Edward II: The Unconventional King (61 page)

83
. Edward’s deposition is discussed at length in Claire Valente, ‘Deposition and Abdication of Edward II’, 852–81; Phillips, 524–39; Haines,
Edward
, 188–94.

84
.
Lanercost
, 254.

85
. Lyon,
Constitutional History of the UK
, 95.

86
. Valente, ‘Deposition and Abdication’, 869.

87
. Valente, 855–6.

88
. Phillips, 527–9; Valente, 859.

89
. Phillips, 533–4; Valente, 860–1.

90
.
Murimuth
, 51;
Scalacronica
, 74;
English Historical Documents
, 288;
Flores
, 235, etc.

91
. Rothwell,
English Historical Documents
, 287–8;
Flores
, 235;
Murimuth
, 51; Valente, 870.

92
. Next in line after Edward’s sons Edward of Windsor and John of Eltham were his half-brothers Norfolk and Kent and their sons, then his cousin Lancaster.

93
.
Foedera
, 683; Valente, 870–71.

94
.
Foedera
, 650.

16 Four Conspiracies and a Funeral

1
. Phillips, 541.

2
.
PROME
, November 1330 parliament;
CCR 1327–30
, 77.

3
.
Chronicon Henrici Knighton
, I, ed. J. R. Lumby (1889), 444.

4
.
Traitor
, 173–4, 288, note 26;
Perfect King
, 58.

5
. ‘Captivity’, 153, 157–8.

6
.
AP
, 333;
Baker
, 31; ‘Captivity’, 158–9.

7
.
Baker
, 30–31.

8
.
Baker
, 31.

9
.
PROME
.

10
.
CCR 1327–30
, 77; ‘Captivity’, 155; Haines, Edward, 225–6.

11
. As suggested in Doherty,
Death
, 120.

12
.
CCR 1327–30
, 77, 86.

13
.
Murimuth
, 52.

14
. Froissart, 44.

15
. Cited in Doherty,
Death
, 123.

16
.
Murimuth
, 52.

17
. For Gurney’s family, see Haines,
Death of a King
, 150.

18
.
Valence
, 262;
CPR 1321–4
, 53;
CPR 1324–7
, 5;
CCR 1323–7
, 202–3.

19
. TNA SC 8/232/11592;
CCR 1323–7
, 554.

20
. Claire Valente, ‘Lament of Edward II’, 422–39.

21
.
Murimuth
, 52.

22
. Doherty,
Death
, 113; Weir,
Isabella
, 256–7.

23
.
Tyranny
, 209.

24
.
Tyranny
, 209, 212–16, 223–4.

25
.
Croniques
, 61–3.

26
.
Brut
, 254–5, 257–9.

27
.
CFR 1319–27
, 95, 101, 185.

28
.
Lanercost
, 258–9.

29
.
Brut
, 249.

30
.
CPR 1321–4
, 50;
CPR 1324–7
, 326, 336;
CPR 1327–30
, 38.

31
.
CCR 1323–7
, 169, 532; SC 8/98/4856.

32
.
ODNB
;
CCR 1323–1327
, 101, 120;
CPR 1321–4
, 168, 372, 378;
CPR
1327–30
, 100; SC 8/47/2308.

33
.
CPR 1327–30
, 74–99.

34
.
CPR 1327–30
, 99.

35
.
Lanercost
, 257.

36
.
Bridlington
, 96;
Lanercost
, 256–7;
CCR 1327–30
, 212 (quotation);
CPR 1327–30
, 139, 180, 183, 191, and
CCR 132–30
, 157, 212.

37
.
CCR 1327–30
, 157.

38
.
CCR 1327–30
, 142;
CPR 1327–30
, 183.

39
.
CCR 1327–30
, 169, 187–8, 273, 278.

40
.
CPR 1327–30
, 95.

41
. F. J. Tanqueray, ‘Conspiracy of Thomas Dunheved, 1327’, 119–24.

42
.
CPR 1327–30
, 156–7.

43
. Doherty,
Death
, 218–19.

44
.
CCR 1327–30
, 156, 179.

45
. TNA SC 8/69/3444.

46
.
CCR 1327–30
, 241, 566;
CPR 1327–30
, 360.

47
.
AP
, 337;
Brut
, 249;
Lanercost
, 259, 264–5.

