especially since she had been pregnant. Philippe took the bodies of Isabella and their stillborn son and, when he finally returned to France, buried them in the Basilica of St Denis. Isabella’s tomb, like many others, was desecrated during the French Revolution in 1793.

After death of Isabella, King Philippe married Marie of Brabant on August 21, 1274. Marie was daughter of the late Heinrich III, Duke of Brabant, and Adelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant. They had three children: Louis (1276-1319), Blanche (1278-1305) and Margaret (1282-1318). Margaret became Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I of England.

Marriage of Philip and Marie of Brabant, Queen of France

Philippe III was under the strong influence of his mother, Margaret of Provence, and his minion, surgeon and chamberlain (Chambellan) Pierre de La Broce. Not being French, Marie stood out at the French court.

Marie was the step-mother to Philippe’s children. Philippe’s eldest son with his first wife Isabella of Aragon was also named Prince Louis (1264-1276), not to be confused with Philippe III’s elder brother, also named Louis. He died under suspicious circumstances.

Following Louis’ death, Pierre de la Broce, Philippe’s chamberlain, accused Mary of Brabant, Philippe’s second wife, of poisoning Louis. However, by 1277, suspicion had also fallen on Pierre de la Broce, who was then tried for treachery, and hanged at Montfaucon. Despite that, it is widely believed Louis was poisoned, by orders of his stepmother, Marie of Brabant. At Louis death at the age of 12, his younger brother Philippe, succeeded him as heir apparent.

Kingship

Philippe’s father, King Louis IX, died on August 25, 1270 in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philippe, who was accompanying him, returned to France to claim his throne and was anointed at Reims in 1271.

Coronation of Philippe III in Reims.

Philippe III proved indecisive, soft in nature, and timid. The strong personalities of his parents apparently crushed him, and policies of his father dominated him. People called him “the Bold” on the basis of his abilities in combat and on horseback, and not on the basis of his political or personal character.

Philippe III was pious but not cultivated. He followed the suggestions of others, first of Pierre de La Broce and then of his uncle King Charles I of Naples, Sicily, and Albania.

Philip III made numerous territorial acquisitions during his reign, the most notable being the County of Toulouse, which was annexed to the Crown lands of France in 1271. Following the Sicilian Vespers, a rebellion triggered by Pedro III of Aragon against Philippe’s uncle Charles I of Naples. Philippe led an unsuccessful Aragonese Crusade in support of his uncle. Philippe III was forced to retreat and died from dysentery in Perpignan in 1285. He was succeeded by his second surviving son as King Philippe IV the Fair, who was crowned King of France on January 6, 1286 in Reims.

After the death of Philippe III in 1285, his second wife Queen Marie lost some of her political influence, and dedicated her life to their three children.

Marie lived through Philippe IV’s reign and she outlived all her children. She died in 1322, aged 67, in the monastery at Les Mureaux, near Meulan, where she had withdrawn to in 1316.

April 25, 1284: Birth of Edward II, King of England and Lord of Ireland. Part I.

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Alphonse of Chester, Edward I of England, Homosexuality, King Edward II of England, Piers Gaveston, Prince of Wales, Robert the Bruce

Edward II (April 25, 1284 – September 21, 1327), also called Edward of Carnarvon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327.

Edward II was the fourth son of Edward I, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Infanta Eleanor of Castile, Countess of Ponthieu in northern France.

Infanta Eleanor of Castile, Countess of Ponthieu was born in Burgos, daughter of King Fernando III of Castile and Joan, Countess of Ponthieu. Her Castilian name, Leonor, became Alienor or Alianor in England, and Eleanor in modern English. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Eleanor of England.

By his first wife Eleanor of Castile, King Edward I of England had at least fourteen children, perhaps as many as sixteen. Of these, five daughters survived into adulthood, but only one son, and last child, outlived his father, King Edward II (1307–1327).

Here are the three potential heirs to the throne born prior to the birth of Edward II

John (July 13, 1266 – August 3, 1271), predeceased his father and died at Wallingford while in the custody of his granduncle Richard, Earl of Cornwall, buried at Westminster Abbey.

