It seems possible that it is to this time, too, that we can trace the first evidence of Eleanor acting as a mediator or arbitrator in disputes between noble houses. A letter from Gaston de Béarn dating from around this time refers to her intervention in his dispute with Fortulus Ameravi. Apparently Eleanor was establishing her own reputation, at least outside England.24
Edward, Eleanor and their entourage remained in Gascony until February 1262, when he returned to fix a more long-term deal on his finances with his parents, who were meanwhile prosecuting some of Edward’s erstwhile companions, such as Roger Leyburn and Roger Clifford – probably with a view to ensuring their alienation from Edward was final. As soon as the deal had been agreed, he returned to France, where he threw himself into the tournament circuit with a new team, the defectors to Montfort being replaced by new recruits from Burgundy, Champagne and Flanders. Eleanor’s involvement in this move is seen in the presence of knights with Ponthevin names such as d’Abbeville and de Neel. The message to his erstwhile companions was stark – no one was indispensable to Edward.25
Again, most commentators see this period as one of frivolity or at best listlessness. However, another construction is possible. It may well be that Edward and his advisers, including Eleanor, were now readying themselves for an armed rebellion in England, not least given the knowledge that a number of their former allies, such as Roger Leyburn, were now in open revolt. If this came to pass, the vast bulk of the military experience and might was now with the rebels. Neither Henry or the Savoyards could be trusted as military leaders. If there was to be a fight, it would be Edward who would have to lead, and with the help of foreign troops. Viewed in this light, his tourneying takes on a very different colour – as being the best possible preparation for if the worst were to come about.26
Edward was back in England by spring 1263, brought back by the news that Llywelyn had overrun much of the March of Wales. It appears likely that it was on this return journey that his vessel encountered a terrible storm, which at first seemed likely to sink the ship. The ledger book of Vale Royal Abbey tells how the rigging was all torn and everyone was praying, but to no avail. Then Edward promised that if he were spared he would found an abbey of at least a hundred monks of the Cistercian Order. Although apparently the storm was calmed at once, the foundation of Vale Royal did not proceed as quickly; Edward’s focus was on more immediate priorities. First he went to London, where his father ordered the men of London and the shires to swear fealty to himself and to Edward as heir. Interestingly, one key magnate refused. This was the new Earl Gilbert of Gloucester, piqued by Henry’s refusal to allow him to enter on his estates before he came of age.
Thereafter Edward turned his attention to Wales, and this move proved the spark which finally ignited the rebellion. The chances are that it would have come at some point soon in any event, but that it came precisely at this time can be traced directly to Edward’s return with his new army, and his consequent failure to ally with the Marcher lords who had previously formed the backbone of his military associates. This added fuel to the fire created by the Savoyard revival and the return of Pembroke.27
Edward commenced his campaign with a trip to Windsor Castle, where he settled Eleanor. However, his other action there – strengthening the defences of the castle – strongly suggests that war with Montfort was now inevitable; after all, Windsor hardly needed to prepare itself for a Welsh incursion. In April, Edward then moved off to campaign in Wales, where his strategy was sensible, but progress was grindingly slow.
Meanwhile, the Marchers and reformers were reviving the Provisions of Oxford, with their anti-alien mindset, and calling for the return of Montfort, who arrived in late April or May and rendezvoused with his supporters at Oxford. By the beginning of June 1263, while Edward was fighting in Wales, Montfort, Leyburn and Clifford rallied an army in the middle of England and began to attack the lands of the queen and her supporters and move to cut off aid from abroad. War had truly broken out. Entirely predictably, Edward was summoned to the aid of his parents, and had no alternative but to go, abandoning the Welsh war.28
Edward’s first appearance outside of Wales comes in the middle of June, when he took an oath of loyalty from the ruling elite of Dover and the other Cinque Ports. Meanwhile, his former tutor in arms, Nicholis de Molis, was appointed to the key post of custodian of Corfe Castle.
