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210-543: Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), latterly known as the Black Prince , was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England . He died before his father and so his son, Richard II , succeeded to the throne instead. Edward nevertheless earned distinction as one of the most successful English commanders during the Hundred Years' War , being regarded by his English contemporaries as

420-586: A nervous breakdown following the death of Mortimer. Isabella remained extremely wealthy; despite being required to surrender most of her lands after losing power, in 1331 she was reassigned a yearly income of £3000, which increased to £4000 by 1337. She lived an expensive lifestyle in Norfolk, including minstrels , huntsmen, grooms and other luxuries, and was soon travelling again around England. In 1348, there were suggestions that she might travel to Paris to take part in peace negotiations, but eventually this plan

630-485: A " femme fatale " figure in plays and literature over the years, usually portrayed as a beautiful but cruel and manipulative figure. Isabella arrived in England at age 12 during a period of growing conflict between the king and the powerful baronial factions. Her new husband was notorious for the patronage he lavished on his favourite , Piers Gaveston , but the queen supported Edward during these early years, forming

840-499: A body of support from the Church and selected nobles, whilst Isabella and Mortimer moved into Nottingham Castle for safety, surrounding themselves with loyal troops. In the autumn, Mortimer was investigating another plot against him, when he challenged a young noble, William Montagu , during an interrogation. Mortimer declared that his word had priority over the king's, an alarming statement that Montagu reported back to Edward. Edward

1050-465: A circlet, gold ring, and silver rod. The prince accompanied his father to Sluys on 3 July 1345, and the king tried to persuade the burgomasters of Ghent , Bruges and Ypres to accept his son as their lord, but the murder of Jacob van Artevelde put an end to this project. Both in September and in the following April the prince was called on to furnish troops from his principality and earldom for

1260-455: A conference with Charles of Navarre at Bayonne, and agreed with him to allow their troops to pass through his dominions. To persuade him to do this, Peter had, besides other grants, to pay him 56,000 florins, and this sum was lent him by the prince. On 23 September a series of agreements (the Treaty of Libourne ) were entered into between the prince, Peter, and Charles of Navarre, at Libourne, on

1470-666: A death occurring). In 2015, pursuant to the 2011 Perth Agreement , the Commonwealth realms changed the rules of succession to the 16 thrones of Elizabeth II to absolute primogeniture, except for male heirs born before the Perth Agreement. The effects are not likely to be felt for many years; the first two heirs at the time of the agreement (Charles, Prince of Wales, later Charles III , and his son William, Prince of Wales ) were already eldest born children, and in 2013 William's first-born son Prince George of Wales became

1680-583: A fake "escape" for Edward from Berkeley Castle; after this Edward was kept in Ireland, believing he was really evading Mortimer, before finally finding himself free, but politically unwelcome, after the fall of Isabella and Mortimer. In this version, Edward makes his way to Europe, before subsequently being buried at Gloucester. Finally, Alison Weir , again drawing on the Fieschi Letter, has recently argued that Edward II escaped his captors, killing one in

1890-472: A famous order (in Latin : Eduardum occidere nolite timere bonum est ) which, depending on where the comma was inserted, could mean either "Do not be afraid to kill Edward; it is good" or "Do not kill Edward; it is good to fear". In actuality, there is little evidence of anyone deciding to have Edward assassinated, and none whatsoever of the note having been written. Similarly, accounts of Edward being killed with

2100-591: A hated figure locally, he was promptly attacked and killed — his head was later sent to Isabella by her local supporters. Edward, meanwhile, was still fleeing west, reaching Gloucester by 9 October. Isabella responded by marching swiftly west herself in an attempt to cut him off, reaching Gloucester a week after Edward, who slipped across the border into Wales the same day. Hugh Despenser the Elder continued to hold Bristol against Isabella and Mortimer, who placed it under siege between 18–26 October; when it fell, Isabella

