Royal Murder Read online

  Alarmed by the approaching enemy the king and Gaveston hurriedly took a vessel from Tynemouth to Scarborough, only just avoiding capture but having to abandon their treasure, baggage and Queen Isabella who was three months pregnant. Her indignation at being forced to take the uncomfortable journey for the benefit of her husband’s favourite, only to become Lancaster’s prisoner, was assuaged when the earl told her that he would not rest until the king and Gaveston were permanently separated. When news reached him that they had already parted at Scarborough, he strategically positioned his forces between Scarborough and York, Edward having probably gone to the latter with the intention of raising loyal reinforcements; yet it is one of history’s minor mysteries as to why he left his Perrot behind in Scarborough Castle at that time.

  The ill-prepared castle was soon besieged by the Earls of Pembroke and Surrey, assisted by Henry Percy, and after three weeks Gaveston was forced to seek terms with his enemies. Pembroke offered such generous conditions that when Gaveston left the castle on May 19, 1312, he must have felt secure. It had been agreed that he would be allowed to present his case to Parliament, and that his followers would retain control of the castle, and be allowed to restock it, until August — by which time if Parliament had not reached a decision he would be free to return to it. To guarantee this Percy, Surrey and Pembroke swore an oath upon the Host, the latter also pledging his “lands and tenements” to the king as an extra safeguard. He then began a leisurely journey with Gaveston south to Wallingford where he would be allowed to wait under house arrest in his own castle until he could appear before Parliament.

  By June 9 the cavalcade halted ten miles south of Banbury at the village of Deddington. Here Pembroke left his prisoner with his guards in a rectory and rode a further dozen miles to his manor at Brampton to spend the night with his wife.

  Early the following morning Gaveston was awakened by a gauntleted hand shaking his shoulder and a voice saying, “Get up, traitor, you are taken.” As he opened his eyes the prisoner saw there were armed men in the chamber, while above him stood a man in full armour.

  “I think you know me,” continued the voice from the helmet, “I am the Black Dog of Arden.” It was the Earl of Warwick. Without even being allowed to dress properly, the bare-footed prisoner was taken out and forced to walk towards Warwick. After some miles he was mounted on a mule and, with mock ceremony, escorted into the town to the cruel jeers of the townsfolk who lined the route to the great castle. Here he was locked in a dungeon, probably one of the cells where tourists now flock to see a collection of medieval torture instruments.

  Meanwhile the unfortunate Pembroke had ridden back to Deddington to continue the journey only to find his charge had been abducted. He was furious at this betrayal for he had sworn the most sacred oath possible to protect his prisoner and now both his honour and estates were at stake. He appealed to the Earl of Gloucester to help him get Gaveston back, but he had no interest in saving the favourite, nor did the members of the Oxford University and the citizens of that town to whom Pembroke subsequently appealed. He could only watch impotently from the sidelines as the drama approached its climax.

  The Earls of Lancaster, Hereford and Arundel now joined Warwick at his castle where they quickly agreed that Gaveston should be put to death. Warwick, despite earlier boasting of what he would do to him, lacked the courage to take responsibility for the act, and Thomas of Lancaster took control of the situation. Because Gaveston was still the Earl of Cornwall, and the husband of the Earl of Gloucester’s sister, it was decided that he should be allowed to die “as a nobleman and a Roman citizen” —by decapitation. On June 19 Warwick remained uneasily in his castle while Lancaster, Hereford and Arundel accompanied the prisoner a couple of miles to Blacklow Hill. Here the earls watched from a distant vantage point as a Welsh soldier transfixed Piers Gaveston with a sword while another lopped off his head which he carried swiftly to Lancaster - thus publicly emphasising the earl’s role of chief instigator of the murder.

  The conspirators rode away and it was left to four shoemakers to carry the corpse to Warwick Castle. Here the earl sent them away from the gate and they decided to take it to Oxford, but first they used their needles and twine to sew the head back in position. The body then was received by the Oxford Dominicans who embalmed it as they were unable to bury Gaveston who had died while still excommunicated.

