King Edward the Second was _born_ at Caernarvon Castle (but not, as
tradition states, in the Eagle Tower, not then built), April 25, 1284;
_crowned_ at Westminster Abbey, August 6, 1307, by the Bishop of
Winchester, acting as substitute for the Archbishop of Canterbury. The
gilt spurs were borne by William le Mareschal; "the royal sceptre on
whose summit is the cross" by the Earl of Hereford (killed in rebellion
against the King) and "the royal rod on whose summit is the dove" by
Henry of Lancaster, afterwards Earl: the Earls of Lancaster, Lincoln,
and Warwick--of whom the first was beheaded for treason, and the third
deserved to be so--bore the three swords, Curtana having the precedence:
then a large standard (or coffer) with the royal robes, was carried by
the Earl of Arundel, Thomas de Vere (son and heir of the Earl of
Oxford), Hugh Le Despenser, and Roger de Mortimer, the best friend and
the worst enemy of the hapless Sovereign: the King's Treasurer carried
"the paten of the chalice of Saint Edward," and the Lord Chancellor the
chalice itself: "then Peter de Gavaston, Earl of Cornwall, bore the
crown royal," followed by King Edward himself, who offered a golden
pound as his oblation. The coronation oath was administered in French,
in the following terms. "Sire, will you grant and keep and confirm by
oath to the people of England, the laws and customs to them granted by
the ancient Kings of England, your predecessors, the rights and
devotions [due] to God, and especially the laws, customs, and franchises
granted to the clergy and people by the glorious King, Saint Edward,
your predecessor?" "I grant and promise them," was the royal answer.
"Sire, will you preserve, towards God and holy Church, and to the clergy
and people, peace and concord in God, fully, according to your power?"
"I will keep them," said the King. "Sire, will you in all your
judgments do equal and righteous justice and discretion, in mercy and
truth, according to your power?" "I will so do." "Sire, will you
grant, to be held and kept, the righteous laws and customs which the
commonalty of your realm shall choose, and defend them, and enforce them
to the honour of God and according to your power?" King Edward's answer
was, "I grant and promise them." Twenty years later, chiefly by the
machinations of his wicked wife, aided by the blinded populace whom she
had diligently misled, Edward was _deposed_ at Kenilworth, January 20,
1327; and after being hurried from place to place, he was at last
_murdered_ in Berkeley Castle, September 21, 1327, and _buried_ in
Gloucester Cathedral on December 20th.
In the companion volume, _In All Time of our Tribulation_, will be found
the story, as told by the chroniclers, of his burial by the Abbot and
monks of Gloucester. The Wardrobe Accounts, however, are found to throw
considerable doubt upon this tale. We find from them, that the Bishop
of Llandaff, three knights, a priest, and four lesser officials, were
sent by the young King "to dwell at Gloucester with the corpse of the
said King his father," which was taken from Berkeley Castle to
Gloucester Abbey on October 21st. (_Compotus Hugonis de Glaunvill_,
Wardrobe Accounts, 1 Edward the Third, 58/4). For the funeral were
provided:--Three robes for knights, 2 shillings 8 pence each; 8 tunics
for ditto, 14 pence each; four great lions of gilt picture-work, with
shields of the King's arms over them, for wax mortars [square basins
filled with wax, a wick being in the midst], placed in four parts of the
hearse; four images of the Evangelists standing on the hearse, 66
shillings, 8 pence; eight incensing angels with gilt thuribles, and two
great leopards rampant, otherwise called volant, nobly gilt, standing
outside the hearse, 66 shillings, 8 pence... An empty tun, to carry the
said images to Gloucester, 21 shillings... Taking the great hearse from
London to Gloucester, in December, 5 days' journey; for wax, canvas,
napery, etcetera. Wages of John Darcy, appointed to superintend the
funeral, from November 22 to December 21, 19 pounds, 6 shillings, 8
pence. New hearse, 40 shillings; making thereof, from November 24 to
December 11, 32 shillings. A wooden image after the similitude of the
Lord King Edward, deceased, 40 shillings. A crown of copper, gilt, 7
shillings, 4 pence. Vestments for the body, in which he was buried, a
German coverchief, and three-quarters [here a word is illegible,
probably _linen_]; item, one pillow to put under his head, 4 shillings
[? the amount is nearly obliterated]. Gilt paint for the hearse, 1
shilling. Wages of the painter [a few words illegible] grey colour, 2
shillings, (Wardrobe Accounts, 1 Edward the Third, 33/2). The King
_married_...
