Mortimer and Isabella in France, with Prince Edward-They return in Arms-Fall and Death of the Despensers-Edward II. deposed-Edward III. proclaimed King-Murder of Edward II.-Invasion of the Scots-First Campaign of Edward III.-Seizure and Execution of Mortimer-Evil Times of Edward II.-Transition state of Feudal relations-Sir John Froissart-Chivalry-Military spirit of the reign of Edward III.-Edward Balliol and the Scotch War-Claim of Edward to the French Crown-Naval Victory of Sluys -James Artevelde-Jane de Montfort-Edward lands in Normandy.

NE of the principal supporters of the earl of Lancaster,
who was beheaded at Pontefract in 1322, was Roger
Mortimer, lord of Wigmore. He was spared the extreme
penalties of treason, but was confined in the Tower of
London. In 1323 he escaped, and proceeded to France.
Isabella, the
queen of Edward II., was sister to Charles IV.
of France ; and to reconcile some differences between
Edward and Charles in the affairs of Gascony, Isabella was
deputed to the court of her brother, with power to conclude
a treaty. This she accomplished, upon terms not very
advantageous to her husband, in May 1325. In September
of the same year, the king of England was induced to
transfer his foreign possessions of Gascony and Ponthieu,
to his son Edward, then thirteen years of age; who went
to Paris, and there did homage for them to the feudal
At Paris, Roger Mortimer joined the queen, and

VOL. I.

GG

442

ISABELLA AND PRINCE EDWARD RETURN IN ARMS.

[1326.

**

became the chief officer of her household. The return of Isabella and her son to England, as soon as the homage was performed, was expected by Edward. But they came not. After the lapse of more than five centuries, the private remonstrances of the husband and the father are still preserved, in several letters in the French language, which are exceedingly curious. The archbishop of Canterbury had written to Isabella to exhort her to return, to which she had replied that Sir Hugh le Despenser was her enemy, and that she could not come because her life would be in danger. On the 1st of December, 1325, the king thus writes to the queen :-" Dame: Oftentimes we have commanded you, as well before the homage as since, to return to us with all haste, without any excuses. * Now, you have sent us word, by the honourable father, the bishop of Winchester, that you will not come, on account of the danger and doubt of Hugh le Despenser; at which we greatly marvel: the more so, that you bore yourself so amicably towards him, and he towards you, in our presence, and even at your departure you gave him especial promises, signs, and proofs of certain friendship; and afterwards sent him very especial letters, which he has shewn to us." The husband then goes on to say that no evil or disgrace has ever befallen her, except when we have spoken to you, as we ought, words of chastisement in secret, without any other severity." To his son, he writes, under date of the 2nd of December: "Most dear son, remember in your youth and tender age, what we charged and commanded you, when you left us at Dover, and what you said to us in answer, with which we were greatly pleased; and do not trespass or contravene what we then charged you in any point, on no account. And since your homage has been received, go to our most dear brother, the king of France, your uncle, and take your leave of him; and then come away to us in the company of our most dear companion, the queen, your mother, if she come so soon. And if she does not come, come you, in all haste without longer stay; for we have a very great desire to see you and speak with you. And hereof fail not by any means, neither for mother, nor for any other person, as you regard our blessing." * But still the wife came not, nor the On the 1st March, 1326, the king again writes to the young Edward, commanding him to contract no marriage without his father's consent; defending Hugh le Despenser as his dear and loyal servant; bitterly adverting to the alliance of queen Isabella with Roger Mortimer, a false traitor, and the king's mortal enemy; and ordering his son immediately to return. In a letter to the king of France, of the same date, Edward says, that he truly perceives, as all men may perceive, that the queen does not love him as she ought to love her lord.† These domestic differences were soon brought to a public issue. The king of France invaded Gascony, and Edward declared war against him. William, count of Hainault, received Isabella at his court, for the pope had exhorted Charles to dismiss her from Paris. The young Edward was contracted in marriage with Philippa, the daughter of the count. A force of two thousand men, under the command of John of Hainault, was placed at the disposal of Isabella; and on the 24th of September, the wife and the son of Edward did return to England, landing at Orwell in Suffolk, not as suppliants but as complainants, in arms for the redress of injuries. Isabella

son.