By the time Edward reached London and took up residence with his followers at Clerkenwell, his parents were cowering in the Tower without military support or money, surrounded by a predominantly hostile city and deserted by many of their erstwhile supporters. Meanwhile, Montfort continued to attract more supporters from among the high minded, including, most upsettingly for Edward, his own cousin Henry of Almain and the young Northern baron John de Vescy.29
The situation was acute. Without money, many of Edward’s army would defect; without the army there was no one to oppose the rebels. The crisis point came when Montfort put the Londoners to their election – were they for or against the Provisions of Oxford? The merchants in charge of London could see which way the wind was blowing, but tried to persuade Henry to go with it, sending a delegation to Henry asking him to endorse the Provisions of Oxford and send Edward’s knights away.30
By now even more convinced that a military showdown was bound to come and well aware that the royal family’s need for ready money was too urgent to await the outcome of protracted negotiations, Edward moved decisively. On 29 June 1263, in company with Henry’s friend Robert Walerand, he raided the Temple, where ample funds were left on deposit with the banking order of knights, including some of the Crown Jewels. Gaining access under cover of a wish to inspect the jewels, he and his party then conducted a daring smash-and-grab raid which netted about £1,000 – enough to keep his army loyal for a while to come. He then sped to Eleanor at Windsor, grabbing further provisions as they went.
The raid unleashed a wave of violence in London against royalists and aliens, during which one particular key event took place. On 13 July, Eleanor of Provence, characteristically acting independently of her husband and taking the initiative, was ambushed and attacked by a mob while trying to escape to Windsor in her barge. While she emerged unscathed, there is no doubt that she was the subject of a very serious attack and was much shocked by it; pelted with stones and food as well as insults, she was in real fear for her life until rescued by the Montfortian Mayor of London. This was an outrage which incurred Edward’s lasting wrath against the Londoners – but it also signified clearly that the barons had the upper hand, and that large swathes of the people no longer held the royal family in awe.31
Thus, by 4 July, Henry had to submit to the demands of Montfort that he agree that all foreigners be expelled, never to return. Henry remained, effectively under guard, at the Tower – which was now commanded by Edward’s former companion, the Montfortian stalwart Hugh Despenser. Montfort then summoned the feudal host in the king’s name, and (carrying Henry with him like a puppet) instructed them to expel the foreign knights at Windsor. Faced with this large army, Edward too had to capitulate, and his army left England in August 1263.32
However – and somewhat ironically – the departure of the resented foreign troops, together with the free hand which Montfort’s actions in the rest of the country had given the Welsh to create havoc for all the English and Marcher lords in Wales, left the path free to reconciliation between Edward and his Marcher friends. This was still further eased by Montfort’s suggestion of an alliance with Llywelyn, which was anathema to the Marchers.
At first sight, Eleanor seems completely irrelevant to these subtle political shifts in the revolt, but in fact closer scrutiny indicates that again she was, if not advising, at least integrally involved.
This can be seen from the fact that the first move which was made appears to have been a reconciliation of Edward with John de Warenne, sealed by the grant of Stamford and Grantham to him. These were towns to which Warenne had a claim though his father
, and they were thus of great interest to him. It will, however, be recalled that these were also Eleanor’s dower lands, and could not be alienated effectively without her consent. Similarly, Henry of Almain was reconciled by a grant of the honour of Tickhill – another part of Eleanor’s dower. With Warenne and Almain back on side, the way was open for further covert diplomacy, and reconciliation with the Marchers. Quite how it was done is not clear – but the fact that, under the agreement reached, Warenne and Henry of Almain were to decide what security should be given by the returning friends suggests that the recapture of their loyalty had indeed been key. But certainly by 18 August the Marchers had once again sworn to be Edward’s friends in all his affairs, and this compact was not made known to Montfort.33
So when, in mid-October 1263, Edward absented himself from London claiming he wanted to see his wife, no suspicions were raised. Nor, still, when Henry joined him shortly afterwards. The surprise came when the Marchers revealed their change in loyalty and came to Windsor in support of the royalist party, leading to a volte-face on the part of the magnates in Parliament, most of whom also declared for the king. Somehow Edward, using Eleanor’s dower as leverage, had changed the balance of power – Montfort no longer had the majority of effective support.34
The two sides for the coming war were now constituted: on the one side was the king, supported by a disparate array of interests – Marchers, Lusignans, Savoyards and members of Edward’s group of followers. Many of these hated each other, but all were now prepared to oppose Montfort, who appeared to wish to govern personally or even to replace the king. In support of Montfort were his own loyal band of followers, and a number of idealistic younger nobles, such as John de Vescy, who believed that Montfort was the only route to the reforms of the Provisions of Oxford. Balanced precariously in between was the new Earl of Gloucester, ‘Red Gilbert’ (a tribute to his flaming red hair).
