Parliament of 1327: Difference between revisions
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The parliament that eventually met in London on 7 January 1327 had been summoned by Isabella and the Earl of Chester, in the name of King Edward,—on 28 October the previous year. It was originally intended to gather on 14 December 1326, but writs were issued on 3 December—still in the name of the King—deferring the sitting until early the next year.{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}} The legality of the original summons and the later writ have been described as "highly questionable,"{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}} and the parliament itself has been described as "a show of pseudo-parliamentary regularity."{{Sfn|Wood|1972|p=533}} Contemporaries were uncertain as to what exactly they were observing: "a few chroniclers called it a parliament, others did not."{{Sfn|Dunham|Wood|1976|p=739}} Edward II supposedly still mandated as King, although his "most beloved consort Isabella queen of England" and his "firstborn son keeper of the kingdom"{{Sfn|Fryde|1996|p=526}}—what has been described as a "nominal presidency"{{Sfn|Bradford|2011|p=192 n.15}}— were his conduits. This was supposedly whilst he was still abroad, having, as the new regime advertised, supposedly fled England (he was, in fact, by now imprisoned in [[Kenilworth Castle]]). The King was recorded as desiring a "''colloquium''" and "''tractatum''" (conference and consultation){{Sfn|Fryde|1996|p=526}}. with his lords "upon various affairs touching himself and the state of his kingdom." It was also, we are told, Edward II himself who postponed the sitting until January, "for certain necessary causes and utilities."{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}} |
The parliament that eventually met in London on 7 January 1327 had been summoned by Isabella and the Earl of Chester, in the name of King Edward,—on 28 October the previous year. It was originally intended to gather on 14 December 1326, but writs were issued on 3 December—still in the name of the King—deferring the sitting until early the next year.{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}} The legality of the original summons and the later writ have been described as "highly questionable,"{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}} and the parliament itself has been described as "a show of pseudo-parliamentary regularity."{{Sfn|Wood|1972|p=533}} Contemporaries were uncertain as to what exactly they were observing: "a few chroniclers called it a parliament, others did not."{{Sfn|Dunham|Wood|1976|p=739}} Edward II supposedly still mandated as King, although his "most beloved consort Isabella queen of England" and his "firstborn son keeper of the kingdom"{{Sfn|Fryde|1996|p=526}}—what has been described as a "nominal presidency"{{Sfn|Bradford|2011|p=192 n.15}}— were his conduits. This was supposedly whilst he was still abroad, having, as the new regime advertised, supposedly fled England (he was, in fact, by now imprisoned in [[Kenilworth Castle]]). The King was recorded as desiring a "''colloquium''" and "''tractatum''" (conference and consultation){{Sfn|Fryde|1996|p=526}}. with his lords "upon various affairs touching himself and the state of his kingdom." It was also, we are told, Edward II himself who postponed the sitting until January, "for certain necessary causes and utilities."{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}} |
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The main problem for the new regime, says historian [[Ian Mortimer (historian)|Ian Mortimer]], was what exactly to do with Edward II. Mortimer seems to have seriously considered a state trial for treason, with the expectation of a "guilty" verdct and thence a death sentence. He and other lords debated the issue with other ords at Isabella's [[Wallingford Castle]] just after Christmas, but they could not agree. The earls were of one mind that Edward had failed his country sufficiently enough that only his death could heal it; the attending bishops, on the other hand, held that, whatever his faults, he was an annonted king, and had been annointed by god. This presented Isabella and Mortimer with two problems. Firstly, the argument of the bishops would likely be popularly taken as bringing the wrath of god down upon the country. Secondly, the problem with trials was that there was always the danger of an unacceptable verdict being delivered—particularly as few contemporaries believed that an annointed King could even be charged with treason. This would lead to an invidious position whereby the rebels would not only have to release Edward, but |
The main problem for the new regime, says historian [[Ian Mortimer (historian)|Ian Mortimer]], was what exactly to do with Edward II. Mortimer seems to have seriously considered a state trial for treason, with the expectation of a "guilty" verdct and thence a death sentence. He and other lords debated the issue with other ords at Isabella's [[Wallingford Castle]] just after Christmas, but they could not agree. The earls were of one mind that Edward had failed his country sufficiently enough that only his death could heal it; the attending bishops, on the other hand, held that, whatever his faults, he was an annonted king, and had been annointed by god. This presented Isabella and Mortimer with two problems. Firstly, the argument of the bishops would likely be popularly taken as bringing the wrath of god down upon the country. Secondly, the problem with trials was that there was always the danger of an unacceptable verdict being delivered—particularly as few contemporaries believed that an annointed King could even be charged with treason. This would lead to an invidious position whereby the rebels would not only have to release Edward, but restored.{{Sfn|Mortimer|2010|p=165}}{{Refn|Mortimer goes on to note that actually "the hardest line was taken by the Lancastrians, whose world had been shattered by Edward's destruction of Thomas of Lancaster. Roger, on the other hand, had been saved from his death sentence in 1322 by the King's intervention, and indeed had for many years before that been a loyal supporter of the King. Even now he was a royalist, and he wanted to encourage Prince Edward's respect, a respect which was very unlikely to be forthcoming if he were held responsible for the death of his father.{{sfn|Mortimer|2010|p=165}}|group=note}} |
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=== Attendance === |
=== Attendance === |
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== Articles of accusation == |
== Articles of accusation == |
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{{Quotebox|quote=Renunciation of allegiance was transmuted from feudal defiance to the will of the commonality, and the King was rejected not by his vassals but by his subjects.{{sfn|Clarke|1933|p=43}}|source=[[Maud Clarke]]|width=25em|quoted=yes|salign=center|bgcolor=#BDFFEA}}After some lords and bishops had written a set of "Articles of Accusation" against Edward II the preceding evening, on the morning of the 13th January many nobles, churchmen, knights and burgesses swore to support his heir apparent, the 13-year-old [[Edward III of England|Edward]] Earl of Chester, as king and to enforce the constitutional limitations of the [[Ordinances of 1311]] at the [[Guildhall, London|Guildhall]].{{Sfn|Bryant|2014|p=66}} The King was accused of being personally incapable of ruling; indulging false counsellors; preferring amusements government; neglecting England and losing Scotland; dilapidating the church and imprisoning the clergy; and, all in all, breaking his coronation oath to his subjects.{{Sfn|Dunham|Wood|1976|p=740}} That afternoon, Parliament assembled formally, and Roger Mortimer read the Articles. Under pressure from a mob of Londoners led by [[Thomas Wake, 2nd Baron Wake of Liddell|Thomas Wake]] other figures spoke in support of Isabella, crucially including the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Walter Reynolds]]. Parliament then proclaimed Edward III king.{{Sfn|Bryant|2014|p=67}}{{Sfn|Camden Society|1935|p=99}}{{Quotebox|quote=Londoners were to play a key role during the Westminster parliament in January 1327 in ensuring that any remaining supporters of Edward II were intimidated and overwhelmed by events.