October 27, 1326: Execution of Hugh Despenser the Elder Former Earl of Winchester

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Earl of Winchester, Hugh le Despenser, Isabel de Beauchamp, Isabella of France, King Edward II of England, King Philippe IV of France, Peerage of England, Queen Joan I of Navarre, Siege of Bristol, Sir Roger Mortimer

Hugh le Despenser (1 March 1261 – 27 October 1326), sometimes referred to as “the Elder Despenser”, for a time the chief adviser to King Edward II of England. He was created a baron in 1295 and Earl of Winchester in 1322.

Ancestry

Despenser was the son of Hugh le Despencer (1223–1265, briefly Justiciar of England) and Aline Basset, only daughter and heiress of Philip Basset. His father was killed at the Battle of Evesham when Hugh was a boy, but Hugh’s patrimony was saved through the influence of his maternal grandfather, who had been loyal to the king.

Life

Despenser served King Edward I on numerous occasions both in battle and as a diplomat, and was created a baron by writ of summons to Parliament in 1295. His son, Hugh Despenser the Younger, became a favourite of King Edward II, in what was rumoured to be a homosexual relationship. Hugh the Elder was loyal to his son and the King, which worried the barons. Until that time, the highest office he had held was justice of the forests.

He was one of the few barons to remain loyal to King Edward II during the controversy regarding Piers Gaveston. Despenser became Edward’s loyal servant and chief administrator after Gaveston was executed in 1312, but the jealousy of other barons—and, more importantly, his own corruption and unjust behaviour—led to his being exiled along with his son in 1321, when Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent replaced him as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

King Edward II found it difficult to manage without them, and recalled them to England a year later, an action which enraged Queen Isabella, the more so when Despenser was created Earl of Winchester in 1322.

King Edward II’s wife was Princess Isabella of France (c. 1295 – 1358) the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of King Philippe IV of France and Queen Joan I of Navarre.

Although his reputation was not as unsavoury as his son’s, Despenser the Elder was accused by a significant number of people of widespread criminality during the next few years, often involving false accusations of trespass or theft and the extortion of money or land.

Death

When Isabella, Queen of England, and Sir Roger Mortimer led a rebellion against her husband King Edward II, they captured both Despensers—first the elder, later the younger. Following Hugh the Elder’s capture at the Siege of Bristol, Isabella interceded for him, but his enemies, notably Mortimer and Henry, Earl of Lancaster, insisted that both father and son should face trial and execution.

One day after being captured, the elder Despenser was hanged in his armour at Bristol on October 27, 1326. He was then beheaded, after which his body was cut into pieces and fed to dogs. His head was sent to be displayed in Winchester, which had supported the king. Despenser’s Winchester title was forfeit, not to be revived until 1472. The younger Despenser was hanged, drawn and quartered at Hereford the following month.

After Despenser’s death, pardons were issued to thousands of people whom he had falsely accused.

Marriage and Issue

He married Isabel de Beauchamp, a daughter of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick (c.1238–1298) by his wife Maud FitzJohn, and widow of Sir Patrick de Chaurces. By his wife he had two sons and several daughters

Marriage of King Edward I of England and Princess Margaret of France

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King Edward I of England, King Edward II of England, King Philippe III of France, Margaret of France, Marie of Brabant, Piers Gaveston

Margaret of France (c. 1279 – February 14, 1318) was Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I. She was a daughter of King Philippe III of France and Princess Maria of Brabant, daughter of Henry III, Duke of Brabant, and Princess Adelaide of Burgundy.

King Philippe III of France died when Margaret was six years old and she grew up under guidance of her mother and Queen Joan I of Navarre, the wife of her half-brother King Philippe IV of France.

Marriage negotiations

The death of his beloved first wife, Infanta Eleanor of Castile, in 1290, left King Edward I of England reeling in grief. He was at the time at war with France and Scotland. He and Eleanor had only one surviving son, Edward, and so the king was anxious to have more sons.

In summer of 1291, Edward betrothed his son to Blanche, half-sister to Margaret and Philippe IV, in order to achieve peace with France. However, hearing of her renowned beauty, King Edward decided to have his son’s bride for his own and sent emissaries to France.

Philippe IV agreed to have Blanche marry King Edward on the conditions that a truce would be concluded between the two countries, and that Edward would give up the province of Gascony.

King Edward agreed, and sent his brother Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, to fetch the new bride.

King Edward believed he had been deceived, for Blanche was instead to be married to Rudolph I of Habsburg*, the eldest son of King Albrecht I of Germany. Instead, Philippe IV offered her younger sister Margaret to marry Edward (then 55).

Upon hearing this, Edward declared war on France, refusing to marry Margaret. After five years, a truce was agreed upon under the influence of Pope Boniface VIII. A series of treaties in the first half of 1299 provided terms for a double marriage: Edward I would marry Margaret and his son would marry Isabella, Philippe IV’s only surviving daughter.

Additionally, the English monarchy would regain the key territory of Guyenne and receive £15,000 owed to Margaret as well as the return of Eleanor of Castile’s lands in Ponthieu and Montreuil as a dower first for Margaret and then Isabella.

Edward was then 60 years old, at least 40 years older than his bride. Since the exact date of her birth is unknown she was probably about 19-20 years of age.

