BELL'S ENGLISH HISTORY SOURCE BOOKS
_General Editors_: S.E. WINBOLT, M.A., AND KENNETH BELL, M.A.
WAR AND MISRULE
BELL'S ENGLISH HISTORY SOURCE BOOKS.
_Volumes now Ready. 2s. net each._
449-1066. THE WELDING OF THE RACE. Edited by the REV. JOHN
WALLIS, M.A.
1066-1154. THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND. Second Edition. Edited by
A.E. BLAND, M.A.
1154-1216. THE ANGEVINS AND THE CHARTER. Second Edition. Edited
by S.M. TOYNE, M.A.
1216-1307. THE GROWTH OF PARLIAMENT, AND THE WAR WITH SCOTLAND.
Edited by W.D. ROBIESON, M.A.
1307-1399. WAR AND MISRULE. Edited by A.A. LOCKE.
1399-1485. YORK AND LANCASTER. Second Edition. Edited by W.
GARMON JONES, M.A.
1485-1547. THE REFORMATION AND THE RENAISSANCE. Second Edition.
Edited by F.W. BEWSHER, B.A.
1547-1603. THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. Third Edition. Edited by
ARUNDELL ESDAILE, M.A.
1603-1660. PURITANISM AND LIBERTY. Third Edition. Edited by
KENNETH BELL, M.A.
1660-1714. A CONSTITUTION IN MAKING. Third Edition. Edited by
G.B. PERRETT, M.A.
1714-1760. WALPOLE AND CHATHAM. Second Edition. Edited by K.A.
ESDAILE.
1760-1801. AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
Second Edition. Edited by S.E. WINBOLT, M.A.
1801-1815. ENGLAND AND NAPOLEON. Second Edition. Edited by S.E.
WINBOLT, M.A.
1815-1837. PEACE AND REFORM. Second Edition. Edited by A.C.W.
EDWARDS, M.A., Christ's Hospital.
1837-1856. COMMERCIAL POLITICS. By R.H. GRETTON.
1856-1876. FROM PALMERSTON TO DISRAELI. Second Edition. Edited
by EWING HARDING, B.A.
1876-1887. IMPERIALISM AND MR. GLADSTONE. Edited by R.H.
GRETTON.
1535-1913. CANADA. Edited by JAMES MUNRO, Lecturer at Edinburgh
University.
* * * * *
A SOURCE BOOK OF LONDON HISTORY. By P. MEADOWS, M.A.
LONDON: G. BELL AND SONS, LTD.
WAR AND MISRULE
(1307-1399)
SELECTED BY
A. AUDREY LOCKE
OXFORD HONOURS SCHOOL OF MODERN HISTORY
[Illustration]
LONDON
G. BELL AND SONS, LTD.
1920
INTRODUCTION
This series of English History Source Books is intended for use with
any ordinary textbook of English History. Experience has conclusively
shown that such apparatus is a valuable--nay, an indispensable--adjunct
to the history lesson. It is capable of two main uses: either by
way of lively illustration at the close of a lesson, or by way of
inference-drawing, before the textbook is read, at the beginning of
the lesson. The kind of problems and exercises that may be based on
the documents are legion, and are admirably illustrated in a _History
of England for Schools_, Part I., by Keatinge and Frazer, pp. 377-381.
However, we have no wish to prescribe for the teacher the manner in
which he shall exercise his craft, but simply to provide him and his
pupils with materials hitherto not readily accessible for school
purposes. The very moderate price of the books in this series should
bring them within the reach of every secondary school. Source books
enable the pupil to take a more active part than hitherto in the
history lesson. Here is the apparatus, the raw material: its use we
leave to teacher and taught.
Our belief is that the books may profitably be used by all grades
of historical students between the standards of fourth-form boys
in secondary schools and undergraduates at Universities. What
differentiates students at one extreme from those at the other is not
so much the kind of subject-matter dealt with, as the amount they can
read into or extract from it.
In regard to choice of subject-matter, while trying to satisfy the
natural demand for certain "stock" documents of vital importance, we
hope to introduce much fresh and novel matter. It is our intention
that the majority of the extracts should be lively in style--that is,
personal, or descriptive, or rhetorical, or even strongly partisan--and
should not so much profess to give the truth as supply data for
inference. We aim at the greatest possible variety, and lay under
contribution letters, biographies, ballads and poems, diaries, debates,
and newspaper accounts. Economics, London, municipal, and social life
generally, and local history, are represented in these pages.
The order of the extracts is strictly chronological, each being
numbered, titled, and dated, and its authority given. The text is
modernised, where necessary, to the extent of leaving no difficulties
in reading.
We shall be most grateful to teachers and students who may send us
suggestions for improvement.
S.E. WINBOLT.
KENNETH BELL.
NOTE TO THIS VOLUME
I have to thank Sir E. Maunde Thompson and the Council of the Royal
Society of Literature for permission to quote from Sir E. Maunde
Thompson's translation of Adam of Usk's Chronicle. The sources used in
this book are for the most part contemporary.
