The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain (12 page)

Edward II resembled his father physically. A contemporary chronicler describes him as ‘tall and strong, a handsome man with a fine figure’ but then goes on to lament: ‘If only he had given to arms the attention that he expended on rustic pursuits, he would have raised England on high; his name would have resounded through the land. Oh what hopes he raised as prince of Wales! All hope vanished when he became king of England.’
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The unkingly ‘rustic pursuits’ the writer criticized included swimming, digging, thatching, rowing and encouraging actors, jesters and singers. In an age when men expected their kings to be military leaders and law-givers, such activities appeared trivial, and at a time when social divisions were rigid it was considered reprehensible that a prince should choose low-born men for his companions and to esteem ‘mechanical’ pursuits above jousting and hunting (in neither of which Edward II showed any interest).

It has been said that Edward I left his son a poor hand to play and that he then played it very badly. The old king was deep in debt in 1307, was involved in a long-running war with Scotland and was regarded with suspicion by many of his magnates. His advisers expected his successor to wrap up military affairs successfully, ease the tax burden on his subjects, respond to wise counsel and submit to equable laws. Unfortunately, the prince had scarcely been well prepared to assume such a role. He saw little of his father, lost his mother when he was six, had no brothers to influence him and scarcely knew his sisters, most of whom were married off before he was born or during his infancy. It is, therefore, scarcely surprising that young Edward should choose and become closely attached to his own companions. It was that, above all things, that would prove his downfall.

1307–11

Edward II succeeded his father on 7 July 1307 at the age of 23. For some years his closest companion had been Piers Gaveston, the son of a Gascon knight who had been brought up in the prince’s household, and it may be that Edward doted on Gaveston as the accomplished elder brother he had never had, for the courtier was athletic, intelligent and cultured. It may also be that the relationship of the two young men was homosexual. What is clear is that Gaveston came to exercise complete dominance over the prince. Edward could refuse him nothing, and Gaveston took advantage of that to gain lands and favours. He also behaved with insufferable
arrogance towards those whose noble birth gave them the right, as they thought, to be numbered among the prince’s intimates and guides. ‘I firmly believe,’ wrote one chronicler, ‘that had he borne himself discreetly and with deference towards the great lords of this land, he would not have found one of them opposed to him.’
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In February 1307 Edward I had ordered Gaveston’s banishment because his son had tried to make over a large portion of his continental lands to his friend. When the king died in July one of Edward’s first acts was to recall Gaveston and make him Earl of Cornwall. In November Gaveston married the king’s niece, Margaret de Clare, sister of the Earl of Gloucester, and also received from the king large sums of money filched from the royal treasury. Edward had already sacked the treasurer and replaced him with another favourite, Walter Reynolds.

Gaveston’s pre-eminence became plain to all in January 1308. Edward left for France and his marriage to Isabella, and he appointed Gaveston as regent during his absence. A group of nobles, led by the Bishop of Durham, meanwhile drew up a list of grievances that needed redress. They were concerned to see an end to the financial dislocation caused by the late king’s wars, and, as ever, pressed Edward II to guarantee their legal rights. If anyone was in any doubt about the influence of the royal favourite the coronation on 25 February made the state of affairs crystal clear. Gaveston enjoyed prominence in the high ceremonial of the religious service – to him were assigned the privileges of the carrying of the crown, the ‘redeeming’ of
curtana
, the sword of mercy
(placed on the altar until redeemed by the king with an offering of gold), and the fixing of a spur to the king’s left foot. These symbolic acts were of extreme importance to the nation’s leading families, and their exclusion from them in the interests of the ‘upstart’ could not fail to arouse resentment. Worse followed at the coronation banquet. The banners on the wall behind the high table displayed the arms, not of England and France, but of Edward and Gaveston. The favourite appeared clothed in purple, the royal colour, and Edward paid more attention to him than to his queen or her French nobles. In his determination to demonstrate that he could and would rule as he wanted and with the advice of whoever he wanted, Edward succeeded in uniting many of the nobles against him right at the beginning of the reign.

