The upbringing of all the children, and of the future king Edward in particular, is of course likely to have involved a very great deal of religious observance and doctrine, though little theological debate. Henry III was not a speculative theologian, but an emotional devotee of the cult of St Edward the Confessor – the un-martial king upon whom he had seized as the appropriate model for his own kingship. Similarly, Eleanor of Provence corresponded with theologians, but for her moral guidance rather than from a spirit of intellectual inquiry or debate. Thus the feast of St Edward the Confessor on 13 October was a major event for the Henrician court; Henry was almost always at Westminster for the celebration of this festival and also frequently for the anniversary of the Confessor’s death on 5 January. Even when he could not be there – as, for example, in the year of Margaret’s marriage to the King of Scotland – he ensured that the festival was kept with magnificence in his absence. Further, while travel as a whole was not much in favour, travelling for the purpose of pilgrimage was very much a feature of the court under Henry. One or other of the feast days of St Thomas Becket was often held at Canterbury, and for at least half of the years 1234–41 Henry organised tours of pilgrimage into Norfolk to Walsingham, Bromholm and Bury St Edmunds. Edward will have been present for a good number of these visits of pilgrimage, at least once he passed the ‘danger age’ of about seven and began visiting the court more frequently. The result of his early religious training appears to have been to produce in Edward what Prestwich has described as ‘unsophisticated piety’, with a taste, albeit more limited than that of his father, for pilgrimages and devotional visits.34
A theme which emerges from the household records is that Edward was by no means as robust as a child as he was as a man. As an adult he seems hardly to have known a day’s illness until his latter days. But as a child he was considered more fragile in health. Reference has been made above to the obviously sudden and severe illness of Edward aged about seven at Beaulieu in 1246, which necessitated his staying for three weeks, accompanied, in defiance of Cistercian rules, by his mother – and doubtless a good handful of nurses and waiting women. Records also exist of his being ill at Westminster and Windsor. However, he seems to have gained in strength as he grew, and in his later childhood, as in his adult years, he seems to have enjoyed good health.35
Edward’s companions were not confined to his siblings, not least because the two siblings nearest to him in age were both girls – Margaret and Beatrice. His only brother, Edmund, was nearly six years his junior. Around 1247, various boys of roughly his age were brought in to make up his household and his schoolfellows. Money was frequently assigned by Henry for the expenses of Edward’s household ‘and the other children dwelling with him at Windsor’.36
Practically no record remains either of the identities of these companions or the course of education which Edward and his friends followed. However, some small traces remain. Despite the closeness in age, and family ties through his aunt Eleanor, Edward was not educated with Simon de Montfort’s similarly aged boys, Henry, Simon and Guy, all born between 1238 and 1240. They were apparently educated under the aegis of Robert Grosseteste, the saintly and academic Bishop of Lincoln. Henry of Almain, the son of Richard of Cornwall, to whom Edward was very close and who was his father’s eldest son by a number of years, is likely to have been one of the group at least for some period of time after the death of his mother in 1240; Henry was over three years older than Edward and may have graduated from the schoolroom earlier.37
The gift of a brooch to Henry’s younger brother’s nurse suggests that Edmund of Cornwall was part of the household, but his age (he was born in 1249) makes him a more likely companion for Edward’s own brother, Edmund. Similarly Edmund de Lacy, who went on to marry Alice de Saluzzo, the queen’s cousin, and whose son’s nurse was gifted in 1252, may well have formed part of the Windsor group before his marriage, though nine years older than Edward. Within Edward’s household from a very early stage and part of Edward’s own group was Otho de Grandison. Likewise Ebulo de Montibus, who was almost Edward’s contemporary in age. Other possibilities for the group, at least in its latter stages, are John de Vescy, the heir to the Lord of Alnwick, who was married to the queen’s Savoyard relative Agnes de Saluzzo; Edward’s close friend Robert Tybetot; and James, son of the seneschal of Gascony, Nicholas de Molis. Almost certainly present were the sons of Bartholomew Pecche, who was appointed to be Edward’s guardian when Edward was seven. They accompanied Edward and their father to Spain for Edward’s wedding to Eleanor. Some more humble children are also recorded as forming part of the household, including the two sons of one Ferrand, a crossbowman.38