2310-470: A huge risk in doing so. Female infidelity was a very serious offence in medieval Europe, as shown during the Tour de Nesle Affair. Both of Isabella's former French sisters-in-law had died by 1326 as a result of their imprisonment for charges of adultery, and their alleged lovers had been brutally executed. As a result, Isabella's motivation has been the subject of discussion by historians. Some believe that there

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2520-580: A hundred thousand francs from his father out of the ransom of John II, the late king of France, and broke up his plate to help to pay the soldiers he was taking into his pay. While his army was assembling he remained at Angoulême, and was there visited by Peter. He then stayed over Christmas at Bordeaux, where his wife, Joan, gave birth to their second son Richard (the next king of England). Prince Edward left Bordeaux early in February 1367, and joined his army at Dax , where he remained three days, and received

2730-506: A long time been at war with each other. He also attempted in the following February to mediate between Charles of Blois and John of Montfort, the rival competitors for the Duchy of Brittany . Both appeared before him at Poitiers, but his mediation was unsuccessful. The next month, May 1363, the prince entertained Peter, King of Cyprus , at Angoulême, and held a tournament there. At the same time he and his lords excused themselves from assuming

2940-513: A messenger came to him from the papal court, urging him to allow negotiations for peace. He replied that he could do nothing without knowing his father's will. From Narbonne he turned to march back to Bordeaux. The Count of Armagnac tried to intercept him, but a small body of French having been defeated in a skirmish near Toulouse the rest of the army retreated into the city, and the prince returned in peace to Bordeaux, bringing back with him enormous spoils. The expedition lasted eight weeks, during which

3150-481: A model of chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his age. Edward was made Duke of Cornwall , the first English dukedom, in 1337. He was guardian of the kingdom in his father's absence in 1338, 1340, and 1342. He was created Prince of Wales in 1343 and knighted by his father at La Hougue in 1346. In 1346, Prince Edward commanded the vanguard at the Battle of Crécy , his father intentionally leaving him to win

3360-466: A move guaranteed to appeal to domestic opinion, Isabella also decided to pursue Edward III's claim on the French throne , sending her advisers to France to demand official recognition of his claim. The French nobility were unimpressed and, since Isabella lacked the funds to begin any military campaign, she began to court the opinion of France's neighbours, including proposing the marriage of her son John to

3570-446: A nominal part in the administration, which was carried on by the council. To attach Duke John III of Brabant to his cause, the king in 1339 proposed a marriage between the young Duke of Cornwall and John's daughter Margaret, and in the spring of 1345 wrote urgently to Pope Clement VI for a dispensation for the marriage. On 12 May 1343, Edward III created the duke Prince of Wales in a parliament held at Westminster, investing him with

3780-450: A pardon, possibly from Edward III, but Isabella was insistent on his execution. The execution itself was a fiasco after the executioner refused to attend and Edmund of Kent had to be killed by a local dung-collector, who had been himself sentenced to death and was pardoned as a bribe to undertake the beheading. Isabella de Vesci escaped punishment, despite having been closely involved in the plot. By mid-1330, Isabella and Mortimer's regime

3990-474: A peace treaty between the two nations. However, her presence in France became a focal point for the many nobles opposed to Edward's reign. Isabella gathered an army to oppose Edward, in alliance with Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, whom she may have taken as a lover. Isabella and Mortimer returned to England with a mercenary army, seizing the country in a lightning campaign. The Despensers were executed and Edward

4200-437: A person may be, in a practical sense, the heir apparent but still, legally speaking, heir presumptive. Indeed, when Queen Victoria succeeded her uncle King William IV , the wording of the proclamation even gave as a caveat : ...saving the rights of any issue of his late Majesty King William IV, which may be born of his late Majesty's consort. This provided for the possibility that William's wife, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen ,

4410-506: A pilgrimage to Canterbury , during which she left the traditional route to stop at Leeds Castle in Kent , a fortification held by Bartholomew de Badlesmere , steward of the King's household who had by 1321 joined the ranks of Edward's opponents. Some historians believe that the pilgrimage was a deliberate act by Isabella on Edward's behalf to create a casus belli . Lord Badlesmere was away at