Gilbert was at this stage twenty years old and, as a result of his famously unhappy marriage to Alix de Lusignan, was profoundly anti-Lusignan. There are strong hints in the documents that she suffered from depression, which may well have been exacerbated by the fact that Gilbert reputedly regarded the marriage as one which was beneath his deserts. It appears that Gilbert had a very well-developed sense of his own importance, which was of course considerable in right of his control over vast estates. One of the major factors disinclining him to both factions was his unwillingness to regard anyone as of greater importance than himself.
It is convenient to pause here, between the end of the political phase of the barons’ revolt and the purely military phase, to consider Eleanor’s life during these years of upheaval and what the evidence tells us about the developing relationship with Edward. The short answer to this inquiry is that everything points to this being a period where Eleanor became established as Edward’s closest confidant and an essential part of his team. As has been seen, as the political manoeuvrings are traced through, Eleanor’s hand can be detected supporting and guiding Edward at every turn of events. She can be seen encouraging his steps away from his parental guidance to independence, in establishing other political alliances for him and steering him towards roles which he could usefully perform in a politically trying period when his freedom of movement was limited. She can also be seen offering very real assistance in pledging her dower properties repeatedly to ensure Edward’s best advantage.
What we also see is very powerful evidence of their mutual wish to be together. In the kind of life which Edward led over this period, it would have been very easy to leave Eleanor at home and travel without her. Yet Eleanor and Edward travelled together around Britain, and to Gascony and back repeatedly. It appears she passed up chances to meet her own family in order to remain with him. It also appears quite clear that everyone understood that Eleanor’s safety was the concern of her husband, not her mother-in-law – when Queen Eleanor arranged a mass evacuation of noble ladies in the run-up to the seizure of Dover Castle in late June 1263, Eleanor was not among those for whom the queen made provision. Nor did Eleanor accompany her mother-in-law when she herself departed in September for the Continent, where she remained until 1265. Rather it appears that Edward, on his return in 1263, settled Eleanor at Windsor, effectively as hostess to the garrison which he established there, and she was expected to stay there – near, but not at that stage within the range of any anticipated battles – and await his visits as the fortunes of war permitted. Just, indeed, as Ferdinand III had settled her own mother, and his first wife, near his campaigns. The adoption of the Castilian modus operandi again implies an active role for Eleanor in deciding this strategy.35
One further point which indicates very strongly the closeness of the relationship and the extent to which this closeness was common property is Edward’s action in using a wish to visit his wife as an excuse for making a break from London in 1263. This action is usually considered as an example of his slightly cavalier attitude to truth. However, when considered further, it actually becomes a very interesting revelation of the relationship. It was by no means common for husbands (even un-martial family men like Henry III) to give overt priority to wishes to see their wife or family. It is hard to think of another example of a prince, still less a prince later to be famed for his firmness, openly confessing to such a desire. Yet apparently Edward had no hesitation in deploying this reason. What is more, no one had any hesitation in accepting it as truth, and a truth unworthy of any particular remark. It follows, therefore, that the closeness of Edward and Eleanor had become a total ‘given’ for all those who knew them by 1263.
