Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England

by Alison Weir

  While Gaveston’s star was in the ascendant, Isabella stood little chance of exercising any political influence as Queen. To begin with, of course, she was too young to do so. But it is clear, too, that she played a very insignificant part in the King’s life during these early years and was therefore in no position to counteract the favorite’s supremacy. She was effectively alone in a strange country and a court seething with tensions and hostility.

  By now, Isabella would have become better acquainted with England’s leading barons, most of whom were related in some way to either herself or her husband. Foremost among them were the Earl of Lincoln and his son-in-law, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, the King’s cousin. Lancaster was also Isabella’s maternal uncle, being the son of her grandmother, Blanche of Artois, through her marriage to Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, younger brother of Edward I. Jeanne of Navarre, Isabella’s mother, had been the child of Blanche’s first marriage, to Henry I, King of Navarre. Thomas thus boasted many royal connections.

  He had been born around 1278–80 and had married Alice de Lacy before 1294. She was a great heiress, for, as her father’s only surviving child, she stood to inherit great lands and earldoms on his demise. On his own father’s death in 1296, Thomas inherited the earldoms of Lancaster, Leicester, and Derby, which made him the wealthiest landowner in England after the King. He maintained a huge private army and had as many knights in his service as the King did.

  During Edward I’s reign, Lancaster served the Crown in various small ways and was high in favor with Edward I. On 9 May 1308, Edward II confirmed his appointment as High Steward of England. But Lancaster had a low opinion of Edward. Well connected and blue-blooded as he was, he had every reason to expect to be the King’s chief adviser; but Edward had chosen Gaveston instead and incurred Lancaster’s undying jealousy.

  Lancaster was tall, slim, and imposing and affected a flamboyant style of dress. In character, though, he was haughty, selfish, treacherous, and vicious. Like his cousin the King, he was lethargic and lacked vision or purpose. In fact, he had few redeeming features. A sulky, quarrelsome, and vindictive man,64 he was quick to resort to violence. His speech was coarse, and he was promiscuous to excess; we are told that he “defouled a great multitude of women and gentle wenches.” Unsurprisingly, his marriage was unhappy, and childless.

  Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex and Constable of England, was thirty-two; in 1302, he had married Elizabeth, one of Edward I’s daughters. He was a self-contained individual, prickly and quick-tempered, but also intelligent, with a sense of humor. As an official in the Prince of Wales’s household, he had enjoyed good relations with Edward II before the latter’s accession and had benefited from the Prince’s generosity, but their friendship had been soured by Edward’s excessive favoring of Gaveston, and the Earl, faced with a conflict of loyalties, was now reluctantly siding with the opposition.

  Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, was a fierce opponent of Gaveston. Now aged thirty-five or more, he was an exceptionally cultured and learned man who understood Latin, was well read, and owned an unusually large collection of books for a nobleman of this period. Warwick had served with great distinction in Scotland under Edward I, and he brought to his political career wisdom and good sense: “in prudence and counsel,” he was “without parallel.” Thus, his fellow magnates would often seek his advice before taking any action. Although he was also something of a thug, and could be ruthless and arrogant, the author of the Vita Edwardi Secundi lauded him as a hero.

  John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, was two years younger than the King and was married to Joan of Bar, a granddaughter of Edward I;65 their marriage would, however, be annulled in 1315. Surrey was a nasty, brutal man with scarcely one redeeming quality; although they were his political allies, Lincoln and Lancaster loathed him, and he and Lancaster maintained a private feud for years. Surrey’s sister, Alice de Warenne, was married to another young earl, Edmund FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, now aged twenty-three; he, too, was an opponent of Gaveston.

  Perhaps the most honorable and able of the magnates was the moderate Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, a tall, lean, and sallow man of forty who was the son of William de Valence, half brother of Henry III66 and therefore cousin to the King. Pembroke had been one of Edward I’s most trusted captains in his campaigns against the French and the Scots, and all his life he was a true servant of the Crown, a skilled diplomat who was known and respected both at home and abroad for his honesty and integrity. Pembroke, as a man of principle, deplored Edward II’s reliance on his unworthy favorite because it threatened to undermine the prestige of the monarchy itself. Being no sycophant, he, too, was at times to find himself embroiled in a conflict of loyalties.