{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005}}|align=left|width=25em|bgcolor=#FFFFF0}}Envoys had been sent to Kenilworth to see Edward II before parliament sat,; they were [[Adam Orleton|Adam Orleton, Bishop of Hereford]] and [[William Trussell|Sir William Trussell]], the parliamentary proctor (or [[Speaker (politics)|speaker]]), and their mission was to persuade Edward to return with them and attend parliament. They failed in this mission: Edward had not just refused to come, but had refused robustly. The envoys arrived back at Westminster on 12 January; parliament had been sitting five days, by then, but could do nothing until they returned with the King.{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=855}} Constitutionally, this was the case, as historically a parliament could only pass statute with the King in attendance;{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=855}}{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}}{{Refn|On the other hand, Edward II had regularly missed periods of his own parliaments, for reasons ranging from absence in other parts of the realm {the parliament of August—October 1311) to diplomatic missions abroad (July 1313), or "important" but otherwise undescribed business (in September 1314). Some parliaments he completely missed, sometimes for stated reasons (such as that of March—April 1313, which Edward missed due to illness), but oftenwith no reason being recorded, such as the parliament of November—December 1311.{{sfn|Bradford|2011|pp= |
{{Quotebox|quote=Renunciation of allegiance was transmuted from feudal defiance to the will of the commonality, and the King was rejected not by his vassals but by his subjects.{{sfn|Clarke|1933|p=43}}|source=[[Maud Clarke]]|width=25em|quoted=yes|salign=center|bgcolor=#BDFFEA}}After some lords and bishops had written a set of "Articles of Accusation" against Edward II the preceding evening, on the morning of the 13th January many nobles, churchmen, knights and burgesses swore to support his heir apparent, the 13-year-old [[Edward III of England|Edward]] Earl of Chester, as king and to enforce the constitutional limitations of the [[Ordinances of 1311]] at the [[Guildhall, London|Guildhall]].{{Sfn|Bryant|2014|p=66}} The King was accused of being personally incapable of ruling; indulging false counsellors; preferring amusements government; neglecting England and losing Scotland; dilapidating the church and imprisoning the clergy; and, all in all, breaking his coronation oath to his subjects.{{Sfn|Dunham|Wood|1976|p=740}} That afternoon, Parliament assembled formally, and Roger Mortimer read the Articles. Under pressure from a mob of Londoners led by [[Thomas Wake, 2nd Baron Wake of Liddell|Thomas Wake]] other figures spoke in support of Isabella, crucially including the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Walter Reynolds]]. Parliament then proclaimed Edward III king.{{Sfn|Bryant|2014|p=67}}{{Sfn|Camden Society|1935|p=99}}{{Quotebox|quote=Londoners were to play a key role during the Westminster parliament in January 1327 in ensuring that any remaining supporters of Edward II were intimidated and overwhelmed by events.{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005}}|align=left|width=25em|bgcolor=#FFFFF0}}Envoys had been sent to Kenilworth to see Edward II before parliament sat,; they were [[Adam Orleton|Adam Orleton, Bishop of Hereford]] and [[William Trussell|Sir William Trussell]], the parliamentary proctor (or [[Speaker (politics)|speaker]]), and their mission was to persuade Edward to return with them and attend parliament. They failed in this mission: Edward had not just refused to come, but had refused robustly. The envoys arrived back at Westminster on 12 January; parliament had been sitting five days, by then, but could do nothing until they returned with the King.{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=855}} Constitutionally, this was the case, as historically a parliament could only pass statute with the King in attendance;{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=855}}{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}}{{Refn|On the other hand, Edward II had regularly missed periods of his own parliaments, for reasons ranging from absence in other parts of the realm {the parliament of August—October 1311) to diplomatic missions abroad (July 1313), or "important" but otherwise undescribed business (in September 1314). Some parliaments he completely missed, sometimes for stated reasons (such as that of March—April 1313, which Edward missed due to illness), but oftenwith no reason being recorded, such as the parliament of November—December 1311.{{sfn|Bradford|2011|pp=191-192}}|group=note}} this time, however, "Edward's opponents were not prepared to let this stand in their way."{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}} As such, Orleton—emphasizing how Isabella was afraid of her husband—put the question to the assembled lords, whom they would prefer as their king, Edward I or his son. There seems however to have been no immediate rush to depose or acclaim, for Orleton proceeded to suspend proceedings until the next day (presumably to allow the lords a night to dwell upon the matter).{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=855}} On the same day, the [[Lord Mayor of London|Mayor of London]], [[Richard de Betoyne|Sir Richard de Betoyne]] and the [[Common council of the City of London|Common council]], wrote to the lords asking them to make the Earl of Chester King, and to depose Edward II for failing to uphold "his oath and his Crown;" this may well have been at Mortimer's instigation following the lords' earlier half-hearted response.{{sfn|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|p=}} However, the City of London also presented other petitions to the lords regarding the future King, for example requesting that the new King should be governed by his [[King's Council|Council]] until it was certain that he understood his [[Coronation Oath|coronation oath]] and regal responsibilities. This petition was accepted; another, requesting that the King should hold an annual parliament at Westminster until he reached his [[Coming of age|majority]], was not.{{Sfn|Hartrich|2012|p=97}} |
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The following day Mortimer made a speech to the re-assembled lords in which he said that he had been appointed to announce the decision of the nobles—"what had been ordained"—which was that Edward II would abdicate and his son take the throne as {{Quotebox|quote=...the whole community of the realm there present, unanimously chose [Edward] to be guardian of the said kingdom...and govern the said kingdom in the name and in the right of the Lord King his father, then being absent. And the same [Edward] there assumed the rule of the said kingdom on the same day in the form aforesaid, and began to exercise those things which were rightful under his privy seal, which was then in the custody of his clerk Sir Robert Wyville, because he did not then have any other seal for the said rule...{{sfn|H. M. S. O.|1892|pp=655–656}}|source=Close Rolls, 26 October 1326|align=|width=30em|quoted=yes|salign=centre|bgcolor=#FFDFFF}}Edward IIII:{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=856}} "that Sir Edward...should have the government of the real and be crowned king."{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=857}} The French chronicler [[Jean Le Bel]] described how the lords, on account of how the country could not remain unruled, together decided to document Edward II's "ill-advised deeds and actions" in order to create a legal record. This was duly presented to parliament, which body declared "such a man was unfit ever to wear the crown or call himself King."{{Sfn|Le Bel|2011|pp=32–33}} It was the codified list of royal ill-deeds—probably drawn up by Orleton and Stratford personally{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=857}}—that became subsequently known as the Articles of Accusation.{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=856}}{{Refn|It was described by Adam Orleton as a ''concordia''; the term "articles of accusation" was first used by nineteenth-century historians [[George Burton Adams]] and [[H. Morse Stephens]] in their ''Select Documents of English Constitutional History'',{{sfn|Valente|1998|p=856 n.6}} where they printed the document in full.{{sfn|Adams|Stephens|1901|p=99}}|group=note}} |
