Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick
Encyclopedia
Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick (c. 1272 – 12 August 1315) was an English magnate
, and one of the principal opponents of King Edward II
and his favourite Piers Gaveston. Guy de Beauchamp was the son of William de Beauchamp
, the first Beauchamp earl of Warwick
, and succeeded his father in 1298. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Falkirk
and subsequently, as a capable servant of the crown under King Edward I
. After the succession of Edward II in 1307, however, he soon fell out with the new king and the king's favourite Piers Gaveston. Warwick was one of the main architects behind the Ordinances of 1311
, that limited the powers of the king and banished Gaveston into exile.
When Gaveston returned to England in 1312 contrary to the rulings of the Ordinances he was taken into custody by the Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
. Warwick abducted Gaveston and, together with the Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, had him executed. The act garnered sympathy and support for the king, but Warwick and Lancaster nevertheless managed to negotiate a royal pardon for their actions. After the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn
in 1314, King Edward's authority was once more weakened, and the rebellious barons took over control of government. For Warwick the triumph was brief; he died the next year.
Guy de Beauchamp is today remembered primarily for his part in the killing of Gaveston, but by his contemporaries he was considered a man of exceptionally good judgement and learning. He owned what was for his time a large collection of books, and his advice was often sought by many of the other earls. Next to Lancaster, he was the wealthiest peer in the nation, and after his death his lands and title were inherited by his son, Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
.
, (c. 1238 – 1298). His mother was Maud FitzJohn
, daughter of John fitz Geoffrey
, who was Justiciar of Ireland
and a member of the council of fifteen that imposed the Provisions of Oxford
on King Henry III
. William was the nephew of William Maudit, 8th Earl of Warwick
, and when his uncle died without issue in 1268, he became the first Beauchamp earl of Warwick
. In 1271 or 1272 his first son was born, and in reference to the new family title, William named his son after the legendary hero Guy of Warwick
. William de Beauchamp was a capable military commander, who played an important part in the Welsh and Scottish wars of King Edward I
.
A marriage between Guy and Isabel de Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, was contemplated, or possibly even took place and then annulled. It was not until early 1309 that Guy married Alice de Toeni
, a wealthy Hertfordshire
heiress. By this time Guy had already succeeded as earl of Warwick, after his father's death in 1298. By Alice, Guy had three children, including his heir and successor, Thomas.
in 1298. Here he distinguished himself, and received a reward of Scottish lands worth 1000 marks
a year. At this point his father was already dead, but it was not until 5 September that Guy did homage to the king for his lands, and became Earl of Warwick and hereditary High Sheriff of Worcestershire
for life. He continued in the king's service in Scotland and elsewhere. In 1299 he was present at the king's wedding to Margaret of France
at Canterbury, and in 1300 he took part in the Siege of Caerlaverock. The next year he was a signatory to a letter to the Pope, rejecting Rome's authority over the Scottish question
, and also participated in negotiations with the French over the release of the Scottish King John Balliol
. He was present at the Siege of Stirling
in 1304, serving under Edward
, the Prince of Wales
. In March 1307 he made preparations to accompany Prince Edward to France, but this journey never took place.
Early in 1307, Edward I made his last grant to Warwick, when he gave him John Balliol's forfeited lordship of Barnard Castle
in County Durham
. On 7 July that year, near Burgh by Sands
in Cumberland
, Warwick was present when King Edward died. Together with Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln
, he carried the ceremonial swords at the coronation of King Edward II
on 25 February 1308.
. Warwick was the only one of the leading earls who did not seal the charter, and from the start took on an antagonistic attitude to Edward II. Gaveston was a relative upstart in the English aristocracy, and made himself unpopular among the established nobility by his arrogance and his undue influence on the king. He gave mocking nicknames to the leading men of the realm, and called Warwick the "Black Dog of Arden".
Gaveston was once more forced into exile, but Edward recalled him in less than a year. The king had spent the intervening time gathering support, and at the time, the only one to resist the return of Gaveston was Warwick. With time, however, opposition to the king grew. Another source of contention was Edward abandoning his father's Scottish campaigns, a policy that opened the Border
region up to devastating raids from the Scots. This affected Warwick greatly, with his extensive landed interest in the north. Tensions grew to the point where the king in 1310 had to ban Warwick and others from arriving at parliament in arms. They still did, and at the parliament of March 1310, the king was forced to accept the appointment of a commission to draft a set of ordinances
towards reform the royal government.