One other question about the relationship which necessarily comes to the fore is the question of sexual relations and children. Whether or not cohabitation was suspended for a period after the loss of the baby born in Gascony, one would expect it to have been resumed by the time Eleanor was eighteen in 1259, and very possibly before. If so, given her later fertility, where are the children? The earliest evidence of a named child is a daughter Katherine who was with Eleanor at Windsor in 1264, and who was described as an ‘infant’. It is likely that Katherine was either a reason or the reason why Edward’s old nurse Alice de Luton was with Eleanor in France in the summer of 1262. Given the travelling which Eleanor did in that summer and in July 1261 and February 1262, the most likely period for the birth of Katherine would be in either early or late 1261 while Edward and Eleanor were in Gascony. Parsons tentatively suggests 21 April 1261 for her birthdate, based on a difficult passage in one of the chronicles. However, this birthdate would involve Eleanor travelling to England when just about to give birth (she and Edward returned to England in April 1261) and hunting actively in her first trimester. Given her later active programme up to the birth of children this is a possibility, but at this early stage, with an heir not yet provided, it seems unlikely. I therefore incline to late 1261, and would tentatively place Katherine’s birth on the saints’ day of St Katherine of Alexandria on 25 November 1261 – this would also explain the use of the name, which had no strong family connotations on either side, other than its poignant association with Henry III’s deceased daughter. This also fits well with Eleanor and Edward’s remaining in Gascony for some weeks into 1262. Furthermore, a birth in Gascony would also account for the lack of any records of the birth in the English court accounts.36
Katherine can therefore be more or less accounted for. However, it is very possible that other children were born and died without trace in that period. A number of factors point to this conclusion. Assuming that full cohabitation resumed by 1259, and given that all the evidence suggests that Eleanor was able to conceive a child four years earlier, there would be no reason why she should not conceive. The pattern of her later pregnancies indicates that she conceived regularly at the rate of about two children every three years. In addition, as we have just noted, Edward and Eleanor were not apparently parted for long periods at this time. Accordingly, one would expect there to be some children – probably two or three – conceived d
uring the period up to late 1263. However (also given the statistics of the later children), it might well be that one or more such children would be miscarried or not long survive.
The absence of any records of such children does not provide any particular indication that they did not exist – after all, there is no record of the birth of Katherine either. Further, the absence of any pregnancies would probably have been remarked upon – as it had been with Eleanor of Provence, who did not conceive until she had been married for several years. The absence of records of children other than Katherine indicates two things only. The first is that there was either no live birth of a boy or at least no live birth of a boy in England, as this would have been an event which the chroniclers would have noted. The second is that any children who survived to full term did not live long thereafter. There is certainly a possibility of the birth of a child in late 1262 or early 1263, while the couple were abroad. There may even be earlier children – in particular, the gift to Alice de Luton of lands in August 1260 may be in recognition of services at an earlier, unsuccessful lying in.37
However, by late 1263, with war arrived, we do know that Edward and Eleanor had started their family, with the birth of Katherine, probably in late 1261; and that Eleanor was at Windsor with the child and a substantial garrison and household, when Edward, his father and their allies arrived in October to make preparations for the second phase of the revolt – open warfare.
The last hope of peace was a mediation scheduled for Amiens in December, with Louis of France as mediator. In the run-up to this crucial hearing Henry struck at Montfort’s own interests, recruiting the most redoubtable of the Marcher lords, Roger Mortimer, to take three manors in Hertfordshire which had been previously granted to Montfort by Henry in relation to the dowry dispute. Whether this indicated a lack of faith in the outcome, or was an attempt to keep Montfort from the hearing, is unclear. However, Montfort was indeed unable to attend, although for an entirely different reason: he suffered a fall from his horse which resulted in a broken leg. With Montfort’s powerful personality and way with words in abeyance, the scale of lawlessness and destruction which the baronial cause had brought about weighed most powerfully with Louis. The baronial cause was rejected outright by him in the Mise of Amiens, and in particular he rejected the Provisions of Oxford in their entirety.38
Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen Page 18