The following day Mortimer made a speech to the re-assembled lords in which he said that he had been appointed to announce the decision of the nobles—"what had been ordained"—which was that Edward II would abdicate and his son take the throne as {{Quotebox|quote=...the whole community of the realm there present, unanimously chose [Edward] to be guardian of the said kingdom...and govern the said kingdom in the name and in the right of the Lord King his father, then being absent. And the same [Edward] there assumed the rule of the said kingdom on the same day in the form aforesaid, and began to exercise those things which were rightful under his privy seal, which was then in the custody of his clerk Sir Robert Wyville, because he did not then have any other seal for the said rule...{{sfn|H. M. S. O.|1892|pp=655–656}}|source=Close Rolls, 26 October 1326|align=|width=30em|quoted=yes|salign=centre|bgcolor=#FFDFFF}}Edward IIII:{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=856}} "that Sir Edward...should have the government of the real and be crowned king."{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=857}} The French chronicler [[Jean Le Bel]] described how the lords, on account of how the country could not remain unruled, together decided to document Edward II's "ill-advised deeds and actions" in order to create a legal record. This was duly presented to parliament, which body declared "such a man was unfit ever to wear the crown or call himself King."{{Sfn|Le Bel|2011|pp=32–33}} It was the codified list of royal ill-deeds—probably drawn up by Orleton and Stratford personally{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=857}}—that became subsequently known as the Articles of Accusation.{{Sfn|Valente|1998|p=856}}{{Refn|It was described by Adam Orleton as a ''concordia''; the term "articles of accusation" was first used by nineteenth-century historians [[George Burton Adams]] and [[H. Morse Stephens]] in their ''Select Documents of English Constitutional History'',{{sfn|Valente|1998|p=856 n.6}} where they printed the document in full.{{sfn|Adams|Stephens|1901|p=99}}|group=note}} |
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* {{cite book|title=Select Documents of English Constitutional History|editor-last1=Adams|editor-first1=G.|editor-last2=Stephens|editor-first2=H. M.|year=1901|oclc=958650690|publisher=The Macmillan Company|location=New York|ref=harv}} |
* {{cite book|title=Select Documents of English Constitutional History|editor-last1=Adams|editor-first1=G.|editor-last2=Stephens|editor-first2=H. M.|year=1901|oclc=958650690|publisher=The Macmillan Company|location=New York|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=Medieval England, 500-1500: A Reader, Second Edition|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2018|isbn=978-1-4426-3465-7|editor-last1=Amt|editor-first1=E.|edition=2nd|series=Readings in Medieval Civilizations Cultures VI|location=Toronto|ref=harv|editor-last2=Smith|editor-first2=K. A.}} |
* {{cite book|title=Medieval England, 500-1500: A Reader, Second Edition|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2018|isbn=978-1-4426-3465-7|editor-last1=Amt|editor-first1=E.|edition=2nd|series=Readings in Medieval Civilizations Cultures VI|location=Toronto|ref=harv|editor-last2=Smith|editor-first2=K. A.}} |
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* {{Cite journal|last=Bradford|first=P.|date=2011|title=A Silent Presence: The English King in Parliament in the Fourteenth Century|url=|journal=Historical Research|volume=84 |pages=189–211|oclc=300188139|ref=harv}} |
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* {{Cite book|title=The English parliament in the Middle Ages|last=Brown|first=A. L.|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=1981|isbn=0719008336|editor-last=Davies|editor-first=R. G.|location=Manchester|chapter=Parliament, c. 1377-1422|pages=109–140|ref=harv|editor-last2=Denton|editor-first2=J. H.}} |
* {{Cite book|title=The English parliament in the Middle Ages|last=Brown|first=A. L.|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=1981|isbn=0719008336|editor-last=Davies|editor-first=R. G.|location=Manchester|chapter=Parliament, c. 1377-1422|pages=109–140|ref=harv|editor-last2=Denton|editor-first2=J. H.}} |
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* {{cite book|url=|last1=Bryant|first1=Chris|title=Parliament: The Biography|publisher=Transworld|year=2014|isbn=978-0-55277-995-1|location=London|pages=|ref=harv}} |
* {{cite book|url=|last1=Bryant|first1=Chris|title=Parliament: The Biography|publisher=Transworld|year=2014|isbn=978-0-55277-995-1|location=London|pages=|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=Writing to the King: Nation, Kingship and Literature in England, 1250–1350|last=Matthews|first=D.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1-139-48375-9|location=Cambridge|ref=harv}} |
* {{cite book|title=Writing to the King: Nation, Kingship and Literature in England, 1250–1350|last=Matthews|first=D.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1-139-48375-9|location=Cambridge|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|url=|title=The Fourteenth Century: 1307–1399|last=McKisack|first=M.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1959|oclc=959746275|edition=|location=Oxford|pages=|ref=harv|authorlink=May McKisack}} |
* {{cite book|url=|title=The Fourteenth Century: 1307–1399|last=McKisack|first=M.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1959|oclc=959746275|edition=|location=Oxford|pages=|ref=harv|authorlink=May McKisack}} |
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* {{Cite journal|last=Morris|first=W. A.|date=1943|title=Magnates and community of the realm in parliament 1264-1327|journal=Medievalia et Humanistica|volume=1|pages=58-94|oclc=933307987|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|url=|title=The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation|last=Mortimer|first=Ian|publisher=Jonathan Cape|year=2006|isbn=0-224-07301-X|location=London|authorlink=Ian Mortimer (historian)|ref=harv}} |
* {{cite book|url=|title=The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation|last=Mortimer|first=Ian|publisher=Jonathan Cape|year=2006|isbn=0-224-07301-X|location=London|authorlink=Ian Mortimer (historian)|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Mortimer|first=I.|title=The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March|year=2010|publisher=Random House|location=London|isbn=978-1-4070-6639-4|ref=harv}} |
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* {{Cite journal|last=O'Rahilly|first=A.|date=1922|title=Allegiance and the Crown||journal=Studies-An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=11|pages=169-185|oclc=457006934|ref=harv}} |
* {{Cite journal|last=O'Rahilly|first=A.|date=1922|title=Allegiance and the Crown||journal=Studies-An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=11|pages=169-185|oclc=457006934|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|url=|title=The Reign of Edward II: New Perspectives|last=Ormrod|first=W. M.|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|year=2006|isbn=978-1-903153-19-2|editor-last1=Dodd|location=Woodbridge|pages=22–47|chapter=The Sexualities of Edward II|ref=harv|editor-last2=Musson|editor-first2=A.}} |
* {{cite book|url=|title=The Reign of Edward II: New Perspectives|last=Ormrod|first=W. M.|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|year=2006|isbn=978-1-903153-19-2|editor-last1=Dodd|location=Woodbridge|pages=22–47|chapter=The Sexualities of Edward II|ref=harv|editor-last2=Musson|editor-first2=A.}} |
Revision as of 21:25, 9 March 2018
The Parliament of 1327, which sat at Westminster between 7 January 1327 and 9 March 1327, was instrumental in the transfer of power from Edward II to Edward III. Edward II had become increasingly unpopular with his nobility through the course of his reign, predominantly due to his promotion of his favourites at court, the patronage he devoted to them, and his perceived ill-treatment of his nobles. By 1326, even his wife despised him, to such an extent that towards the end of that year she joined with Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March in France—whom her husband had previously exiled—probably entering into a relationship with him, and ultimately, the following year, invading England with him to depose her husband. She had travelled to France with her son, Edward III, Earl of Chester and he returned with her. Almost immediately, Edward II's response was beset by betrayal, and he eventually abandoned London and fled west, probably to raise an army in Wales or Ireland. However, he was soon captured and imprisoned.