Henry (May 6, 1268 – October 14, 1274), predeceased his father, buried in Westminster Abbey.

Alphonso, Earl of Chester (November 24, 1273 – August 19, 1284), predeceased his father, buried in Westminster Abbey. At the age of ten, Alphonso was engaged to Margaret, daughter of Floris V, Count of Holland. Alphonso’s death at Windsor occurred shortly after the birth of his younger brother Edward, who became the oldest surviving male heir of Edward I. Alphonso was interred in The Confessor’s Chapel at Westminster Abbey, although the exact location is unknown.

Edward II was born in Caernarfon Castle in north Wales on 25 April 1284, less than a year after Edward I had conquered the region, and as a result is sometimes called Edward of Caernarfon. The king probably chose the castle deliberately as the location for Edward’s birth as it was an important symbolic location for the native Welsh, associated with Roman imperial history, and it formed the centre of the new royal administration of North Wales.

David Powel, a 16th-century clergyman, suggested that the baby was offered to the Welsh as a prince “that was borne in Wales and could speake never a word of English”, but there is no evidence to support this account.

Edward’s name was English in origin, linking him to the Anglo-Saxon saint Edward the Confessor, and was chosen by his father instead of the more traditional Norman and Castilian names selected for Edward’s brothers.

Edward had a normal upbringing for a member of a royal family. He was interested in horses and horsebreeding, and became a good rider; he also liked dogs, in particular greyhounds. In his letters, he shows a quirky sense of humour, joking about sending unsatisfactory animals to his friends, such as horses who disliked carrying their riders, or lazy hunting dogs too slow to catch rabbits.

He was not particularly interested in hunting or falconry, both popular activities in the 14th century. He enjoyed music, including Welsh music and the newly invented crwth instrument, as well as musical organs. He did not take part in jousting, either because he lacked the aptitude or because he had been banned from participating for his personal safety, but he was certainly supportive of the sport.

Edward grew up to be tall and muscular, and was considered good looking by the standards of the period.

Edward and Piers Gaveston

During the time Edward I was raging war with Robert the Bruce of Scotland, his son, Edward became close to Piers Gaveston. Gaveston was the son of one of the king’s household knights whose lands lay adjacent to Gascony, and had himself joined Prince Edward’s household in 1300, possibly on Edward I’s instruction.

The two got on well; Gaveston became a squire and was soon being referred to as a close companion of Edward, before being knighted by the king during the Feast of the Swans in 1306. The king then exiled Gaveston to Gascony in 1307 for reasons that remain unclear. According to one chronicler, Edward had asked his father to allow him to give Gaveston the County of Ponthieu, and the king responded furiously, pulling his son’s hair out in great handfuls, before exiling Gaveston.

The official court records, however, show Gaveston being only temporarily exiled, supported by a comfortable stipend; no reason is given for the order, suggesting that it may have been an act aimed at punishing the prince.

The possibility that Edward had a sexual relationship with Gaveston or his later favourites has been extensively discussed by historians, complicated by the paucity of surviving evidence to determine for certain the details of their relationships.

Homosexuality was fiercely condemned by the Church in 14th-century England, which equated it with heresy, but engaging in sex with another man did not necessarily define an individual’s personal identity in the same way that it might in the 21st century. Both men had sexual relationships with their wives, who bore them children; Edward also had an illegitimate son, and may have had an affair with his niece, Eleanor de Clare.

The contemporary evidence supporting their homosexual relationship comes primarily from an anonymous chronicler in the 1320s who described how Edward “felt such love” for Gaveston that “he entered into a covenant of constancy, and bound himself with him before all other mortals with a bond of indissoluble love, firmly drawn up and fastened with a knot”.

The first specific suggestion that Edward engaged in sex with men was recorded in 1334, when Adam Orleton, the Bishop of Winchester, was accused of having stated in 1326 that Edward was a “sodomite”, although Orleton defended himself by arguing that he had meant that Edward’s advisor, Hugh Despenser the Younger, was a sodomite, rather than the late king.