  There was no doubt that Piers Gaveston had been treacherously murdered, for Warwick, Lancaster and Hereford were as equally bound as Pembroke by the holy oath taken at Scarborough. Later an anonymous author commented: “Gaveston was wicked, impious and criminal, and as such deserved to die, but the manner of his death was equally wicked, impious and criminal. . .And it was a death especially to be deplored because later it was the excuse for shedding of so much noble blood in the horrors of civil war.” This was written fifteen years after the event, so the author could only know of the bloodshed which immediately followed the murder. Nearly six centuries later the historian William Stubbs wrote of Gaveston’s death: “It was the first drop of blood which within a century and a half carried away nearly all the ancient baronage and a great proportion of the royal house of England.”

  * * *

  Those who broke the news of Gaveston’s murder to Edward were astounded by his reaction; instead of the expected tears and lamentations the king said, “By God, what a fool he was — he never got into the earl’s hands at my advice.” This tends to suggest there had been some disagreement. Had Gaveston stayed on at Scarborough against the wishes of his royal friend? But soon Edward’s grief was almost unendurable. His contemporary biographer wrote: “I am certain the king grieved for Piers as a father grieves for his son. For the greater the love, the greater the sorrow. In the lament of David upon Jonathan love is depicted which is said to have surpassed the love of women. Our king also spoke thus, and further he planned to avenge the death of Piers.”

  Meanwhile the murder had certainly improved the king’s position. The main cause of discontent between the king and the magnates had been removed; four earls who had broken the oaths taken by Pembroke and Surrey now found themselves in an isolated position, and perhaps best of all, the queen gave birth to the future Edward III in November to universal rejoicing. The arrival of the heir reinforced the position of the monarchy, and for a while improved relations between Edward and Isabella, especially as the king did not choose another male favourite to replace Gaveston.

  In the following spring the royal couple travelled to France to attend the coronation of Isabella’s cousin the King of Navarre, and on their return the guilty earls — following lengthy negotiations which had been assisted by an embassy from Pope Clement V — made a formal submission to the king. In return for this apology, and the restoration of Gaveston’s jewellery which had been seized by Thomas of Lancaster, Edward granted a general pardon to the earls and five hundred of their followers. The question of the Ordinances was not raised, but it was considered that they were now invalid and it seemed that Fate was favouring the king.

  The apology and pardon were exchanged in Westminster Hall on October 14, 1313, and the ceremony was followed by a feast of reconciliation at which the king actually dined with Lancaster, though perhaps the earl might have shivered if he had been aware of what was in his liege lord’s mind as the toasts were drunk.

  The next year saw the defeat of Edward’s forces by the Scots at Bannockburn where “the king fought like a lion, but he had to fly and when the royal banner was seen retreating the whole army broke up”. Edward not only lost his last hold on Scotland at the battle, but also his chief supporter the Earl of Gloucester who had been one of the first to die on the wall of Scottish pikes after Edward had rashly accused him of cowardice. Bannockburn disastrously weakened Edward’s position, and at the next Parliament at York Lancaster and his friends did not hesitate to take full advantage of the situation. Once again the king was forced to accept their demands, which meant the dismissal of his ministers and the c
ontrol of the kingdom passing back into the hands of Lancaster and the Lords Ordainers. The expenses of the royal household were cut to £10 a day, and it was purged of Edward’s supporters who were replaced by men loyal to the Lancastrian cause. Similarly the king’s ministers were replaced and Hugh Despenser the elder, who alone had stood by the king in the last crisis, was forced into retirement as was Pembroke whose outrage at the summary killing of Gaveston was not forgotten nor forgiven by Lancaster.

