Edward II: The Unconventional King (52 page)

30. The Cistercian monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos, northern Spain, where Edward’s parents married in 1254. (Courtesy of Lumiago under Creative Commons)

31. Scarborough Castle, North Yorkshire, where Piers Gaveston was besieged in May 1312. (Courtesy of Kate Johnson via Creative Commons)

32. A page of Edward’s chamber account of 1325/26, calling him ‘King Edward son of the noble King Edward’. (Photo by author with permission of the Society of Antiquaries of London)

33. Edward, by artist Mark Satchwill. (Used with permission)

Abbreviations

AL:
Annales Londonienses 1195–1330
Anonimalle:
The Anonimalle Chronicle 1307–1334
AP:
Annales Paulini 1307–1340
Baker:
Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynbroke
(ed. Thompson)
BIHR:
Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research
‘Brief Summary’: Thomas Stapleton, ‘A Brief Summary of the Wardrobe Accounts’
Bruce: G. W. S. Barrow,
Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland
Brut:
The Brut or the Chronicles of England
‘Captivity’: T. F. Tout, ‘The Captivity and Death of Edward of Carnarvon’
CCR
:
Calendar of Close Rolls
CChR:
Calendar of Charter Rolls 1300–1326
CCW:
Calendar of Chancery Warrants 1244–1326
CDS:
Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland 1307–1357
CFR
:
Calendar of Fine Rolls
Chaplais,
Gaveston
: Pierre Chaplais,
Piers Gaveston: Edward II’s Adoptive Brother
CIM
:
Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous 1308–1348
CMR
:
Calendar of Memoranda Rolls Michaelmas 1326–Michaelmas 1327
‘Court’: Michael Prestwich, ‘The Court of Edward II’ in
RENP
CPL:
Calendar of Papal Letters 1305–1341
CPR: Calendar of Patent Rolls
Croniques:
Croniques de London
Doherty,
Death
: Paul Doherty,
Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II
EHR
:
English Historical Review
FCE
:
Fourteenth Century England
‘First Journal’: J. C. Davies, ‘The First Journal of Edward II’s Chamber’
Flores
: Flores Historiarum
, Vol. iii
Foedera:
Foedera, Conventiones, Litterae, Vol. 2.1, 1307–1327
Gesta:
Gesta Edwardi de Carnarvon Auctore Canonico Bridlingtoniensi
Guisborough:
The Chronicle of Walter Guisborough
Haines,
Edward
: Roy Martin Haines,
King Edward II
Hamilton,
Gaveston
: J. S. Hamilton,
Piers Gaveston, earl of Cornwall 1307–1312
HMSO: Her/His Majesty’s Stationery Office
Household Book: The Household Book of Queen Isabella of England
Intrigue: Ian Mortimer,
Medieval Intrigue: Decoding Royal Conspiracies
Issues: Frederick Devon,
Issues of the Exchequer
Itinerary:
Elizabeth Hallam,
The Itinerary of Edward II and His Household
JMH
:
Journal of Medieval History
Johnstone: Hilda Johnstone,
Edward of Carnarvon 1284–1307
Lancaster:
J. R. Maddicott,
Thomas of Lancaster 1307–1322
Lanercost:
The Chronicle of Lanercost 1272–1346
Livere:
Le Livere de Reis de Britanie e le Livere de Engletere
Multitudo:
Constance Bullock-Davies,
Menestrellorum Multitudo
Traitor:
Ian Mortimer,
The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer
Murimuth:
Adae Murimuth Continuatio Chronicarum
ODNB:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Opposition:
J. C. Davies,
The Baronial Opposition to Edward II
Perfect King: Ian Mortimer,
The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III
Phillips: Seymour Phillips,
Edward II
Place:
T. F. Tout,
The Place of the Reign of Edward II in English History
Polychronicon:
Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden
, Vol. 8
PROME: The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England
Register: Bullock-Davies,
A Register of Royal Domestic Minstrels
RENP:
The Reign of Edward II: New Perspectives,
ed. Dodd and Musson
SAL MS:
Society of Antiquaries of London, manuscript
Sardos:
The War of Saint-Sardos (1323-1325): Gascon Correspondence
Scalacronica:
Scalacronica by Sir Thomas Gray of Heton, knight
(ed. Stevenson)
‘Secular Musicians’: Richard Rastall, ‘Secular Musicians in Late Medieval England’
TNA: The National Archives (C: Chancery; DL: Duchy of Lancaster; E: Exchequer; SC: Special Collections)
Tout, Chapters: T. F. Tout,
Chapters in the Administrative History of England
TRHS: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society
Trokelowe:
Johannis de Trokelowe et Henrici de Blaneforde Chronica et Annales
Tyranny: Natalie Fryde,
The Tyranny and Fall of Edward II 1321–1326
Valence: J. R. S. Phillips,
Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke 1307–1324
Vita:
Vita Edwardi Secundi
(ed. Denholm-Young)

Introduction

1
.
English Historical Documents 1189–1327
, Vol. iii, 287–8.