The Meaux Chronicle from the 1390s simply notes that Edward gave himself “too much to the vice of sodomy.” Alternatively, Edward and Gaveston may have simply been friends with a close working relationship. Contemporary chronicler comments are vaguely worded; Orleton’s allegations were at least in part politically motivated, and are very similar to the highly politicised sodomy allegations made against Pope Boniface VIII and the Knights Templar in 1303 and 1308 respectively.

Later accounts by chroniclers of Edward’s activities may trace back to Orleton’s original allegations, and were certainly adversely coloured by the events at the end of Edward’s reign. Such historians as Michael Prestwich and Seymour Phillips have argued that the public nature of the English royal court would have made it unlikely that any homosexual affairs would have remained discreet; neither the contemporary Church, Edward’s father nor his father-in-law appear to have made any adverse comments about Edward’s sexual behaviour.

A more recent theory, proposed by the historian Pierre Chaplais, suggests that Edward and Gaveston entered into a bond of adoptive brotherhood. Compacts of adoptive brotherhood, in which the participants pledged to support each other in a form of “brotherhood-in-arms”, were not unknown between close male friends in the Middle Ages.

Many chroniclers described Edward and Gaveston’s relationship as one of brotherhood, and one explicitly noted that Edward had taken Gaveston as his adopted brother. Chaplais argues that the pair may have made a formal compact in either 1300 or 1301, and that they would have seen any later promises they made to separate or to leave each other as having been made under duress, and therefore invalid.

March 25, 1306: Coronation of Robert the Bruce as King of Scots.

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Battle of Bannockburn, coronation, Earl of Carrick, Edward I of England, Elizabeth de Burgh, Isabella of Mar, King Edward II of England, Pope John XXII, Robert I of Scotland, Robert the Bruce, Stone of Destiny, Stone of Scone, William Wallace

Robert I (July 11, 1274 – June 7, 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce was King of Scotland from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert was one of the most famous warriors of his generation, and eventually led Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against England. He fought successfully during his reign to regain Scotland’s place as an independent country and is today revered in Scotland as a national hero.

Several members of the Bruce family were called Robert, the future king was one of ten children, and the eldest son, of Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale, and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, and claimed the Scottish throne as a fourth great-grandson of David I of Scotland. His mother was by all accounts a formidable woman who, legend would have it, kept Robert Bruce’s father captive until he agreed to marry her. From his mother, he inherited the Earldom of Carrick, and through his father, a royal lineage that would give him a claim to the Scottish throne. The Bruces also held substantial estates in Aberdeenshire, County Antrim, County Durham, Essex, Middlesex and Yorkshire.

Robert’s grandfather, Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during the “Great Cause”. As Earl of Carrick, Robert the Bruce supported his family’s claim to the Scottish throne and took part in William Wallace’s revolt against Edward I of England. Appointed in 1298 as a Guardian of Scotland alongside his chief rival for the throne, John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, and William Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews, Robert later resigned in 1300 due to his quarrels with Comyn and the apparently imminent restoration of John Balliol to the Scottish throne. After submitting to Edward I in 1302 and returning to “the king’s peace”, Robert inherited his family’s claim to the Scottish throne upon his father’s death.

It is not known exactly when Robert married his first wife, Isabella of Mar, the daughter of Domhnall I, Earl of Mar and his wife Helen. It is theorized to have taken place in the early 1290s. Isabella died in 1296 before her husband was crowned King of Scotland. Six years after Isabella’s death, Robert married his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh (died 1327). Robert and Isabella’s daughter, Marjorie, married Walter Stewart, Steward of Scotland, and their son eventually reigned as Robert II, King of Scotland (died 1390).

In February 1306, Bruce, having wounded Comyn, rushed from the church where they had met and encountered his attendants outside. He told them what had happened and said, “I must be off, for I doubt I have slain the Red Comyn.” “Doubt?”, Roger de Kirkpatrick of Closeburn answered. “I mak sikker,” (“I’ll make sure,” or “I make sure”). Kirkpatrick then rushed into the church and killed Comyn. For this, Bruce was then excommunicated by the Pope (although he received absolution from Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow).