The wedding took place at Canterbury on September 10, 1299. Margaret was never crowned due to financial constraints, being the first uncrowned queen since the Conquest. This in no way lessened her dignity as the king’s wife, however, for she used the royal title in her letters and documents, and appeared publicly wearing a crown even though she had not received one during a formal rite of investiture.

Edward soon returned to the Scottish border to continue his campaigns and left Margaret in London, but she had become pregnant quickly after the wedding.

By Margaret of France, Edward had two sons, both of whom lived to adulthood, and a daughter who died as a child. The Hailes Abbey chronicle indicates that John Botetourt may have been Edward’s illegitimate son; however, the claim is unsubstantiated. His progeny by Margaret of France were:

1. Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300 – 1338), buried in Bury St Edmunds Abbey. Married (1) Alice Hales, with issue; (2) Mary Brewes, no issue.

2. Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (1301 – 1330), married Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell, with issue.

3. Eleanor (1306 – 1311).

Widowhood

Margaret never remarried after Edward’s death in 1307, despite being only 26 when widowed. She was alleged to have stated that “when Edward died, all men died for me”.

Margaret was not pleased when Edward II elevated Piers Gaveston to become Earl of Cornwall upon his father’s death, since the title had been meant for one of her own sons. She attended the new king’s wedding to her half-niece Isabella, and a silver casket was made with both their arms. After Isabella’s coronation, Margaret retired to Marlborough Castle (which was by this time a dower house), but she stayed in touch with the new queen and with her half-brother Philip IV by letter during the confusing times leading up to Gaveston’s death in 1312.

Margaret, too, was a victim of Gaveston’s influence over her stepson. Edward II gave several of her dower lands to the favourite, including Berkhamsted Castle. In May 1308, an anonymous informer reported that Margaret had provided £40,000 along with Philip IV to support the English barons against Gaveston. Due to this action, Gaveston was briefly exiled and Margaret remained fairly unmolested by the upstart until his death in June 1312.

She was present at the birth of Edward III in November 1312.

On February 14, 1318 she died in her castle at Marlborough. Dressed in a Franciscan habit, she was buried at Christ Church Greyfriars in London, a church she had generously endowed. Her tomb was destroyed during the Reformation.

* Rudolph I of Habsburg, was a member of the House of Habsburg, the King of Bohemia and titular King of Poland from 1306 until his death. He was also Duke of Austria and Styria from 1298.

July 6, 1307: Death of King Edward I of England, Lord of Ireland.

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Battle of Loudoun Hill, Edward longshanks, Hammer of the Scots, King Edward I of England, King Edward II of England, Kingdom of Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, Robert I of Scotland, Westminster Abbey

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 and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Before his accession to the throne, he was commonly referred to as The Lord Edward. The first son of 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 was involved from an early age in the political intrigues of his father’s reign.

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.

Modern historians are divided on their assessment of Edward: while some have praised him for his contribution to the law and administration, others have criticised him for his uncompromising attitude towards his nobility. Currently, 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. The Edict remained in effect for the rest of the Middle Ages, and it was over 350 years until it was formally overturned under Oliver Cromwell in 1657.

The end of his reign was once again occupied with the subjugation of the Scots. The situation changed on February 10, 1306, when Robert the Bruce murdered his rival John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, and a few weeks later, on March 25, was crowned King of Scotland by Isobel, sister of the Earl of Buchan. Bruce now embarked on a campaign to restore Scottish independence, and this campaign took the English by surprise.

Edward was suffering ill health by this time, and instead of leading an expedition himself, he gave different military commands to Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and Henry Percy, 1st Baron Percy, while the main royal army was led by the Prince of Wales. The English initially met with success; on June 19, Aymer de Valence routed Bruce at the Battle of Methven. Bruce was forced into hiding, while the English forces recaptured their lost territory and castles.

Edward acted with unusual brutality against Bruce’s family, allies, and supporters. His sister, Mary, was imprisoned in a cage at Roxburgh Castle for four years.

It was clear that Edward now regarded the struggle not as a war between two nations, but as the suppression of a rebellion of disloyal subjects. This brutality, though, rather than helping to subdue the Scots, had the opposite effect, and rallied growing support for Bruce.

In February 1307, Bruce resumed his efforts and started gathering men, and in May he defeated Valence at the Battle of Loudoun Hill. Edward, who had rallied somewhat, now moved north himself. On the way, however, he developed dysentery, and his condition deteriorated. On July 6 he encamped at Burgh by Sands, just south of the Scottish border.

When his servants came the next morning to lift him up so that he could eat, he died in their arms. King Edward I of England was aged 68.

Various stories emerged about Edward’s deathbed wishes; according to one tradition, he requested that his heart be carried to the Holy Land, along with an army to fight the infidels. A more dubious story tells of how he wished for his bones to be carried along on future expeditions against the Scots.

Another account of his deathbed scene is more credible; according to one chronicle, Edward gathered around him Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln; Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick; Aymer de Valence; and Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford, and charged them with looking after his son Edward. In particular they should make sure that Piers Gaveston was not allowed to return to the country. This wish, however, the son ignored, and had his favourite recalled from exile almost immediately. The new king, Edward II, remained in the north until August, but then abandoned the campaign and headed south. He was crowned king on February 25, 1308.