The leaders of these so-called Lords Ordainers were Robert Winchelsey
, Archbishop of Canterbury
, on the side of the clergy, and Warwick, Lincoln and Lancaster among the earls. Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, was the most experienced of the earls, and took on a modifying role in the group. Thomas of Lancaster, who was Lincoln's son-in-law and heir, was the king's cousin and the wealthiest nobleman in the realm, but at this point he took a less active part in the reform movement. Warwick is described by some sources as the leader of the Ordainers; he was certainly the most aggressive. The set of Ordinances they drafted put heavy restrictions on the king's financial freedom, and his right to appoint his own ministers. It also once more ordered Gaveston to be exiled, to return only at the risk of excommunication.
. Gaveston ensconced himself at Scarborough Castle
, and on 19 May 1312 agreed on a surrender to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke
, as long as his security would be guaranteed.
Pembroke lodged his prisoner in Deddington
in Oxfordshire
. On 10 June, while Pembroke was away, Warwick forcibly carried away Gaveston to Warwick Castle
. Here, in the presence of Warwick, Lancaster and other magnates, Gaveston was sentenced to death at an improvised court. On 19 June he was taken to a place called Blacklow Hill on Lancaster's lands and decapitated. According to the Annales Londonienses chronicle, four shoemakers brought the corpse back to Warwick, but he refused to accept it, and ordered them to take it back to where they found it. Gaveston's body was eventually taken to Oxford by some Dominican friars, and in 1315, King Edward finally had it buried at Kings Langley
.
The brutality and questionable legality of the earls' act helped garner sympathy for the king in the political community. Pembroke was particularly offended, as he had been made to break his promise of safety to Gaveston, and his chivalric honour had been damaged. From this point on Pembroke sided firmly with King Edward in the political conflict. The king himself swore vengeance on his enemies, but found himself unable to move against them immediately, partly because they were in possession of a number of highly valuable royal jewels taken from Gaveston. A settlement was reached in October, whereby the rebellious barons and their retainers
received a pardon. The king nevertheless emerged strengthened from the events, while Warwick and Lancaster were largely marginalised. This all changed in 1314, when the king decided to stage his first major campaign against the Scots. Warwick and Lancaster refused to participate in the campaign, which ended in a humiliating English defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn
on 24 June. This led to another political bouleversement, and Edward was forced to reconfirm the Ordinances, and submit to the leadership of the rebellious barons.
In mid-July Warwick had to withdraw from government to his estates, due to illness. Political leadership was soon left almost entirely to Lancaster, when Warwick died on 12 August 1315. The chronicler Thomas Walsingham
reported rumours that the king had him poisoned. He was buried at Bordesley Abbey
in Worcestershire
, an establishment to which his family had served as benefactors. In value, his possessions were second only to those of the earl of Lancaster among the nobility of England. His lands, though primarily centred on Warwickshire
and Worcestershire
, were spread out over nineteen counties as well as Scotland and the Welsh Marches
. His heir was his oldest son, whom he had named Thomas after the earl of Lancaster. Thomas, born probably on 14 February 1314, did not succeed to his father's title until 1326, as Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
. In the meanwhile his possessions went into the king's hand, who donated his hunting dogs to the earl of Pembroke. A younger son, named John, also became a peer, as John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp
. Like his older brother, he distinguished himself in the French wars
, and was a founding member of the Order of the Garter
.
Guy de Beauchamp is probably best remembered by posterity for his opposition to King Edward II, and for his part in the death of Gaveston. To contemporaries, however, he was considered a man of considerable learning and wisdom. His library, of which he donated 42 books to Bordesley Abbey during his lifetime, was extensive. It contained several saints' lives
as well as romances
about Alexander and King Arthur
. As mentioned, Edward I entrusted the supervision of his son with Warwick. Likewise, when the earl of Lincoln died in 1311, he supposedly instructed his son-in-law Thomas of Lancaster to heed the advise of Warwick, "the wisest of the peers". Chronicles also praised Warwick's wisdom, the Vita Edwardi Secundi
said that "Other earls did many things only after taking his opinion: in wisdom and council he had no peer". Later historians have reflected this view, in the nineteenth century William Stubbs
called Warwick "a discriminating and highly literate man, the wisdom of whom shone forth through the whole kingdom".
