In Convent Walls / The Story of the Despensers

by Emily Sarah Holt

King Edward the Second was born at Caernarvon Castle (but not, as tradition states, in the Eagle Tower, not then built), April 25, 1284; crowned at Westminster Abbey, August 6, 1307, by the Bishop of Winchester, acting as substitute for the Archbishop of Canterbury. The gilt spurs were borne by William le Mareschal; “the royal sceptre on whose summit is the cross” by the Earl of Hereford (killed in rebellion against the King) and “the royal rod on whose summit is the dove” by Henry of Lancaster, afterwards Earl: the Earls of Lancaster, Lincoln, and Warwick—of whom the first was beheaded for treason, and the third deserved to be so—bore the three swords, Curtana having the precedence: then a large standard (or coffer) with the royal robes, was carried by the Earl of Arundel, Thomas de Vere (son and heir of the Earl of Oxford), Hugh Le Despenser, and Roger de Mortimer, the best friend and the worst enemy of the hapless Sovereign: the King’s Treasurer carried “the paten of the chalice of Saint Edward,” and the Lord Chancellor the chalice itself: “then Peter de Gavaston, Earl of Cornwall, bore the crown royal,” followed by King Edward himself, who offered a golden pound as his oblation. The coronation oath was administered in French, in the following terms. “Sire, will you grant and keep and confirm by oath to the people of England, the laws and customs to them granted by the ancient Kings of England, your predecessors, the rights and devotions (due) to God, and especially the laws, customs, and franchises granted to the clergy and people by the glorious King, Saint Edward, your predecessor?” “I grant and promise them,” was the royal answer. “Sire, will you preserve, towards God and holy Church, and to the clergy and people, peace and concord in God, fully, according to your power?” “I will keep them,” said the King. “Sire, will you in all your judgments do equal and righteous justice and discretion, in mercy and truth, according to your power?” “I will so do.” “Sire, will you grant, to be held and kept, the righteous laws and customs which the commonalty of your realm shall choose, and defend them, and enforce them to the honour of God and according to your power?” King Edward’s answer was, “I grant and promise them.” Twenty years later, chiefly by the machinations of his wicked wife, aided by the blinded populace whom she had diligently misled, Edward was deposed at Kenilworth, January 20, 1327; and after being hurried from place to place, he was at last murdered in Berkeley Castle, September 21, 1327, and buried in Gloucester Cathedral on December 20th.

In the companion volume, In All Time of our Tribulation, will be found the story, as told by the chroniclers, of his burial by the Abbot and monks of Gloucester. The Wardrobe Accounts, however, are found to throw considerable doubt upon this tale. We find from them, that the Bishop of Llandaff, three knights, a priest, and four lesser officials, were sent by the young King “to dwell at Gloucester with the corpse of the said King his father,” which was taken from Berkeley Castle to Gloucester Abbey on October 21st. (Compotus Hugonis de Glaunvill, Wardrobe Accounts, 1 Edward the Third, 58/4). For the funeral were provided:—Three robes for knights, 2 shillings 8 pence each; 8 tunics for ditto, 14 pence each; four great lions of gilt picture-work, with shields of the King’s arms over them, for wax mortars (square basins filled with wax, a wick being in the midst), placed in four parts of the hearse; four images of the Evangelists standing on the hearse, 66 shillings, 8 pence; eight incensing angels with gilt thuribles, and two great leopards rampant, otherwise called volant, nobly gilt, standing outside the hearse, 66 shillings, 8 pence... An empty tun, to carry the said images to Gloucester, 21 shillings... Taking the great hearse from London to Gloucester, in December, 5 days’ journey; for wax, canvas, napery, etcetera. Wages of John Darcy, appointed to superintend the funeral, from November 22 to December 21, 19 pounds, 6 shillings, 8 pence. New hearse, 40 shillings; making thereof, from November 24 to December 11, 32 shillings. A wooden image after the similitude of the Lord King Edward, deceased, 40 shillings. A crown of copper, gilt, 7 shillings, 4 pence. Vestments for the body, in which he was buried, a German coverchief, and three-quarters (here a word is illegible, probably linen); item, one pillow to put under his head, 4 shillings (? the amount is nearly obliterated). Gilt paint for the hearse, 1 shilling. Wages of the painter (a few words illegible) grey colour, 2 shillings, (Wardrobe Accounts, 1 Edward the Third, 33/2). The King married...