In the parliament that assembled a few days later the nobles made their concerns quite clear by demanding that Gaveston’s exile should be renewed. The assertion of their right to protect the crown
against
the king amounted virtually to a claim for the sovereignty of the people.

Edward’s response was to reject the ultimatum, withdraw to Windsor Castle and prepare to oppose his critics by force. But when to the protests of his barons were joined those of the king of France and his own stepmother, Margaret of France, he gave way. But only temporarily. In June Gaveston was despatched to Ireland as the king’s deputy – not quite the casting into oblivion his enemies had hoped for. Meanwhile, Edward appealed to the pope to annul the exile order, which he did in April 1309. Into the gap created by Gaveston’s
departure stepped Hugh Despenser, the only leading magnate to support Gaveston. He now became Edward’s principal adviser and urged the king to turn the tables on his opponents. By bribery and blandishment Edward achieved what he had failed to achieve by stubbornness and bluster. In parliaments held in April and August 1309 Edward struck a bargain with the majority of the barons: political reform, including the removal of Despenser from court, in return for Gaveston’s reinstatement.

The king failed to keep his side of the bargain, and at the parliament held at Westminster in February 1310 most of the leading magnates threatened to renounce their allegiance unless the king agreed to widespread reforms. Because he needed support in trying to restore his authority in Scotland Edward had to agree, and 21 ‘lords ordainer’ were appointed to draw up a catalogue of demands.

The lords ordainer drew up a list of 41 items in need of reform, which fell broadly into five categories. First, the lords in parliament were to be the king’s advisers and his principal organ of government, with power to vet all royal appointments. This was the first real challenge by parliament to the royal household as the seat of government. Secondly, Gaveston and other royal favourites were to be banished. Thirdly, the king might only wage war with baronial consent. Fourthly, parliament was to have more say in financial matters. Specifically, all revenue was to be paid into the Exchequer, not the household, for greater accountability, and the king should not service his debts by farming out the customs to foreign bankers. Finally, local government should
be strictly regulated. Sheriffs should only be appointed by the chancellor and other senior officials.

While the lords ordainer were doing their work, Edward and Gaveston went to campaign in Scotland, but they fought no battles and did little more than plunder the Lowlands. The king stayed away from his capital as long as possible, unwilling to face his critics, as one anonymous letter writer observed: ‘The king is in no mood yet for a parliament, but when the Earl of Gloucester and the council meet in London, he will have to do what they order.’
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Parliament eventually met in mid-August. Edward tried to resist the inevitable, rejecting the lords’ demands over and again, but at last he offered to do everything they asked with one exception: ‘You shall stop persecuting my brother Piers and allow him to have the earldom of Cornwall.’
⁴
But on this point, too, he eventually had to give way. The ordinances were published and distributed at various ceremonies in September and October, but Edward immediately once more sent to the pope for an annulment of this trespass on his royal power. Gaveston again went into exile but secretly returned before Christmas.

1312–16

On 18 January 1312, when he was at York, Edward defiantly announced the return of his friend. Archbishop Robert of Winchelsea summoned a meeting of bishops and nobles for 13 March at which arrangements were made for Gaveston’s arrest. For several weeks the king and favourite were on the
run but, on 19 May, Gaveston surrendered at Scarborough. A deal was struck with the king, and by its terms the Earl of Pembroke assumed surety for his person and set out with him for Gaveston’s castle at Wallingford, Oxfordshire. But faith in Edward was now wearing thin, and some of the opposing barons were convinced, probably correctly, that the king was trusting that the pope would come to the aid of his favourite. At Deddington, north of Oxford, on 10 June the Earl of Warwick led a dawn raid on the place where the prisoner was being lodged.