Isabelle, _surnamed_ the Fair, only daughter of Philippe the Fourth,
King of France, and Jeanne Queen regnant of Navarre: _born_ 1282, 1292,
or 1295 (latest date most probable); _married_ at Boulogne, January 25,
1308. All the chroniclers assert that on Edward the Third's discovery
of his mother's real character, he imprisoned her for life in the Castle
of Rising. The evidence of the Rolls and Wardrobe Accounts disproves
this to a great extent. It was at Nottingham Castle that Mortimer was
taken, October 19, 1330. On the 18th of January following, 36 pounds 6
shillings 4 pence was paid to Thomas Lord Wake de Lydel, for the expense
of conducting Isabel Queen of England, by the King's order, from
Berkhamsted Castle to Windsor Castle, and thence to Odiham Castle.
(Issue Roll, _Michs._, 5 Edward the Third.) On the 6th of October,
1337, she dates a charter from Hertford Castle; and another from Rising
on the 1st of December following. She paid a visit to London--the only
one hitherto traced subsequent to 1330--in 1341, when, on October 27,
she was present in the hostel of the Bishop of Winchester at Southwark,
when the King appointed Robert Parving to the office of Lord Chancellor.
She dates a charter from Hertford Castle, December 1st, 1348. (Close
Rolls, 11, 15, and 22 Edward the Third.) The Household Book for the
last year of her life is in the British Museum, and it runs from
September 30th, 1357, to December 4th, 1358 (Cott. Ms., Galba, E. 14).
We find from this interesting document that she spent her final year
mainly at Hertford, but that she also made two pilgrimages to
Canterbury, visiting London on each occasion; that she was at Ledes
Castle, Chertsey, Shene, Eltham, and Windsor. The King visits her more
than once, and several of his children do the same, including the
Princess Isabel. There is no mention of any visit from the Queen, but
she corresponds with her mother-in-law, and they exchange gifts. The
most frequent guests are Joan Countess of Surrey, and the Countess of
Pembroke: there were then three ladies living who bore this title, but
as letters are sent to her at Denny--her pet convent, where she often
resided and finally died--it is evident that this was the Countess
Marie, the "fair Chatillon who (_not_ `on her bridal morn,' but at least
two years after) mourned her bleeding love." Both these ladies were of
French birth, and were very old friends of Isabelle: the Countess of
Surrey was with her when she died. Her youngest daughter, Joan Queen of
Scots--an admirable but unhappy woman, who had to forgive that mother
for being the cause of all her misery and loveless life--spent much of
this last year with Isabel. Her most frequent male guests are the Earl
of Tankerville and Marshal Daudenham, both of whom were probably her own
countrymen; and Sir John de Wynewyk, Treasurer of York: the captive King
of France visits her once, and she sends him two romances, of which one
at least was from the _Morte Arthur_. Oblations are as numerous--and
sometimes more costly--as in her earlier accounts. She gives 6
shillings 8 pence to the _head_ of the eleven thousand virgins, and 2
shillings to minstrels to play "before the image of the blessed Mary in
the crypt" of Canterbury Cathedral. Friars who preach before her are
usually rewarded with 6 shillings 8 pence. Her Easter robes are of blue
cloth, her summer ones of red mixed cloth. Two of Isabelle's ruling
passions went with her to the grave--her extravagance and her love of
making gifts. Her purchases of jewellery are vast and costly during
this year, up to the very month in which she died: two of the latest
being a gold chaplet set with precious stones, price 150 pounds (the
most expensive I ever yet saw in a royal account), and a gold crown set
with sapphires, Alexandrian rubies, and pearls, 80 pounds, expressly
stated to be for her own wearing. Two ruby rings she purchased exactly
a fortnight before her death. She was probably ill for some weeks,
since a messenger was sent in haste to Canterbury to bid Master Lawrence
the physician repair to Hertford "to see the state of the Queen," and he
remained there for a month. Medicines were brought from London.
Judging from the slight indications as to remedies employed, among which
were herbal baths, she died of some cutaneous malady. Her Inquisition
states that her _death_ took place at Hertford, August 23rd, 1358; but
the Household Book twice records that it was on the 22nd. Fourteen poor
men watched the corpse in the chapel at Hertford for three months, and
in December the coffin (the entire cost of which was 5 pounds, 9
shillings, 11 pence) was brought to London, guarded by 40 torches, and
_buried_ in the Church of the Grey Friars. It may be stated with
tolerable certainty that the Queen was not confined for life at Rising
Castle, though she passed most of her time either at Rising or Hertford;
that she never became a nun, as asserted by some modern writers, the
non-seclusion, the coloured robes, and the crown, being totally
inconsistent with this supposition; that if it be true, as is said, that
she was seized with madness while Mortimer hung on the gallows, and
passed most of her subsequent life in this state, probably with lucid
intervals--a story which various facts tend to confirm--this was quite
sufficient to account for her retirement from public life, and ordinary
restriction to a few country residences; yet that the incidents
chronicled in the Household Book seem to indicate that she was
generally, if not fully, sane at the time of her death.