Fœdera, vol. ii. part i. p. 616.

Fodera, vol. ii. part i. pp. 622, 623.

1327.]

FALL OF THE DESPENSERS.-EDWARD II. DEPOSEN.

448

came surrounded by nobles who had been banished or fled when the insurrection of Lancaster failed. Powerful lords, including the brothers of the king, the earls of Kent and Suffolk; his cousin the earl of Richmond; and several bishops, joined Isabella. A proclamation was issued, stating that the queen, the prince, and the earl of Kent had come to free the nation from the tyranny of Hugh le Despenser. Edward, having appealed in vain to the citizens of London for aid, fled with the two Despensers and the chancellor Baldock. The populace rose, and murdered the bishop of Exeter, who had been sent by the king as envoy to France, to induce the queen and her son to return. The elder Despenser took refuge in the castle of Bristol. The burghers compelled him to surrender the place to the forces of Isabella; and after a brief form of trial, the old man was executed as a traitor, on the 26th of October. Edward the king had put to sea, with the intention of establishing himself in the Isle of Lundy, which had been fortified. He was unable to reach the island, and landed at Swansea, concealing himself in that neighbourhood. Meanwhile the prelates and barons who had taken part with the queen, assumed the powers of a parliament; and, having resolved that by the king's absence the realm had been left without a ruler, they appointed prince Edward guardian of the kingdom. The king at length surrendered to his cousin, the earl of Richmond; and was conducted, to the castle of Kenilworth. The younger Despenser, and the chancellor, were taken prisoners in Wales. They were carried to Hereford, where Despenser perished as " a wicked and attainted traitor," and his mutilated body was hanged on a gallows fifty feet high. The earl of Arundel and others were beheaded. Baldock died in prison.

Thus was a revolution accomplished which, of all the public iniquities of the middle ages, appears to combine the most odious and unnatural circumstances. A wife in arms against her husband; a boy employed as a tool to ruin his father; a people thirsting for revenge upon a king against whom indolence and incapacity were the principal charges. At the parliament which was summoned at Westminster, on the 7th of January, 1327, after a suspense of only one day, the young Edward was, by acclamation, declared king. On the 13th of the same month, by a bill of six articles, it was resolved that the reign of Edward of Caernarvon had ceased. The queen affected to believe that the parliament had exceeded its just power; and a deputation was accordingly sent to Edward, at Kenilworth, to bring back his resignation of the crown. The deputation returned with the extorted instrument; having gone through the ceremony of renouncing the fealty of the earls, barons, and others, by Sir William Trussel, their procurator. On the 24th of January, the heralds proclaimed the accession of Edward III.; and the young king was crowned on the 29th. In these hasty and violent proceedings, in which we cannot find that the unhappy prisoner of Kenilworth had a single friend or supporter, there is undoubtedly some dark mystery. Isabella, who was notoriously open to suspicion in her connection with Mortimer, had yet the support of the leaders of the Church and the nobles. The great body of the people were equally in her favour, and equally opposed to the continued rule. of one who had not governed with wisdom, but in most instances without oppression. Let the terrible death of Edward II. atone for those faults of his conduct and character which are manifest, and for those which are unrevealed. He was murdered in Berkeley Castle, with circumstances of

444

INVASION OF THE SCOTS.

[1327.

horrible cruelty, after having endured the most atrocious indignities. Mortimer confessed, when his own life was about to be forfeited, that he had commanded the commission of the crime; and that Thomas Gournay and William Ogle perpetrated it. The " she-wolf of France" might be privy to the wickedness;

and in the forceú seclusion to which, after a few years, she was condemned, "the shrieks of death" that rung "through Berkeley's roofs " might haunt her repose

"Shrieks of an agonising king."