2
.
Flores
, 235.

3
. J. Mackinnon,
History of Edward III
, 1; May McKisack,
The Fourteenth Century 1307–1399
, 95; ‘Captivity’, 145;
Place
, 9; K. H. Vickers,
England in the Later Middle Ages
, 84; Richard Baker,
A Chronicle to the Kings of England
, 102.

4
. The other is Edward’s descendant Henry VI.

1 Heir to the Throne and Accession

1
.
Lanercost
, 182.

2
.
Foedera
Vol. 1.2, 1272–1307
, 1018;
Guisborough
, 379,
Lanercost
, 182;
Vita
, 1.

3
.
Itinerary
, 21; Johnstone, 125.

4
. G. L. Haskins, ‘Chronicle of the Civil Wars’, 75;
Anonimalle
, 82;
Guisborough
, 380, 383;
Lanercost
, 184;
Vita,
1.

5
.
Brut,
202–3;
Scalacronica
, 50.

6
.
Vita
, 40.

7
. Phillips, 33.

8
. J. C. Parsons, ‘Year of Eleanor of Castile’s Birth’, 246–9; Parsons,
Eleanor of Castile
, 9. Fernando was canonised in 1671.

9
. Johnstone, 12.

10
. Johnstone, 6–7; Phillips, 36. The story first appeared in 1584 in
The Historie of Cambria.

11
. Henry Gough,
Itinerary of King Edward the First, Vol. 1: 1272–1285
, 145–6.

12
. Parsons,
Eleanor
, 33; Phillips, 40 note 45.

13
. Johnstone, 10 note 4.

14
. Johnstone, 64; Phillips, 38–9.

15
. Parsons, ‘Year of Birth’, 248.

16
. Marc Morris,
A
Great and Terrible King
, 231.

17
. Johnstone, 24; Phillips, 40.

18
. Hilda Johnstone,
Letters of Edward, Prince of Wales 1304–5
, 70.

19
. Johnstone, 15–17; Phillips, 53–7, 64–5; Phillips, ‘Place of the Reign of Edward II’,
RENP
, 221–6. It has often been unfairly assumed that Edward was stupid and badly educated, which Phillips refutes.

20
. Phillips, 57, for Eleanor and Mary. Edward’s half-brother the earl of Kent said in 1330 that his wife Margaret Wake had written a letter for him:
Murimuth
, 255.

21
.
Trokelowe
, 98–9;
Sardos
, 143, 145.

22
. Phillips, 62.

23
. Johnstone, 26–7; Phillips, 48–9.

24
. Johnstone, 27–8; Phillips, 41–2;
Issues
, 106–13.

25
.
Issues
, 111.

26
. Phillips, 45 note 76.

27
. Morris,
Terrible King
, 307ff; Michael Prestwich,
Edward I
, 392ff; Prestwich,
Documents Illustrating the Crisis
;
Phillips, 78ff.

28
.
CChR 1300–26
, 6; Johnstone, 62; Phillips, 87.

29
.
CPR 1301–7
, 424.

30
. A list is given in
Multitudo
, 185–7.

31
. Johnstone, 108.

32
. Johnstone, 106–8.

33
.
Multitudo,
1–6.

34
.
Multitudo
, xxv–xxvi.

35
.
Lanercost
, 182–3;
Guisborough
, 379.

36
. J. S. Hamilton,
Gaveston
, 37, 139.

37
. Johnstone, 124; Hamilton,
Gaveston
, 35–6.

38
.
Guisborough
, 382; Hannah Kilpatrick, ‘Correction to Hoskins’, 1–2.

39
. Phillips, 46–7.

40
.
Vita
, 40.

41
.
Lanercost
, 222.

42
.
Scalacronica
, 75.

43
.
Polychronicon
, 298.

44
. Nancy Goldstone,
Four Queens
, 6.

45
.
Foedera
, 650.

46
.
Polychronicon
, 299.

47
.
Foedera
, 1;
Lanercost
, 183.

48
. Phillips
,
124; Prestwich,
Edward I
, 565–6.

2 The New King and His Favourite

1
.
Vita
, 40;
Roll of Arms of Caerlaverock
, 18;
Polychronicon
, 299;
Scalacronica
, 45;
Gesta
, 91;
Anonimalle
, 80.

2
. Prestwich,
Edward I
, 567; W. Mark Ormrod,
Edward III
, 578 and note 6.

3
. Johnstone,
Letters of Edward
, 62.

4
.
Foedera
, 2, 50. See also Phillips, 127, and Chaplais,
Gaveston
, 27–28.

5
. Chaplais,
Gaveston
, 31; Hamilton,
Gaveston
, 37. TNA E 41/460 is the Cornwall charter.