The Greatest Traitor

by Ian Mortimer

  The tournament held in honour of Gaveston by the king on 2 December 1307 was a turning point in the reign. For a start, Wallingford had previously been a royal residence and so the two hundred or so assembled knights all saw for themselves how splendid was the gift Edward had given his dear Perrot. But that was nothing besides the tournament itself. Gaveston, a renowned champion fighter, led the knights on one side, while those on the other were led by the Earls of Warenne, Hereford, and Arundel. To the fury of the earls, and to the delight of the king and Gaveston, the young talented knights on Gaveston’s side, with the benefit of their youth and strength, ran rings around the older earls’ men. The earls were unceremoniously defeated and humiliated. Earl Warenne bitterly turned against Gaveston from that moment, and never forgave him. His violent declaration against the king’s favourite only slightly exceeded the anger and frustration of the other two earls. This upstart had not only been raised above them, he could defeat them in battle too. Worst of all he publicly crowed over their fallen status, laughing at their humbling as they tumbled from their horses into the Berkshire mud. To the frustration of the earls, the king laughed also.

  A tide of hatred against Gaveston swept across the country in the wake of the tournament, but those who had sided with the king and his beloved Perrot reaped their rewards. Among them were Roger and his uncle. The Justiciar of Ireland was ordered to restore all Roger’s lands there due to him, and letters of protection were drawn up for him to accompany the king to France for his marriage to Princess Isabella.5 Geoffrey de Geneville, Joan’s octogenarian grandfather, was given permission to pass to Roger and Joan all the lands and estates in Ireland which they stood to inherit on his death. At the same time it seems that Roger was proposed for the position of Seneschal of Gascony, which would have made him governor of the Duchy of Aquitaine.6 Shortly afterwards, Roger’s uncle was made Justiciar of Wales, with enormous powers across the principality. For some reason Roger did not take up his position in Gascony; perhaps on account of his youth the earls persuaded Edward that it was a premature appointment. But whatever the reason, it is clear that the Mortimers both stood high in the king’s favour as they accompanied him down the coast road to Dover in January 1308.7

  While the appointment of Lord Mortimer of Chirk as Justiciar of Wales seems to have been considered entirely suitable by the earls and barons, Edward’s appointment of Gaveston as sole Regent of England during his forthcoming absence from the realm shocked them profoundly. Edward clearly saw no difference between his adopted brother and a real brother. His real half-brothers – young though they were – would have both been considered acceptable, but again he ignored them. In putting Gaveston in nominal control of the country he was showing exactly how sincere he was in his wish to share power with his brother-in-arms. This was an act more outrageous than anything Gaveston himself had ever done or said. Ironically, it is through this very appointment that one can see how reliant Gaveston was on the king’s wholehearted support. Left to rule the country for two weeks he did nothing controversial.8 Indeed, one suspects he found himself somewhat out of his depth. It is true that he adopted a proud bearing towards those who came into his presence, and it is said that he forced the earls to kneel before him.9 But in this one can see Gaveston brazening out his awkward position as head of the administration. The man was sweating in his king’s absence, merely keeping up appearances. It seems that Gaveston needed the reassurance of Edward’s distinguished lineage as much as Edward needed the reassurance of Gaveston’s friendship. Between them they made up for aspects of character which each of them lacked.

  For Roger, the importance of this extraordinary promotion of Gaveston was that, rightly or wrongly, he and his uncle had pledged themselves to the support of a partnership which was heading for confrontation, if not disaster. Even in France the earls with the king perceived that the king’s affection for Gaveston was dangerously out of control. He was mixing his personal life and his public role so closely that the country was threatened. The antidote to this potentially lethal cocktail was to separate the two sides of kingship, to distinguish the king from the Crown.