Edward I’s body was brought south, lying in state at Waltham Abbey, before being buried in Westminster Abbey on October 27. There are few records of the funeral, which cost £473. Edward’s tomb was an unusually plain sarcophagus of Purbeck marble, without the customary royal effigy, possibly the result of the shortage of royal funds after the King’s death. The sarcophagus may normally have been covered over with rich cloth, and originally might have been surrounded by carved busts and a devotional religious image, all since lost.

The Society of Antiquaries of London opened the tomb in 1774, finding that the body had been well preserved over the preceding 467 years, and took the opportunity to determine the King’s original height. Traces of the Latin inscription Edwardus Primus Scottorum Malleus hic est, 1308. Pactum Serva (“Here is Edward I, Hammer of the Scots, 1308. Keep the Vow”) can still be seen painted on the side of the tomb, referring to his vow to avenge the rebellion of Robert Bruce. This resulted in Edward being given the epithet the “Hammer of the Scots” by historians, but is not contemporary in origin, having been added by the Abbot John Feckenham in the 16th century.

June 17, 1239: Birth of Edward I, King of England and Lord of Ireland.

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Eleanor of Castile, Hammer of the Scots, King Edward I of England, King Edward II of England, King Edward III of England, King Henry III of England, King of England and Lord of Ireland, Marguerite of France, Parliament, Philip IV of France, Philippe III of France

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 and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Before his accession to the throne, he was commonly referred to as The Lord Edward.

Edward I, King of England and Lord of Ireland

On the night of June 17–18 1239, Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster to King Henry III 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 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, and decided to name his firstborn son after the saint.

Edward was involved from an early age in the political intrigues of his father’s reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons. In 1259, he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting the Provisions of Oxford. After reconciliation with his father, however, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the Second Barons’ War.

After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was hostage to the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and defeated the baronial leader Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. Within two years the rebellion was extinguished and, with England pacified, Edward joined the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land. He was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed that his father had died. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

Edward spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law. Through an extensive legal inquiry, he investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties, while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating criminal and property law. Increasingly, however, Edward’s attention was drawn towards military affairs. After suppressing a minor rebellion in Wales in 1276–77, Edward responded to a second rebellion in 1282–83 with a full-scale war of conquest.

After a successful campaign, he subjected Wales to English rule, built a series of castles and towns in the countryside and settled them with English people. Next, his efforts were directed towards the Kingdom of Scotland. Initially invited to arbitrate a succession dispute, Edward claimed feudal suzerainty over Scotland.

The war that followed continued after Edward’s death, even though the English seemed victorious at several points. Simultaneously, Edward found himself at war with France (a Scottish ally) after King Philippe IV of France had confiscated the Duchy of Gascony, which until then had been held in personal union with the Kingdom of England. Although Edward recovered his duchy, this conflict relieved English military pressure against Scotland.

At the same time there were problems at home. In the mid-1290s, extensive military campaigns required high levels of taxation, and Edward met with both lay and ecclesiastical opposition. These crises were initially averted, but issues remained unsettled. When the King died in 1307, he left to his son Edward II an ongoing war with Scotland and many financial and political problems.

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.

Modern historians are divided on their assessment of Edward: while some have praised him for his contribution to the law and administration, others have criticised him for his uncompromising attitude towards his nobility. Currently, 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. The Edict remained in effect for the rest of the Middle Ages, and it was over 350 years until it was formally overturned under Oliver Cromwell in 1657.

Marriages

In 1254, English fears of a Castilian invasion of the English province of Gascony induced King Henry to arrange a politically expedient marriage between fifteen-year-old Edward and thirteen-year-old Eleanor of Castile. She was the half-sister of King Alfonso X of Castile and the 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. Edward and Eleanor were married on November 1, 1254 in the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Castile.

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

Eleanor of Castile had died on November 28, 1290. The couple loved each other and like his father, Edward was very devoted to his wife and was faithful to her throughout their married lives — a rarity among monarchs of the time. He was deeply affected by her death. He displayed his grief by erecting twelve so-called Eleanor crosses, one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night. As part of the peace accord between England and France in 1294, it was agreed that Edward should marry Philippe IV’s half-sister Marguerite, but the marriage was delayed by the outbreak of war.

Marguerite of France (c. 1279-1318) was a daughter of Philippe III of France and Maria of Brabant. Edward was then 60 years old, at least 40 years older than his 20 year old bride. The wedding took place at Canterbury on September 10 1299. Marguerite was never crowned due to financial constraints, being the first uncrowned queen since the Conquest. This in no way lessened her dignity as the king’s wife, however, for she used the royal title in her letters and documents, and appeared publicly wearing a crown even though she had not received one during a formal rite of investiture.

By Margaret of France, Edward had two sons, both of whom lived to become adults, and a daughter who died as a child. The Hailes Abbey chronicle indicates that John Botetourt may have been Edward’s illegitimate son; however, the claim is unsubstantiated.

Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (August 5, 1301 – March 19, 1330) of Arundel Castle in Sussex, was the sixth son of King Edward I of England by his second wife Margaret of France and was thus a younger half-brother of King Edward II. Edmund still remained loyal to his brother, and in 1321 he was created Earl of Kent. He played an important part in Edward’s administration, acting both as diplomat and military commander, and in 1321–22 helped suppress a rebellion against the King.