A.A.L.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION V
DATE
1310. BILL OF ARTICLES PRESENTED TO EDWARD II. 1
1311. THE SUCCESSES OF KING ROBERT BRUCE 2
1312. PETER GAVESTON AND THE FRIARS PREACHERS 3
1313. AN UNWORTHY KING 4
1313. CORRUPTION IN THE PAPAL COURT 5
1314. THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN 6
1314. VAGABOND FRIARS 7
1319. CHARGES AGAINST THE DESPENSERS 9
1322. POPULAR FEELING ABOUT THE EARL OF LANCASTER'S DEATH 10
1322. THE REVOCATION OF THE ORDINANCES 11
1327. THE MURDER OF THE KING 12
1327. CHARACTER OF EDWARD II. 14
1327. ACCESSION OF EDWARD III. 15
1327. THE MANNER OF THE SCOTS 15
1328. THE RULE OF ISABELLA 16
1330. WHY MORTIMER WAS CONDEMNED UNHEARD 18
1332. THE WAR OF THE DISINHERITED 19
1334. FOR THE SAFE-KEEPING OF THE CITY OF LONDON 20
1339. FIRST INVASION OF FRANCE: THE CAMPAIGN OF 1339 21
1340. BEFORE SLUYS 24
1340. THE BATTLE OF SLUYS 25
1340. THE KING OF FRANCE IGNORES THE KING OF ENGLAND'S
CHALLENGE 26
1340-1341. ARCHBISHOP STRATFORD INCURS THE KING'S DISPLEASURE 29
1340-1341. THE "LIBELLUS FAMOSUS" 30
1341. TRIAL BY PEERS 33
1346. THE BATTLE OF CRECY 34
1346. DAVID BRUCE INVADES ENGLAND 36
1346. A FIGHTING PRIOR 38
1347. THE SURRENDER OF CALAIS 40
1349. PENITENTS AND JEWS 42
1350. A STATUTE OF LABOURERS 43
1350. PROSPERITY OF THE LANDLESS LABOURER 46
1350. FIRST STATUTE OF PROVISORS 47
1355. THE KING OF ENGLAND REFUSES THE FRENCH KING'S
CHALLENGE 48
1355-1356. THE BALLIOLS RESIGN TO THE KING OF ENGLAND 48
1356. THE BATTLE OF POITIERS 50
1359. THE TREATY OF LONDON 52
1360. THE SIEGE OF PARIS AND THE TREATY OF CALAIS 53
1361. THE FATEFUL FOOTPRINTS OF THE ENGLISH 55
1362. NO SUBSIDY ON WOOL WITHOUT ASSENT OF PARLIAMENT 56
1363. REGULATION OF WEARING APPAREL BY STATUTE 56
1367. THE HAUGHTINESS OF THE ENGLISH 59
1376. "TIME-HONOURED LANCASTER" 60
1376. LAMENT FOR THE BLACK PRINCE 63
1376-1377. RENEWAL OF THE WAR 64
1377. JOHN OF GAUNT ATTACKS WILLIAM OF WYKEHAM 66
1377. MASTER JOHN WICLIF 67
1377. A TORCHLIGHT PROCESSION 68
1377. THE KING OF FRANCE EQUIPS A FLEET 69
1377. CHARACTER OF EDWARD III. 70
1381. THE PEASANTS' REVOLT 71
1381. WONDROUS AND UNHEARD-OF PRODIGIES 73
1382. HERETICAL AND ERRONEOUS CONCLUSIONS OF WICLIF 75
1382. THE FOLLOWERS OF THIS MASTER JOHN 77
1384. THE PARLIAMENT OF 1384 78
1385. THE PLOT AGAINST LANCASTER 81
1385. THE FRENCH IN SCOTLAND 84
1385. THE DEATH OF WICLIF 85
1386. CHARLES VI.'S FRUSTRATED INVASION OF ENGLAND 86
1386. THE STATE OF ENGLAND 91
1386. THE WONDERFUL PARLIAMENT 92
1387. RICHARD APPEALS TO THE JUDGES 93
1387. DEFEAT OF THE KING'S FRIENDS 94
1388. THE MERCILESS PARLIAMENT 95
1394. ON THE TRUCE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE 95
1397. SUPPOSED PLOTS 98
1397. RICHARD'S REVENGE 99
1397. THE "APPEAL" OF THE APPELLANTS 101
1399. THE STATE OF IRELAND 103
1399. THE BETRAYAL OF THE KING 104
1399. ABDICATION AND DEATH 108
1399. CHARACTER OF RICHARD II. 110
1399. RICHARD THE REDELESS 111
1399. ISABELLA OF FRANCE RETURNS TO HER OWN COUNTRY 115
APPENDIX: EDUCATION IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY:
A NORMAL SCHOOLBOY 117
BEGGAR'S BRATS ARE BOOK-LEARNED 119
CAUSES OF THE IMPAIRING OF OUR LANGUAGE 120
WAR AND MISRULE
(1307-1399)
BILL OF ARTICLES PRESENTED TO EDWARD II.
BY THE BARONS IN THE PARLIAMENT OF 1310.
SOURCE.--_Annales Londonienses in Chronicles of the Reigns of
Edward I. and Edward II._ (Rolls Series), ed. Stubbs, i. 169.
To our lord the King showing the great perils and damages which from
day to day will appear, unless there is some hasty redress, both
destruction of the freedom of holy Church and the disinheritance and
dishonour of yourself and your royal power, and the disinheritance
of your crown and the damage of all the people of your kingdom both
rich and poor: from which perils neither you nor the good men of your
kingdom may escape unless some immediate remedy be ordained by the
advice of the prelates, earls and barons and the most wise of your
realm:--
To begin with, while you are ruler of this land and sworn to maintain
peace in your land, you are led by unworthy and bad council and are
held in great slander in all lands; and so poor are you and so devoid
of all manner of treasure that you have nothing wherewith either to
defend your land or keep up your household, except by extortions, which
your officers make from the goods of holy Church and your poor people,
without paying anything, against the form of the great charter; which
charter they pray may be held and maintained in all its force.