Bruce moved quickly to seize the throne, and was crowned king of Scots on March 25, 1306. Edward I’s forces defeated Robert in battle, forcing him to flee into hiding before re-emerging in 1307 to defeat an English army at Loudoun Hill and wage a highly successful guerrilla war against the English. Bruce defeated his other Scots enemies, destroying their strongholds and devastating their lands, and in 1309 held his first parliament.

A series of military victories between 1310 and 1314 won him control of much of Scotland, and at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert defeated a much larger English army under Edward II of England, confirming the re-establishment of an independent Scottish kingdom. The battle marked a significant turning point, with Robert’s armies now free to launch devastating raids throughout northern England, while also extending his war against the English to Ireland by sending an army to invade there and by appealing to the Irish to rise against Edward II’s rule.

Despite Bannockburn and the capture of the final English stronghold at Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to renounce his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish nobility submitted the Declaration of Arbroath to Pope John XXII, declaring Robert as their rightful monarch and asserting Scotland’s status as an independent kingdom. In 1324, the Pope recognised Robert I as king of an independent Scotland, and in 1326, the Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil. In 1327, the English deposed Edward II in favour of his son, Edward III, and peace was concluded between Scotland and England with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328, by which Edward III renounced all claims to sovereignty over Scotland.

Robert died in June 1329. His body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey, while his heart was interred in Melrose Abbey and his internal organs embalmed and placed in St Serf’s Chapel, Dumbarton, site of the medieval Cardross Parish church.

March 19, 1284: The Statute of Rhuddlan

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Edward I of England, Henry VIII of England, Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Lord of Aberffraw, Prince of Gwynedd, Principality of Wales, The Statute of Rhuddlan

The Statute of Rhuddlan provided the constitutional basis for the government of the Principality of Wales from 1284 until 1536. The Statute introduced English common law to Wales but also permitted the continuance of Welsh legal practices within the Principality.

The statute, which was enacted on March 3, 1284 after careful consideration by Edward I, takes its name from Rhuddlan Castle in Denbighshire where it was first promulgated on March 19 1284.

The Prince of Gwynedd had been recognised by the English Crown as Prince of Wales in 1267, holding his lands with the king of England as his feudal overlord. It was thus that the English interpreted the title of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Lord of Aberffraw, which was briefly held after his death by his successor Dafydd ap Gruffudd. This meant that when Llywelyn rebelled, the English interpreted it as an act of treason. Accordingly, his lands escheated to the king of England, and Edward I took possession of the Principality of Wales by military conquest from 1282 to 1283. By this means the principality became “united and annexed” to the Crown of England.

Following his conquest Edward I erected four new marcher lordships in northeast Wales: Chirk (Chirkland), Bromfield and Yale (Powys Fadog), Ruthin (Dyffryn Clwyd) and Denbigh (Lordship of Denbigh); and one in South Wales, Cantref Bychan. He restored the principality of Powys Wenwynwyn to Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn who had suffered at the hands of Llewelyn, and he and his successor Owen de la Pole held it as a marcher lordship. Rhys ap Maredudd of Dryslwyn would have been in a similar position in Cantref Mawr, having adhered to the king during Llewelyn’s rebellion, but he forfeited his lands by rebelling in 1287. A few other minor Welsh nobles submitted in time to retain their lands, but became little more than gentry.

Henry VIII, King of England and Ireland

The English Crown already had a means of governing South Wales in the honours of Carmarthen and Cardigan, which went back to 1240. These became counties under the government of the Justiciar of South Wales (or of West Wales), who was based in Carmarthen. The changes of the period made little difference in the substantial swathe of land from Pembrokeshire through South Wales to the Welsh Borders which was already in the hands of the marcher lords. Nor did they alter the administration of the royal lordships of Montgomery and Builth, which retained their existing institutions.