In 1326, Edmund joined a rebellion led by Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer, whereby King Edward II was deposed. Edmund failed to get along with the new administration, his nephew King Edward III, and in 1330 he was caught planning a new rebellion, and was executed.

Note on the Regnal Number of Edward Longshanks.

Whoever began numbering the kings and queen of England ignored centuries of royal tradition and began numbering the monarchs from the time of the Norman Conquest. There were kings of England for a few centuries prior to the year 1066. The name most effected by this tradition was Edward.

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. This means that the most recent King Edward, Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor, was in reality King Edward XI.

The Life of Edward II, King of England and Lord of Ireland: Conclusion.

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1st Earl of Kent, 1st Earl of March, 1st Earl of Norfolk, Berkeley Castle, Edmund of Woodstock, Henry of Lancaster, Isabella of France, King Edward II of England, King Edward III of England, Philippa of Hainault, Roger Mortimer, Thomas of Brotherton

Death of Edward II

Those opposed to the new government began to make plans to free Edward and restore him to the throne and Roger Mortimer decided to move him to the more secure location of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, where Edward arrived around April 5, 1327.

It is unclear how well cared for Edward was; the records show luxury goods being bought on his behalf, but some chroniclers suggest that he was often mistreated.

Concerns continued to be raised over fresh plots to liberate Edward, some involving the Dominican order and former household knights, and one such attempt got at least as far as breaking into the prison within the castle.
As a result of these threats, Edward was moved around to other locations in secret for a period, before returning to permanent custody at the castle in the late summer of 1327.

On September 23 King Edward III was informed that his father had died at Berkeley Castle during the night of September 21. Most historians agree that Edward II did die at Berkeley on that date, although there is a minority view that he died much later. His death was, as Mark Ormrod notes, “suspiciously timely”, as it simplified Mortimer’s political problems considerably, and most historians believe that Edward probably was murdered on the orders of the new regime, although it is impossible to be certain.

Aftermath

Several of the individuals suspected of involvement in the death, including Sir Thomas Gurney, Maltravers and William Ockley, later fled England. If Edward died from natural causes, his death may have been hastened by depression following his imprisonment.

In the autumn of 1328, three members of the Royal Family United in a conspiracy against Isabella and Mortimer. these members were: Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (August 5, 1301 – March 19, 1330) the sixth son of King Edward I of England by his second wife Margaret of France and his brother, Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (June 1, 1300 – August 4, 1338), the fifth son of King Edward I of England (both half-brothers of King Edward II). They were joined by Henry of Lancaster (c. 1281 – September 22, 1345) was a grandson of King Henry III (1216–1272) of England and was one of the principals behind the deposition of King Edward II (1307–1327) and also his first cousin.

The conspiracy was a product of shared interest, however, rather than strong personal ties. Once it became clear that it would fail, the two brothers and the Earl of Lancaster abandoned the venture. One reason for the failure of this rebellion was due to the passivity of the young Edward III.

After participating in the planned rebellion, Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent became less popular at court. However, He was still allowed to accompany the king’s wife Philippa of Hainault to her coronation in February 1330, but his appearances at court became less frequent. At this point he became involved in another plot against the king, when he was convinced by rumours that his brother was still alive.

It later emerged that Roger Mortimer himself was responsible for leading Edmund into this belief, in a form of entrapment. The plot was revealed, and in the parliament of March 1330 Mortimer ordered the execution of Edmund and he was indicted and condemned to death as a traitor.

Upon hearing that the verdict was death, the condemned earl pleaded with Edward III for his life, offering to walk from Winchester to London with a rope around his neck as a sign of atonement. Edward III however knew that leniency was not an option for the aforementioned entrapment utilized by Mortimer could extend to him and potentially be subversive to his own kingship if his father, Edward II truly was alive. Thus Edward III sanctioned the killing of his uncle.

It was almost impossible to find anyone willing to perform the execution of a man of royal blood, until a convicted murderer eventually beheaded Edmund in exchange for a pardon. Edmund’s body was initially buried in a Franciscan church in Winchester, but it was removed to Westminster Abbey in 1331.

After the execution of Edmund of Woodstock, Henry of Lancaster prevailed upon the young king, Edward III, to assert his independence. In October 1330, a Parliament was summoned to Nottingham, just days before Edward’s eighteenth birthday, and Mortimer and Isabella were seized by Edward and his companions from inside Nottingham Castle. Mortimer was put on trial for treason.

In spite of Isabella’s entreaty to her son, “Fair son, have pity on the gentle Mortimer,” Mortimer was conveyed to the Tower. Accused of assuming royal power and of various other high misdemeanors Isabella was portrayed as an innocent bystander during the proceedings, and no mention of her sexual relationship with Mortimer was made public. Mortimer was hanged at Tyburn on November 29, 1330, but Edward III showed leniency and he was not quartered or disemboweled.

Mortimer’s body hung at the gallows for two days and nights in full view of the populace. His his vast estates forfeited to the crown. Mortimer’s widow Joan received a pardon in 1336 and survived until 1356. She was buried beside Mortimer at Wigmore, but the site was later destroyed.