Further, Sire, whereas our lord the King your father, whom God assoil,
left you all your lands entire, England, Ireland and all Scotland, in
good peace, you have lost Scotland and grievously dismembered your
crown in England and Ireland etc. without the assent of your baronage
and without pretext.
Again, Sire, showing you that whereas the commonalty of your realm give
you the 20th penny from their goods in aid of your Scotch war and the
24th penny, in order to be freed of prises and other grievances; the
which pennies are all levied and foolishly spent and wasted by unworthy
counsel, and your wars do not advance, nor are your poor people freed
from prises and other grievances, but they are more oppressed from day
to day, than before. For which cause, Sire, your said good people pray
you humbly, for the salvation of yourself and of them and of the crown,
which they are bound to maintain, by virtue of their allegiance, that
you will consent to this, that these and other perils may be wiped out
and redressed by ordinances of your baronage.
[This bill was followed by the appointment of the Lords Ordainers.]
THE SUCCESSES OF KING ROBERT BRUCE (1311).
SOURCE.--_The Book of Pluscarden in Historians of Scotland_, x.
182.
In the year 1311, after having routed and vanquished all his foes
everywhere he went, and, for the most part, taken and levelled to the
ground the castles and forts which offered him resistance, King Robert
Bruce twice invaded and ravaged England, making great havoc with fire
and sword, and bringing untold plunder back to Scotland. And thus, by
the power of God, that faithless English nation, which had again and
again unjustly tortured many a man, was now by God's righteous judgment
made to undergo scourgings; and whereas it had once been victorious
over other kingdoms, it now sank vanquished and groaning and became
a gazing stock to others. The following year, in 1312, the then very
strong walled town of Perth was taken, and all in it were put to the
sword, some drawn, some beheaded, some slain in the fight, and the
rest hanged on the gallows. But the King was moved to compassion for
the guiltless rabble, and forgave them and received their submission.
And thus:
"Did England drink the gall itself had brewed."
* * * * *
And the same year Edward, called of Windsor, the eldest son of the King
of England, was born at Windsor, of the daughter of Philip, King of
France; and he was the source of many wars. Through this Edward, that
most cruel and most heinous war with France broke out.
PETER GAVESTON AND THE FRIARS PREACHERS
(1312).
SOURCE.--Adam Murimuth, _Continuatio Chronicarum_ (Rolls
Series), 17-18.
This year, about the feast of St. John the Baptist [June 24], the King
desired Peter Gaveston for his safety's sake to be brought to him
by Adomar de Valence, Earl of Pembroke. When they were at Danyntone
(Deddington), near Banbury, the said Earl left him in the night and
went on to another place, for no apparent reason. And on the morrow
at dawn came Guy, Earl of Warwick, with a small, noisy following, and
surprised the said Peter, and carried him off with him to his Castle of
Warwick. There, having held counsel with the chief men of the kingdom,
especially with Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, he finally dismissed him
from prison to go where he would. And when he had gone out of the town
of Warwick and had come to a place called, as though prophetically,
Gaveressich (Gaversike), he found there many men raising hue and cry
after him with voices and horns, as they would after one of the enemies
of the King and kingdom lawfully outlawed or exiled; and finally they
beheaded him, as though he were one of these, on the 19th day of June.
And one of the Friars Preachers carried away Gaveston's head in his
hood (and brought it to the King). Afterwards the friars of the same
order found the body[1] and kept it at Oxford with solemn vigils for
a year and more. But finally it was buried at Langley, where the King
founded a religious house of Friars Preachers for the salvation of his
own soul; and there establishing a large number of student friars, he
provided for their sufficient sustenance from his treasury in London.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] According to the _Annales Londonienses_ in _Chronicles of the
Reigns of Edward I. and Edward II._ (Rolls Series), i. 207, the body
was carried to Warwick by four shoemakers, but the Earl of Warwick sent
it back to the place where the beheading had taken place, outside his
fief, and "the Jacobin Friars carried the body to Oxford, and guarded
it with much honour; wherefore they were held in great odium by the
aforesaid earl."
AN UNWORTHY KING (1313).
SOURCE.--_Vita Edwardi II._ [possibly by a monk of Malmesbury]
in _Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward II. and Edward III._ (Rolls
Series), ii. 191-192.
Behold now our King Edward had reigned six whole years, nor had he
accomplished anything praiseworthy or fit to be remembered; except
that he married royally and raised for himself a fine heir to his
kingdom.... Oh! would that our King Edward had borne himself well
at the beginning of his reign, and had not followed the counsel of
pernicious men, he should in truth have been more renowned than any of
his ancestors. Then God had enriched him with the gifts of all virtues
and had made him equal to, nay, more excellent than, other Kings. For
if anyone had wished to describe those things which ennobled our King,
they could not have found his peer in the land. His ancestral fathers
handed him down his generosity; those fathers whose successions now
extend themselves to the tenth degree. He had riches, the most in his
kingdom; an opulent country, and the favour of the people.
He was kinsman to the King of France; near relative to the King of
Spain. If he had adhered to the counsel of his barons he would have
humiliated the Scots with no loss. Oh! if he had employed himself in
the pursuit of arms, and excelled the valour of King Richard [I.].
Indeed, his make-up was fitted to this; he was tall of stature and a
finely formed man of great strength, with a handsome face. But why
delay to describe him? If he had given as much energy to the pursuit
of arms as he spent in rustic pursuits, England would have prospered
well; his name would have resounded throughout the land. O what things
were hoped of him as Prince of Wales! All hope vanished when he became
King of England. Peter of Gaveston ruled the King in an unseemly way,
disturbed the land, consumed the treasure, submitted three times to
exile, and, afterwards returning, lost his head. But still some of
Peter's companions and his own family remain in the King's court, and
they disturb the peace of the whole country, and urge on the King to
seek vengeance. Give peace, O Lord, in our days, and make the King of
one mind with his barons.