Of the truce with Scotland, concluded for thirteen years in 1323, scarcely four years had elapsed, when an invasion of England was determined on by King Robert Bruce. The Scottish historians justify this violation of the compact by stating that the name of Bruce, as king, was omitted in the instructions given to the English commissioners, for the conclusion of a final treaty of peace between the two kingdoms. This was a small matter upon which to ground a national quarrel. However we may sympathise with the Scottish leaders in their noble attempts to maintain the independence of their country, we must bear in mind that the wealth of England always presented a strong temptation for attack and plunder to the lords and people of the less fertile country. In June 1327, an army of twenty-four thousand Scots, under Douglas and Randolph,-for Bruce was sick,-crossed the borders, and ravaged Cumberland. The young Edward, with a precocious heroism, put himself at the head of a great army of English knights and archers, and of foreign soldiers under John of Hainault, which had assembled at York.

1327.]

FIRST CAMPAIGN OF EDWARD III.

445

In the pages of Froissart, we find a vivid description, "How the king of England made his first journey against the Scots." Having marched to Durham, he followed the course of the invaders by the smoke of the desolating fires which had marked their progress. Still the Scots wasted the country around; and the large English army, encumbered with a vast campequipage, and marching "through marishes and savage deserts, mountains and dales," followed them in vain for two days. It was then determined to leave behind them the baggage and stores of provisions, each horseman carrying a single loaf; and on the third day they crossed the Tyne. Here suffering great privations, the English host remained seven days, looking in vain for their enemy, whom they expected to cross by the same ford. At length Edward proclaimed a great reward for the man who would discover to him where he would find the Scots; and Thomas de Rokeby led him back by a march of three days to the Wear, where they where encamped in huts, on a neighbouring hill. The two armies were ranged in order of battle; and, "then some of the lords of England brought their young king on horseback, before all the battalions of the host, to give thereby the more courage to all his people." But the river was between the armies, and the hill was inaccessible. Heralds summoned the Scots to come into the plain and fight; but the Scots answered, "Here we shall abide, as long as it shall please us.' For three days the armies remained in this position; but on the fourth morning, when the English looked upon the mountain, the enemy was no more seen. Edward followed, and found them in a still more formidable position, and for eighteen days, "they lodged each against other." But on the first night two hundred Scots broke into the English camp, with the cry of "Douglas! Douglas! ye shall die, thieves of England," and they nearly captured the young sleeping king, cutting asunder the cords of his tent. At last, the Scots again silently retreated by a night-march, and the English, giving up the pursuit in despair, returned to Durham, and thence to York. This was the first lesson in warfare of the great Edward. The youth was out-generalled; and it is recorded that he wept, when he was finally circumvented by the skill of an enemy so inferior in numbers.

In the ensuing spring of 1328, a peace was concluded with Scotland, by which the independence of that country, under King Robert Bruce, was fully recognised, the claim of feudal superiority being wholly renounced. It was also agreed that the Scotch regalia, as well as "the stone of destiny," should be restored. Thirty thousand marks were paid by Scotland, in compensation for the damages caused by the invasion of the previous year. Further, the sister of Edward was contracted in marriage with David, the son of Robert Bruce, who became king, upon the death of his heroic father, in 1328. The treaty with Scotland was unpopular in England; and the Londoners resisted the removal of the famous coronation stone. The ex-Queen Isabella and Mortimer, who was created earl of March, were from this, and other causes, becoming odious. The young king was not considered reponsible for this wise but unpopular settlement of the ancient dispute as to Scotland being a fief of the English crown. In 1328, a few months after his return from his northern campaign, Edward was married to Philippa, daughter of the Count of Hainault, to whom he had been contracted by his mother. He was advancing to manhood, and had shown his courage