Isabella and Mortimer summoned a parliament in order to confer legitimacy on their regime. This began gathering at Westminster palace on 7 January, but little could be done in the absence of the King. Young Edward was proclaimed "Keeper of the realm" (but not yet King), and a parliamentary deputation was sent to Edward II to ask that he allow himself to be brought to parliament. He refused, and the parliament continued without him. The King was accused of various offences, ranging from his promotion of favourites to destruction of the church, and that, fundamentally, he had betrayed his coronation oath to the people. These were known as the "Articles of Accusation." The City of London was particularly aggressive in its attacks on Edward II, and its citizens may have helped intimidate some of those attending parliament into agreeing to the King's deposition, which occurred on the afternoon of 13 January.
The lords sent another delegation to the King to inform him of his deposition. This they did on or around 21 January, effectively giving Edward an ultimatum that if he did not agree to hand over the crown to his son, then the lords in parliament would give it to somebody outside the royal family. King Edward cried, but agreed to their conditions. The delegation returned to London and Edward II's son was proclaimed King Edward III immediately. He was crowned on 1 February 1327; his father remained imprisoned, being moved around to prevent any attempted rescues; he died—presumed killed—in November that year, probably at Mortimer's orders. Crises continued for him and Isabella, who were de facto rulers of the country, partly as a result of his own greed, mismanagement, and mishandling of the new King. Edward III led a coup d'état against Mortimer in 1330, overthrew him, and began his personal rule.
Background
Edward II had many court favourites, such as Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despenser the Younger who were unpopular with Edward's nobility. Gaveston had been killed during an earlier noble rebellion against Edward in 1312, while Despenser, a contemporary chronicler said, was "deeply hated by the nobles of the kingdom."[1] Edward too was disliked, not only because of his favouritism, but his general abuse of the noble class (for example, he made repeated demands for unpaid military service from them).[2] His popularlity further declined with his execution of his cousin, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster in 1322 (who had led the earlier rebellion against the King. Edward was thus able to enrich himself immensely at he expense of Thomas' heirs by confiscating the Lancaster estates.[3] Historian Chris Given-Wilson expressed the view of the nobility as being that, "under Edward II and the Despensers...no landholder could feel safe."[4] By 1325 their feelings toward Edward seem to have been shared by his wife, Queen Isabella.[5][note 1] By now the King had already been previously threatened with deposition on two occasions (1310 and 1321).[8] Hostility towards Edward was general. S. B. Chrimes and A. L. Brown ascribed this to Edward's "cruelty and personal faults,"[9] while W. H. Dunham and C. T. Wood commented in 1976 that "very few, not even his half- brothers or his son, seemed to care about the wretched man" and how, as such, none would fight for him.[10] One contemporary chronicler described Edward as rex inutilis, a "useless king."[11]
In 1325, Isabella had been sent to Paris by her husband on a diplomatic mission, accompanied by their son, Edward, Earl of Chester. This was Edward's political response to the French invasion of the Duchy of Aquitaine, then an English royal possession. Soon after, they both effectively disclosed their marital estrangement in a series of three-way written exchanges with the French King, Charles V, and the Pope.[8] They were both scathing in their remarks and keen to score political points with them.[12] Relations between Edward II and his wife swiftly deteriorated.[8] Edward proceeded to confiscate Isabella's lands and properties and disbanded her retinue.[13] Their mutual ill-feeling was exacerbated by the political influence wielded by Despenser in England. Isabella felt he was trying to drive her away from the King; as a result, she had entered into a—possibly physical— relationship with the exiled Roger Mortimer in December 1325; by summer the following year, the King was considering a divorce.[note 2] At the same time both Isabella and Edward refused to return to England, even though the King repeatedly requested them to do so.[8] The King was also angry with his son for refusing to break with Isabelle and Mortimer.[12][note 3]
Isabella's diplomatic mission to Charles V had been successful. Now in Paris, she became the centre of the opposition in exile. She was joined by Roger Mortimer, but also included Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent, [15], Henry de Beaumont, John de Botetourt, John Maltravers and William Trussell, [16] all united by their hatred of the Despensers.[17] Although the French King refused to countenance an invasion of England, the rebels gained the Count of Hainaut's backing in return for the prospective marriage between the Earl of Chester and the Count's daughter, Philippa of Hainault.[16]
It was clear to King Edward from around February 1326 that Isabella and Mortimer intended to invade, and there were a number of false alarms.[note 4] As a defensive action, ships over a certain size and tonnage were forbidden from leaving English ports, in many cases they were pressed into royal service. Edward declared war on France in July; Isabella and Mortimer invaded England, and landed in Suffolk on 24 September 1326.[19] Within the week, King Edward had suffered mass desertions from his camp, and, accompanied by Despenser, fled west.[20][note 5] Prestwich described the King's support as collapsing "like a building hit by an earthquake"; weak already, "even before the invasion, along with preparation, there had been panic. Now there was simply panic."[16] Their efforts to raise another army were to no avail; on 16 November 326, Edward and Despenser were captured near Llantrisant in South Wales.[8] Isabella and Mortimer had invaded to rid England of their mutual enemies—the Despensers; the swiftness with which the entire regime collapsed forced them to wield executive power until they managed to arrange for a successor to the throne.[21] Edward was incarcerated by the Earl of Lancaster and known supporters of the King were murdered by mobs, particularly in London. Despenser's father, the Earl of Winchester, had already been hanged in Bristol on 27 October; Despenser himself was executed in Hereford less than a month later.[8] On 26 October Edward, Earl of Chester—not yet in possession of the Great Seal— was proclaimed guardian of the realm by Isabelle and Mortimer:[8] "by the assent of the whole community of the said kingdom present there, they unanimously chose [Edward III] as keeper of the said kingdom." They did not yet call him King.[22] On 20 November he received the Great Seal (which had been captured with Edward II at Monmouth), and with his he was announced his father's heir apparent.[8]
Summoning of parliament
The parliament that eventually met in London on 7 January 1327 had been summoned by Isabella and the Earl of Chester, in the name of King Edward,—on 28 October the previous year. It was originally intended to gather on 14 December 1326, but writs were issued on 3 December—still in the name of the King—deferring the sitting until early the next year.[8] The legality of the original summons and the later writ have been described as "highly questionable,"[8] and the parliament itself has been described as "a show of pseudo-parliamentary regularity."[23] Contemporaries were uncertain as to what exactly they were observing: "a few chroniclers called it a parliament, others did not."[10] Edward II supposedly still mandated as King, although his "most beloved consort Isabella queen of England" and his "firstborn son keeper of the kingdom"[24]—what has been described as a "nominal presidency"[25]— were his conduits. This was supposedly whilst he was still abroad, having, as the new regime advertised, supposedly fled England (he was, in fact, by now imprisoned in Kenilworth Castle). The King was recorded as desiring a "colloquium" and "tractatum" (conference and consultation)[24]. with his lords "upon various affairs touching himself and the state of his kingdom." It was also, we are told, Edward II himself who postponed the sitting until January, "for certain necessary causes and utilities."[8]