Isabelle, surnamed the Fair, only daughter of Philippe the Fourth, King of France, and Jeanne Queen regnant of Navarre: born 1282, 1292, or 1295 (latest date most probable); married at Boulogne, January 25, 1308. All the chroniclers assert that on Edward the Third’s discovery of his mother’s real character, he imprisoned her for life in the Castle of Rising. The evidence of the Rolls and Wardrobe Accounts disproves this to a great extent. It was at Nottingham Castle that Mortimer was taken, October 19, 1330. On the 18th of January following, 36 pounds 6 shillings 4 pence was paid to Thomas Lord Wake de Lydel, for the expense of conducting Isabel Queen of England, by the King’s order, from Berkhamsted Castle to Windsor Castle, and thence to Odiham Castle. (Issue Roll, Michs., 5 Edward the Third.) On the 6th of October, 1337, she dates a charter from Hertford Castle; and another from Rising on the 1st of December following. She paid a visit to London—the only one hitherto traced subsequent to 1330—in 1341, when, on October 27, she was present in the hostel of the Bishop of Winchester at Southwark, when the King appointed Robert Parving to the office of Lord Chancellor. She dates a charter from Hertford Castle, December 1st, 1348. (Close Rolls, 11, 15, and 22 Edward the Third.) The Household Book for the last year of her life is in the British Museum, and it runs from September 30th, 1357, to December 4th, 1358 (Cott. Ms., Galba, E. 14). We find from this interesting document that she spent her final year mainly at Hertford, but that she also made two pilgrimages to Canterbury, visiting London on each occasion; that she was at Ledes Castle, Chertsey, Shene, Eltham, and Windsor. The King visits her more than once, and several of his children do the same, including the Princess Isabel. There is no mention of any visit from the Queen, but she corresponds with her mother-in-law, and they exchange gifts. The most frequent guests are Joan Countess of Surrey, and the Countess of Pembroke: there were then three ladies living who bore this title, but as letters are sent to her at Denny—her pet convent, where she often resided and finally died—it is evident that this was the Countess Marie, the “fair Chatillon who (not ‘on her bridal morn,’ but at least two years after) mourned her bleeding love.” Both these ladies were of French birth, and were very old friends of Isabelle: the Countess of Surrey was with her when she died. Her youngest daughter, Joan Queen of Scots—an admirable but unhappy woman, who had to forgive that mother for being the cause of all her misery and loveless life—spent much of this last year with Isabel. Her most frequent male guests are the Earl of Tankerville and Marshal Daudenham, both of whom were probably her own countrymen; and Sir John de Wynewyk, Treasurer of York: the captive King of France visits her once, and she sends him two romances, of which one at least was from the Morte Arthur. Oblations are as numerous—and sometimes more costly—as in her earlier accounts. She gives 6 shillings 8 pence to the head of the eleven thousand virgins, and 2 shillings to minstrels to play “before the image of the blessed Mary in the crypt” of Canterbury Cathedral. Friars who preach before her are usually rewarded with 6 shillings 8 pence. Her Easter robes are of blue cloth, her summer ones of red mixed cloth. Two of Isabelle’s ruling passions went with her to the grave—her extravagance and her love of making gifts. Her purchases of jewellery are vast and costly during this year, up to the very month in which she died: two of the latest being a gold chaplet set with precious stones, price 150 pounds (the most expensive I ever yet saw in a royal account), and a gold crown set with sapphires, Alexandrian rubies, and pearls, 80 pounds, expressly stated to be for her own wearing. Two ruby rings she purchased exactly a fortnight before her death. She was probably ill for some weeks, since a messenger was sent in haste to Canterbury to bid Master Lawrence the physician repair to Hertford “to see the state of the Queen,” and he remained there for a month. Medicines were brought from London. Judging from the slight indications as to remedies employed, among which were herbal baths, she died of some cutaneous malady. Her Inquisition states that her death took place at Hertford, August 23rd, 1358; but the Household Book twice records that it was on the 22nd. Fourteen poor men watched the corpse in the chapel at Hertford for three months, and in December the coffin (the entire cost of which was 5 pounds, 9 shillings, 11 pence) was brought to London, guarded by 40 torches, and buried in the Church of the Grey Friars. It may be stated with tolerable certainty that the Queen was not confined for life at Rising Castle, though she passed most of her time either at Rising or Hertford; that she never became a nun, as asserted by some modern writers, the non-seclusion, the coloured robes, and the crown, being totally inconsistent with this supposition; that if it be true, as is said, that she was seized with madness while Mortimer hung on the gallows, and passed most of her subsequent life in this state, probably with lucid intervals—a story which various facts tend to confirm—this was quite sufficient to account for her retirement from public life, and ordinary restriction to a few country residences; yet that the incidents chronicled in the Household Book seem to indicate that she was generally, if not fully, sane at the time of her death.