After the coup, Isabella was initially transferred to Berkhamsted Castle, and then held under house arrest at Windsor Castle until 1332, when she then moved back to her own Castle Rising in Norfolk. Agnes Strickland, a Victorian historian, argued that Isabella suffered from occasional fits of madness during this period but modern interpretations suggest, at worst, a nervous breakdown following the death of her lover.

As the years went by, Isabella became very close to her daughter Joan, especially after Joan left her unfaithful husband, King David II of Scotland. Joan also nursed her just before she died. She doted on her grandchildren, including Edward, the Black Prince. She became increasingly interested in religion as she grew older, visiting a number of shrines.

She remained, however, a gregarious member of the court, receiving constant visitors; amongst her particular friends appear to have been Roger Mortimer’s daughter Agnes Mortimer, Countess of Pembroke, and Roger Mortimer’s grandson, also called Roger Mortimer, whom Edward III restored to the Earldom of March.

Isabella took the nun’s habit of the Poor Clares before she died on August 22, 1358 at Hertford Castle, and her body was returned to London for burial at the Franciscan church at Newgate, in a service overseen by Archbishop Simon Islip.

Conspiracy Theories

With Mortimer’s execution in 1330, controversies rapidly began to circulate that Edward II was not still alive had been murdered at Berkeley Castle. Accounts that he had been killed by the insertion of a red-hot iron or poker into his anus slowly began to circulate, possibly as a result of deliberate propaganda; chroniclers in the mid-1330s and 1340s spread this account further, supported in later years by Geoffrey le Baker’s colourful account of the killing.

It became incorporated into most later histories of Edward II, typically being linked to his possible homosexuality.Most historians now dismiss this account of Edward II’s death, querying the logic in his captors murdering him in such an easily detectable fashion.

Another set of theories surround the possibility that Edward did not really die in 1327. These theories typically involve the “Fieschi Letter”, sent to Edward III by an Italian priest called Manuel Fieschi, who claimed that Edward escaped Berkeley Castle in 1327 with the help of a servant and ultimately retired to become a hermit in the Holy Roman Empire. A few historians have supported versions of its narrative.

The popular historian Alison Weir believes the events in the letter to be essentially true, using the letter to argue that Isabella was innocent of murdering Edward. The historian Ian Mortimer suggests that the story in Fieschi’s letter is broadly accurate, but argues that it was in fact Mortimer and Isabella who had Edward secretly released, and who then faked his death, a fiction later maintained by Edward III when he came to power. Ian Mortimer’s account was criticised by most scholars when it was first published, in particular by historian David Carpenter.

Edward II was ultimately a failure as a king; the historian Michael Prestwich observes that he “was lazy and incompetent, liable to outbursts of temper over unimportant issues, yet indecisive when it came to major issues”, echoed by Roy Haines’ description of Edward as “incompetent and vicious”, and as “no man of business”.

Edward II did not just delegate routine government to his subordinates, but also higher level decision making, and Pierre Chaplais argues that he “was not so much an incompetent king as a reluctant one”, preferring to rule through a powerful deputy, such as Piers Gaveston or Hugh Despenser the Younger. Edward’s willingness to promote his favourites had serious political consequences, although he also attempted to buy the loyalty of a wider grouping of nobles through grants of money and fees.

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

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

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Hugh Despenser The Elder, Hugh Despenser the Younger, King Edward II of England, Kings and Queens of England, Roger Mortimer, The Earl of Lancaster, The Earl of Pembroke

The Despenser War

The long-threatened civil war finally broke out in England in 1321, triggered by the tension between many of the barons and the royal favourites, the Despenser family. Hugh Despenser the Elder had served both Edward and his father, while Hugh Despenser the Younger had married into the wealthy de Clare family, became the King’s chamberlain, and acquired Glamorgan in the Welsh Marches in 1317.

In early 1321, Lancaster mobilised a coalition of the Despensers’ enemies across the Marcher territories. Edward and Hugh the Younger became aware of these plans in March and headed west, hoping that negotiations led by the moderate Earl of Pembroke would defuse the crisis. This time, Pembroke made his excuses and declined to intervene, and war broke out in May.

The Earl of Lancaster held a high-level gathering of the barons and clergy in June which condemned the Despensers for having broken the Ordinances. Edward attempted reconciliation, but in July the opposition occupied London and called for the permanent removal of the Despensers. Fearing that he might be deposed if he refused, Edward agreed to exile the Despensers and pardoned the Marcher Lords for their actions.

Afterwards Edward began to plan his revenge. With the help of Pembroke, he formed a small coalition of his half-brothers, a few of the earls and some of the senior clergy, and prepared for war. In December, Edward led his army across the River Severn and advanced into the Welsh Marches, where the opposition forces had gathered..The coalition of Marcher Lords crumbled and the Mortimers surrendered to Edward.

Edward punished Lancaster’s supporters through a system of special courts across the country, with the judges instructed in advance how to sentence the accused, who were not allowed to speak in their own defence. Many of these so-called “Contrariants” were simply executed, and others were imprisoned or fined, with their lands seized and their surviving relatives detained.

The Earl of Pembroke, whom Edward now mistrusted, was arrested and only released after pledging all of his possessions as collateral for his own loyalty. Edward was able to reward his loyal supporters, especially the Despenser family, with the confiscated estates and new titles.