CORRUPTION IN THE PAPAL COURT (1313).
SOURCE.--_Vita Edwardi II._ in _Chronicles of the Reigns of
Edward I. and Edward II._ (Rolls Series), ii. 197-199.
Money does everything in the [Papal] Court. If perchance you do not
know this, turn to the custom and ways of the Roman Court. It loves
causes, suits, quarrels, because they cannot be carried on without
money; and a cause, which once enters the court, proves to be almost
unending; ... Anyone ought to be satisfied with one Church, as is
ordained in the Section _De multa_;[2] nevertheless, high persons are
made exceptions, and receive dispensation indiscriminately so long as
they give sufficient money. This marvellous vanity, and the detestable
cupidity of the Court, has aroused scandal against it throughout the
whole world....
This is the eighth year and more that Pope Clement V. has ruled the
whole Church, but whatever he did to benefit mankind escaped the
memory. At Vienna he gathered a council, and settled the Templars;
conceded indulgences for the Holy Land, and collected an immense amount
of money, but in no way benefited the Holy Land. He conceded tithes to
Kings, and despoiled the churches of the poor. Far better were it for
the rectors if there were no Pope, than to be daily subject to such
exactions. But whether or no this is possible is not for me to discuss,
because it is equivalent to sacrilege to question the power of that
Prince. Among all other provinces of the world England feels most the
oppressive Lord Pope; for out of the fulness of power he takes much on
himself, and neither the Prince nor the people gainsay him; he reserves
all rich rents to himself, and immediately excommunicates those who
rebel; the legates come and despoil the land, others come bearing
bulls and sell up the prebends. Every deanery is held by a foreigner,
whereas the law orders natives to be preferred. Residence of deans is
now abolished, and the number of canons is greatly decreased.... Lord
Jesus, either take away the Pope from our midst, or lessen the power
which he assumes over the people.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] Decr. Greg. IX., lib. iii., p. 5, c. 28.
THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN (JUNE 24, 1314).
SOURCE.--Fabyan's _Chronicle_ (ed. Ellis, 1811), 420.
In this vii year, for to oppress the malice of the Scots, the King
assembled a great power, and by water entered the realm of Scotland
and destroyed such villages and towns as lay or stood in his way.
Whereof hearing, Robert le Bruce, with the power of Scotland, coasted
towards the Englishmen, and upon the day of the Nativity of Saint
John the Baptist, met with King Edward and his host at a place called
Estryvelyn, near unto a fresh river, that then was called Bannockburn,
where between the English and the Scotch that day was fought a cruel
battle; but in the end the Englishmen were constrained to forsake the
field. Then the Scots chased so eagerly that many of them were drowned
in the fore-named river, and many a nobleman of England that day was
slain in that battle, as Sir Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester,
Sir Robert Clifford, Sir Edmund of Morley, the King's steward, with
other lords and barons to the number as witnesseth Guy de Columpna of
xlii, and of knights and baronets to the number of lxvii, over xxii
men of name, which that day by the Scots were taken prisoners, and the
King himself from that battle escaped with great danger, and so, with
a few of his host that with him escaped, came unto Berwick, and there
rested him a season. Then the Scots inflamed with pride, in derision of
Englishmen, made this rhyme as followeth:
"Maidens of England, sore may you mourn
For your lemans you have lost at Bannockbourn,
With a heave and a ho!
What weeneth the King of England
So soon to have won Scotland,
With a rumbelow!"[3]
This song was after many days sung in dances, in carols of the maidens
and minstrels of Scotland, to the reproof and disdain of Englishmen,
with divers others which I pass over.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] Christopher Marlowe introduced this ballad into his drama of
_Edward the Second_ (written about 1590), in Act II., Scene 2:
_Lancaster._ And thereof came it, that the fleering Scots, To England's
high disgrace, have made this jig:
_Maids of England, etc._
VAGABOND FRIARS (1314).
SOURCE.--H.T. Riley, _Memorials of London_ (London, 1868),
111-113.
Edward by the grace of God, King of England, etc., to the Mayor and
Sheriffs of London greeting. Whereas from trustworthy relation we have
heard that certain Friars of the Order of Preachers, who have made
profession in that Order, despising such their profession and throwing
away the religious garb, are wandering and running to and fro, arrayed
in secular habit, in the city aforesaid; and that certain others, still
wearing the garb aforesaid, but deserting their due obedience, are
dwelling in the same city without the close of the same Friars, and
do not fear to take part in various matters that are not beseeming to
them to the peril of their souls, the scandal of the said Order, and
the injury of ecclesiastical propriety--we, for the especial affection
which for the same Order we do entertain, and have long entertained,
wishing to restrain the malevolence of such insolent persons, and to
provide for the repose and honour of the Friars of the said Order, so
far as in good manner we may, do command you, that all vagabond Friars
of the said Order found within the city aforesaid, so often as and when
in future you shall be requested by the Prior of the same Order in the
city aforesaid, or other the Friars by him thereunto deputed, you will
cause to be arrested without delay, and to the house of the same Friars
securely to be conducted, unto the brethren of the same house there to
be delivered, by them, according to the discipline of their Order, to
be chastised. And forasmuch as we have understood that the apostates
aforesaid, contriving to the utmost of their power how to palliate the
heinousness of their errors, and by false suggestions to vilify the
Order aforesaid, have published defamatory writings, and have caused
the same in public places within the city aforesaid to be read and
recited, and have left copies of the same in those places fixed upon
the walls, that so they might the more widely defame the same Order,
and withhold the devotion of the faithful from the same; and still from
day to day do not desist to do the like, and even worse, against the
same Order; as, also, that many men are assisting the same apostates
in the premises giving them aid and favour therein--we do command you,
strongly enjoining, that on our behalf you will cause in the city
aforesaid strict prohibition to be made that any person shall, on pain
of heavy forfeiture to us, write any such manner of writings containing
defamation of the said Order, or publish the same, or give aid to those
writing or publishing the same, either secretly or openly; or shall
presume to inflict loss, injury, or grievance upon the Friars of the
said Order whom we have taken under our own especial protection and
defence. And if you shall find any persons transgressors of such our
prohibition, you are to cause them in such manner to be punished, that
through their example others may be duly restrained from the commission
of such offences. Witness myself at York this 18th day of September in
the 8th year of our reign.