Warwick's death came at an inconvenient time; Thomas of Lancaster proved unequal to the task of governing the nation, and further years of conflict and instability followed. Nevertheless, the problems of Edward II's reign were deep, and in the words of Michael Hicks
: "one must doubt whether even Warwick could have brought unity as one chronicler supposed".
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
, and one of the principal opponents of King Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
and his favourite Piers Gaveston. Guy de Beauchamp was the son of William de Beauchamp
William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick
William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick was an English nobleman and soldier, described as a “vigorous and innovative military commander”...
, the first Beauchamp earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is a title that has been created four times in British history and is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the British Isles.-1088 creation:...
, and succeeded his father in 1298. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Falkirk
Battle of Falkirk (1298)
The Battle of Falkirk, which took place on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence...
and subsequently, as a capable servant of the crown under King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. After the succession of Edward II in 1307, however, he soon fell out with the new king and the king's favourite Piers Gaveston. Warwick was one of the main architects behind the Ordinances of 1311
Ordinances of 1311
The Ordinances of 1311 were a series of regulations imposed upon King Edward II by the peerage and clergy of the Kingdom of England to restrict the power of the king. The twenty-one signatories of the Ordinances are referred to as the Lords Ordainers, or simply the Ordainers...
, that limited the powers of the king and banished Gaveston into exile.
When Gaveston returned to England in 1312 contrary to the rulings of the Ordinances he was taken into custody by the Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke was a Franco-English nobleman. Though primarily active in England, he also had strong connections with the French royal house. One of the wealthiest and most powerful men of his age, he was a central player in the conflicts between Edward II of England and...
. Warwick abducted Gaveston and, together with the Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, had him executed. The act garnered sympathy and support for the king, but Warwick and Lancaster nevertheless managed to negotiate a royal pardon for their actions. After the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn
Battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...
in 1314, King Edward's authority was once more weakened, and the rebellious barons took over control of government. For Warwick the triumph was brief; he died the next year.
Guy de Beauchamp is today remembered primarily for his part in the killing of Gaveston, but by his contemporaries he was considered a man of exceptionally good judgement and learning. He owned what was for his time a large collection of books, and his advice was often sought by many of the other earls. Next to Lancaster, he was the wealthiest peer in the nation, and after his death his lands and title were inherited by his son, Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War...
.
Family background
Guy de Beauchamp was the first son and heir of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of WarwickWilliam de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick
William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick was an English nobleman and soldier, described as a “vigorous and innovative military commander”...
, (c. 1238 – 1298). His mother was Maud FitzJohn
Maud FitzJohn
Maud FitzJohn, Countess of Warwick was an English noblewoman and the eldest daughter of John FitzGeoffrey, Lord of Shere. Her second husband was William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick, a celebrated soldier...
, daughter of John fitz Geoffrey
John FitzGeoffrey
John FitzGeoffrey, Lord of Shere and Justiciar of Ireland was an English nobleman.John FitzGeoffrey was the son of Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex and Aveline de Clare, daughter of Roger de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford and his wife Maud de Saint-Hilaire. He was Justiciar of Ireland...
, who was Justiciar of Ireland
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
thumb|200px|The Four CourtsThe headquarters of the Irish judicial system since 1804. The Court of King's Bench was one of the original four courts that sat there....
and a member of the council of fifteen that imposed the Provisions of Oxford
Provisions of Oxford
The Provisions of Oxford are often regarded as England's first written constitution ....
on King Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
. William was the nephew of William Maudit, 8th Earl of Warwick
William Maudit, 8th Earl of Warwick
William Maudit , 8th Earl of Warwick was an English nobleman and participant in the Barons' War....