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4620-478: A principality by liege homage on payment of an ounce of gold each year, together with the title of Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony. During the rest of the year he was occupied in preparing for his departure to his new principality, and after Christmas he received the king and his court at Berkhamsted , took leave of his father and mother, and in the following February sailed with his wife, Joan, and all his household for Gascony, landing at La Rochelle . At La Rochelle

4830-558: A rapid period of celebratory spending then ensued. Isabella soon awarded herself another £20,000, allegedly to pay off foreign debts. At Edward III's coronation, Isabella then extended her land holdings from a value of £4,400 each year to the huge sum of £13,333, making her one of the largest landowners in the kingdom. Isabella also refused to hand over her dower lands to Philippa after her marriage to Edward III, in contravention of usual custom. Isabella's lavish lifestyle matched her new incomes. Mortimer, in effect her first minister, after

5040-529: A red-hot poker have no strong contemporary sources to support them. The conventional 20th-century view has been that Edward did die at Berkeley Castle, either murdered on Isabella's orders or of ill-health brought on by his captivity, and that subsequent accounts of his survival were simply rumours, similar to those that surrounded Joan of Arc and other near contemporaries after their deaths. Three recent historians, however, have offered an alternative interpretation of events. Paul Doherty , drawing extensively on

5250-489: A reinforcement of four hundred men-at-arms and four hundred archers sent out by his father under his brother John, duke of Lancaster. From Dax the prince advanced via Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port through Roncesvalles (in the Pyrenees ) to Pamplona (the capital of Kingdom of Navarre ). When Calveley and other English and Gascon leaders of free companies found that Prince Edward was about to fight for Peter, they withdrew from

5460-510: A restrained beginning, also began to accumulate lands and titles at a tremendous rate, particularly in the Marcher territories. The new regime also faced some key foreign policy dilemmas, which Isabella approached from a realist perspective. The first of these was the situation in Scotland, where Edward II's unsuccessful policies had left an unfinished, tremendously expensive war. Isabella

5670-560: A result of her perceived role in the affair. In the north, however, the situation was becoming worse. Edward attempted to quash the Scots in a fresh campaign in 1314, resulting in the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn . Edward was blamed by the barons for the catastrophic failure of the campaign. Thomas of Lancaster reacted to the defeats in Scotland by taking increased power in England and turning against Isabella, cutting off funds and harassing her household. To make matters worse,

5880-590: A right good beginning", for he rode through the Cotentin, burning and ravaging as he went, and distinguished himself at the taking of Caen and in the engagement with the force under Sir Godemar I du Fay , which endeavoured to prevent the English army from crossing the Somme by the ford of Blanchetaque . Early on Saturday, 26 August 1346, before the start of the battle of Crécy , Edward, Prince of Wales, received

6090-584: A satirical puppet show for their guests and Isabella gave new embroidered purses both to her brothers and to their wives. Isabella and Edward then returned to England with new assurances of French support against the English barons. Later in the year, however, when Isabella and Edward held a large dinner in London to celebrate their return, Isabella apparently noticed that the purses she had given to her sisters-in-law were now being carried by two Norman knights: Gautier and Philippe d'Aunay. Isabella concluded that

6300-521: A ship. The fighting continued as Isabella and her household retreated onto the vessel, resulting in the death of two of her ladies-in-waiting. Once aboard, Isabella evaded the Flemish navy, landing further south and making her way to York. Isabella was furious. Both with Edward for, from her perspective, abandoning her to the Scots, and with Despensers for convincing Edward to retreat rather than sending help. For his part, Edward blamed Lewis de Beaumont ,

6510-479: A steadily worsening situation. They wrote that Isabella had publicly snubbed Stapledon; Edward's political enemies were gathering at the French court and threatening his emissaries; and that Isabella was dressed as a widow, claiming that Hugh Despenser had destroyed her marriage with Edward. Additionally, Isabella surrounded herself with mostly exiles, including Edmund of Kent , John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond , and her rumored lover Roger Mortimer. Roger Mortimer