The main problem for the new regime, says historian Ian Mortimer, was what exactly to do with Edward II. Mortimer seems to have seriously considered a state trial for treason, with the expectation of a "guilty" verdct and thence a death sentence. He and other lords debated the issue with other ords at Isabella's Wallingford Castle just after Christmas, but they could not agree. The earls were of one mind that Edward had failed his country sufficiently enough that only his death could heal it; the attending bishops, on the other hand, held that, whatever his faults, he was an annonted king, and had been annointed by god. This presented Isabella and Mortimer with two problems. Firstly, the argument of the bishops would likely be popularly taken as bringing the wrath of god down upon the country. Secondly, the problem with trials was that there was always the danger of an unacceptable verdict being delivered—particularly as few contemporaries believed that an annointed King could even be charged with treason. This would lead to an invidious position whereby the rebels would not only have to release Edward, but restored.[26][note 6]
Attendance
It is likely that attendance at the January 1327 parliament mirrored that which had been postponed in December,[8] although it may not have been a complete assembly.[27] The 3 December writs summoned, as Lords Spiritual, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, fifteen English and four Welsh bishops and nineteen abbots. The Lords Temporal were represented by the Earls of Norfolk, Kent, Lancaster, Surrey, Oxford, Atholl and Hereford; two, the Earls of Winchester and Arundel had been executed at the end of 1326. Forty-seven barons, twenty-three royal justices, and a number of knights and burgesses were also summoned from the shires.[8] Leading rebel, Sir William Trussell, was appointed procurator, or Speaker. Although procurators were not new, the purpose of Trussell's new role set a constitutional precedent, as he was specifically ordained to speak as one man, on behalf of parliament generally:[28] "who cannot disagree with himself and, [therefore], shall ordain for all."[29]
Articles of accusation
Renunciation of allegiance was transmuted from feudal defiance to the will of the commonality, and the King was rejected not by his vassals but by his subjects.[30]
After some lords and bishops had written a set of "Articles of Accusation" against Edward II the preceding evening, on the morning of the 13th January many nobles, churchmen, knights and burgesses swore to support his heir apparent, the 13-year-old Edward Earl of Chester, as king and to enforce the constitutional limitations of the Ordinances of 1311 at the Guildhall.[31] The King was accused of being personally incapable of ruling; indulging false counsellors; preferring amusements government; neglecting England and losing Scotland; dilapidating the church and imprisoning the clergy; and, all in all, breaking his coronation oath to his subjects.[22] That afternoon, Parliament assembled formally, and Roger Mortimer read the Articles. Under pressure from a mob of Londoners led by Thomas Wake other figures spoke in support of Isabella, crucially including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Walter Reynolds. Parliament then proclaimed Edward III king.[32][33]
Londoners were to play a key role during the Westminster parliament in January 1327 in ensuring that any remaining supporters of Edward II were intimidated and overwhelmed by events.[8]
Envoys had been sent to Kenilworth to see Edward II before parliament sat,; they were Adam Orleton, Bishop of Hereford and Sir William Trussell, the parliamentary proctor (or speaker), and their mission was to persuade Edward to return with them and attend parliament. They failed in this mission: Edward had not just refused to come, but had refused robustly. The envoys arrived back at Westminster on 12 January; parliament had been sitting five days, by then, but could do nothing until they returned with the King.[34] Constitutionally, this was the case, as historically a parliament could only pass statute with the King in attendance;[34][8][note 7] this time, however, "Edward's opponents were not prepared to let this stand in their way."[8] As such, Orleton—emphasizing how Isabella was afraid of her husband—put the question to the assembled lords, whom they would prefer as their king, Edward I or his son. There seems however to have been no immediate rush to depose or acclaim, for Orleton proceeded to suspend proceedings until the next day (presumably to allow the lords a night to dwell upon the matter).[34] On the same day, the Mayor of London, Sir Richard de Betoyne and the Common council, wrote to the lords asking them to make the Earl of Chester King, and to depose Edward II for failing to uphold "his oath and his Crown;" this may well have been at Mortimer's instigation following the lords' earlier half-hearted response.[8] However, the City of London also presented other petitions to the lords regarding the future King, for example requesting that the new King should be governed by his Council until it was certain that he understood his coronation oath and regal responsibilities. This petition was accepted; another, requesting that the King should hold an annual parliament at Westminster until he reached his majority, was not.[36] The following day Mortimer made a speech to the re-assembled lords in which he said that he had been appointed to announce the decision of the nobles—"what had been ordained"—which was that Edward II would abdicate and his son take the throne as
...the whole community of the realm there present, unanimously chose [Edward] to be guardian of the said kingdom...and govern the said kingdom in the name and in the right of the Lord King his father, then being absent. And the same [Edward] there assumed the rule of the said kingdom on the same day in the form aforesaid, and began to exercise those things which were rightful under his privy seal, which was then in the custody of his clerk Sir Robert Wyville, because he did not then have any other seal for the said rule...[37]
Close Rolls, 26 October 1326
Edward IIII:[38] "that Sir Edward...should have the government of the real and be crowned king."[39] The French chronicler Jean Le Bel described how the lords, on account of how the country could not remain unruled, together decided to document Edward II's "ill-advised deeds and actions" in order to create a legal record. This was duly presented to parliament, which body declared "such a man was unfit ever to wear the crown or call himself King."[40] It was the codified list of royal ill-deeds—probably drawn up by Orleton and Stratford personally[39]—that became subsequently known as the Articles of Accusation.[38][note 8]
Deposition of Edward II
The different, yet similar, titles bestowed upon Edward at the end of 1326—all of which acknowledged his unique position in government yet none of which called him King—reflected an underlying constitutional crisis, and one which contemporaries recognised. It hung on the question as to how power was transferred between two living Kings, a situation—until 1327—never before encountered in English government.[note 9] This situation, a historian has commented, to contemporary perception "upset the accepted order of things, threatened the sacrosanctity of kingship, and lacked clear legality or established process."[43] In fact, it is uncertain whether Edward II abdicated or was deposed. Legally, it was noted (in the Close Rolls on 26 October), that Edward had "left or abandoned his kingdom";[8][note 10] certainly this was the case as presented by Isabella and Mortimer. They also, however, claimed that Edward II was deliberately—and provocatively—holding parliament in contempt and considered it a treasonous assembly: they were, it has been said, "experienced in such manipulation."[45]