, and when his uncle died without issue in 1268, he became the first Beauchamp earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is a title that has been created four times in British history and is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the British Isles.-1088 creation:...
. In 1271 or 1272 his first son was born, and in reference to the new family title, William named his son after the legendary hero Guy of Warwick
Guy of Warwick
Guy of Warwick is a legendary English hero of Romance popular in England and France from the 13th to the 17th century. The story of Sir Guy is considered by scholars to be part of the Matter of England.-Plot:...
. William de Beauchamp was a capable military commander, who played an important part in the Welsh and Scottish wars of King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
.
A marriage between Guy and Isabel de Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, was contemplated, or possibly even took place and then annulled. It was not until early 1309 that Guy married Alice de Toeni
Alice de Toeni
Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick was a wealthy English heiress and the second wife of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick , an English nobleman in the reign of Kings Edward I and Edward II. He was one of the principal opponents of Piers Gaveston, a favourite of Edward II...
, a wealthy Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
heiress. By this time Guy had already succeeded as earl of Warwick, after his father's death in 1298. By Alice, Guy had three children, including his heir and successor, Thomas.
Service to Edward I
Edward I knighted Guy de Beauchamp at Easter 1296. Warwick's career of public service started with the Falkirk campaignBattle of Falkirk (1298)
The Battle of Falkirk, which took place on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence...
in 1298. Here he distinguished himself, and received a reward of Scottish lands worth 1000 marks
Mark (money)
Mark was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout western Europe and often equivalent to 8 ounces. Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages Mark (from a merging of three Teutonic/Germanic languages words, Latinized in 9th century...
a year. At this point his father was already dead, but it was not until 5 September that Guy did homage to the king for his lands, and became Earl of Warwick and hereditary High Sheriff of Worcestershire
High Sheriff of Worcestershire
This is a list of Sheriff and since 1998 High Sheriffs of Worcestershire.The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been...
for life. He continued in the king's service in Scotland and elsewhere. In 1299 he was present at the king's wedding to Margaret of France
Marguerite of France (born 1282)
Margaret of France , a daughter of Philip III of France and Maria of Brabant, was Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I, who was her father's first cousin.-Early life:...
at Canterbury, and in 1300 he took part in the Siege of Caerlaverock. The next year he was a signatory to a letter to the Pope, rejecting Rome's authority over the Scottish question
Competitors for the Crown of Scotland
With the death of Alexander III of Scotland in 1286 without a male heir, the throne of Scotland had become the possession of the three-year old Margaret, Maid of Norway, the granddaughter of the King...
, and also participated in negotiations with the French over the release of the Scottish King John Balliol
John of Scotland
John Balliol , known to the Scots as Toom Tabard , was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296.-Early life:Little of John's early life is known. He was born between 1248 and 1250 at an unknown location, possibilities include Galloway, Picardy and Barnard Castle, County Durham...
. He was present at the Siege of Stirling
Sieges of Stirling Castle
There have been at least sixteen sieges of Stirling Castle, a strategically important fortification in Stirling, Scotland. Stirling is located at the crossing of the River Forth, making it a key location for access to the north of Scotland...
in 1304, serving under Edward
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
, the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
. In March 1307 he made preparations to accompany Prince Edward to France, but this journey never took place.
Early in 1307, Edward I made his last grant to Warwick, when he gave him John Balliol's forfeited lordship of Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle is an historical town in Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is named after the castle around which it grew up. It sits on the north side of the River Tees, opposite Startforth, south southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne, south southwest of Sunderland, west of Middlesbrough and ...
in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
. On 7 July that year, near Burgh by Sands
Burgh by Sands
Burgh by Sands is a village and civil parish in the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England, situated near the Solway Firth. The parish includes the village of Burgh by Sands along with Longburgh, Dykesfield, Boustead Hill, Moorhouse and Thurstonfield....
in Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
, Warwick was present when King Edward died. Together with Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln
Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln
Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln was a confidant of Edward I of England.In 1272 on reaching the age of majority he became Earl of Lincoln...
, he carried the ceremonial swords at the coronation of King Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
on 25 February 1308.