_Their children_:--1. King Edward the Third, _born_ in Windsor Castle,
November 13, _baptised_ 16th, 1312; _crowned_ Westminster, February 1,
1327. The Rolls of the Great Wardrobe for 1327 contain some interesting
details respecting this ceremony. The King was attired in a tunic,
mantle, and cape of purple velvet, price 5 shillings (but this is
probably the mere cost of making), and a pair of slippers of cloth of
gold, price 6 shillings 8 pence. He was anointed in a tunic of
samitelle (a variety of samite), which cost 2 shillings, and a robe of
Rennes linen, price 18 pence. A quarter of an ell of sindon (silk) was
bought "for the King's head, to place between the head and the crown, on
account of the largeness of the crown," at a cost of 12 pence. (_Rot.
Gard._, 1 Edward the Third, 33/2). The "great hall" at Westminster was
hung with six cloths and twelve ells of cloth from Candlewick Street and
fifteen pieces of cloth were required "to put under his feet, going to
the Abbey, and thence to the King's chamber after the coronation." The
platform erected in the Abbey to sustain the throne, and the throne
itself, were hung with silk cloth of gold; five camaca cushions were
placed "under the King and his feet;" and "the King's small chair before
the altar" was also covered with cloth of gold. The royal oblation was
one cloth of gold of diapered silk. Two similar cloths were laid over
the tomb of Edward the first. The Archbishop of Canterbury's seat was
covered with ray (striped) silk cloth of gold, and that of the Abbot of
Westminster with cloth of Tars. The royal seat at the coronation feast
was draped in "golden silk of Turk," and in order to save this costly
covering from "the humidity of the walls," 24 ells of canvas were
provided. Red and grey sindon hung before the royal table; the King sat
on samitelle cushions, and two pieces of velvet "to put under the King"
also appear in the account. (_Rot. Magnae Gard., pro Coronatione et in
Palatio_, 1 Edward the Third, 33/5.) King Edward _died_ at Shene, June
21, 1377, and was _buried_ in Westminster Abbey. He _married_--
Philippine (called in England Philippa), daughter of William the Third,
Count of Hainault and Holland, and Jeanne of France; _born_ 1312 or a
little later; _married_ at York, January 24, 1328; crowned in
Westminster Abbey, February 20, 1328. The Wardrobe Accounts tell us
that the Queen rode from the Tower to Westminster, the day before her
coronation (as was usual) in a dress of green velvet, a cape of the
_best_ cloth of gold diapered in red, trimmed with miniver, and a
miniver hood. She dined in a tunic and mantle of red and grey
samitelle, and was crowned in a robe of cloth of gold, diapered in
green. She changed to a fourth robe for supper, but its materials are
not on record. (Wardrobe Accounts, 4-5 Edward the Third, 34/13.) Red
and green appear to have been her favourite colours, judging from the
number of her dresses of these hues compared with others. On the
occasion of her churching in 1332 (after the birth of her daughter
Isabel) she wore a robe of red and purple velvet wrought with pearls,
the royal infant being attired in Lucca silk and miniver, and the Black
Prince (aged about 2 and a half years) in a golden costume striped with
mulberry colour. Some of these items appear rather warm wear for July.
(Wardrobe Accounts, Cott. Ms. Galba, E. 3, folio 14 _et seq_). The
Queen _died_ of dropsy, at Windsor Castle, August 15, 1369; _buried_ in
Westminster Abbey.
2. John, _born_ at Eltham, August 15, 1316; created Earl of Cornwall;
_died_ at Perth, _unmarried_, September 14, 1336; _buried_ in
Westminster Abbey.
3. Alianora, _born_ at Woodstock, 1318; _married_ at Novum Magnum,
1332, Raynald the Second, Duke of Gueldres; _died_ at Deventer, April
22, 1355; _buried_ at Deventer.
4. Joan, _surnamed_ Makepeace, _born_ in the Tower of London, (before
August 16,) 1321; _married_ at Berwick, July 17, 1328, David the Second,
King of Scotland; _died_ at Hertford Castle, September 7, 1362 (not
1358, as sometimes stated); _buried_ in Grey Friars' Church, London.