48
.
CCR 1327–30
, 146, 549.

49
.
CCR 1327–30
, 158;
Foedera
, 714.

50
.
CCR 1330–3
, 178, 181, 274.

51
. ‘Captivity’, 165.

52
.
CCR 1327–30
, 182.

53
.
AP
, 337.

54
. ‘Captivity’, 165, 182–190.

55
.
CPR 1324–7
, 249; Haines,
Death of a King
, 138.

56
.
CPR 1321–4
, 77.

57
. TNA DL 10/253;
Intrigue
, 68.

58
.
PROME
, November 1330 parliament.

59
. Haines,
Death of a King
, 90–95, 138, 146; Hunter, ‘Measures Taken’, 274ff.

60
. For thorough accounts of the chronicle evidence for Edward’s death, see
Intrigue
, 55–8; Phillips, 560–65.

61
.
AP
, 337–8;
Anonimalle
, 134; Phillips, 561, note 238.

62
.
Murimuth
, 53–4;
Gesta
, 97–8.

63
.
Lanercost
, 259;
Scalacronica
, 74.

64
. Phillips, 561–2.

65
. Cited in Haines,
Death of a King
, 49.

66
. David C. Fowler,
The Life and Times of John Trevisa, Medieval Scholar
(1995), 9, 16, 23.

67
. Chaplais,
Piers Gaveston
, 112–13.

68
.
CPR 1327–30
, 37.

69
. Mortimer, ‘Death of Edward II’ in
Intrigue
, 66.

70
. Haines,
Death of a King
, 53.

71
.
Intrigue
, 68.

72
.
Intrigue
, 68.

73
.
Intrigue
, 67.

74
. Moore, ‘Documents Relating to the Death’, 217.

75
. Moore, ‘Documents’, 221; Phillips, 553;
Intrigue
, 67.

76
. Moore, ‘Documents’, 221.

77
. Moore, ‘Documents’, 221–2;
Intrigue
, 67, 69; Phillips, 553.

78
. Ormrod, ‘Personal Religion of Edward III’, 870, note 120, citing TNA E 101/383/2.

79
. Ernst Kantorowicz,
The King’s Two Bodies
(new ed., 1997), 420.

80
.
Traitor
, 240.

17 The Curious Case of the King Who Lived

1
. The letter is held at Warwickshire County Record Office, CR136/C2027. It is printed in French in Haines, ‘Sumptuous Apparel’, 893–4, and in English in
Intrigue
, 154–5 (my translation differs slightly).

2
.
CCR 1330–3
, 132, states that Kent attended Edward’s funeral ‘with other magnates of the realm’. There is no direct evidence that Melton was present, but it is extremely likely that he was, given that he was a high-ranking prelate and had for many years shown great loyalty to and affection for Edward.

3
.
Murimuth
, 255–6;
Lanercost
, 264–5; Phillips, 566–7,
Intrigue
, 161. Kingsclere, oddly, was arrested in 1332 by Giles of Spain (an adherent of Kent in 1330) on suspicion of involvement in Edward II’s death.

4
.
Intrigue
, 155, 161; Kathryn Warner, ‘Adherents of Edmund of Woodstock’, 804 note 150;
Murimuth
, 256.

5
.
Murimuth
, 52–4;
Brut
, 253.

6
.
Intrigue
, 75.

7
. Warner, ‘Adherents’, 782–4, 799.

8
. For a refutation of the accusation of stupidity, see
Intrigue
, 83–4, 153–4.

9
.
Murimuth
, 256.

10
. Mortimer,
Intrigue
, 86–7, 140. John Dunheved acknowledged in 1317 and 1329 that he owed a debt of £1,000 to Pecche, and mortgaged his manor of Dunchurch to him:
CCR 1313–8
, 572;
CCR 1323–7
, 201;
CCR 1327–30
, 543.

11
.
Intrigue
, 161; Phillips, 567.

12
.
Calendar of Plea and Memoranda Rolls of London 1323–64
, ed. A. H. Thomas, 72. For detailed accounts of Melton and Kent’s plot, its timing and the men who supported them, see Mortimer, ‘The Plot of the Earl of Kent, 1328–30’ in
Intrigue
, 153–173, and my ‘Adherents’, 779–805.

13
.
CCR 1330–3
, 24, 132.