  One baron who supported Edward II throughout the greater part of his reign was his Breton cousin John de Montfort, Earl of Richmond, a grandson of Henry III.67 Aged forty-two in 1308, he had been granted his earldom by Edward I in 1306. Richmond became a favorite of Isabella and would play an important role in her life many years hence.

  Immediately after the coronation, the magnates began to hold secret meetings. “It was only now that almost all the barons rose against Piers Gaveston, binding themselves by a mutual oath never to cease from what they had begun until Piers left England.”68 When Parliament met at Westminster on 3 March, they moved against “the King’s idol,” accused him of accroaching the powers of the Crown, and demanded his banishment. Their spokesman was Lincoln, who, appalled by Gaveston’s arrogance, had now turned against him and become “his greatest enemy and persecutor,”69 acting in what he sincerely believed were the interests of the Crown. The highly intransigent and uncompromising Archbishop Winchelsey, newly returned from exile, immediately supported the barons’ stand, while Gloucester and Richmond remained neutral, and only Lancaster and Hugh le Despenser sided with the King. Not daring to criticize the mighty Lancaster, the other barons turned on Despenser and accused him of being a “hateful” man who, “more from a desire to please the King and a lust for gain than for any creditable reason, had become an adherent of Piers.”70

  In fact, Hugh le Despenser, who was now in his late forties and was married to Warwick’s daughter, “was one of the most distinguished men of his day, both in judgement and in probity.”71 He had been one of Edward I’s most faithful and able servants and was to prove as loyal to Edward II. He was an efficient administrator, a capable politician, and a trusted diplomat, courteous, easygoing, and genial. He had sent gifts to Prince Edward when the latter was in disfavor with his father, he was the only baron whom Edward could really trust, and—most important of all in Edward’s eyes—he was friendly toward Gaveston, which earned him the King’s undying affection and the implacable enmity of the other barons. It has to be said, however, that their accusations against him are borne out by contemporary records: he was indeed “brutal and greedy,”72 with an insatiable desire for land and wealth, and he had over the years accumulated large estates through underhand means and sheer force. His success may be measured by the fact that in 1306, Edward I had agreed to the marriage of Despenser’s son, Hugh the Younger, to his own granddaughter, Eleanor de Clare, whose sister Margaret married Piers Gaveston.

  In response to the magnates’ demands, Edward announced that he would defer discussion of such matters until after Easter. Meanwhile, he bestowed Berkhamsted Castle, which legitimately belonged to Queen Marguerite, on Piers, and at Easter, when Edward took Isabella to Windsor, journeying via Reading and Wallingford,73 Gaveston joined them.

  The situation between the King and his barons was now sufficiently grave for civil war to be a distinct possibility, and Edward spent most of April summoning men and fortifying castles. One person who offered his support to the King at this time was Roger Mortimer, who joined Edward at Windsor.

  Roger Mortimer, who was to play such a fateful role in Isabella’s life, was the most powerful member of a fiercely independent group of barons known as Marcher lords, whose lands bestrode the Wel
sh border and whose task it was to keep the peace in that region. Roger had been born probably in 1287 and, in 1304, succeeded his father as eighth Baron of Wigmore, where his family had been established since 1074, the first Roger Mortimer having been a companion of the Conqueror. Edward I made this present Roger, who had inherited considerable estates in Wales, the Marches, and Ireland, a ward of Piers Gaveston, but Roger quickly purchased his independence.74 In 1301, he married Joan de Genville, a well-connected75 heiress who brought him Ludlow in Shropshire and lands in Ireland and Gascony and would bear him twelve children. Roger frequently took Joan with him on his travels, which suggests that theirs was a close and companionable relationship.76