Conflict with Edward II
Before his death, the old king had exiled Prince Edward's favourite Piers Gaveston, and Warwick was among those charged with preventing Gaveston's return. The new king, however, not only recalled his favourite, but soon also gave him the title of earl of CornwallEarl of Cornwall
The title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne.-Earl of Cornwall:...
. Warwick was the only one of the leading earls who did not seal the charter, and from the start took on an antagonistic attitude to Edward II. Gaveston was a relative upstart in the English aristocracy, and made himself unpopular among the established nobility by his arrogance and his undue influence on the king. He gave mocking nicknames to the leading men of the realm, and called Warwick the "Black Dog of Arden".
Anglo–Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 154 km between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land border...
region up to devastating raids from the Scots. This affected Warwick greatly, with his extensive landed interest in the north. Tensions grew to the point where the king in 1310 had to ban Warwick and others from arriving at parliament in arms. They still did, and at the parliament of March 1310, the king was forced to accept the appointment of a commission to draft a set of ordinances
Ordinances of 1311
The Ordinances of 1311 were a series of regulations imposed upon King Edward II by the peerage and clergy of the Kingdom of England to restrict the power of the king. The twenty-one signatories of the Ordinances are referred to as the Lords Ordainers, or simply the Ordainers...
towards reform the royal government.
The leaders of these so-called Lords Ordainers were Robert Winchelsey
Robert Winchelsey
Robert Winchelsey was an English Christian theologian and Archbishop of Canterbury. He studied at the universities of Paris and Oxford, and later taught at both. Influenced by Thomas Aquinas, he was a scholastic theologian...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, on the side of the clergy, and Warwick, Lincoln and Lancaster among the earls. Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, was the most experienced of the earls, and took on a modifying role in the group. Thomas of Lancaster, who was Lincoln's son-in-law and heir, was the king's cousin and the wealthiest nobleman in the realm, but at this point he took a less active part in the reform movement. Warwick is described by some sources as the leader of the Ordainers; he was certainly the most aggressive. The set of Ordinances they drafted put heavy restrictions on the king's financial freedom, and his right to appoint his own ministers. It also once more ordered Gaveston to be exiled, to return only at the risk of excommunication.
Gaveston's death
Gaveston's third and final exile was of even shorter duration, and after two months he was reunited with Edward in England. Archbishop Winchelsey responded by excommunicating Gaveston, as the Ordinances had stipulated. Lancaster, who had by this time inherited his father-in-law Lincoln, had taken over leadership of the baronial opposition. A number of the barons set out in pursuit of Gaveston while the king left for YorkYork
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. Gaveston ensconced himself at Scarborough Castle
Scarborough Castle
Scarborough Castle is a former medieval Royal fortress situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the North Sea and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England...
, and on 19 May 1312 agreed on a surrender to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke
Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke was a Franco-English nobleman. Though primarily active in England, he also had strong connections with the French royal house. One of the wealthiest and most powerful men of his age, he was a central player in the conflicts between Edward II of England and...
, as long as his security would be guaranteed.
Pembroke lodged his prisoner in Deddington
Deddington
Deddington is a civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Banbury. In scale Deddington is a village, but it has a town centre with a market place and the local football team is called Deddington Town FC.-History:...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. On 10 June, while Pembroke was away, Warwick forcibly carried away Gaveston to Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...
. Here, in the presence of Warwick, Lancaster and other magnates, Gaveston was sentenced to death at an improvised court. On 19 June he was taken to a place called Blacklow Hill on Lancaster's lands and decapitated. According to the Annales Londonienses chronicle, four shoemakers brought the corpse back to Warwick, but he refused to accept it, and ordered them to take it back to where they found it. Gaveston's body was eventually taken to Oxford by some Dominican friars, and in 1315, King Edward finally had it buried at Kings Langley
Kings Langley
Kings Langley is a historic English village and civil parish northwest of central London on the southern edge of the Chiltern Hills and now part of the London commuter belt. The major western portion lies in the borough of Dacorum and the east is in the Three Rivers district, both in the county of...
.