Their children:—1. King Edward the Third, born in Windsor Castle, November 13, baptised 16th, 1312; crowned Westminster, February 1, 1327. The Rolls of the Great Wardrobe for 1327 contain some interesting details respecting this ceremony. The King was attired in a tunic, mantle, and cape of purple velvet, price 5 shillings (but this is probably the mere cost of making), and a pair of slippers of cloth of gold, price 6 shillings 8 pence. He was anointed in a tunic of samitelle (a variety of samite), which cost 2 shillings, and a robe of Rennes linen, price 18 pence. A quarter of an ell of sindon (silk) was bought “for the King’s head, to place between the head and the crown, on account of the largeness of the crown,” at a cost of 12 pence. (Rot. Gard., 1 Edward the Third, 33/2). The “great hall” at Westminster was hung with six cloths and twelve ells of cloth from Candlewick Street and fifteen pieces of cloth were required “to put under his feet, going to the Abbey, and thence to the King’s chamber after the coronation.” The platform erected in the Abbey to sustain the throne, and the throne itself, were hung with silk cloth of gold; five camaca cushions were placed “under the King and his feet;” and “the King’s small chair before the altar” was also covered with cloth of gold. The royal oblation was one cloth of gold of diapered silk. Two similar cloths were laid over the tomb of Edward the first. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s seat was covered with ray (striped) silk cloth of gold, and that of the Abbot of Westminster with cloth of Tars. The royal seat at the coronation feast was draped in “golden silk of Turk,” and in order to save this costly covering from “the humidity of the walls,” 24 ells of canvas were provided. Red and grey sindon hung before the royal table; the King sat on samitelle cushions, and two pieces of velvet “to put under the King” also appear in the account. (Rot. Magnae Gard., pro Coronatione et in Palatio, 1 Edward the Third, 33/5.) King Edward died at Shene, June 21, 1377, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. He married—Philippine (called in England Philippa), daughter of William the Third, Count of Hainault and Holland, and Jeanne of France; born 1312 or a little later; married at York, January 24, 1328; crowned in Westminster Abbey, February 20, 1328. The Wardrobe Accounts tell us that the Queen rode from the Tower to Westminster, the day before her coronation (as was usual) in a dress of green velvet, a cape of the best cloth of gold diapered in red, trimmed with miniver, and a miniver hood. She dined in a tunic and mantle of red and grey samitelle, and was crowned in a robe of cloth of gold, diapered in green. She changed to a fourth robe for supper, but its materials are not on record. (Wardrobe Accounts, 4-5 Edward the Third, 34/13.) Red and green appear to have been her favourite colours, judging from the number of her dresses of these hues compared with others. On the occasion of her churching in 1332 (after the birth of her daughter Isabel) she wore a robe of red and purple velvet wrought with pearls, the royal infant being attired in Lucca silk and miniver, and the Black Prince (aged about 2 and a half years) in a golden costume striped with mulberry colour. Some of these items appear rather warm wear for July. (Wardrobe Accounts, Cott. Ms. Galba, E. 3, folio 14 et seq). The Queen died of dropsy, at Windsor Castle, August 15, 1369; buried in Westminster Abbey.

2. John, born at Eltham, August 15, 1316; created Earl of Cornwall; died at Perth, unmarried, September 14, 1336; buried in Westminster Abbey.

3. Alianora, born at Woodstock, 1318; married at Novum Magnum, 1332, Raynald the Second, Duke of Gueldres; died at Deventer, April 22, 1355; buried at Deventer.

4. Joan, surnamed Makepeace, born in the Tower of London, (before August 16,) 1321; married at Berwick, July 17, 1328, David the Second, King of Scotland; died at Hertford Castle, September 7, 1362 (not 1358, as sometimes stated); buried in Grey Friars’ Church, London.