Twentieth century historiography remains divided upon the issue. Barry Wilkinson, for example, considered it a deposition—but by the magnates, rather than parliament—whilst G. L. Harriss referred to it as an abdication,[43] believing that "there was no legal process of deposition, and kings like...Edward II were induced to resign."[46].Edward II's position gas been summed up as being offered "the choice of abdication in favour of his son Edward or forcible deposition in favour of a new king selected by his nobles."[47]
Whether Edward II resigned his throne, was forced from it, or a combination of both, it was on 13 January that the crown legally changed hands[48] before an assembly of "all the baronage of the land."[10] There were two elements to the process. Firstly, the commons took an oath in the City of London's Guildhall. Then, all concerned parties made their to Westminster (parliament having been suspended until that afternoon) where the lords formally acknowledged that Edward II would no longer be King.[48] A number of orations were made; Mortimer made a speech and various bishops presented sermons—Hereford, for example, spoke of how "a foolish king shall ruin his people," and, reported a contemporary, "he dwelt weightily upon the folly and unwisdom of the king, and upon his childish doings."[49] All the speakers reiterated the articles of accusation, which were again re-presented to the Lords in their entirety. The common theme of all the declaration made that day was that they all concluded by offering Prince Edward as King, if the people approved him.[50] The crowd in attendance, meanwhile had been effectively "whipped...into such fervour" by " dramatic outcries at appropriate points in the orations" from Thomas wake at strategic intervals, and also, perhaps the influence—and perhaps intimidation— of a large company of unruly Londoners.[51]
At the close of the day, said Valente, "the electio of the magnates received the acclamatio of the populi, 'Fiat!'," and may have been followed by a chorus of Gloria, Laus et Honor,[51] and possibly oaths of homage from the lords to the new King. Assent to the new status quo was not universal: the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of London, Rochester and Carlisle abstained from the day's affairs in protest.[51][note 11]
Edward II's response
The articles accused the king, the fount of justice, of a series of high crimes against his country. Instead of good government by good laws he had ruled by evil counsel. Instead of justice he had sent noblemen to shameful and illegal deaths. he had lost Scotland and Gascony and he had oppressed and impoverished England. In short, he had broken his coronation oath—here treated as a solemn contract with his people and country—and he must pay the price.[53]
David Starkey, Crown and Country: A History of England Through the Monarchy
The final parliamentary act on 13 January was the organisation of a deputation to visit Edward II at Kenilworth and inform him of his subjects' decision to withdraw their homage from him. This group consisted of the Bishops of Ely, Hereford and London, and some laymen,[8] including the Earl of Surrey (representing the lords) and Trussle (to represent the knights).[8][note 12] They left some time on or shortly after Thursday 15 January, and the official renouncing of fealty—by William Trussle on behalf of parliament[56]— to Edward took place there between the 21st and 22 January; the now ex-King protested (mildly, though) and wept.[56] Baker's chronicle says that the delegates equivocated, "adulterating the word of truth" before coming to the point of their mission.[10] Edward was offered the choice of resigning in favour of the Earl of Chester, or being deposed and leading to the chance that the throne would be offered to someone not of royal blood.[56] Edward seems to have taken comfort from the fact that his own son could be still succeed him, and it is possible that there was an acknowledgment of memoranda drawn up between the delegation and Edward noting what was said.[56] Geoffrey le Baker's chronicle says that at some point towards the end of the meeting Thomas Blunt (Edward's Steward) broke his staff of office in half and sent the Royal Household away.[note 13] The delegation had returned to Westminster by 25 January, by which date, Edward III was already officially being referred to as King, and his peace had been proclaimed at St Paul's Cathedral the previous day. The new King was publicly proclaimed such shortly afterwards;[57] it is also probable that discussion began to take place on the thorny question of what to do with Edward II.[58]
Subsequent events and aftermath
Recall of parliament
Still a minor,[59] Edward III was crowned on 1 February 1327,[60] although the true ruler of England remained Roger Mortimer[61] (and who created himself Earl of March in October 1328).[62] Edward's coronation was shortly followed by the recalling of the January parliament (which had never, in fact, been dissolved).[56] Strictly, a new parliament should have been called as there was a new monarch, but this failure of process is doubtless explained by the sheer novelty of the situation the political class found itself in.[25]
This parliament returned to the more usual business of parliaments, particularly in hearing a large number (forty two) petitions on behalf of the community to the King and council. These ranged from confirmation of the acts against the Despensers and those in favour of Thomas of Lancaster, to the reconfirmation of the Magna Carta. There were also many ecclesiastical petitions, and those from the shires dealt mainly in annulling debts and ammercements of both individuals and towns, as well as the usual requests for the King's grace regarding perceived false judgements in local courts.[8] The commons as a body drafted the petitions they presented, and codified them in an indented enrolment ("to attest to their genuineness" compared to those they received but never presented).[63] By returning to normal parliamentary business, it was demonstrating the legitimate nature of Mortimer and Isabella's new regime, and both its continuity from that of Edward II and overturning the wrongs that he had done.[8]
Also in this parliament, the dead Earl of Lancaster's brother Henry was restored to his family titles and estates.[3] The deposed King was referred to only obliquely in official record from then on, for example, as "Edward his father, when he was king."[56] Isabella and Mortimer were careful to try and prevent the deposition from tarnishing their reputations, and they went to the trouble of not just obtaining Edward II's ex post facto agreement to his removal, but then publicising the fact that he did agree with it.[64][note 14] Their problem was that this effectively involved having to re-write a piece of history that many people were actively involved in and had taken place two weeks earlier.[65]
Later events
Edward II, meanwhile, was still imprisoned[66]—in "perpetual prison," as it was described[49]— at Kenilworth, and it seems there may have been attempts to free him, with the result that he was moved to the far more secure Berkeley Castle in early April 1327.[66] Plotting continued, and he was frequently moved to other places.[67] Having been returned back to Berkeley, Edward died there on the night of 21 September; historian Mark Ormrod has described this as "suspiciously timely." Edward's almost-certain murder removed a rival and a target for restoration for good, from Mortimer.[68]
The deposition of Edward II "exemplifies the feudal view of the tie of fealty, which really persisted for two centuries after the Conquest; namely, that if a lord persistently refuses justice to his man, the bond is broken and the man may, after openly "defying " his lord, make war upon him."[69]
Alfred O'Rahilly, 1922.