The brutality and questionable legality of the earls' act helped garner sympathy for the king in the political community. Pembroke was particularly offended, as he had been made to break his promise of safety to Gaveston, and his chivalric honour had been damaged. From this point on Pembroke sided firmly with King Edward in the political conflict. The king himself swore vengeance on his enemies, but found himself unable to move against them immediately, partly because they were in possession of a number of highly valuable royal jewels taken from Gaveston. A settlement was reached in October, whereby the rebellious barons and their retainers
Retinue
A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble or royal personage, a suite of "retainers".-Etymology:...
received a pardon. The king nevertheless emerged strengthened from the events, while Warwick and Lancaster were largely marginalised. This all changed in 1314, when the king decided to stage his first major campaign against the Scots. Warwick and Lancaster refused to participate in the campaign, which ended in a humiliating English defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn
Battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...
on 24 June. This led to another political bouleversement, and Edward was forced to reconfirm the Ordinances, and submit to the leadership of the rebellious barons.
Death and historical assessment
Thomas Walsingham
- Life :He was probably educated at St Albans Abbey at St Albans, Hertfordshire, and at Oxford.He became a monk at St Albans, where he appears to have passed the whole of his monastic life, excepting a period from 1394 to 1396 during which he was prior of Wymondham Abbey, Norfolk, England, another...
reported rumours that the king had him poisoned. He was buried at Bordesley Abbey
Bordesley Abbey
Bordesley Abbey was a 12th century Cistercian abbey near the town of Redditch, in Worcestershire, England.The abbey's foundation has been attributed to Queen Maud, but it is actually down to Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan who gave the monks of Garendon Abbey in Leicestershire some more land....
in Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, an establishment to which his family had served as benefactors. In value, his possessions were second only to those of the earl of Lancaster among the nobility of England. His lands, though primarily centred on Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
and Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, were spread out over nineteen counties as well as Scotland and the Welsh Marches
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
. His heir was his oldest son, whom he had named Thomas after the earl of Lancaster. Thomas, born probably on 14 February 1314, did not succeed to his father's title until 1326, as Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War...
. In the meanwhile his possessions went into the king's hand, who donated his hunting dogs to the earl of Pembroke. A younger son, named John, also became a peer, as John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp
John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp (second creation)
Sir John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp de Warwick KG was a younger son of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, and brother of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, with whom he became a founder and the tenth Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1348.He attended King Edward III into...
. Like his older brother, he distinguished himself in the French wars
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
, and was a founding member of the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
.
Guy de Beauchamp is probably best remembered by posterity for his opposition to King Edward II, and for his part in the death of Gaveston. To contemporaries, however, he was considered a man of considerable learning and wisdom. His library, of which he donated 42 books to Bordesley Abbey during his lifetime, was extensive. It contained several saints' lives
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
as well as romances
Romance (genre)
As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
about Alexander and King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
. As mentioned, Edward I entrusted the supervision of his son with Warwick. Likewise, when the earl of Lincoln died in 1311, he supposedly instructed his son-in-law Thomas of Lancaster to heed the advise of Warwick, "the wisest of the peers". Chronicles also praised Warwick's wisdom, the Vita Edwardi Secundi
Vita Edwardi Secundi
The Vita Edwardi Secundi is a Latin chronicle most likely written in 1326 by an unknown English medieval historian contemporary to Edward II. It covers the period from 1307 until its abrupt end in 1326....
said that "Other earls did many things only after taking his opinion: in wisdom and council he had no peer". Later historians have reflected this view, in the nineteenth century William Stubbs
William Stubbs
William Stubbs was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford.The son of William Morley Stubbs, a solicitor, he was born at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1848, obtaining a first-class in classics and a third in...
called Warwick "a discriminating and highly literate man, the wisdom of whom shone forth through the whole kingdom".
Warwick's death came at an inconvenient time; Thomas of Lancaster proved unequal to the task of governing the nation, and further years of conflict and instability followed. Nevertheless, the problems of Edward II's reign were deep, and in the words of Michael Hicks
Michael Hicks
Michael Hicks is an English historian, specialising on the history of late medieval England, in particular the Wars of the Roses. Hicks studied with C. A. J. Armstrong and Charles Ross while a student at the University of Bristol...
: "one must doubt whether even Warwick could have brought unity as one chronicler supposed".