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6720-486: A system of absolute primogeniture that disregards gender, female heirs apparent occur. As succession to titles, positions, or offices in the past most often favoured males, females considered to be an heir apparent were rare. Absolute primogeniture was not practised by any modern monarchy for succession to their thrones until the late twentieth century, with Sweden being the first to adopt absolute primogeniture in 1980 and other Western European monarchies following suit. Since

6930-823: A way that permanently poisoned her relationship with both Edward and the Despensers. Isabella and Edward had travelled north together at the start of the autumn campaign. Before the disastrous Battle of Old Byland in Yorkshire, Edward had ridden south, apparently to raise more men, sending Isabella east to Tynemouth Priory . With the Scottish army marching south, Isabella expressed considerable concern about her personal safety and requested assistance from Edward. Her husband initially proposed sending Despenser forces to secure her, but Isabella rejected this outright, instead requesting friendly troops. Rapidly retreating south with

7140-540: A wealthy courtier and grew close again to her family especially her daughter Joan, Queen of Scots and her grandson Edward, Prince of Wales . Isabella was born in Paris on an uncertain date — on the basis of the chroniclers and the eventual date of her marriage, she was probably born between April 1295 and January 1296. She is described as born in 1292 in the Annals of Wigmore, and Piers Langtoft agrees, claiming that she

7350-591: A working relationship with Piers and using her relationship with the French monarchy to bolster her own authority and power. After the death of Gaveston at the hands of the barons in 1312, however, Edward turned to a new favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger , and attempted to take revenge on the barons, resulting in the Despenser War and a period of internal repression across England. Isabella could not tolerate Hugh Despenser, and by 1325, her marriage to Edward

7560-406: Is also applied metaphorically to an expected successor to any position of power, e.g. a political or corporate leader. This article primarily describes the term heir apparent in a hereditary system regulated by laws of primogeniture —it may be less applicable to cases where a monarch has a say in naming the heir (performed either while alive, e.g. crowning the heir as a rex iunior , or through

7770-457: Is evidence that Hugh Despenser the Younger attempted to assault Isabella herself in some fashion. Certainly, immediately after the Battle of Boroughbridge, Edward began to be markedly less generous in his gifts towards Isabella, and none of the spoils of the war were awarded to her. Worse still, later in the year Isabella was caught up in the failure of another of Edward's campaigns in Scotland, in

7980-539: Is heir apparent to the Norwegian throne, and Victoria herself has a female heir apparent in her elder child, Princess Estelle . Victoria was not heir apparent from birth (in 1977), but gained the status in 1980 following a change in the Swedish Act of Succession . Her younger brother Carl Philip (born 1979) was thus heir apparent for a few months (and is a rare example of an heir apparent losing this status without

8190-462: Is my sister and I refuse to expel her." Charles went on to refuse to return the lands in Aquitaine to Edward, resulting in a provisional agreement under which Edward resumed administration of the remaining English territories in early 1326 whilst France continued to occupy the rest. Meanwhile, the messages brought back by Edward's agent Walter de Stapledon , Bishop of Exeter and others portrayed

8400-528: Is no hard evidence for their having had a substantial relationship before meeting in Paris. Isabella was reintroduced to Mortimer in Paris by her cousin, Joan, Countess of Hainault , who appears to have approached Isabella suggesting a marital alliance between their two families, marrying Prince Edward to Joan's daughter, Philippa . Mortimer and Isabella may have begun a physical relationship from December 1325 onwards. If so, both Isabella and Mortimer were taking

8610-460: Is said, more than about two thousand men-at-arms, four thousand archers, and fifteen hundred light foot. Lancaster had endeavoured to come to his relief, but had been stopped by the French at Pont-de-Cé . When Prince Edward knew that the French army lay between him and Poitiers, he took up his position on some rising ground to the south-east of the city, between the right bank of the Miausson and