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

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Battle of Bannockburn, Earl of Pembroke, Elizabeth de Burgh, King Edward II of England, King Philip IV of France and Navarre, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of France, kings and queens of Scotland, Robert I of Scotland, Robert the Bruce

Reactions to the death of Gaveston varied considerably. Edward was furious and deeply upset over what he saw as the murder of Gaveston; he made provisions for Gaveston’s family, and intended to take revenge on the barons involved. The earls of Pembroke and Surrey were embarrassed and angry about Warwick’s actions, and shifted their support to Edward in the aftermath.

Edward II, King of England and Lord of Ireland.

To Lancaster and his core of supporters, the execution had been both legal and necessary to preserve the stability of the kingdom. Civil war again appeared likely, but in December, the Earl of Pembroke negotiated a potential peace treaty between the two sides, which would pardon the opposition barons for the killing of Gaveston, in exchange for their support for a fresh campaign in Scotland. Lancaster and Warwick, however, did not give the treaty their immediate approval, and further negotiations continued through most of 1313.

Meanwhile, the Earl of Pembroke had been negotiating with France to resolve the long-standing disagreements over the administration of Gascony, and as part of this Edward and Isabella agreed to travel to Paris in June 1313 to meet with Philippe IV. The meeting between the two kings proved a spectacular visit, including a grand ceremony in which the two kings knighted Philippe IV’s sons and 200 other men in Notre-Dame de Paris, large banquets along the River Seine, and a public declaration that both kings and their queens would join a crusade to the Levant.

Philippe IV, King of France and Navarre

On his return from France, Edward found his political position greatly strengthened. After intense negotiation, the earls, including Lancaster and Warwick, came to a compromise in October 1313, fundamentally very similar to the draft agreement of the previous December. Edward’s finances improved, thanks to parliament agreeing to the raising of taxes, a loan of 160,000 florins (£25,000) from the Pope, £33,000 borrowed from Philip, and further loans organised by Edward’s new Italian banker, Antonio Pessagno.[160] For the first time in his reign, Edward’s government was well-funded.

Battle of Bannockburn

By 1314, Robert the Bruce had recaptured most of the castles in Scotland once held by Edward, pushing raiding parties into northern England as far as Carlisle. In response, Edward planned a major military campaign with the support of Lancaster and the barons, mustering a large army between 15,000 and 20,000 strong.

Robert I, King of Scotland

Edward II and his advisors were aware of the places the Scots were likely to challenge them and sent orders for their troops to prepare for an enemy established in boggy ground near the River Forth, near Stirling. The English appear to have advanced in four divisions, whereas the Scots were in three divisions known as ‘schiltrons’, which were strong defensive squares of men with pikes.

Location of the battlefield

The exact site of the Battle of Bannockburn has been debated for many years, but most modern historians agree that the traditional site, where a visitor centre and statue have been erected, is not correct.

A large number of alternative locations have been considered but modern researchers believe only two merit serious consideration:

An area of peaty ground outside the village of Balquhiderock known as the Dryfield, about .75 miles (1.21 km) east of the traditional site.

The Carse of Balquhiderock, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast of the traditional site. This location is accepted by the National Trust as the most likely site.

The battle began on June 23 and lasted two days. As the English army attempted to force its way across the high ground of the Bannock Burn, which was surrounded by marshland. Skirmishing between the two sides broke out, resulting in the death of Sir Henry de Bohun, whom Robert killed in personal combat. Edward continued his advance the following day, and encountered the bulk of the Scottish army as they emerged from the woods of New Park.

His cavalry found it hard to operate in the cramped terrain and were crushed by Robert’s spearmen. The English army was overwhelmed and its leaders were unable to regain control. The English were gradually pushed back and ground down by the Scots’ schiltrons. The English longbowmen attempted to support the advance of the knights but were ordered to stop shooting, as they were causing casualties among their own.

Edward stayed behind to fight, but it became obvious to the Earl of Pembroke that the battle was lost and he dragged the king away from the battlefield, hotly pursued by the Scottish forces. Edward only just escaped the heavy fighting, making a vow to found a Carmelite religious house at Oxford if he survived.

Aftermath

The defeat of the English opened up the north of England to Scottish raids and allowed the Scottish invasion of Ireland. In exchange for the captured nobles, Edward II released Robert’s wife Elizabeth de Burgh, sisters Christina Bruce, Mary Bruce and daughter Marjorie Bruce, ending their 8-year imprisonment in England. These finally led, after the failure of the Declaration of Arbroath to secure Scotland’s independence by diplomatic means, to the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton in 1328. Under the treaty the English crown recognised the full independence of the Kingdom of Scotland, and acknowledged Robert the Bruce, and his heirs and successors, as the rightful rulers.

After the fiasco of Bannockburn, the earls of Lancaster and Warwick saw their political influence increase, and they pressured Edward to re-implement the Ordinances of 1311. Lancaster became the head of the royal council in 1316, promising to take forward the Ordinances through a new reform commission, but he appears to have abandoned this role soon afterwards, partially because of disagreements with the other barons, and possibly because of ill-health. Lancaster refused to meet with Edward in parliament for the next two years, bringing effective governance to a standstill.