  Because of his Irish connections and his undoubted administrative talents and military reputation, and also because the King knew him to be brave, loyal, and dependable, Roger Mortimer was to spend the best part of the early years of Edward II’s reign helping to govern Ireland. When he was not in Ireland, he was serving in Scotland and Gascony, or ruling ruthlessly and efficiently on the Marches and in Wales, in conjunction with his uncle, the violent and lecherous Roger Mortimer of Chirk, almost like independent princes. Nevertheless, he came to court as often as he could and had been present at the royal wedding in Boulogne. From the first, he appears to have been on good terms with Queen Isabella, who corresponded with him occasionally and, in 1311, helped him obtain the release of the Chamberlain of North Wales, who had been imprisoned on a false charge.77

  Roger Mortimer was tall, swarthy of complexion, and strongly built. He was one of the most outstanding military leaders of the period, tough, energetic, decisive, and versatile in his talents. Like most barons, he was arrogant, grasping, and ambitious, but he was also an excellent political strategist and a faithful servant of the Crown who was well respected by his peers. Clever, cultured, and literate,78 he took a keen interest in his family’s history and its alleged descent from Brutus, the mythical British King, and in the legends of King Arthur. He had refined tastes, loved fine clothes, lived in some luxury, and undertook major architectural works to transform his castles at Wigmore and Ludlow into veritable palaces. Typical of his caste, he also loved tournaments, paid lip service to the knightly code of chivalry, and amassed a considerable collection of weaponry.79

  Edward sent Mortimer to Ireland in the autumn of 1308. In so doing, he deprived himself of a valuable ally, because Roger’s frequent absences would mean that, for many years, he had little opportunity to become involved in Edward’s struggle with the barons.

  When Parliament met at Westminster on 28 April, the magnates came armed “for self-defence,” fearing treachery,80 and demanded Gaveston’s banishment on the grounds that he had seized royal funds for his own pleasure and had turned the King against his rightful advisers, themselves. Edward prevaricated, desperately playing for time, but although he still enjoyed the support of Lancaster and Hugh le Despenser, Despenser’s son, Hugh the Younger, was on the side of the barons, and it was he who, with Lincoln, drafted a document in which the lords cunningly and defiantly declared that “a higher duty is owed to the Crown than to the person of the King. It is the magnates’ professed duty to maintain the estate of the Crown, even if this should mean disobedience to the King.”81 Parliament also raised the issue of the Queen’s dower, or lack of it, and on 3 May, the Great Council of barons tried to force Edward to agree in advance to any measures they might propose.

  By April, Philip IV was becoming increasingly concerned about events in England and how they might affect his daughter and the alliance. After the coronation, apparently incensed at the reports brought back by Evreux and Valois, he had sent a clerk, Ralph de Rosseleti (the future Bishop of Saint Malo), to carry Isabella’s Privy Seal and control her outgoing and incoming correspondence.82 Possibly Philip feared that Gaveston might try to interfere in concerns that were legitimately hers; more likely, he wanted to establish a channel of communication between himself and his daughter; whatever the motive, there can be little doubt that Rosseleti acted as a spy and that Philip received far more information about his daughter’s situation than is available to us today.

  It seems that Isabella’s complaints about Gaveston had also hit home, because on 12 May, it was reported in an anonymous newsletter that Philip had sent envoys to England, and two days later, another newsletter stated that these envoys were to “let it be known that, unless Piers Gaveston leaves the kingdom, their master will pursue as his mortal enemies all who support the said Piers.”83

  There is also evidence that, at the behest of her father and brothers, Isabella covertly offered her support to Gaveston’s enemies. It has been claimed84 that the Queen was at this time one of the leaders of the baronial opposition, but her very youth makes this improbable. It is more likely that the barons were only too happy to exploit her plight for their own purposes.85 It is likely, too, that Rosseleti acted as a channel between Philip and Isabella in these secret negotiations and that Isabella played a more proactive part against Gaveston than will ever be fully known.