At Warwick Castle the earl was joined by the earls of Arundel, Hereford and Lancaster (who was now the leading figure among the nobles opposing the king). They agreed that Gaveston should be executed, and, possibly after a makeshift trial, the prisoner was taken to nearby Blacklow Hill on 19 June, where two Welsh soldiers despatched him – one stabbed him, and the other cut off his head. This summary and brutal act probably put an end to one problem that would otherwise have run for years, but it created others in that it divided the barons and determined the king on vengeance.

On 13 November 1312 Queen Isabella gave birth to a son, christened Edward (the French king’s wish to name him either Louis, or Philip was vetoed by Lancaster and his allies), and in December a peace of sorts was patched up between Edward and Gaveston’s murderers. The issue of the favourite had gone, and Edward had engineered the appointment of his ally, Walter Reynolds, as Archbishop of Canterbury. It seemed that the king was well placed to resume the authority
and respect he considered to be his due. During a visit to France in the summer of 1313, thanks to the mediation of Philip IV and Pope Clement V, a full reconciliation was made between Edward and the lords ordainer, and agreement was reached for an expedition into Scotland to bring Robert Bruce to heel.

North of the border pockets of English rule existed around a few well-fortified castles and towns. Between 1311 and 1314, while Edward and his nobles were at loggerheads, Bruce had steadily picked off these centres of English authority until only Stirling and Berwick were left in Edward’s hands. Stirling was besieged in June, and Robert Bruce’s brother, Edward, raided at will south of the border. By this time the English king was already on his way with a formidable army of over 2,000 armed knights, 2,000 Welsh archers and 13,000 infantry. Edward crossed into Scotland and moved towards Stirling to raise the siege. Bruce prepared to meet the enemy at a battle site of his choosing at a ford near Bannockburn village, where the English would have to form into a narrow file to cross the river. This gave him a tactical advantage that outweighed the superior numbers of the enemy. The Battle of Bannockburn was fought on 23–24 June in three phases.

During the first phase Sir Philip Mowbray together with 500 knights heading for the castle found their way blocked by Scottish infantry armed with spears some 15 feet long. They charged this position, but, to their surprise, the pikemen held firm. Wave after wave of cavalry were cut down by the Scots. In the second phase, while the English were crossing
the river, a young knight, Sir Henry de Bohun, spotted Bruce riding in front of the Scottish lines and, on a death-or-glory impulse, charged at him full tilt. As the two men clashed, Bruce felled the knight with his battle axe. This single combat greatly heartened the Scots. In the third phase the main battle took place the following morning. The English were camped with the river behind them, facing the Scottish position on a hillside opposite with a small gorge between the two armies. Bruce aimed to attack while the enemy were still crossing the gorge. However, the English vanguard reached the field beyond the gorge in good order and prepared to charge. Now their effort was ruined by divided counsels, Edward’s commanders not agreeing on who should lead the attack. It was in some disarray, therefore, that the English knights smashed into Bruce’s wall of pikes. Again, it was the infantry who prevailed. Soon there was confusion in the English ranks, those trying to retreat being hampered by those trying to press forwards. Then Bruce’s infantry advanced, pushing the confused English back towards the gorge. They fell into it, their dead and wounded lying so densely packed that, as one observer said, ‘a man could cross the gully dry-shod’.

Edward fled to Dunbar Castle and thence by sea to Berwick. There is no accepted estimate of the numbers of those who perished in the field and the gully and in trying to cross the River Forth, but, even if the Scottish claim of 30,000 slain is rejected as an exaggeration, the impact on national pride and Edward’s reputation was dire. ‘Oh, day of vengeance and misfortune, day of ruin and dishonour, evil and accursed day, not to be reckoned in our calendar, that stained
the reputation of the English … So many fine noblemen and strong young men, so many noble horses, so much military equipment, costly garments and gold plate – all lost in one harsh day, one fleeting hour!’
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At parliaments held at York in September, and in London in February 1315 and January 1316, Edward was progressively stripped of many of his powers. His inner circle was purged of ‘bad influences’, including Despenser and Walter Langton, and the Earl of Lancaster was appointed to lead the army in any further contests with the Scots.

1316–20