14
.
Murimuth
, 256.

15
.
Brut
, 263–7;
PROME
.

16
. The Fieschi letter has been reprinted, discussed and interpreted numerous times since its discovery in 1877. See e.g. Cuttino and Lyman ‘Where is Edward II?’, 522–43; Phillips, 582–94;
Traitor
, 251–62;
Intrigue
, 182–9;
Tyranny
, 203–6; Doherty,
Death
, 192–215; Haines,
Death of a King
, 100–8. For
Milasci
, see
Intrigue
, 197–8, and
Perfect King
, 414–5.

17
. See
Traitor
, 258. Phillips, 591, states Fieschi is incorrect in saying that the earl of Arundel was still with Edward and Despenser, but I know of no evidence which definitely places Arundel elsewhere, and he may well have still been with the king on 20 October at Chepstow. It is unclear when and where Arundel was captured, only that he was killed in Hereford on 17 November. The Fieschi letter correctly states that Edward was captured with Despenser and Robert Baldock, and not Arundel.

18
.
Intrigue
, 178–82, 188–9, 202, 205; Phillips, 594–6.

19
.
Intrigue
, 181, 221, note 29;
Perfect King
, 152–3, 412.

20
. A notable exception is Richard de Neueby, who met Edward II in 1313, claiming to be his brother, and received a generous gift of money. As we have no record of him being punished and the entry also does not say ‘falsely claiming’, he may genuinely have been an illegitimate son of Edward I, or at least convinced Edward II that he was.

21
.
PROME
:
dicit quod ipse
nunquam fuit consentiens, auxilians, seu procurans, ad mortem suam, nec unquam scivit de morte sua usque in presenti Parliamento isto
.

22
.
Intrigue
, 69.

23
. Isabella’s reputation was far worse centuries after her death than in her own lifetime, when it doesn’t seem as though she was viewed as a notorious adulteress and murderess (except by Geoffrey le Baker). The ‘she-wolf’ nickname was first given to her in 1757, in a poem by Thomas Gray.

24
. Blackley, ‘Cult of the Dead’, 26–9.

25
.
ODNB
; Dixon and Raine,
Lives of the Archbishops of York
, Vol. 1, 436.

26
.
Intrigue
, 197–202, 226–7;
Perfect King
, 414–5; Phillips, 586–8.

27
. Sant’Alberto’s official website has a section in Italian and English on Edward II and the mysteries surrounding his death. His afterlife in Italy is discussed at length in Appendix 3 of Ian Mortimer’s
Perfect King
and in much of his
Intrigue
, which includes a long chapter on the Fieschi family and their connections to Edward II and III. The 2011 film
Uncertain Proof
, made by Bristol Films, deals with Edward’s afterlife in Italy, as does Ivan Fowler’s 2013 novel
Auramala: The King Lives
.

28
.
Perfect King
, 201.

29
.
Perfect King
, 201, 417.

30
. Saaler,
Edward II
, 17;
Vita
, 75; Phillips, 66.

Primary Sources

Adae Murimuth Continuatio Chronicarum
, ed. E. M. Thompson (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1889).

Annales Londonienses 1195–1330
,
in W. Stubbs, ed.,
Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II
, Volume 1, Rolls Series, 76 (London: Rolls Series, 76, 1882).

Annales Paulini 1307–1340
,
in Stubbs,
Chronicles
, Volume 1.

The Anonimalle Chronicle 1307 to 1334, from Brotherton Collection MS 29
, ed. W. R. Childs and J. Taylor (Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series 147, 1991).

The Brut or the Chronicles of England
, Part 1, ed. F. W. D. Brie (London: Early English Text Society, 1906).

Calendar of Chancery Warrants, Vol. 1, 1244–1326
(London: HMSO, 1927).

Calendar of the Charter Rolls, Vol. 3, 1300–1326
(London: HMSO, 1908).

Calendar of the Close Rolls
,
eleven vols,
1272–1333 (London: HMSO, 1898–1906).

Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Vol. 3, 1307–1357
, ed. Joseph Bain (Edinburgh: H. M. General Register House, 1887).

Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, Vol. 2, 1305–1341
.

Calendar of the Fine Rolls
, four vols,
1272–1334 (London: HMSO, 1911–13).

Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous (Chancery) Vol. 2, 1308–1348
(London: HMSO, 1916).