  As early as the spring of 1308, the Queen’s antagonism toward Gaveston and her alliance with his enemies were well known. Faced with the election of Gaveston’s candidate as Abbot of Westminster, a monk called Roger de Aldenham urged his brethren to appeal to Queen Isabella, because it was recognized that, because of her hatred for Gaveston, she would do her utmost to hinder the election by enlisting the support of the King of France and the Pope; for whatever concerned Gaveston, “the Queen, the Earls, the Pope and the King of France would wish to impede it.”86

  Philip was angry with his son-in-law not only because of Gaveston but also on account of Isabella’s parlous financial state. Aside from Edward’s outrageous failure to provide her with a dower, she had not even received small sums for her daily expenses from the Exchequer or the Royal Wardrobe. Instead, she had been entirely dependent on the King, in whose household she had apparently been obliged to live. To add insult to injury, her husband had made her no gifts nor shown any mark of favor to her apart from granting three pardons to criminals at her instance.87

  On his part, Philip had had to raise £200,000 through taxation for Isabella’s wedding endowment, a measure that had met with many complaints and angry refusals on the part of his subjects.88 Yet she had evidently received not a penny from her husband, even though he had not ceased to shower Gaveston with lands, gifts, and grants. Small wonder that Philip was indignant and ready to unite Gaveston’s opponents in a cohesive party.89

  Edward II had troubles enough without wishing further to antagonize his father-in-law, and on 14 May, in order that “his dearest consort Isabella, Queen of England, shall be honourably and decently provided with all things necessary for her chamber, and all expenses for jewels, gifts and every other requisite,” he assigned the counties of Ponthieu and Montreuil to Isabella for her dower and directed Richard de Rokesley, “her seneschal of that province, to give the deputies of the Queen peaceful possession of the demesnes.”90

  This came not a moment too soon, for on the same day, an anonymous correspondent reported that King Philip and his sister, Queen Marguerite, had sent £40,000 to Lincoln and Pembroke to finance their campaign to oust Gaveston.91 Marguerite herself had suffered as a result of the favorite’s greed, and from Wiltshire, it appears, the Dowager Queen had kept abreast of events at court, and what she had heard had no doubt prompted her to write on her own behalf to Philip of her concerns about the favorite’s influence and its effects on her niece. However, as Edward had intended, Philip was partly mollified by the settlement made on his daughter.

  The French King’s intervention had another effect, for on 18 May, Edward, realizing that the opposition party was now too powerful to be ignored, capitulated to Parliament’s demands and agreed to strip Gaveston of his title and banish him from his realm by midsummer day, 24 June.92 Just to make sure that Edward kept his word, Archbishop Winchelsey warned that Gaveston would be excommunicated if he stayed in England one hour too long.9
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  On 4 June, Edward, Isabella, and Gaveston were at Langley together, but it seems likely that Isabella was largely ignored as her husband made the most of his remaining time with Piers.

  Langley, which had once belonged to Eleanor of Castile, was the King’s favorite residence; it was a pleasant manor house situated on a gentle rise on the banks of the River Gade, six miles from Saint Albans, and it was surrounded by eight acres of parkland and 120 acres of farmland. In 1308, Edward had founded a Dominican priory in the park. Fruit trees and vines grew in the gardens, and the house, which was built round three courtyards, boasted the very latest in interior decoration and had extensive suites of private apartments, with fireplaces in the royal bedchambers. The great hall was embellished with fifty-four painted shields and a mural highlighted in brilliant gold and vermilion, depicting knights riding to a tournament. There was also a built-in organ. Isabella’s rooms, probably the ones that had been used by Queen Eleanor, overlooked the Great Court; she had a great chamber, a middle chamber, and a cloister, all paved; her Wardrobe was next to her great chamber, her larder downstairs, and she even had a bathroom, which had been installed for Queen Eleanor in 1279.94

  On 7 June, while still at Langley, the King granted castles and manors to Gaveston, as well as lands in Gascony, a strong indication that he did not intend that his exile should last long.95 Then, on 16 June, much to the barons’ chagrin, he appointed the favorite Lieutenant of Ireland with viceregal powers.96 On the same day, with devastating naïveté, he wrote to his “dearest lord and father,” King Philip, begging him to intercede with his magnates to bring about a concord over Gaveston, and to the Pope, asking him to annul Winchelsey’s threat to excommunicate Piers.97