The Statute of Rhuddlan was superseded by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 when Henry VIII, through parliamentary measures, which Wales was annexed to the Kingdom of England, unequivocally making Wales part of the “realm of England”. The repercussions of this annexation was that the legal system of England was extended to Wales and the norms of English administration were introduced. The intention was to create a single state and legal jurisdiction. These Acts that were were passed during the reign of King Henry VIII of England, who came from the Welsh Tudor dynasty.

November 16, 1272: Death of King Henry III of England and the accession of King Edward I.

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Acre, Crusades, Edward I of England, Edward longshanks, Henry III of England, Kingdom of England, Louis IX of France

Edward, heir to the English throne, left for the Eighth Crusade, led by King Louis IX of France, in 1270, as Henry III became increasingly ill; concerns about a fresh rebellion grew and the next year the King wrote to his son asking him to return to England, but Edward did not turn back. Henry recovered slightly and announced his renewed intention to join the crusades himself, but he never regained his full health and on the evening of November 16, 1272, Henry died in Westminster, probably with Queen Eleanor (of Provence) in attendance. He was succeeded by Edward as the new King of England and Lord of Ireland.

Henry III, King of England and Lord of Ireland

Edward was in Acre, in the Holy Land, and an attack by a Muslim assassin in June forced him to abandon any further campaigning. Although he managed to kill the assassin, he was struck in the arm by a dagger which was feared to be poisoned, and became severely weakened over the following months.

It was not until September 24, 1273 that Edward left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, he was met with the news that his father had died on November 16, 1272, and that he had become the King of England. In our day of instant information it’s amazing to think that the news of the death of King Henry III didn’t reach his son and successor for almost a year! Edward was deeply saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home at once, he made a leisurely journey northwards.

Edward I, King of England and Lord of Ireland

This was due partly to his still-poor health, but also to a lack of urgency. The political situation in England was stable after the mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king after his father’s death, rather than at his own coronation, as had until then been customary. In Edward’s absence, the country was governed by a royal council, led by Robert Burnell. The new king embarked on an overland journey through Italy and France, where among other things he visited Pope Gregory X. Only on August 2, 1274 did he return to England, almost two years since his accession, and he was crowned on August 19.

Royal Ancestry of Henry VII of England: Part III

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Alfonso X of Castile, Alfred the Great, Edward I of England, Eleanor of Castile, Ferdinand III of Castile, Henry I of England, Henry II of England, Henry III of England, Henry VII of England, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, Louis VII of France, Margaret of Wessex, Matilda of Scotland

We left off with the descendants Isabella of France, wife of Edward II, in our examination of the royal ancestry of Henry VII. Today we will begin with Eleanor of Castile the wife of Edward I, King of England and Lord of Ireland.

Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland.

Edward I (June 17/18, 1239 – July 7, 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Before his accession to the throne, he was commonly referred to as The Lord Edward. Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of 17–18 June 1239, to King Henry III of England (1216-1272) and Eleanor of Provence. Edward is an Anglo-Saxon name, and was not commonly given among the aristocracy of England after the Norman conquest, but Henry was devoted to the veneration of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), and decided to name his firstborn son after the saint.* Edward I was a tall man (6’2″) for his era, hence the nickname “Longshanks“. He was temperamental, and this, along with his height, made him an intimidating man, and he often instilled fear in his contemporaries.

Nevertheless, he held the respect of his subjects for the way he embodied the medieval ideal of kingship, as a soldier, an administrator and a man of faith. Edward I is credited with many accomplishments during his reign, including restoring royal authority after the reign of Henry III, establishing Parliament as a permanent institution and thereby also a functional system for raising taxes, and reforming the law through statutes. At the same time, he is also often criticised for other actions, such as his brutal conduct towards the Welsh and Scots, and issuing the Edict of Expulsion in 1290, by which the Jews were expelled from England.

Edward I, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine.