CHARGES AGAINST THE DESPENSERS (1319).
SOURCE.--_Holinshed's Chronicle_, iii. 327.
Articles wherewith the barons charged the Despensers:
1. Amongst other things it was alleged; first that Hugh Spenser the
son, being on a time angry and displeased with the King, sought to ally
and confederate himself with the lord Gifford of Brimsfield, and the
lord Richard Gray, to have constrained and forced the King by strong
hand to have followed his will and pleasure.
2. Secondly, it was alleged, that the said Spensers as well the father
as the son, had caused the King to ride into Gloucestershire, to
oppress and destroy the good people of his land, contrary to the form
of the great charter.
3. Thirdly, that where the Earl of Hereford and the lord Mortimer of
Wigmore, had gone against one Llewelyn Bren, who had raised a rebellion
against the King in Glamorganshire, while the lands of the Earl of
Gloucester were in the King's hands, the same Llewelyn yielded himselfe
to the said earl, and to the Lord Mortimer, who brought him to the
King, upon promise that he should have the King's pardon, and so the
King received him. But after that the said Earl and lord Mortimer were
out of the land, the Spensers taking to them royal power, took the
said Llewelyn and led him into Cardiff, where after that the said Hugh
Spenser the son had his purparty[4] of the said Earl of Gloucester's
lands, he caused the said Llewelyn to be drawn, headed and quartered,
to the discredit of the King, and of the said Earl of Hereford and Lord
Mortimer, yea and contrary to the laws and dignity of the imperial
crown.
4. Fourthly, the said Spensers counselled the King to forejudge Sir
Hugh Audley, son to the lord Hugh Audley, and to take into his hands
his castles and possessions. They compassed also to have attainted the
lord Roger D'Amorie, that thereby they might have enjoyed the whole
earldom of Gloucester.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] = Share, part.
POPULAR FEELING ABOUT THE EARL OF LANCASTER'S DEATH (1322).
SOURCE.--Henry Knighton's _Chronicle_ (Rolls Series), 426-427.
The Earl therefore having died for the sake of Justice, Church, and
State, as it seemed to the people, crowds hurried from all parts with
gifts of offerings in order to show honour and reverence to the body of
the Earl according to his desert, and they ceased not until the King,
aroused by the Despensers, sent armed men to prevent them from entering
into the church, and ordered, under pain of imprisonment, that no one
should go into the church to offer honour or reverence to the body. And
when the people saw that they were prevented from entering the church
by the royal power, they turned the seat of their devotion to the place
where the Earl had died, and were rushing thither in greater numbers
(for which cause the more intense severity of the King was directed
against the pilgrims), until the soil of all the field was moved away,
and a church was built there with chaplains serving God and by no means
poorly endowed.... It is to be remarked that all those who consented to
the death of the Earl afterwards finished by a shameful death. First of
all the King himself; his two brothers, namely Thomas Earl Marshall and
Edmund Earl of Kent, both of whom had been raised and promoted at the
instance of the said Earl of Lancaster; the Earl Warrenne; the Earl of
Arundell; Lord Hugh Despenser the father, and Lord Hugh the son; the
Earl of Richmond; the Earl of Pembroke; Lord Aylmer de Valence; but
among them there was not one who ended life honourably, neither them
nor any of their adherents.
THE REVOCATION OF THE ORDINANCES (1322).
SOURCE.--_Statutes at Large_ (ed. 1762), i. 372.