  It was at Boulogne, in the two weeks that Gaveston was ruler of England, that the Earls of Lincoln, Surrey, Pembroke and Hereford, together with the Bishop of Durham and five barons, drew up a declaration that they would act to protect the honour of the king and the rights of the Crown.10 The idea quickly spread: that a lord’s oath of fealty necessitated his loyalty to the Crown, but if the king himself was disloyal, then the lords’ loyalty was due to the Crown, not to the king. Over the coming months this idea developed further. Men became convinced that, if the king did not act in the interests of the nation, those loyal to the Crown would be obliged to correct him. And since the king was personally above the law, there would be only one way to effect this correction: force.

  Roger did not apply his seal to the Boulogne declaration. Two things may have motivated him: friendship for Edward and Gaveston, and personal ambition. With regard to the latter, Roger would have been aware of men like Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who had risen dramatically over the years through devoted, obsequious, service. And he realised that if he opposed the king in the name of justice he might only open the way for great earls like Lancaster to increase their power. A principled stand would not help lesser lords such as Roger. On the other hand, if he remained completely loyal to the king – and that was no crime in anybody’s eyes – he stood to be richly rewarded.

  On 25 January 1308 Edward was married to Isabella the Fair, the only daughter of King Philip of France, in Boulogne. If Roger was at the ceremony, as is believed, he would have seen the future queen of England for the first time at about the same moment as Edward himself. She was still very young, only twelve years old, but already noted for her good looks. And she was clever too. Writers in later centuries may have given her the title of ‘She-wolf’, especially referring to their disapproval of her immoral behaviour in the last years of her husband’s reign, but contemporaries repeatedly focus on the same two qualities when describing her: beauty and wisdom. While most royal brides across the ages have been described as beautiful, there seems undoubtedly to have been something special about Isabella. Geoffrey of Paris carefully stated that, at that time, Isabella was the ‘beauty of beauties … in the kingdom if not in all Europe’. With reference to her intelligence, to describe free-thinking females, even royal ones, as ‘very wise’ (sapientissima) was far from conventional.11 Then, of course, there is the matter of heredity: her father was not known as Philip the Fair on account of his equitable nature but for his extraordinary good looks, which Isabella and her brother Charles seem to have inherited. As for her clothes, the preservation of her wedding dress – a ‘tunic with a mantle of red, lined with yellow sindon’ – until the day she died, indicates its fineness.12 Thus on his wedding day Edward set his eyes on a girl who had every desirable attribute, and for whose face every man in England would have launched at least one ship, if not the full thousand.

  Every man in England, that is, except Edward. The king had thoughts only for Gaveston. As soon as he landed back in Dover, he singled out Gaveston among the lords assembled there and ran to him and flung his arms around him, repeatedly kissing him while the onlookers shifted uncomfortably. London had been bedecked with decorations, banners and flags to welcome Isabella to England, and the crowds turned out in their thousands to catch a glimpse of the young queen; but it was clear that this poor girl was not receiving the attention she deserved from the one man who mattered – her new husband – and that her future happiness was anything but assured.

  King Philip had not let his daughter travel to England alone. With her came her two uncles, Charles de Valois and Louis d’Evreux, and most importantly, the youngest of her three brothers, Prince Charles, the future Charles IV of France. A number of continental dukes and lords came too. Also there were the French ladies at court who were married to English lords, one such being Joan, Roger’s wife, and another Margar
et, his mother.13 But nevertheless it must have been with great trepidation that Isabella prepared to take part in her first official function: her husband’s coronation.

  The coronation had been planned for 18 February, and invitations had been sent out on 18 January bearing this date. The event was delayed by a week, possibly owing to a dispute over protocol with the Archbishop of Canterbury, but more probably because of a disagreement over the role Gaveston was to perform at the ceremony. Edward’s affection for his friend was now more intense than ever. He was not blind to the fact that he was angering a number of the nobles through his favouritism, but their anger only strengthened his resolve, for he was convinced they had no right to question his authority. He was absolutely determined that England should see him and his adoptive brother as partners in government. In this he was as bloody-minded as his father had been in subduing Scotland.