Edward’s difficulties were exacerbated by prolonged problems in English agriculture, part of a wider phenomenon in northern Europe known as the Great Famine. It began with torrential rains in late 1314, followed by a very cold winter and heavy rains the following spring that killed many sheep and cattle. The bad weather continued, almost unabated, into 1321, resulting in a string of bad harvests. Revenues from the exports of wool plummeted and the price of food rose, despite attempts by Edward’s government to control prices. Edward called for hoarders to release food, and tried to encourage both internal trade and the importation of grain, but with little success.

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

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Earl of Warwick, Henry of Lancaster, Isabella of France, King Edward II of England, Ordinances of 1311, Piers Gaveston, York

Ordinances of 1311

Following his return, Gaveston’s relationship with the major barons became increasingly difficult. He was considered arrogant, and he took to referring to the earls by offensive names, including calling one of their more powerful members the “dog of Warwick”. Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster and Gaveston’s enemies refused to attend parliament in 1310 because Gaveston would be present. Edward was facing increasing financial problems, owing £22,000 to his Frescobaldi Italian bankers, and facing protests about how he was using his right of prises to acquire supplies for the war in Scotland. His attempts to raise an army for Scotland collapsed and the earls suspended the collection of the new taxes.

The king and parliament met again in February 1310, and the proposed discussions of Scottish policy were replaced by debate of domestic problems. Edward was petitioned to abandon Gaveston as his counsellor and instead adopt the advice of 21 elected barons, termed Ordainers, who would carry out a widespread reform of both the government and the royal household.

Under huge pressure, he agreed to the proposal and the Ordainers were elected, broadly evenly split between reformers and conservatives. While the Ordainers began their plans for reform, Edward and Gaveston took a new army of around 4,700 men to Scotland, where the military situation had continued to deteriorate. Robert the Bruce declined to give battle and the campaign progressed ineffectually over the winter until supplies and money ran out in 1311, forcing Edward to return south.

By now the Ordainers had drawn up their Ordinances for reform and Edward had little political choice but to give way and accept them in October. The Ordinances of 1311 contained clauses limiting the king’s right to go to war or to grant land without parliament’s approval, giving parliament control over the royal administration, abolishing the system of prises, excluding the Frescobaldi bankers, and introducing a system to monitor the adherence to the Ordinances.

In addition, the Ordinances exiled Gaveston once again, this time with instructions that he should not be allowed to live anywhere within Edward’s lands, including Gascony and Ireland, and that he should be stripped of his titles. Edward retreated to his estates at Windsor and Kings Langley; Gaveston left England, possibly for northern France or Flanders.

Death of Gaveston

Tensions between Edward and the barons remained high, and the earls opposed to the king kept their personal armies mobilised late into 1311. By now Edward had become estranged from his cousin, Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster who was also the Earl of Lincoln, Salisbury and Derby, with an income of around £11,000 a year from his lands, almost double that of the next wealthiest baron. Backed by the earls of Arundel, Gloucester, Hereford, Pembroke and Warwick, Lancaster led a powerful faction in England, but he was not personally interested in practical administration, nor was he a particularly imaginative or effective politician.

Piers Gaveston

Edward responded to the baronial threat by revoking the Ordinances and recalling Gaveston to England, being reunited with him at York in January 1312. The barons were furious and met in London, where Gaveston was excommunicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury and plans were put in place to capture Gaveston and prevent him from fleeing to Scotland. Edward, Isabella and Gaveston left for Newcastle, pursued by Lancaster and his followers.

Abandoning many of their belongings, the royal party fled by ship and landed at Scarborough, where Gaveston stayed while Edward and Isabella returned to York. After a short siege, Gaveston surrendered to the earls of Pembroke and Surrey, on the promise that he would not be harmed. He had with him a huge collection of gold, silver and gems, probably part of the royal treasury, which he was later accused of having stolen from Edward.

On the way back from the north, Pembroke stopped in the village of Deddington in the Midlands, putting Gaveston under guard there while he went to visit his wife. The Earl of Warwick took this opportunity to seize Gaveston, taking him to Warwick Castle, where the Earl of Lancaster and the rest of his faction assembled on June 18.

After a brief brief trial at Warwick Castle, Gaveston was declared guilty of being a traitor under the terms of the Ordinances and was condemned to death before an assembly of barons, including Warwick, Lancaster, Hereford and Arundel. On June 19, he was taken out on the road towards Kenilworth as far as Blacklow Hill, which was on the Earl of Lancaster’s land. Here, two Welshmen ran him through with a sword and beheaded him. Gaveston’s body was not buried until 1315, when his funeral was held in King’s Langley Priory.

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

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Alexander III of Scotland, Isabella of France, King Edward I of England, King Edward II of England, Kings and Queens of England, Parliament, Philip IV of France, Piers Gaveston

In 1290, Edward’s father Edward I of England, had confirmed the Treaty of Birgham, in which he promised to marry his six-year-old son to the young Margaret of Norway, who had a potential claim to the crown of Scotland. Margaret was the daughter of King Eric II of Norway and Margaret of Scotland, the firstborn child of King Alexander III of Scotland and Margaret of England (Margaret of England was the daughter the second child of King Henry III of England and his wife, Eleanor of Provence).

Alexander III died in 1286, his posthumous child was stillborn, and Margaret inherited the crown. Owing to her young age, She was finally sent to England in September 1290, but died in Orkney, sparking off the succession dispute between thirteen competitors for the crown of Scotland.