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8820-453: The Battle of Boroughbridge ; Lancaster was promptly executed, leaving Edward and the Despensers victorious. Hugh Despenser the Younger was now firmly ensconced as Edward's new favourite and together over the next four years Edward and the Despensers imposed a harsh rule over England, a "sweeping revenge" characterised by land confiscation, large-scale imprisonment, executions and the punishment of extended family members, including women and

9030-418: The Battle of Nájera . However, after a wait of several months, during which he failed to obtain either the province of Biscay or liquidation of the debt from Don Pedro, he returned to Aquitaine. Prince Edward persuaded the estates of Aquitaine to allow him a hearth tax of ten sous for five years in 1368, thereby alienating the lord of Albret and other nobles. Prince Edward returned to England in 1371, and

9240-681: The Battle of Winchelsea his ship was grappled by a large Spanish ship and was so full of leaks that it was likely to sink, and though he and his knights attacked the enemy manfully, they were unable to take her. Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Lancaster , came to his rescue and attacked the Spaniard on the other side; she was soon taken, her crew were thrown into the sea, and as the Prince and his men got on board her their own ship foundered. In 1353 some disturbances seem to have broken out in Cheshire , for

9450-499: The Bishop of Durham and an ally of Isabella, for the fiasco. Isabella effectively separated from Edward from here onwards, leaving him to live with Hugh Despenser. At the end of 1322, Isabella left the court on a ten-month-long pilgrimage around England by herself. On her return in 1323, she visited Edward briefly, but was removed from the process of granting royal patronage. At the end of 1324, as tensions grew with France, Edward and

9660-567: The Castilian royal family . By the end of 1328 the situation had descended into near civil war once again, with Lancaster mobilising his army against Isabella and Mortimer. In January 1329 Isabella's forces under Mortimer's command took Lancaster's stronghold of Leicester , followed by Bedford ; Isabella — wearing armour, and mounted on a warhorse — and Edward III marched rapidly north, resulting in Lancaster's surrender. He escaped death but

9870-519: The Duke of Cornwall is said to have met the cardinals outside the City of London and, in company with many nobles, to have conducted them to King Edward. On 11 July 1338 his father, who was on the point of leaving England for Flanders, appointed him guardian of the kingdom during his absence, and he was appointed to the same office on 27 May 1340 and 6 October 1342; he was, of course, too young to take any save

10080-522: The Garonne at Sainte-Marie a little above Toulouse , which was occupied by John I, Count of Armagnac , and a considerable force. The count refused to allow the garrison to make a sally, and the prince passed on into the Lauragais . His troops stormed and burnt Montgiscard , where many men, women, and children were ill-treated and slain, and took and pillaged Avignonet and Castelnaudary . The country

10290-471: The She-Wolf of France ( French : Louve de France ), was Queen of England as the wife of King Edward II , and de facto regent of England from 1327 until 1330. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of King Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre . Isabella was notable in her lifetime for her diplomatic skills, intelligence, and beauty. She overthrew her husband, becoming

10500-464: The Welsh Marches , making an easy alliance with Edward, who sought revenge for the death of Gaveston. In 1313, Isabella travelled to Paris with Edward to garner further French support, which resulted in the Tour de Nesle affair. The journey was a pleasant one, with many festivities, although Isabella was injured when her tent burned down. During the visit, her brothers Louis and Charles put on

10710-503: The murder of Edward II . Isabella and Mortimer's regime began to crumble, partly because of her lavish spending, but also because the Queen successfully, but unpopularly, resolved long-running problems such as the war with Scotland . In 1330, aged 18, Isabella's son, Edward III forcibly asserted his authority. Mortimer was executed, Isabella's regency was ended and she was imprisoned, but soon released. She lived out her remaining years as

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10920-462: The " Great Famine " descended on England during 1315–17, causing widespread loss of life and financial problems. Despite Isabella giving birth to her second son, John , in 1316, Edward's position was precarious. Indeed, John Deydras , a royal pretender , appeared in Oxford , claiming to have been switched with Edward at birth, and to be the real king of England himself. Given Edward's unpopularity,