  The previous October the king had ordered tapestries bearing his coat of arms and Gaveston’s to be prepared for the coronation.14 Now he demanded that Gaveston be allowed to carry the crown of St Edward the Confessor in procession before him: the most important secular role in the ceremony apart from that of the king himself. The earls, in conjunction with the outraged French princes, protested. On the day of the intended coronation they gave Edward an ultimatum: either banish Gaveston or face the consequences. Edward disparagingly opted for the latter, and thus a week passed with all the tension of a dozen knives being silently drawn around the king. Before the earls would consent to the ceremony going ahead with Gaveston carrying the crown, they insisted that Edward agree to sanction whatever policies the forthcoming parliament introduced. In addition, he had to add a fourth clause to the traditional coronation oaths, to ‘uphold and defend the laws and righteous customs which the community of the realm shall determine’. Uncrowned, and with so many powerful men ranged against him, Edward had no choice but to acquiesce on the political matter. On the subject of Gaveston, however, he refused to give in. The earls, confident that they could remove Gaveston at a later date, let the ceremony go ahead.

  On 25 February 1308 Edward II was crowned King of England, Wales and Ireland before the great altar of Westminster Abbey by the Bishop of Winchester. So many Londoners turned out to watch the spectacle that a wall collapsed along the route taken by the guests, and a knight was crushed to death. Edward himself avoided the crowds, being steered into the abbey through a back door. In the ceremonial procession, William Marshal, a descendant of the famous warrior-statesman, carried the great gilt spurs, followed by the Earl of Hereford carrying the sceptre, who was in turn followed by Henry of Lancaster, brother of the Earl of Lancaster, carrying the royal staff. These men were followed by the Earls of Lancaster, Lincoln and Warwick carrying the three swords of state, the one carried by Lancaster being Curtana, the sword of St Edward the Confessor. These three earls had been selected on account of their status, rather than how close they were personally to Edward, but the next group, none of whom was an earl, were clearly present because of personal association with the king. Hugh Despenser, Thomas de Vere, Edmund FitzAlan and Roger carried between them a large, fine chequered cloth on which lay the royal robes. All four of these men had spent at least part of their youth at court, and it seems reasonable to suppose they formed an outer ring of Edward’s close friends. Two were cousins of Roger’s (de Vere and FitzAlan). After this group came the two great officers of state: the Treasurer and the Chancellor. The last figure to enter the abbey before the king, and thus the most important, was Gaveston, carrying the crown.

  The ceremony itself passed without incident. The banquet afterwards in Westminster Hall did not.

  As an earl, Gaveston had the right to wear cloth-of-gold in the king’s presence. To the dismay of all, he appeared wearing imperial purple trimmed with pearls. He sought to show off as much as he could, and the king enthusiastically encouraged him. Edward ignored his young bride, despite the fact that her uncles and brothers were official guests at the coronation. Rather than sit next to her, he sat next to Gaveston. Together they laughed, ate, joked, and paid no attention to anyone else. It was revealed that Edward had given all the gold and jewellery he had received as wedding presents, including those from the King of France, to Gaveston.15 Outraged and insulted, the French princes stood up, shouted their disgust, and left the hall there and then, to the embarrassment of all but the king.

  Two days later, at a parliament held in the same hall, the old Earl of Lincoln sternly demanded that the king should confirm in a charter what he had promised before the coronation, that is to assent to the will of the lords in Parliament, whether he agreed with them or not. Only one earl openly defended the king’s rights: his cousin, Thomas of Lancaster. With the help of Hugh Despenser he managed to persuade the Earl of Lincoln to delay his demand, but no sooner had they left the hall than the lords began to prepare for a possible conflict. It was clearly the only way of controlling royal authority. The king himself was alert to the danger, and replaced any custodians of royal castles connected with his opponents with men loyal to himself. If it took a civil war to show his determination to rule as his own man, Edward was ready.

