The terrible fate of Edward II. almost forbids harsh criticism of his life. He was certainly fond of the pleasures of the table, and is said to have given way to intemperance. Had not the banqueting-room been oftener employed than the council-chamber, opportunities might not have occurred for the rebellion of favourites, for which the festal board was answerable.
FOOTNOTES:
[67] Briscoe: Book of Nottinghamshire Anecdote.
[68] Piers Plowman, fol. xxxii. b.
[69] Discipline of Drink, p. 181. For the overwhelming proof of his allegations, see Dunlop’s Artificial and Compulsory Drinking Usage.
[70] Cf. Brady: Clavis Calendaria, vol. i. p. 320.
[71] De Reb. Alb., p. 116.
[72] Fleetwood, Chronicon Preciosum, p. 75.
[73] The details of the recluse life will be found in Bishop Poore’s Ancren Riewle, or more readily in Fosbroke’s Monachism. See also Cutt’s Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages; Tomline and Rokewood, Monastic and Social Life; and S. P. Bay, Monastic Institutions.