As for what the boys learnt, it will certainly not have been as academic an upbringing as that which Eleanor enjoyed. There was no comparable tradition of scholarship at the English court, nor were there such academic resources. On the whole it is thought that Edward, unlike Eleanor, could not write, though it is considered likely that he could read and had some knowledge of Latin as well as fluency in Anglo-Norman French and English. He was not the first English king to speak English – King John wins that title, and Henry II is reputed to have had a limited English vocabulary. Moreover, speaking English was no great sign of scholarship, it being the language of the lower classes and therefore not deemed a subject for study.39
In further contrast to Eleanor’s childhood, the books which would have surrounded Edward and his companions are not likely to have been very scholarly; aside from religious works, they were probably largely confined to the stories of knightly chivalry which his mother is known to have read, and for which his father also had a fondness. Eleanor of Provence was educated, and read and corresponded with one of the great religious men of her day for spiritual guidance. But there is no whiff about her of the bluestocking; she was in essence a ‘people person’. Her books were acquired for her from booksellers such as Peter and William of Paris and appear to be prettily bound romances, or poems of chivalry like John of Howden’s Rossignos, which recounted tales of Hector, Troilus, Alexander, Caesar and the Knights of the Round Table. That Edward also read these tales can be inferred from the fact that he possessed at least one such in his adulthood. He was thus raised to be, and became, literate, but not bookish.40
Another reason for the pull of the romances which were the backbone of his reading is that they were entirely compatible with a major part of his education as a king’s son: knightly skills including horsemanship, weapons training and hunting, both with dogs and hawks. Bartholomew Pecche would have been primarily responsible for this training, but the reported presence of the Nicholas de Molis who had been with Edward at the Scottish wedding indicates that this gentleman, elsewhere referred to by Matthew Paris as ‘a distinguished knight’, probably coached Edward and his companions in knightly skills.
Both mentally and physically, then, Edward was raised to believe in and to attempt to embody the knightly ideal. To add to this, with Richard of Cornwall’s children present or often visiting the Windsor establishment, it is inevitable that Edward will have heard from Richard his crusading tales, similar to those which the earl told Matthew Paris; and the entire household is likely to have participated in the crusading fever which overtook the court in 1250 when Henry III took the cross in imitation of Louis IX, who had departed for the Holy Land in 1248 and had recently taken the port of Damietta in epic style. Queen Eleanor’s copy of The Song of Antioch, a romance history of the First Crusade, was probably quickly dog-eared and formed the subject for discussion and play throughout the nursery.41
However, though the ideals of knightly attainment were very much to the fore, it seems doubtful that Edward’s training was very rigorous in practical terms. England was at peace, and intended to remain so. Eleanor of Provence would be against any training which was hazardous to her precious eldest son, and so too would Henry III, who himself had no time for fighting, or even for hunting, and regarded tournaments as almost criminal. It would therefore seem
that Edward’s knightly training, though doubtless correct and thorough, will have been largely formal. It is highly unlikely that it was anything like as intensive as that which the sons of Ferdinand, raised in fairly spartan conditions, surrounded by active warriors and expected to take to the field in real engagements in their early teens, underwent.
At fourteen, it therefore seems that the young Lord Edward, as he was known, hardly seemed likely to be the dream match for the scholarly daughter and sister of Castile’s very active soldier kings.