It was not long before further crisis occurred, this time caused by the central position at court of Roger Mortimer. Notwithstanding Edward's coronation, Mortimer, not him, was the country's de facto ruler.[70] No sooner than the next parliament—held at Westminster in September 1327—the King was accused of not living off his own, that his council did not advise him sufficiently, and that there was still illegality and disorder throughout the realm.[71] Mortimer himself occupied his energies in getting rich and alienating people, but after the English army was soundly beaten by the Scots at the Battle of Stanhope Park and the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton which followed it in 1328) only worsened his position.[70] Perhaps most importantly, his relationship with the new King, never close, was rapidly deteriorating; Mortimer did little, though, to rectify this situation and continued to show Edward disrespect.[72] Mortimer's position continued to decline. Michael Prestwich as described him as a "classic example of a man whose power went to his head," and that Mortimer had the greed of the Despensers and the olitical sensitivity of Gavascon.[73] Edward married Philippa of Hainault in 1328, and they had a son in June 1330.[72][74] This led Edward to remove Mortimer from government: accompanied and assisted by close companions, Edward launched a coup d'étatwhich took Mortimer by surprise at Nottingham Castle on 19 October 1330. He was hanged at Tyburn and Edward III's personal reign began.[75]
Long-term impact
The historian Chris Bryant argues that it is not clear whether these events were driven by parliament, or merely happened to occur within parliament. However, he suggests that it was significant that Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer thought it necessary to have parliamentary support. [32][76] Claire Valente has said that while "the deposition was not revolutionary and did not attack kingship itself" it was also not "necessarily illegal and outside the bounds of the 'constitution," even though "modern historians have often treated it that way." The question of parliament's involvement, she says, is fundamental, and it is a question made harder to examine by the varying nomenclature given it by contemporaries. Some described the gathering as being merely a royal council, while others called it a parliament in the King's absence, or a parliament with the Queen presiding, or one that was summoned by her only,[58] or one summoned by her and her son.[77] Dunham and Wood suggested that "political success, rather than legal process" enabled Edward's deposition.[49] Similarly, the deposition itself is able to be assigned to various parties: "that the magnates alone deposed, that the magnates and people jointly deposed, that Parliament itself deposed, even that it was the 'people' whose voice was decisive."[45] Either way, says Valente, Edward II's deposition was a "crossroads" for parliament, between it merely acting under a collective magnatial authority to actually being responsible as a corporate body of estates acting in unison.[45]
The parliament of 1327 is considered to illustrate how contemporaries—aware that deposition was an unknown and unpopular concept in the political culture of the day—began almost immediately re-casting events as an abdication instead. [27] It has been commented that "few chroniclers lamented the deposition of Edward II...but the fact of deposition itself caused immense anxiety.;[78] it was an event as yet unheard of in English history.[21][note 15]
Edward's deposition was important in later history because it "set the pattern of procedures and arguments that would be followed in subsequent depositions" of the ruling monarch.[22] The 1327 articles of accusation were drawn upon sixty years later during the series of crises between King Richard II and the Lords Appellant. When Richard refused to attend parliament in 1386, Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury visited him at Eltham Palace[79] and reminded him that—per ""the statute by which Edward [II] had been adjudged"[80]—a King who did not attend parliament was liable to deposition by his lords.[81]
Parliamentary proceedings were traditionally drawn up contemporaneously and shortly after enrolled onto the parliament roll by clerks. The Roll of 1327 is notable because "despite the highly charged political situation in January 1327, [it] contains no mention
of the process by which Edward II ceased to be king." It focusses, in fact, only on the reassembling of parliament under Edward III in February, after the deposition of his father.[8] It has been suggested that this is the reason the parliament roll for the January 1327 sitting is no longer extant: that, having been threatened with deposition himself, Richard II had the roll destroyed when he recovered personal power in 1388.[82][note 16] Richard considered Edward's deposition a "stain which he was determined to remove" from the royal family: the means he chose by which to do so was to propose Edward's canonization.[84] The deposition of Richard II by Henry Bolingbroke in 1399 drew direct parallels with that of Edward, which by 1399 was considered an "ancient custom,"[86] which had set a legal precedent, although an ill-defined one.[86] Says Valente, though, Isabella and Mortimer's regime change was "not nearly as successful" as Henry's was to be.[65]
Edward's deposition was still being used as political propaganda during the troubled later years of James I in the 1620s. The King, by then very ill, was playing an increasingly peripheral role in government, and his favourite, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham became proportionately more powerful. Henry Yelverton publicly compared Buckingham to Hugh Despenser on account of the former's penchant for enriching his friends and relatives at the expense of the King's patronage.[87] Says Curtis Perry, "contemporaries applied the story [of Edward's deposition] to the political turmoil of the 1620s in conflicting ways: some used the parallel to point towards the corrupting influence of favourites and to criticize Buckingham; others drew parallels between the verbal intemperance of Yelverton and his ilk and the unruliness of Edward's opponents."[88]
The Parliament of 1327 was the last and only parliament before the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 to summon Welsh representatives, although they did not actually sit in parliament.[32]
Cultural depictions
Christopher Marlowe was first to dramatize the life and death of Edward II, with his 1592 Edward II (also The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer). Marlowe particularly emphasises the importance of parliament in Edward's reign, from his original taking of the coronation oath (I.1.72), to his deposition (V.1.84). [89]
Notes
- ^ This had not always been the case; for most of her marriage she had been a loyal wife who had provided the King with four children. More, she was politically active in Edward's cause, having shared his hatred of the Earl of Lancaster, and "she played a crucial role in anglo-French relations."[6] This is at variance with the impression received from chroniclers writing under Isabella and Mortimer between 1327 and 1330, who tend to give "the impression that Isabella's relationship with Edward was dysfunctional from the start."[7]
- ^ Edward II's attitude was summed up by a contemporary, who reported that the King "carried a knife in his hose to kill queen Isabella, and had said that if he had no other weapon he would crush her with his teeth."[8]
- ^ Indeed, the King threatened to "ordain in such wise that Edward shall feel it all the days of his life, and that all other sons shall take example thereby of disobeying their lords and father."[14]
