A History of England, Period I. Mediæval Monarchy

by J. Franck Bright

Edward’s friendship for Gaveston.

Barons demand his dismissal. March 3, 1308.

When the late King died in the neighbourhood of Carlisle, he believed that the war with Scotland would have been carried on by his son, of whom he was very fond; while he thought he had secured him from that danger which he had already foreseen would beset his reign, by insisting on the dismissal of his favourite, Piers Gaveston. Gaveston was a young man of Gascon or Basque origin, of greater refinement apparently than the rough barons of England, their equal, if not their superior, in martial exercises, and possessing those courtly tastes for music and the arts which marked the young King. But Edward disappointed his father’s hopes. He had already (before his father had insisted on the dismissal of Gaveston) gone so far as to beg for him, though in vain, the royal county of Ponthieu. On his father’s death he immediately recalled him. A hasty and ineffectual march into Scotland, where Aymer de Valence was left as lieutenant, was all that came of the great preparations at Carlisle, and the King’s mind seemed to be occupied in lavishing favours on his friend. He gave him the Earldom of Cornwall, hitherto an appanage of some royal prince. He seized the property of Walter, Bishop of Lichfield, who in the late reign had opposed him in his office as treasurer, and bestowed it on Gaveston; and after that young man had, by his ostentation, by his success in the lists, and by a reckless use of his happy gift of applying nicknames, excited the anger of the great nobles, Edward was foolish enough, on leaving England to do homage for his French dominions, to leave him as Governor of the country. Consequently, no sooner was he crowned than the Barons demanded in Parliament the dismissal of the favourite. The demand could not be refused, and Edward promised to accede to it, but proved at the same time how determined he was to evade his promise, by not only bestowing fresh grants on Gaveston, but by appointing him Lord Deputy of Ireland. There for a year he reigned with almost royal power.

Gaveston’s return.

The quarrel thus begun became the chief question of the reign. All other matters, even the conquest of Scotland, were subordinated to it; and while it was continuing, Bruce was quietly subduing fortress after fortress, and subjugating the whole south of Scotland. In the following year, the King still further showed his untrustworthiness by receiving Gaveston back in England. He met him with great marks of affection at Chester, having probably had recourse already to that dangerous expedient, a Papal dispensation from his promises. In fact, again like his grandfather, Edward found it expedient throughout his reign to keep on very friendly terms with the Pope, and to back his authority by the undefined power which the Head of the Church still wielded. It has been seen how even his great father was unable to resist this temptation. Clement V., an obsequious servant of the French King, and reigning at Avignon, was very different from the formidable Boniface VIII. There was no difficulty in persuading him to renew the old alliance with the sovereign which placed the Church at his mercy. Moreover, at this time he was anxious, in the interests of his master, to procure Edward’s co-operation in the unprincipled destruction of the order of the Temple. Philip IV. of France, urged by an avaricious desire to confiscate the vast property of this order, had set on foot the most extraordinary reports of their licentiousness and blasphemy. In October 1307, all their establishments were laid hands on, the inmates imprisoned, their wealth confiscated. He then, in union with the Pope, begged all his neighbours to adopt a similar course. Edward II. consented, and in January 1308, all the Templars in England were imprisoned. They were tried by the Church on the accusation of the Pope. In France, torture, and the skill of Philip’s lawyers, had produced certain confessions, on which the King acted, and the Order was there destroyed, its Grand Master, James de Molé, being burnt as a heretic. In England, not even torture, which was now first used,[55] could produce any important revelations. The inquiries lasted till 1311. Eventually, certain supposed proofs of heterodoxy having been produced, some of the Knights were confined in monasteries, the Order suppressed, and their property given to the Hospitallers.

General discontent and Statute of Stamford.

Appointment of the Lords Ordainers.

The effect of Gaveston’s return, and the renewal of Papal influence, was of course to increase the discontent, till, on the 27th of July, at a Parliament held at Stamford, the King was compelled to give his consent to a statute of reform. By this the first Statute of Westminster was renewed, the undue power exercised by the constables of the royal castles, and the extortions of the officers of the royal household, were checked; all old taxes upon wool and hides beyond the legal customs were removed; while, at the same time, a general letter was directed to the Pope, begging him to abstain from his exactions. The storm continued to rise. Very shortly after this, the great Earls of Lancaster, Lincoln, Warwick, and others, refused to appear at a meeting at York, if Gaveston were present. A meeting summoned in London at the beginning of the following year met with no better success. The Barons threatened to appear in arms if they appeared at all. The King, in fear, concealed Gaveston for a time; the Barons then indeed came, but came only to demand a complete reformation in the government, to which the King was compelled to give his consent. The precedent in his grandfather’s reign was then followed. From the present March to Michaelmas of the following year the government was placed in the hands of a commission of twenty-one members, who were to produce ordinances of general reform. Pending the production of these ordinances, some preliminary articles were at once established. For the payment of the King’s debts grants were to be recalled, and his expensive housekeeping was to be limited. To satisfy the national feeling, and in the hope of lightening the taxes, the Italian house of the Frescobaldi, who had hitherto farmed them, was to be deprived of that advantage, and Englishmen alone were to be employed in their collection; and before all things, the charters of liberty were to be observed.

Useless assault on Scotland. 1311.