Since our lord the King Edward, son of King Edward, the 16th day of
March in the third year of his reign, to the honour of God and for
the good of himself and his realm granted to the prelates, earls and
barons of his realm that they should choose certain persons from among
the prelates, earls and barons and other loyal men whom it should seem
meet to call to them, in order to ordain and establish the estate of
the household of our lord the King and of his realm according to right
and reason and in such manner that their ordinances should be made to
the honour of God and to the honour and benefit of holy church and
to the honour of the said King and his benefit and to the benefit of
his people according to right and reason and the oath which our said
lord the King made at his Coronation, and the Archbishop of Canterbury
Primate of all England and the prelates, earls and barons chosen for
that purpose made such ordinances which began: "Edward by the grace
of God, etc." ... which ordinances our said lord the King caused to
be rehearsed and examined at his Parliament at York, three weeks from
Easter in the 15th year of his reign, by the prelates, earls and barons
among whom were most of the said ordainers who were then alive, and by
the commons of the realm summoned thither by his command. And because
it was found by this examination in the said Parliament, that by those
things which had been ordained, the true power of our said lord the
King was restrained in many ways contrary to the due embellishment
of his true lordship and injurious to the estate of the crown; and
moreover that in times past by such ordinances and purveyances made by
subjects over the true power of the ancestors of our lord the King,
troubles and wars had arisen in the realm by which the land had been
emperilled; it was agreed and established in the said Parliament by our
lord the King and by the said prelates, earls and barons and all the
commonalty of the realm, in this Parliament assembled, that everything
ordained by the said ordainers and contained in the said Ordinances for
future should cease and lose for ever all force, virtue and effect,
the statutes and establishments duly made by our lord the King and his
ancestors before the said ordinances obtaining in their force, and that
henceforth, at all time, any manner of ordinances or purveyances made
by the subjects of our lord the King or his heirs, by whatever power or
commission this may be done, over the true power of our lord the King
or his heirs or against the estate of our lord the King or of his heirs
or contrary to the estate of the Crown, shall be null and of no manner
of value or force. But the matters which are to be established for the
estate of our lord the King and his heirs and for the estate of the
realm and of the people shall be treated, accorded and established in
Parliaments by our lord the King, and by the consent of the prelates,
earls and barons and the commonalty of the realm, according as it hath
been heretofore accustomed.
THE MURDER OF THE KING (1327).
SOURCE.--Christopher Marlowe's _Edward the Second_ (1592).
ACT V., SCENE 5.
SCENE: _In Berkeley Castle_.
(MATREVIS and GURNEY having received the BISHOP OF HEREFORD'S
well-known cryptic message, through the hands of LIGHTBORN, a creation
of MARLOWE'S own mind, the KING is called up from the dungeon.)
KING EDWARD. And there in mire and puddle, have I stood
This ten days' space; and lest that I should sleep,
One plays continually upon a drum;
They give me bread and water, being a King;
So that for want of sleep and sustenance
My mind's distempered and my body's numbed,
And whether I have limbs or no I know not.
O, would my blood dropp'd out from every vein,
As doth this water from my tattered robes!
Tell Isabel, the Queen, I look'd not thus,
When for her sake I ran at tilt in France,
And there unhors'd the Duke of Cleremont.
LIGHTBORN. O, speak no more, my lord! this breaks my heart.
Lie on this bed, and rest yourself awhile.
K. EDW. These looks of thine can harbour nought but death;
I see my tragedy written in thy brows.
Yet stay a while; forbear thy bloody hand,
And let me see the stroke before it comes,
That even then when I shall lose my life
My mind may be more steadfast on my God.
LIGHT. What means your highness to mistrust me thus?
K. EDW. What mean'st thou to dissemble with me thus?
LIGHT. These hands were never stained with innocent blood,
Nor shall they now be tainted with a King's.
K. EDW. Forgive my thought for having such a thought.
One jewel have I left; receive thou this: (_Giving jewel._)
Still fear I, and I know not what's the cause,
But every joint shakes as I give it thee.
O, if thou harbour'st murder in thy heart,
Let this gift change thy mind, and save thy soul!
Know that I am a King: O, at that name
I feel a hell of grief! Where is my crown?
Gone, gone! and do I remain alive?
LIGHT. You're overwatch'd, my lord; lie down and rest.
K. EDW. But that grief keeps one waking, I should sleep;
For not ten days have these eye-lids clos'd.
Now, as I speak, they fall; and yet with fear
Open again. O wherefore sitt'st thou here?
LIGHT. If thou mistrust me, I'll be gone, my lord.
K. EDW. No, no; for if thou mean'st to murder me,
Thou wilt return again; and therefore stay. (_Sleeps._)
LIGHT. He sleeps.
K. EDW. (_waking_) O!
Let me die; yet stay, O stay a while!
LIGHT. How now, my lord?
K. EDW. Something still buzzeth in mine ears,
And tells me, if I sleep, I never wake;
This fear is that which makes me tremble thus;
And therefore tell me, wherefore art thou come?
LIGHT. To rid thee of thy life.--Matrevis, come.
_Enter_ MATREVIS _and_ GURNEY.
K. EDW. I am too weak and feeble to resist.--
Assist me, sweet God, and receive my soul!
LIGHT. Run for the table.
K. EDW. O, spare me, or despatch me in a trice.
(MATREVIS _brings in a table_. KING EDWARD _is
murdered by holding him down on the bed with the
table_.)
LIGHT. So, lay the table down, and stamp on it,
But not too hard, lest that you bruise his body.
MAT. I fear that this cry will raise the town,
And therefore let us take horse and away.
LIGHT. Tell me, sirs, was it not bravely done?
GUR. Excellent well; take this for thy reward.
(_Stabs_ LIGHTBORN, _who dies_.)
Come, let us cast the body in the moat,
And bear the King's away to Mortimer, our lord:
Away. [_Exeunt with bodies._
CHARACTER OF EDWARD II.
SOURCE.--_Gesta Edwardi de Carnarvon in Chronicles of the
Reigns of Edward II. and Edward III._ (Rolls Series), ii. 91.
King Edward ... was indeed fine in body and distinguished among men,
but, as it is commonly said, very different in his manners. For, caring
little for the company of princes, he made friends with singers,
actors, grooms, sailors, and with others of this kind, artists and
mechanics, believing more in the counsel of others than in his own;
prodigal in giving, bounteous and splendid in entertainments, quick
to anger, unreliable as to his word, dilatory against foreign enemies,
easily enraged against his servants, and ardently attached to some
one familiar friend whom he would cherish, enrich, and promote, not
enduring to be absent from his presence, and honouring him before all
others; whence came hatred of the lover, and abuse and ruin of the
one loved, injury to the people, and loss to the kingdom. Moreover he
promoted unworthy and unfit men to be ecclesiastics; these afterwards
in his time of trouble deserted him.