In 1252, Alfonso X of Castile and León (1252-1284) had resurrected another ancestral claim, this time to the duchy of Gascony, in the south of Aquitaine, last possession of the Kings of England in France, which he claimed had formed part of the dowry of Eleanor of England. Henry III of England swiftly countered Alfonso X’s claims with both diplomatic and military moves. Early in 1254 the two kings began to negotiate the marriage between his fifteen-year-old son and thirteen-year-old Eleanor, Alfonso X’s half-sister. After haggling over the financial provision for Eleanor, Henry III and Alfonso X agreed Eleanor would marry Henry’s son Edward, and Alfonso would transfer his Gascon claims to Edward. Eleanor and Edward were married on November 1, 1254 in the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Castile. As part of the marriage agreement, the young prince received grants of land worth 15,000 marks a year.

Eleanor was born in Burgos, daughter of Ferdinand III of Castile León (1230-1252) and Joan, Countess of Ponthieu. Her Castilian name, Leonor, became Alienor or Alianor in England, and Eleanor in modern English. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Eleanor of England, the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. This made Edward and Eleanor second cousins once removed.

Eleanor of Castile’s great-great grandfather was Louis VII of France (1137-1180) and his great-grandmother was Alice of Normandy the daughter of of Richard II, Duke of Normandy (972–1026) and Judith of Brittany. Richard II of Normandy was the the paternal grandfather of William the Conqueror (1066-1087) King of England, Duke of Normandy. This displays that Eleanor of Castile’s lineage descends not only from the Kings of England but from at least two lines from the Dukes of Normandy.

Louis VII, King of France.

I will not pursue the descendants of the wives of Henry II, John or Henry III for they simply repeat descent from either the kings of France or other members of the French nobility. However, I do want to mention Henry VII’s descent from Henry I of England (1100-1135) specifically his spouse, Matilda of Scotland (c. 1080 – May 1, 1118) and her mother Margaret of Wessex.

Matilda, originally christened Edith, was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry I. She acted as regent of England in the absence of her spouse on several occasions. Matilda was the daughter of Margaret of Wessex and Malcolm III, King of Scots. On November 11, 1100 Matilda married Henry I of England. Henry was now around 31 years old, Margaret was about 19/20 years of age but late marriages for noblemen such as Henry was not unusual in the 11th century. The pair had probably first met earlier the previous decade, possibly being introduced through Bishop Osmund of Salisbury.

Matilda’s mother was St. Margaret of Wessex (c. 1045 – November 1093), she was an English princess and a Scottish queen, sometimes called “The Pearl of Scotland.” Born in exile in the Kingdom of Hungary, was the daughter of the English prince Edward the Exile, and granddaughter of Edmund II Ironside, King of England (1016) Margaret and her family returned to the Kingdom of England in 1057, but fled to the Kingdom of Scotlandfollowing the Norman conquest of England in 1066. By the end of 1070, Margaret had married King Malcolm III of Scotland (1058-1093) becoming Queen of Scots.

Malcolm III, King of Scots greets Margaret of Wessex.

Margaret was a descendant of Alfred The Great, King of Wessex from 871 to c. 886 and King of the Anglo-Saxons from c. 886 to 899. And further back she descends from Cerdic leader of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, being the founder and first king of Saxon Wessex, reigning from c.519 to c.534.

Margaret’s husband Malcolm III, king of Scots and their eldest son Edward, were killed in the Battle of Alnwick against the English on November 13, 1093. Her son Edgar was left with the task of informing his mother of their deaths. Not yet 50 years old, Margaret died on November 16, 1093, three days after the deaths of her husband and eldest son. The cause of death was reportedly grief. Pope Innocent IV (1243-1254) canonized St. Margaret in 1250 in recognition of her personal holiness, fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church, work for ecclesiastical reform, and charity.

* Since the use of ordinal numbers had not come into common usage during the reign of Edward Longshanks, he was simply known as King Edward or King Edward Longshanks. It wasn’t until the successive reigns of his son and grandson, also named Edward, that Edward Longshanks became known as Edward I. But this was not accurate for there were three Anglo-Saxon kings named Edward prior to the Norman conquest. Therefore, Edward I was in reality the fourth King of England by that name and should have been called King Edward IV.