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

Edward’s mother, Eleanor of Castile, died shortly afterwards, followed by his grandmother, Eleanor of Provence. Edward I was distraught at his wife’s death and held a huge funeral for her; his son inherited the County of Ponthieu from Eleanor.

Next, a French marriage was considered for the young Edward, to help secure a lasting peace with France, but war broke out in 1294. The idea was replaced with the proposal of a marriage to a daughter of Guy, Count of Flanders, but this too failed after it was blocked by King Philippe IV of France.

Edward I returned to Scotland once again in 1300, and this time took his son with him, making him the commander of the rearguard at the siege of Caerlaverock Castle. In the spring of 1301, the king declared Edward the Prince of Wales, granting him the earldom of Chester and lands across North Wales; he seems to have hoped that this would help pacify the region, and that it would give his son some financial independence.

Edward I mobilised another army for the Scottish campaign in 1307, which Prince Edward was due to join that summer, but the elderly king had been increasingly unwell and died on 7 July 7, at Burgh by Sands. Edward travelled from London immediately after the news reached him, and on July 20, he was proclaimed king. The new King Edward II continued north into Scotland and on August 4 he received homage from his Scottish supporters at Dumfries, before abandoning the campaign and returning south.

Edward promptly recalled Piers Gaveston, who was then in exile, and created him Earl of Cornwall, before arranging his marriage to the wealthy Margaret de Clare. Edward II also arrested his old adversary Bishop Langton, and dismissed him from his post as treasurer. Edward I’s body was kept at Waltham Abbey for several months before being taken for burial to Westminster, where Edward erected a simple marble tomb for his father.

Isabella of France

In 1308, Edward’s marriage to Isabella of France proceeded. Her parents were King Philippe IV of France and Queen Joan I of Navarre; her brothers Louis (X), Philippe (V) and Charles (IV) each in time became kings of France.

Edward crossed the English Channel to France in January, leaving Gaveston as his custos regni in charge of the kingdom. This arrangement was unusual, and involved unprecedented powers being delegated to Gaveston, backed by a specially engraved Great Seal. Edward probably hoped that the marriage would strengthen his position in Gascony and bring him much needed funds. The final negotiations, however, proved challenging: Edward II and Philippe IV did not like each other, and the French king drove a hard bargain over the size of Isabella’s dower and the details of the administration of Edward’s lands in France.

As part of the agreement, Edward gave homage to Philippe IV for the Duchy of Aquitaine and agreed to a commission to complete the implementation of the 1303 Treaty of Paris. Edward II and Isabella were married in Boulogne on January 25, 1308. Edward gave Isabella a psalter as a wedding gift, and her father gave her gifts worth over 21,000 livres and a fragment of the True Cross.

The pair returned to England in February, where Edward had ordered Westminster Palace to be lavishly restored in readiness for their coronation and wedding feast, complete with marble tables, forty ovens and a fountain that produced wine and pimento, a spiced medieval drink. After some delays, the ceremony went ahead on February 25, at Westminster Abbey, under the guidance of Henry Woodlock, the Bishop of Winchester.

As part of the coronation, Edward swore to uphold “the rightful laws and customs which the community of the realm shall have chosen”. It is uncertain what this meant: it might have been intended to force Edward to accept future legislation, it may have been inserted to prevent him from overturning any future vows he might take, or it may have been an attempt by the king to ingratiate himself with the barons.

The event was marred by the large crowds of eager spectators who surged into the palace, knocking down a wall and forcing Edward to flee by the back door.

Isabella was only 12 years old at the time of her wedding, young even by the standards of the period, and Edward (aged 24 at the time) probably had sexual relations with mistresses during their first few years together. During this time he fathered an illegitimate son, Adam, who was born possibly as early as 1307. Edward and Isabella’s first son, the future Edward III, was born in 1312, when Isabella was 17, amid great celebrations, and three more children followed: John in 1316, Eleanor in 1318 and Joan in 1321.

Piers Gaveston

Gaveston’s return from exile in 1307 was initially accepted by the barons, but opposition quickly grew. He appeared to have an excessive influence on royal policy, leading to complaints from one chronicler that there were “two kings reigning in one kingdom, the one in name and the other in deed”. Accusations, probably untrue, were levelled at Gaveston that he had stolen royal funds and had purloined Isabella’s wedding presents. Gaveston had played a key role at Edward’s coronation, provoking fury from both the English and French contingents about the earl’s ceremonial precedence and magnificent clothes, and about Edward’s apparent preference for Gaveston’s company over that of Isabella at the feast.

Edward II and Piers Gaveston

Parliament met in February 1308 in a heated atmosphere. Edward was eager to discuss the potential for governmental reform, but the barons were unwilling to begin any such debate until the problem of Gaveston had been resolved. Violence seemed likely, but the situation was resolved through the mediation of the moderate Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln, who convinced the barons to back down.

A fresh parliament was held in April, where the barons once again criticised Gaveston, demanding his exile, this time supported by Isabella and the French monarchy. Edward resisted, but finally acquiesced, agreeing to send Gaveston to Aquitaine, under threat of excommunication by the Archbishop of Canterbury should he return. At the last moment, Edward changed his mind and instead sent Gaveston to Dublin, appointing him as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.