4
The Marriage
The origins of Eleanor and Edward’s famously harmonious marriage lie, ironically enough, in deep disharmony. This is because the first seeds of the idea of the marriage can probably be found in the miserable time experienced by both Gascony and its seneschal or governor, Simon de Montfort, in the years 1248 to 1252. A soldier of huge talent, he was certainly at this stage in his career more reminiscent of his intransigent father than the hero of representative politics often portrayed in modern accounts. His approach to the task in hand in Gascony was therefore of the iron-fist-in-iron-glove type, with little sensitivity to local customs and politics. These tactics had not at all suited the Gascons, who had never fully reconciled themselves to being part of the Angevin Empire rather than pares in a primus inter pares arrangement with the dukes of Aquitaine. His period of rule culminated in the trial, referred to earlier, of charges brought against him by numerous disaffected Gascon nobles. Although a short-term truce was patched up following the failure of that trial, it was obviously apparent that the situation in Gascony was very much open to opportunist meddlings by those averse to the Angevin rule – including Castile.1
The timing of this unrest was very unfortunate for Henry. Ferdinand III had died in May 1252 and Alfonso X, new to the throne and with his father’s dying challenge ringing in his ears, was not slow to pick up the baton in this regard, very possibly encouraged by Gaston de Béarn, who will have been well placed to tell tales of Henry’s weakness. Straight after de Montfort’s trial, Alfonso accepted the homage of Gascon families alienated by de Montfort’s harsh policies – including the influential Gaston, who, although cousin to Eleanor of Provence, was never averse to mischief making for the Crown. Soon word began to filter through that Gascon wine merchants were seeking out new markets in Castile – doubtless also with the encouragement of Alfonso and Gaston.2
In this context, Henry felt that it was necessary to promise a visit to Gascony by himself and Edward, now titular duke. However, the timeline shows that, in parallel, he began to investigate the possibility of a marriage between Eleanor and Edward, as a deal which would keep Castile out of Gascony. He was reporting his intentions to go to Gascony in April, and by 15 May 1253 he had accredited William of Bitton, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and former chancellor John Maunsell to seek the marriage. This step was reported by the chroniclers with some confusion as to the identity of the lucky princess; some suggested that it was the daughter of Alfonso who was to be the bride, but Alfonso as yet had no daughter. However, the uncertainty over the bride’s identity illustrates how low was Eleanor’s profile.3
A number of commentators dating as far back as Matthew Paris have speculated that the claim to Gascony by Alfonso was merely a tactic designed to entice Henry into the marriage. However, modern scholarship has rejected this analysis. Alfonso may not have had a strong belief in the claim, but some sort of claim was there.4
The fact that the English marriage was not Alfonso’s goal in meddling in Gascony is also borne out by the delays which he imposed upon the negotiations. Two particular sticking points appear in the records. The first was the demand that Alfonso knight Edward, an important point of honour, particularly in the militaristic ethos of Castile. This would be a difficult issue in terms of pride; Henry would normally have expected – and did expect, despite his own lack of military prowess – to knight his son himself, as he had knighted the King of Scotland. It was also an issue in terms of security, since Edward would make the perfect hostage. The second issue was dower and dowry. Alfonso offered nothing by way of dowry but instead expected Henry to provide generous dower for Eleanor, rejecting Henry’s first offer of 1,000 marks per annum.5
In fact it appears that, initially at least, Alfonso was using the English marriage negotiations as a stalking horse to bring another bridegroom to the table. So while early progress was made, with a draft treaty being in the hands of John Maunsell by summer and one of Eleanor’s cousins, William de Fiennes, being added to Edward’s household on 5 July 1253, Alfonso then appears to have deliberately stalled negotiations. Meanwhile, he entered into negotiations with Navarre for the marriage of the new King Thibault, aged fourteen, to Eleanor.6
In many ways the Navarrese marriage was of more utility to Alfonso. There was a disputed claim to feudal supremacy over Navarre which dated back to 1134, when Garcia VI of Navarre had sworn homage to Alfonso VII of Castile. Navarre also had designs on Gascony and offered access for Castile to Gascony via the Pyrenean passes, which would be of great use if Alfonso intended to act on his claims. A Navarrese marriage was not out of question in status terms; one had been considered for Alfonso himself at an earlier stage. Further, there was a suitable dynastic connection on two sides, first through Blanche of Navarre, who had married into the Castilian royal family in the previous century, and secondly via Eleanor of Aquitaine’s daughter Marie, who had married Thibault of Champagne, great-grandfather of the present king. Moreover, the Navarrese marriage was a particularly ripe plum at the time, since Thibault was not yet of age, and there was therefore a decent prospect of Castile effectively annexing the kingdom.7