- ^ Hugh Despenser had a spy within the household of Roger Mortimer in Calais, who informed not only of Mortimer's eventual landing place but also alerted Despenser to Mortimer's diversionary tactics in the meantime.[18]
- ^ Either to the West Country, where the bulk of Mortimer's estates lay,[8] or to raise the Welsh Marches against Mortimer in a similar rebellion to that which had forced him into exile in 1322. The Welsh had provided the bulk of the King's army then, so "it was thus no accident" that that was where he headed Edward was once again in dire need of support and soldiers.[20]
- ^ Mortimer goes on to note that actually "the hardest line was taken by the Lancastrians, whose world had been shattered by Edward's destruction of Thomas of Lancaster. Roger, on the other hand, had been saved from his death sentence in 1322 by the King's intervention, and indeed had for many years before that been a loyal supporter of the King. Even now he was a royalist, and he wanted to encourage Prince Edward's respect, a respect which was very unlikely to be forthcoming if he were held responsible for the death of his father.[26]
- ^ On the other hand, Edward II had regularly missed periods of his own parliaments, for reasons ranging from absence in other parts of the realm {the parliament of August—October 1311) to diplomatic missions abroad (July 1313), or "important" but otherwise undescribed business (in September 1314). Some parliaments he completely missed, sometimes for stated reasons (such as that of March—April 1313, which Edward missed due to illness), but oftenwith no reason being recorded, such as the parliament of November—December 1311.[35]
- ^ It was described by Adam Orleton as a concordia; the term "articles of accusation" was first used by nineteenth-century historians George Burton Adams and H. Morse Stephens in their Select Documents of English Constitutional History,[41] where they printed the document in full.[42]
- ^ This was the first time a King had been deposed, in fact, since the Norman Conquest; even the barons who rebelled against King John in 1215 (to the extent of welcoming a French invasion against him), had never formally attempted to depose him. And the barons aligned to Simon de Montfort who revolted against his son, Henry III, seem to have never even mentioned it.[43]
- ^ Although as J. R. S. Phillips has noted, when Edward had been captured he had been attempting to escape to Ireland: If he had reached there successfully, the accusation of abandoning his realm would have fallen since, at that time, Ireland was part of the royal dominions.[44]
- ^ Perhaps, says Valente, if the proceedings saw oaths of homage and fealty being given to one king before they had been formally withdrawn from another.[52]
- ^ According to the contemporary Lanercost Chronicle, which provides the most detailed report as to the precise composition of the delegation to Edward, it had twenty-four members. The chronicle lists them as being "two bishops (Winchester and Hereford) two earls (Lancaster and Surrey), two barons (William of Ross and Hugh de Courtenay), two abbots, two priors, two justices, two Dominicans, two Carmelites, four knights (two from North of the Trent and two from South of the Trent), two citizens of London, and two citizens of the Cinque Ports."[8] The chronicler also claims that the Queen explicitly forbade at members of the Franciscans—which she personally favoured above all other religious orders in England—in order to spare them the subsequent unpleasant duty of having to bring her bad news.[54] It is also the case, though, that the Lanercost chronicler omits any mention of either Trussle (who is known to have definitely been there), or the Bishops of Ely or London.[8] Trussle, incidentally, had been a judge at the trial of Hugh Despenser the Younger in Hereford the previous November.[55]
- ^ Dunham and Wood note that the act of breaking a virge, or staff, in this context was deeply symbolic, as it was traditionally done over the grave of a dead king.[49]
- ^ The importance that Isabella and Mortimer placed on receiving Edward II's agreement to his own removal is indicated, says Valente, by the fact that in the (admittedly short) period between Edward III's coronation and his father's acquiescence, there were almost no official actions undertaken by government, and no Letters Patent or Close were issued in the new King's name.[64]
- ^ Prestwich notes that "there was no workable English precedent; chronicle tales taken from Geoffrey of Monmouth's fantasy Arthurian history may have told of kings being removed from office, but did not give any details of how to do it."[21]
- ^ The earldom of Lancaster provides another direct link between the two Kings; in 1397, there was rumoured to be major plotting against John of Gaunt, to which Richard II was said to be party. The King, allegedly, was intending to repeal the act of the 1327 parliament which restored Henry of Lancaster, which would in turn have reaffirmed the 1322 confiscation:[83] " From such a process there could be but one real loser: the house of Lancaster."[84] Gaunt held his Lancastrian titles and estates through his wife, Blanche (Earl Henry, restored 1328, was her grandfather).[85]
See also
References
- ^ Le Baker 2012, p. 11.
- ^ Powicke 1956, p. 114.
- ^ a b Given-Wilson 1994, p. 553.
- ^ Given-Wilson 1994, p. 571.
- ^ Warner 2014, p. 196.
- ^ Doherty 2013.
- ^ St John 2014, p. 24.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Given-Wilson et al. 2005.
- ^ Chrimes & Brown 1961, p. 38.
- ^ a b c d Dunham & Wood 1976, p. 739.
- ^ Peters 1970, p. 217.
- ^ a b Ormrod 2006, p. 41.
- ^ Lord 2002, p. 45 n.5.
- ^ Fryde 1979, p. 185.
- ^ Waugh 2004.
- ^ a b c Prestwich 2005, p. 215.
- ^ McKisack 1959, p. 93.
- ^ Cushway 2011, p. 13.
- ^ Cushway 2011, p. 14.
- ^ a b Chapman 2015, p. 219.
- ^ a b c Prestwich 2005, p. 216.
- ^ a b c Dunham & Wood 1976, p. 740.
- ^ Wood 1972, p. 533.
- ^ a b Fryde 1996, p. 526.
- ^ a b Bradford 2011, p. 192 n.15.
- ^ a b Mortimer 2010, p. 165.
- ^ a b Valente 1998, p. 853.
- ^ Roskell 1965, p. 5.
- ^ Clarke 1933, p. 42.
- ^ Clarke 1933, p. 43.
- ^ Bryant 2014, p. 66.
- ^ a b c Bryant 2014, p. 67.
- ^ Camden Society 1935, p. 99.
- ^ a b c Valente 1998, p. 855.
- ^ Bradford 2011, pp. 191–192.
- ^ Hartrich 2012, p. 97.
- ^ H. M. S. O. 1892, pp. 655–656.
- ^ a b Valente 1998, p. 856.
- ^ a b Valente 1998, p. 857.
- ^ Le Bel 2011, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Valente 1998, p. 856 n.6.
- ^ Adams & Stephens 1901, p. 99.
- ^ a b c Valente 1998, p. 852.
- ^ Phillips 2006, p. 232.
- ^ a b c Valente 1998, p. 869.
- ^ Harriss 1994, p. 14.
- ^ Amt & Smith 2018, pp. 305–306.
- ^ a b Valente 1998, p. 858.
- ^ a b c d Dunham & Wood 1976, p. 741.
- ^ Valente 1998, pp. 858–859.
- ^ a b c Valente 1998, p. 859.
- ^ Valente 1998, p. 859 n.6.
- ^ Starkey 2010, p. 225.
- ^ Gransden 1996, p. 14.
- ^ Holmes 1955, p. 262.
- ^ a b c d e f Valente 1998, p. 860.
- ^ Valente 1998, p. 861.
- ^ a b Valente 1998, p. 862.
- ^ Prestwich 2005, p. 220.
- ^ Mortimer 2006, p. 54.
- ^ Holmes 1957, p. 9.
- ^ Keen 1980, p. 77.
- ^ Morris 1943, p. 94.
- ^ a b Valente 1998, p. 870.
- ^ a b Valente 1998, p. 876.
- ^ a b Phillips 2011, pp. 542–543.
- ^ Phillips 2011, p. 547.
- ^ Ormrod 2011, p. 177.
- ^ O'Rahilly 1922, p. 173.
- ^ a b McKisack 1959, pp. 98–100.
- ^ Hartrich 2012, p. 89.
- ^ a b Mortimer 2006, p. 67.
- ^ Prestwich 2005, p. 221.
- ^ Mortimer 2006, p. 81.
- ^ Prestwich 2005, pp. 223–224.
- ^ Dodd 2011.
- ^ Valente 1998, p. 863 n.3.
- ^ Matthews 2010, p. 81.
- ^ Saul 1997, pp. 171–175.
- ^ Goodman 1971, pp. 13–15.
- ^ Brown 1981, p. 113.n.
- ^ Clarke 1964, p. 177 n.1.
- ^ Given-Wilson 1994, p. 560.
- ^ a b Given-Wilson 1994, p. 567.
- ^ Palmer 2007, p. 116.
- ^ a b Giancarlo 2002, p. 98.
- ^ Stewart 2004, p. 314.
- ^ Perry 2003, p. 313.
- ^ Knowles 2001, p. 108.
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