II. The Despensers.

Hugh Le Despenser the Elder, son of Hugh Le Despenser, Justiciary of England, and Alina Basset: born March 1-8, 1261 (Inq. Post Mortem Alinae La Dispensere, 9 Edward the First, 9.); sponsor of Edward the Third, 1312; created Earl of Winchester, 1322; beheaded at Bristol, October 27 (Harl. Ms. 6124), 1326. (This is not improbably the true date: that of Froissart, October 8, is certainly a mistake, as the Queen had only reached Wallingford, on her way to Bristol, by the 15th.) As his body was cast to the dogs, he had no burial. Married Isabel, daughter of William de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and Maud Fitz John; widow of Patrick de Chaworth (by whom she was mother of Maud, wife of Henry Duke of Lancaster): married 1281-2 (fine 2000 marks); died before July 22, 1306. Issue:—1. Hugh, the Younger, born probably about 1283; created Earl of Gloucester in right of wife; hanged and afterwards beheaded (but after death) at Hereford, November 24, 1326; quarters of body sent to Dover, Bristol, York, and Newcastle, and head set on London Bridge; finally buried in Tewkesbury Abbey. The Abbot and Chapter had granted to Hugh and Alianora, March 24, 1325, in consideration of benefits received, that four masses per annum should be said for them during life, at the four chief feasts, and 300 per annum for either or both after death, for ever; on the anniversary of Hugh, the Abbot bound himself to feed the poor with bread, beer, pottage, and one mess from the kitchen, for ever. (Rot. Pat., 20 Edward the Second) In the Appendix to the companion volume, In All Time of our Tribulation, will be found an account of the petitions of the two Despensers, with the curious list of their goods destroyed by the partisans of Lancaster. Hugh the Younger married Alianora, eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, The Red, Earl of Gloucester, and the Princess Joan of Acre, (daughter of Edward the First), born at Caerphilly Castle, November, 1292; married May 20, 1306, with a dowry of 2000 pounds from the Crown, in part payment of which the custody of Philip Paynel was granted to Hugh the Elder, June 3, 1304 (Rot. Claus., 1 Edward the Second). Her youngest child was born at Northampton, in December, 1326, and she sent William de Culpho with the news to the King, who gave him a silver-gilt cup in reward (Wardrobe Accounts, 25/1 and 31/19). On the 19th of April, 1326, and for 49 days afterwards, she was in charge of Prince John of Eltham, who was ill at Kenilworth in April. She left that place on May 22, arriving at Shene in four days, and in June she was at Rochester and Ledes Castle. Three interesting Wardrobe Accounts are extant, showing her expenses at this time (31/17 to 31/19); but the last is almost illegible. “Divers decoctions and recipes” made up at Northampton for the young Prince, came to 6 shillings, 9 pence. “Litter for my Lady’s bed” (to put under the feather bed in the box-like bedstead) cost 6 pence. Either her Ladyship or her royal charge must have entertained a strong predilection for “shrimpis,” judging from the frequency with which that entry occurs. Four quarters of wheat, we are told, made 1200 loaves. There is evidence of a good deal of company, the principal guests beside Priors and Canons being the Lady of Montzone, the Lady of Hastings (Julian, mother of Lawrence Earl of Pembroke), Eneas de Bohun (son of Princess Elizabeth), Sir John Neville (one of the captors of Mortimer), and John de Bentley (probably the ex-gaoler of Elizabeth Queen of Scotland, who appears in the companion volume). Sundry young people seem to have been also in Lady La Despenser’s care, as companions to the Prince:—Earl Lawrence of Pembroke; Margery de Verdon, step-daughter of Alianora’s sister Elizabeth; and Joan Jeremy, or Jermyn, sister of Alice wife of Prince Thomas de Brotherton. The provision for April 30, the vigil of Saint Philip, and therefore a fast-day, is as follows (a few words are illegible): Pantry:—60 loaves of the King’s bread at 5 and 4 to the penny, 13 and a half pence. Buttery:—One pitcher of wine from the King’s stores at Kenilworth; 22 gallons of beer, at 1 and a half pence per gallon, 2 shillings 6 pence. Wardrobe: ... lights, a farthing; a halfpennyworth of candles of cotton ... Kitchen:—50 herrings, 2 and a half pence; 3 codfish, 9 and three-quarter