  It was a black and bitter time for Edward, a king without power whose enemy was tightening his fist upon the kingdom week by week. In his loneliness his thoughts must have turned to the golden days he had spent with Piers Gaveston. We are told that secretly the king had decided to leave his body with the black friars of Oxford until his murder might be avenged, but with the arrival of 1314 that possibility seemed remote, and Edward filled some of his empty days organising a splendid funeral in the church of the Dominican priory close to the manor at Langley. The service was performed by an archbishop assisted by four bishops, but most of the nobles stayed away, treating Gaveston in death as they had in life, and now they had the satisfaction that there was no danger of his returning from his banishment. No doubt as the king watched the ceremony he renewed his determination to be avenged on those who had robbed him of his friend, but what could he do? Only watch. Perhaps his attitude was similar to that of Charles II who, probably one of our wisest kings behind his “merrie” image, would merely say of his enemies, “Enough rope, enough rope.” But at the moment all the king could do for Gaveston’s memory was to provide generously for his widow and daughter.

  Certainly Lancaster was having all the rope he needed; during 1315 most of the sheriffs throughout England were replaced by his nominees, while as champion of the Ordinances he received increasing support from all classes of Englishmen. But by the next year his rope started to lose its slack and he began to realise it was one thing to seize power and quite another to retain it. As an administrator he found it difficult to make decisions; he preferred to rule at long distance from his hereditary stronghold, and he had a deep dislike of attending councils, with the result that even his friends began to be disillusioned with him. Revolts became frequent, the Scots were a constant threat in the north, and the people had to endure the added burden of bad harvests and plague. For six years England suffered from chaotic government as Lancaster refused to attend Parliament arid the king retired to his country houses, staying for long periods at Clarendon where he spent his time “surrounding the forest with ditches and doing other things not at all suited to his dignity.”

  During this troubled period Edward became more and more intimate with the son of his old supporter Sir Hugh Despenser, also named Hugh. The chronicler of Lanercost declared that this ambitious and acquisitive young man became “the King of England’s right eye and, after the death of Piers de Gaveston, his chief counsellor against the earls and barons.” And like Gaveston he was mistrusted by the earls and barons, to the extent that in 1321 Parliament forced Edward to banish him, and his father, just as the previous favourite had been banished ten years earlier. It seemed that the king was in the power of Lancaster and the Lords Ordainers as much as ever, but within a few months his destiny took a dramatic turn when a relatively trivial incident polarized the nobles into pro-Lancaster or royal factions and began a civil war.

  Queen Isabella was making a pilgrimage to Canterbury on October 13, 1321 when she was overtaken by dusk and decided to request a night’s lodging for herself at Leeds Castle near Maidstone. At that time the governor of the castle was Lord Badlesmere, who was out of favour with the king for supporting Lancaster in his campaign to have the Despensers exiled. On this evening his lordship was away and his wife, for some reason which remains a mystery, refused the gate to be opened to the queen, saying that no one could enter without her husband’s authority.

  Isabella retired to a nearby priory and ordered her guards to force their way into the castle. In the resulting fracas six of them were slain. At this insult the queen turned to her husband who was as furious as his wife over the slight. His indignation was infectious and by hiring mercenaries and raising local levies, which were reinforced by an enthusiastic force of Londoners, he soon had an effective army marching behind him into Kent. Remarkably six earls — Arundel, Pembroke, Richmond and Surrey, and the king’s half-brothers Kent and Norfolk — rallied to the royal colours at the siege, showing that the Crown was still in high regard despite Edward’s follies and vicissitudes — or that Lord Badlesmere was highly unpopular. The castle surrendered after a week when thirteen of the defenders were hanged and Lady Badlesmere was packed off to Dover Castle.

  Flushed with success, and with an enthusiastic army under his command, Edward knew that his moment was at hand. The Despensers were recalled and the campaign began. The first target was the Mortimers and other Marcher lords of the Welsh border who had mustered forces to support Lord Badlesmere and were therefore technically traitors. The Mortimers, Roger Mortimer of Chirk and his nephew Roger Mortimer of Wigmore, surrendered at Shrewsbury and were sent to the Tower of London. Edward swung south, taking castle after castle of those who had opposed him. The last to fall was Berkeley Castle near Bristol, and as the king watched the surrender he could have little thought what significance it was to have for him. Next Edward turned his attention to Lancaster who was isolated in the north with his private army. He must have been dismayed at the startling success of the king for it was discovered that he had signed a treaty with the Scots agreeing to mutual aid against their mutual enemy.