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

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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.

 

 

When Monarchs ruled.

Tags

2012. Parliament, Absolute Monarchy, Age of Enlightenment, Charlemagne, Classical Liberalism, Constitutional Monarchy, Edward I of England, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, William the Conqueror

When I began my interest in royalty I was at first solely concerned in learning their particular genealogies. As I delved into the history of each country I began to be interested in the reigns of each monarch. I learned how monarchies survived going from periods of absolute power to the constitutional form we have today. Somewhere in the process I became a monarchist myself. With all the political infighting that occurs among politicians I think it is beneficial to have a figurehead as the Head of State. A Head of State that is symbolic of the nation and is above the petty partisan politics of the day. I think there are many beneficial aspects of having a Head of State being politically impartial for that gives them the opportunity of serving all the people and not just members of a particular party.

I need to be honest though, I do miss the days when Monarchs actually ruled and held some power. It is one of the things I enjoy about reading the history of these countries that were or are monarchies. For me it is an issue of power. In life some people have power and some do not. It is fascinating to read how those that held power used that power. So I find that the days when monarchs actually held power to be fascinating. Those times are even more interesting when a larger-than-life figure such as when Charlemagne or William the Conqueror or Louis XIV held power. I am sure I am romanticizing things because I know life was not all puppies, rainbows and roses under these monarchs. Yet things were not always terrible for there were monarchs that held power that did good for their country.

I look at King Edward I of England (1272-1307) as a good example. Historians report that the king could be a frightening individual and that he had a reputation because of his intimidating fierce temper also with a domineering physical presences. There is an anecdotal story about when the Dean of St Paul’s, who desired to confront the king about his broad level of taxation, was so intimidated by the king that he collapsed and died instantly the moment he was brought into the King’s presence. That sounds crazy to our modern scientific minds but it could be plausible that the stress of meeting this intimidating King could lead to sudden cardiac arrest. There was also a report that when the Prince of Wales (future Edward II) petitioned and pressured his father to grant an earldom for his personal favorite and friend, Piers Gaveston, the King grew impatient with his sons demands and the King exploded in anger and purportedly tore out handfuls of his son’s hair!

Edward is also known for the establishment of the Model Parliament. Parliament gathered on a fairly regular basis during his reign. In 1295 the king brought about some significant changes. At this point in history the English Parliament contained the secular (the nobility) and ecclesiastical lords (Priests and Bishops). In 1295 Edward also summoned two knights from each county and two representatives from each borough. These two representatives from the boroughs planted the seed for what eventual lead to the development of the House of Commons. Although having commoners sit in Parliament was not exactly new, the precedent setting status of these commoners was the fact that they were given, by the king, authority (plena potestas) of their communities, to give assent to the decisions made in Parliament. No longer were these commoner representatives there to give a rubber stamp and to simply assent to decisions already made by the upper magnates, they now met in Parliament with the full authority nobility and ecclesiastical lords had. This structure eventually became the standardized formation for later Parliaments.

Edward I was a mixture of being a good king with some bad personality issues. Now I do support Classical Liberal ideals of the democratic principles that came of age during the Enlightenment period where we have a right to select those that rule over us. However, I do enjoy reading about these monarchs such as Edward I who did hold power and also, with his creation of a more egalitarian Parliament, demonstrated that many times they could be effective and efficient rulers. While it is best to now have the monarchs as being above partisan politics you really cannot blame a monarchist for missing the good old days when they held actual power.

Survival of Monarchies: England

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Edward I of England, Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth II, England, Germany, James VI of Scotland, King Edward VI of England, King Henry VIII of England, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (often mistakenly called the Kingdom of England) is the most well known monarchy in the world today. However, at one point, the monarch was not the figure head they are today; they actually held considerable power. How it survived its transition from a powerful monarch to figurehead will be examined in this section.

England is also one of those countries where the monarch has never held absolute power in the strictest sense. Although