THE ACCESSION OF EDWARD III.
SOURCE.--Harleian MS. (British Museum), 2261, fols. 388-388_b_.
Edward, son of King Edward, after the conquest the third, of xv. years
in age, was crowned into King in the feast of the Purification of
our blessed Lady at Westminster, his father being in life and under
keeping. In the beginning of whom the earth began to give much fruit,
the air temperance, the sea tranquillity, the Church liberty. Edward
sometime King was brought from Kenilworth to the castle of Berkeley,
where he was slain.... Wherefore many people say that he died a martyr
and did many miracles; nevertheless keeping in prison, vileness, and
opprobrious death cause not a martyr, but if the holiness of life afore
be correspondent; for it is well and if that[5] vile death do away sin
in him and diminish his pains. But women loving to go in pilgrimage
increase much the rumour of such veneration, until that a feeble
edifying fall down.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] = If.
THE MANNER OF THE SCOTS (1327).
SOURCE.--Froissart's _Chronicle_ (Hafod Press, 1803), i. 31.
The Scots are bold, hardy, and much inured to war. When they make their
invasions into England, they march from twenty to four-and-twenty
leagues without halting, as well by night as day, for they are all
on horseback, except the camp-followers, who are on foot. The knights
and esquires are well mounted on large bay horses, the common people
on little galloways. They bring no carriages with them, on account of
the mountains they have to pass in Northumberland; neither do they
carry with them any provisions of bread or wine, for their custom and
sobriety is such, in time of war, that they will live for a long time
on flesh half sodden without bread, and drink the river water without
wine. They have therefore no occasion for pots or pans, for they dress
the flesh of their cattle in the skins, after they have taken them
off; and being sure to find plenty of them in the country which they
invade, they carry none with them. Under the flaps of his saddle each
man carries a broad plate of metal, behind the saddle a little bag of
oatmeal; when they have eaten too much of this sodden flesh, and their
stomach appears weak and empty, they place this plate over the fire,
mix with water their oatmeal, and, when the plate is heated, they put
a little of the paste upon it, and make a thin cake, like a cracknell
or biscuit, which they eat to warm their stomachs; it is therefore no
wonder that they perform a longer day's march than other soldiers.
THE RULE OF ISABELLA (1328).
SOURCE.--Sismondi, _Histoire des Français_ (Paris, 1828), x.
14-17.
Edward III., King of England, was only aged sixteen years; the
administration of affairs was absolutely in the hands of his mother,
Isabella of France, who was beginning to realise how hateful she was
to the nation which she governed. A foreigner, and surrounded by
foreigners, she was polluted in the eyes of the English by the blood of
her husband, shed by her, and by her licentious conduct with Roger de
Mortimer, her favourite. Fearing at any time a rebellion, she sought
above all to diminish the number of her enemies, and to escape the
possibility of a foreign war. With this end in view, she first made
treaty[6] with Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, fully recognising the
independence of his kingdom, surrendering to him all the titles and
all the crown jewels, which Edward I. had taken from the Scots, and
marrying her daughter Joan to David Bruce, son of Robert, and his
heir-apparent, only seven years old.
This transaction, of the 1st of March, 1328, still more augmented
the resentment of the English: they passionately desired to conquer
Scotland, and they believed the moment to be very favourable since
Robert Bruce was ill; in fact it was not long before he died, leaving
his crown to a child. The agitation against the Queen increased; one of
the adversaries whom she most feared was her brother-in-law, Edmund,
Earl of Kent; all her skill was directed towards drawing him into a
trap: she succeeded, in fact, in less than a month, in implicating him
in a conspiracy, for which he suffered the extreme penalty.
But so long as Isabella felt herself to be so unsafe on the throne
of England, she could hardly think to dispute that of France; she
contented herself with protesting for the preservation of what she
called the rights of her son. She wrote on the 28th of March in the
name of Edward III. to the chief princes of Gascony, Navarre, and
Languedoc, that the King intended to recover _his heritage and his
rights in every good way that he knew and could_, that he prayed them
then and charged them on their faith to work secretly to gain for him
the heart of the nobles and the commons who were not under obedience
to him that they might aid him when the time should come. On the
16th of May she gave power to the bishops of Winchester and Chester
to demand and recover all the rights which belonged to him [Edward
III.] as legitimate heir to the kingdom of France; on the 28th of June
she caused letters of reprisals to be given to stop the goods and
merchandise of all the French, as pledges for the reparation of certain
hostilities which they had committed. The 28th of October, however,
the effects thus seized were released under caution, and the violences
committed between the two kingdoms were referred to tribunals.
Philip VI. was little concerned about these pretensions of his cousin,
since she appeared to be too badly circumstanced to be able to take
action; he judged with reason that, after he had been King for some
time, the nation would feel itself bound in honour to defend his
title. He appeared only to occupy himself with gaining the favour of
certain princes, who were rather the friends than the feudatories
of France. In the month of June he put forth an ordinance in favour
of the Duke of Brittany, by which he recognised that the courts of
this Duchy were in no way dependent upon the Parliament of Paris; he
reconciled the Dauphin, Guigues VIII., with the Count of Savoy, and
by this negotiation obtained the recognition of these two princes.
Both were dependent on the Empire, but they spoke the French language,
and they looked on the French Court as the most notable for fêtes and
magnificence, where princes might acquire a reputation for chivalry,
and where they might, at the same time, enjoy the greatest pleasures.