pence; 4 stockfish... salmon, 12 pence, 3 tench, 9 pence, 1 pikerel, 12 roach and perch, half a gallon of loaches, 13 and a half pence; one large eel... One and a half quarters pimpernel, 7 and a half pence; one piece of sturgeon, 6 pence. Poultry—100 eggs, 5 pence; cheese and butter, 3 and three-quarter pence... milk, one and a quarter pence; drink, 1 penny; Saltry:—half a quarter; mustard, a halfpenny; half a quarter of vinegar, three-quarters pence; ... parsley, a farthing. For May 1st, Saint Philip’s and a feast-day: Pantry: 100 loaves, 22 and a half pence. Buttery: one sextarius, 3 and a half pitchers of wine from the King’s stores at Kenilworth; 27 gallons of beer, 2 shillings, 8 and a half pence, being 17 at 1 penny, and 12 at 1 and a half pence. One quarter of hanaps, 12 pence. Wardrobe:—3 pounds wax, 15 pence; lights, 1 halfpenny; half a pound of candles of Paris, 1 penny. Kitchen:—12 messes of powdered beef, 18 pence; 3 messes of fresh beef, 9 pence; one piece of bacon, 12 pence; half a mutton, powdered, 9 pence; one quarter of fresh mutton, 3 pence; one pestle of pork, 3 and a half pence; half a veal, 14 pence. Poultry—One purcel, 4 and a half pence; 2 hens, 15 pence; one bird (oisoux), 12 pence; 15 ponce, 7 and a half pence; 8 pigeons, 9 and a half pence; 100 eggs, 5 pence; 3 gallons milk, 3 pence... Saltry:—half a quarter of mustard, one halfpenny... 1 quarter verjuice, 1 and a half pence; garlic, a farthing; parsley, 1 penny. Wages of Richard Attegrove (keeper of the horses) and the laundress, 4 pence; of 18 grooms and two pages, 2 shillings, 5 pence. (Wardrobe Accounts, 19 Edward the Second, 31/17). When King Edward left London for the West, on October 2nd, he committed to Lady La Despenser the custody of his son, and of the Tower. On the 16th, the citizens captured the Tower, brought out the Prince and the Chatelaine, and conveyed them to the Wardrobe. On November 17th she was brought a prisoner to the Tower, with her children and her damsel Joan (Issue Roll, Michs., 20 Edward the Second; Close Roll, 20 Edward the Second), their expenses being calculated at the rate of 10 shillings per day. Alianora and her children were delivered from the Tower, with all her goods and chattels, on February 25, 1328, and on the 26th of November following, her “rights and rents, according to her right and heritage,” were ordered to be restored to her. (Rot. Claus., 2 Edward the Third.) She was not, however, granted full liberty, or else she forfeited it again very quickly; for on February 5, 1329, William Lord Zouche of Haringworth was summoned to Court, and commanded to “bring with him quickly our cousin Alianora, who is in his company,” with a hint that unpleasant consequences would follow neglect of the order. (Rot. Pat., 3 Edward the Third, Part 1.) A further entry on December 30 tells us that Alianora, wife of William La Zouche of Mortimer (so that her marriage with her gaoler’s cousin had occurred in the interim), had been impeached by the Crown concerning certain jewels, florins, and other goods of the King, to a large amount, which had been “esloignez” from the Tower of London: doubtless by the citizens when they seized the fortress, and the impeachment was of course, like many other things, an outcome of Queen Isabelle’s private spite. “The said William and Alianora, for pardon of all hindrances, actions, quarrels, and demands, until the present date, have granted, of their will and without coercion, for themselves and the heirs of the said Alianora, all castles, manors, towns, honours, and other lands and tenements, being of her heritage, in the county of Glamorgan and Morgannon, in Wales, the manor of Hanley, the town of Worcester, and the manor of Tewkesbury, for ever, to the King.” The King, on his part, undertook to restore the lands, in the hour that the original owners should pay him 10,000 pounds in one day. The real nature of this non-coercive and voluntary agreement was shown in November, 1330, when (one month after the arrest of Mortimer) at the petition of Parliament itself, one half of this 10,000 pounds was remitted. Alianora died June 30, 1337, and was buried in Tewkesbury Abbey.

2. Philip, died before April 22, 1214. Married Margaret, daughter of Ralph de Goushill; born July 25, 1296; married before 1313; died July 29, 1349. (She married, secondly, John de Ros.)