  The royal forces regrouped at Coventry and then marched towards Lancaster’s principal stronghold of Pontefract Castle. Hoping for the agreed aid from Robert the Bruce, the earl led his forces north but as they approached the narrow bridge spanning the River Ure at Boroughbridge, they found it held by an army of Cumberland and Westmoreland men loyal to the king. On March 17, 1322, Lancaster was trapped when royalists from the south caught up with him, and the Battle of Boroughbridge ended with his surrender. At Lancaster’s own castle of Pontefract King Edward waited to pronounce judgement on him. In the great hall the prisoner was brought before his royal enemy who was flanked by seven earls and a large number of barons, none of whom would speak in his defence after a list of his crimes was read out. In the past these men had supported him and the Lords Ordainers, some had been his close friends, but now they knew they must condemn him for treason — his alliance with the Scots was unpardonable.

  What must have been Edward’s feelings as he passed sentence on Lancaster, but despite his elation he snowed some mercy, ordering that Lancaster should be beheaded and thus escape more horrific forms of execution associated with treason trials. On March 22, in front of a mob who hurled snowballs at him, Lancaster had his head roughly lopped from his body on a mound close to the battlements of his castle. Other rebels, including Lord Badlesmere, were hanged and Edward’s revenge was complete.

  * * *

  We have seen that Edward’s tribulations had stemmed from his liberal devotion to an unpopular favourite, and now, with his main enemies dead and his royal authority restored, he began to repeat his folly. This time it was the Despensers, father and son, who earned the antagonism of the magnates, and the hatred of Queen Isabella. At the time the Despensers were banished in 1321 the Earl of Pembroke had written a warning to the king, “He perishes on the rocks that loves another more than himself,” which suggests that Edward’s affinity with the young Sir Hugh had grown in intensity. After his return to power Edward heaped riches — in the form of the lands and possessions of the defeated nobles — on his friend, just as he had lavished riches on Piers Gaveston, but there was a great difference between the first and second favourite. Gaveston may have been arrogant but his ambition went no further than to be the king’s cherished companion; Sir Hugh, like his father, was thirsting for power. To be fair to the Despensers no historian has found fault with their administrative ability but their virtues in this
direction were outweighed by extreme rapacity and a lack of tact which eclipsed that of Gaveston, especially in regard to Queen Isabella.

  After Gaveston’s death the relationship between Edward and his queen had greatly improved, as is shown by the fact that she bore him four children between 1312 and 1321. But the bitterness and jealousy she had felt as a bride when she became aware of her husband’s preference for Gaveston, returned in 1322 when she saw him giving his affection to Sir Hugh. From then on she was to become the remorseless enemy of the Despensers. At first there was little she could do but suffer the insults they put upon her. In 1324 it seemed as if hostilities would break out between France and England, and the Despensers persuaded Edward to sequestrate her estates because she was a Frenchwoman, her expenditure was limited to twenty shillings a day and as a crowning indignity young Despenser’s wife, Eleanor de Clare, was appointed as her “housekeeper” with the right to read all her letters.

  In the same year Sir Roger Mortimer of Wigmore escaped from the Tower of London where he had been held since his surrender with his uncle at Shrewsbury. He had been imprisoned under the sentence of death, but in some mysterious way he had aroused the sympathy of the queen and then, through the efforts of an intercessor whose name has not been recorded, King Edward commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. It is an intriguing question as to whether it was Isabella to whom he owed his life. And if so was it because he was a sworn enemy of the Despensers, or was she already in love with this handsome and tough adventurer who was the antithesis of her husband?