However, scenting danger – and probably rightly so – Queen Marguerite of Navarre instead submitted herself to the protection of the less acquisitive Aragon, who, as junior partner to Castile in the Iberian peninsula, was also keen to rein in Alfonso. Thus, she undertook in August 1253 that Thibault would ‘never at any time in his life, marry the sister of the Lord Alfonso, king of Castile, daughter of the Lord King Ferdinand and the Lady Queen Jeanne’.8
So by late August 1253 Alfonso was back facing the English marriage, with Henry, who had left England in late July, on his way to back up diplomacy with force. Negotiations are likely to have awaited the event somewhat, since Henry’s military history might well lead Alfonso to believe that his hand would strengthen as Henry floundered. As it was, however, Henry did surprisingly well, combining the diplomacy which de Montfort had scorned to employ with military action where necessary. The success of this latter aspect can probably be traced to the assistance of de Montfort, who came to Henry’s aid – but only after both payment by Henry and intervention from Robert Grosseteste.9
Obviously forming the view that his hand was unlikely to improve in the near future, Alfonso came back to the table at about the end of 1253. Thus by 8 February 1254 John Maunsell went back to Castile, this time accompanied by Eleanor of Provence’s close associate Peter d’Aigueblanche, the Bishop of Hereford.10
It appears by this time that Henry was absolutely determined on the marriage, since the envoys were empowered to offer generous terms including a provision that Edward would have lands worth £10,000 (15,000 marks) yearly and Eleanor would be dowered ‘as fully as any queen of England had ever been’. Given that the envoys cannot have set off until after 14 February, matters must then have proceeded apace, for by 31 March the Castilian envoys announced that peace was made and that Alfonso would abandon his claims to rule in Gascony; a treaty of alliance was promulgated the next day in Toledo. On dower, Alfonso had sensibly insisted on a rather more specific promise than Henry’s vague platitudes. Henry’s initial offer of 1,000 marks was raised to £1,000, to be increased by 500 marks at Edward’s accession. Henry’s concession on this front may well reflect the fact that he was already aware, from his own wife’s financial difficulties, that £1,000 was miserably inadequate to a modern queen’s needs.
The terms of the treaty bear some exam
ination. The financial promises referred to above were considered by many in England to be so extensive as to denigrate Henry’s own status – Matthew Paris said they made Henry a ‘mutilated kinglet’. Plainly they were also considered significant by Alfonso, who in summer 1254 insisted upon a little due diligence, inspecting original grants of land to Edward and requiring that they be reissued with Henry’s Great Seal. However, in reality the grants were not absolute, leaving Henry able to interfere substantially in the territories ceded to Edward, and the fact of the grants was even of positive benefit to Henry in some areas, shoring up dubious claims to overlordship.
Henry did concede the knighting issue – Edward was to be knighted by Alfonso on or before the next Feast of the Assumption – and he also agreed to seek commutation of his earlier vow to go on Crusade in order to assist Alfonso with an invasion of North Africa. However, neither of these concessions were of much substance. Henry also agreed to help impose Castilian supremacy over Navarre, but this agreement would only ‘bite’ if Alfonso ever got anywhere close to supremacy. Otherwise, as part of the unpicking of the Gascon troubles, Henry agreed to restore losses suffered by Gascons who supported Alfonso. The marriage of Edward and Eleanor was also to be backed up by a reciprocal marriage of Henry’s daughter Beatrice and one of Alfonso’s brothers.12
On the other side of the fence, Alfonso renounced all claims to Gascony and promised to return all lands seized from Henry in the Gascon troubles. He also promised that, once he made peace with Navarre, any Gascon lands seized by the kings of Navarre would be returned, and that Henry should have a half share in the lands conquered in any African expedition. It should be noted here that suggestions that Alfonso did give some dowry, or that Eleanor had dowry in the form of being heiress to Ponthieu, are inaccurate – there is no record of her bringing any dowry and she only became heiress to Ponthieu on the death of her older brother Ferdinand, more than a decade later.
Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen Page 10
