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The queen-mother, with her favorite, Mortimer, had used up all the public funds for their own support, but young Edward was not going to stand such a state of affairs much longer, and before the close of the year he had liberated himself from his wicked mother's control and executed her favorite.
With the reins of government in his own hands, the young king, aided by his good and sensible wife, set to work to reform the abuses of his mother's reign and to establish most excellent and satisfactory laws.
Edward had a very violent temper, which would have led him to commit many an act of cruelty and injustice had it not been for the influence of his kind-hearted, virtuous wife.
A.D. 1330. Her eldest son, Edward, surnamed the Black Prince on account of the color of the armor he wore in battle, was born while she was living at Woodstock, and in celebration of that event a grand tournament was arranged to take place in London. Philippa, with all the noble ladies, was invited to attend. The preparations were on a much grander scale than usual, thirteen knights being engaged on either side. The arena was covered with sand to prevent the horses' feet from slipping; flags and banners were ingeniously arranged as decorations, and a temporary platform was erected and ornamented for the accommodation of the queen and her ladies. No sooner were they all seated than the scaffolding gave way, and they tumbled pell-mell to the ground. Fortunately the platform was not high, and nobody was hurt, but the ladies were terribly frightened, and, for a few moments, the confusion and excitement were very great.
The king flew into a perfect fury and vowed that the careless carpenters should instantly be put to death. This was rather a severe sentence, particularly as the damage was slight, and so Philippa considered it, for scarcely had she recovered from her fright than she threw herself on her knees before her angry husband, and pleaded with angelic sweetness for the pardon of the poor men. Edward soon became calm under the influence of her gentle voice and words, and forgave the offenders.
Up to this time all the wool grown in England had been sent to the Netherlands to be manufactured into cloth, and Philippa remembered what a source of profit and occupation it had been for her own country. She therefore set to work to establish a manufacturing colony at Norwich, and a letter was sent to John Kemp of Flanders, cloth-weaver, in which he is informed, "that if he will come to England with the servants and apprentices of his mystery, and with his goods and chattels, and with any dyers who maybe willing to accompany him beyond the seas, and exercise their mysteries in the kingdom of England, they shall have letters of protection and assistance in their settlement."
A.D. 1335. He came, and was the patriarch of the Norwich woollen manufactories. Philippa often visited the colony, which soon brought considerable wealth into the country, encouraging the work by her patronage, and, like a beneficent queen of the hive cherishing and protecting the working bees, she made a law that no woollen clothes should be worn except those made in England. Besides the occupation which she thus provided for hundreds of her subjects, this young queen displayed unusual foresight for a woman of her age in the tournament exhibitions she held at Norwich, by which she gave the citizens assurance of gallant protection on the part of the nobility in case of need. These festivities brought together the workers and the defenders of the nation, and Queen Philippa set them the example of mutual respect. Edward III. did not often accompany his wife on her visits to Norwich, but usually passed the time of her absence with his unhappy mother at Castle Rising.
In 1333 Edward again commenced a furious war on Scotland. His faithful Philippa went with him as far as she could, and while he laid siege to Berwick took up her residence at Bamborough Castle. It was during this siege that the king committed a deed so atrocious that it must forever be a dark stain upon his character. Douglas, the defender of Scotland, left King Edward before Berwick and made a forced march to the castle that contained Queen Philippa, hoping to frighten the king and to force him to fly to her assistance. But he was mistaken, for Edward had too much confidence in the strength of the castle and the firmness of his wife to budge. It is probable though that this attempt to capture Philippa aggravated his ferocious temper and prompted him to the cruel deed to which we have referred. The two young Seatons, sons of the Governor of Berwick, had been taken as prisoners, and the king had them put to death because the father refused to surrender the town. His object was to take Berwick by a desperate blow and fly to the relief of his queen, and he succeeded, for the poor grief-stricken father of the Seatons was so perfectly stunned by the infamous murder of his boys, that he could offer no further resistance. Douglas and Edward fought not far from Benwick, where the former was killed and the king entered the town in triumph with Philippa at his side.