  Roger Mortimer was also ready, and he was prepared to defend the king. The very fact that he remained at court at this time, when so many were preparing for conflict, is evidence of his loyalty.16 On 17 March he went a step further and made a clear statement of his friendship for Gaveston, when he jointly made a request with him for a gift of land to John de Boltesham.17 Before this, no secular lord had ever acted publicly in conjunction with Gaveston. To associate himself openly with him at this juncture reveals the extent of Roger’s royalist sympathies, and his friendship with both the king and Gaveston.

  By the end of March the mood was tense. Castles were fortified, men were summoned and equipped, messengers were despatched around the country, hastily coordinating plans. King Philip of France sent money to the earls to help rid England of Gaveston. The days passed. Only the Earls of Lancaster and Richmond declared they would defend the king in battle. Even the Earl of Gloucester would not commit himself. Few other lords besides the Mortimers remained faithful.18 The Earl of Lincoln was determinedly for war, and behind him were Pembroke, Arundel, Warwick, Surrey and the majority of the country. The situation for the king and his favourite looked bleak.

  Temporary respite came in the form of a parliament, held at Westminster at the end of April. The rebel lords came armed with their retinues. As a show of force it was persuasive, and their demands were just as emphatic. The Earl of Lincoln announced their purpose. Firstly he repeated the well-rehearsed argument that the king was not synonymous with the Crown, to which each lord owed a higher allegiance. Secondly, Gaveston should be banished, for his treason to the Crown, which took the form of appropriating Crown lands to himself. Thirdly, that the people, whose will the king had sworn to accept, had already judged Gaveston, and found him guilty. The only thing remaining to be discussed was whether the king also stood to be accused.

  Edward could not defend himself, but he tried to defend Gaveston. Incredibly, for three weeks he refused to accept the lords’ demands. But the situation was too serious and the lords did not back down. On 18 May Edward finally agreed to Gaveston’s banishment. Distraught at the prospect of once more being separated from his beloved Perrot, and furious at such pressure being brought to bear upon him by the earls, he searched for a way to spite them. The appointment of a new Lieutenant in Ireland gave him an idea. By making Gaveston Lord Lieutenant of Ireland he could offer him considerable authority, much dignity, and a good deal of honour. He could also kick sand in the earls’ faces. It was an excellent strategy: if he had to lose Perrot, he would give him Ireland.

  By this time Roger seems to have left court. He probably departed soon after Parliament broke up, as his name is not among those who witnessed various letters in favour of Gaveston in mid-June.19 Probably he accompanied his wife and mother back to Wigmore, or another of their demesne manors. It marks the end o
f the first period of his attendance at Edward II’s court, which had probably lasted the whole year, and in which he had shown himself, like his uncle, unswervingly loyal to the king.

  *

  The following autumn Roger and Joan followed Gaveston and his wife to Ireland. Their main reasons for going were to meet Joan’s grandfather, to take possession of Meath and to attend a court to answer a case concerning their manor of Duleek, over a dispute about tolls exacted on their behalf which had rumbled on in their absence since January 1306.20 It is quite possible that Roger also wanted to meet Gaveston, and the evidence touching upon his stay in Ireland certainly tallies with this. Perhaps Roger would have sailed with Gaveston but for the fact that on 21 June a summons was issued for him to muster his forces for a campaign in Scotland. Although this campaign did not go ahead, it may well have delayed him.

  Ireland was nominally under English rule, but English rule amounted to very little rule in practice. The country was a land of communities living in dire poverty, with an empty treasury, and a great absence of major lords, none of whom wished to risk their lives in such a lawless and impoverished place. And that accounted only for the parts conquered by the English. Considerably more than half the island was still ruled by continually warring native Irish clans. The English lords were constantly defending themselves against the Irish, and attacking them, and fighting amongst each other. Indeed, over the last century the English lords had become partly Irish themselves, so it is more accurate to say that part-English and part-Irish warlords ruled nearly the whole country. War, with all its terror, had swallowed Ireland whole and was spitting out the bodies.