This superior elegance, this attraction which Paris had for foreign
princes, had a signal effect on politics during the whole of the
century.
FOOTNOTES:
[6] The "Foul Peace" of Northampton.
WHY MORTIMER WAS CONDEMNED UNHEARD
(1330).
SOURCE.--Adam Murimuth, _Continuatio Chronicarum_ (Rolls
Series), 62.
And immediately the same earl [Roger Mortimer] was sent to the Tower
until the meeting of Parliament, which was a little before the Feast
of St. Andrew [November 30]. At this Parliament at Westminster, on
the vigil of St. Andrew, the same earl was condemned to death by his
peers. Nevertheless, he did not come before them, nor was he allowed to
answer; nor was it to be wondered at, since, from the time of the death
of the Earl of Lancaster until the death of this earl, all nobles had
been handed over to death without being heard, and had perished without
lawful conviction, as appears by precedents, as it is wisely written,
anyone who places himself as judge of another stands to be judged by
him, _etc._, and in the same measure that they meet out to others it
shall be meeted to them. And that same vigil of St. Andrew was the said
Earl of March hung at Elmis upon a common thieves' gallows, where he
hung for two days, and afterwards was buried in London at the Friars
Minors, but, a long time afterwards, was translated to Wigmore.
THE WAR OF THE DISINHERITED (1332).
SOURCE.--Robert of Avesbury's _De Gestis Edwardi Tertii_ (Rolls
Series), 296.
Lord Edward Balliol, son and heir of the said Lord John Balliol, living
in England in the year of our Lord, 1332, the 6th year of Edward,
the Third after the Conquest, was, about the Feast of St. Lawrence,
preparing to set out for Scotland, which belonged to him by hereditary
right. Since the King of England was unwilling for him to enter the
country from the realm of England, since David, son of the said Robert
[Bruce], had married the sister of the King of England, coming by ship
he entered Scotland without the consent of the King of England, taking
with him the lords Henry de Beaumont and Ralph de Stafford, barons, and
also Sir Walter Manny and other vigorous soldiers and armed men and
archers to the number of 1,500, both footmen and horsemen together. And
then, indeed, he was engaged in a fierce conflict, lasting from sunrise
to the ninth hour of the day, against the Scots who came in great
numbers to resist him at Kynghorn. But Christ, ever favouring justice,
preserved the English unhurt, and threw to the ground before them more
than 20,000 of the Scots. Indeed many of the Scots, because of their
impetuosity and haste, falling over their own companions, rushed into
battle, fell without a blow, and were crushed by their own companions
rushing on over them, so that the mountainous heap of Scots there
killed and crushed reached one stadium, [60 feet 9 inches, English], in
length, and 6 cubits and more in height.
FOR THE SAFE-KEEPING OF THE CITY OF LONDON
(DECEMBER 13, 1334).
SOURCE.--H.T. Riley, _Memorials of London_ (London, 1868),
192-193.
A PROCLAMATION IN THE TIME OF REYNALD DE CONDUIT, MAYOR OF LONDON.
Forasmuch as our Lord the King, whom may God save and preserve, is
now engaged in his war against his enemies in Scotland, and every man
ought to be most tender of keeping and maintaining his peace;----it is
ordained and granted by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City
of London, for maintaining the peace between all manner of folks in the
said city, that no person, denizen or stranger, other than officers
of the City, and those who have to keep the peace, shall go armed, or
shall carry arms, by night or by day, within the franchise of the said
city on pain of imprisonment, and of losing the arms.
Also, it is agreed that whosoever shall draw sword, or knife, or other
arm, in affray of the people, shall be forthwith attached and shall
have imprisonment, without being left to find surety, according to the
discretion of the Mayor and of the Aldermen of the City.
Also we do forbid, on behalf of our Lord the King, and on behalf of
the Mayor, the Aldermen, and the Commonalty of the City of London,
that for any offence that shall or may be committed in time to come,
as between any and singular persons, the people of the trades to which
such offenders belong, shall make alliance or understanding as among
them, to support or embolden such offenders; or that any man of the
said trades shall seek vengeance against another, under colour of
such offence. But if they shall be able to make good accord between
the parties, let them make it; and if not, let them bring the parties
before the officers of the City; and before them let them have their
recovery, according as law and right demand.
Also it is ordained and assented to, that no person shall be so
daring, on pain of imprisonment, as to go wandering about the City,
after the hour of curfew rung out at St. Martin's le Grand; unless it
be some man of the City of good repute, or his servant; and that, for
reasonable cause, and with light.
And whereas misdoers, going about by night, commonly have their resort
more in taverns than elsewhere, and there seek refuge and watch their
time for evil-doing; it is forbidden that any taverner or brewer shall
keep the door of his tavern open after the hour of curfew aforesaid, on
the pain as to the same ordained; that is to say, the first time, on
pain of being amerced in 40 pence; the second time, half a mark; the
third time, 10 shillings; the fourth time, 20 shillings; and the fifth
time he is to forswear the trade.
Also we do forbid, on the same pain of imprisonment, that any man shall
go about at this Feast of Christmas with companions disguised with
false faces,[7] or in any other manner, to the houses of the good folks
of the City, for playing at dice there; but let each one keep himself
quiet and at his ease within his own house.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] Visors, or masks.
FIRST INVASION OF FRANCE: THE CAMPAIGN OF 1339.
SOURCE.--Robert of Avesbury's _De Gestis Edwardi Tertii_ (Rolls
Series), 306-308.
[Edward III.'s letter to his son and his Council giving an account of
his campaign.]