11130-525: The Beaumont family, itself opposed to the Lancastrians. Similarly originating from France, the senior member of the Beaumont family, Isabella de Beaumont , had been a close confidant of Edward's mother Eleanor of Castile , supported by her brother Henry de Beaumont . In 1311, Edward conducted a failed campaign against the Scots, during which he and Isabella barely escaped capture. In the aftermath,

11340-565: The Despenser family, in particular his new favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger. By 1326, Isabella found herself increasingly at odds with both Edward and Hugh, ultimately resulting in Isabella's own bid for power and an invasion of England. Edward was an unusual character by medieval standards. Edward looked the part of a Plantagenet king: he was tall, athletic, and wildly popular at the beginning of his reign. However, he rejected most of

11550-412: The Despensers confiscated all of Isabella's lands, took over the running of her household and arrested and imprisoned all of her French staff. Isabella's youngest children were removed from her and placed into the custody of the Despensers. At this point, Isabella appeared to have realised that any hope of working with Edward was effectively over and begun to consider radical solutions. By 1325, Isabella

11760-408: The Despensers, Edward failed to grasp the situation, resulting in Isabella finding herself and her household cut off from the south by the Scottish army, with the coastline patrolled by Flemish naval forces allied to the Scots. The situation was precarious and Isabella was forced to use a group of squires from her personal retinue to hold off the advancing army whilst other of her knights commandeered

11970-467: The Despensers, sending troops into London and demanding their exile. Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , a moderate baron with strong French links, asked Isabella to intervene in an attempt to prevent war; Isabella publicly went down on her knees to appeal to Edward to exile the Despensers, providing him with a face-saving excuse to do so, but Edward intended to arrange their return at the first opportunity. Isabella's attempts, though heavily praised by

12180-483: The Dordogne, by which Peter covenanted to put the prince in possession of the province of Biscay and the territory and fortress of Castro de Urdialès as pledges for the repayment of this debt, to pay 550,000 florins for six months' wages at specified dates, 250,000 florins being the prince's wages, and 800,000 florins the wages of the lords who were to serve in the expedition. He consented to leave his three daughters in

12390-457: The Duke of Normandy, already wavering, could not stand against the English charge and fled in disorder. The next division, under Philip, Duke of Orléans , also fled, though not so shamefully, but the rear, under King John II in person, fought with much gallantry. The prince, "who had the courage of a lion, took great delight that day in the fight". The combat lasted until a little after 3 pm, and

12600-582: The English nobility due to his ineffectiveness and weakness to assert his control over the government and his failed wars against Scotland. His mother, Philippa of Hainault , was the daughter of William II, Count of Hainault . The marriage between his mother and father was arranged by his grandmother, Isabella of France, to get financial and military aid from the Count of Hainault for her own benefit to depose her husband, Edward II. The marriage of Edward III and Phillippa of Hainault produced thirteen children; Edward

12810-441: The English barons. Meanwhile, Hugh de Despenser the Younger became an increasing favourite of Isabella's husband, and was believed by some to have begun a sexual relationship with him around this time. Hugh was the same age as Edward. His father, Hugh the Elder, had supported Edward and Gaveston a few years previously. The Despensers were bitter enemies of Lancaster, and, with Edward's support, began to increase their power base in

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13020-492: The English or British throne; several times an heir apparent has died, but each example has either been childless or left a son or sons. However, there have been several female heirs apparent to British peerages (e.g. Frances Ward, 6th Baroness Dudley , and Henrietta Wentworth, 6th Baroness Wentworth ). In one special case, however, England and Scotland had a female heir apparent. The Revolution settlement that established William and Mary as joint monarchs in 1689 only gave

13230-433: The English, had very little impact and she had no lasting effect as a mediator for foreign or domestic affairs. Despite the momentary respite delivered by Isabella, by the autumn of 1321, the tensions between the two factions of Edward, Isabella and the Despenser, opposing the baronial opposition led by Thomas of Lancaster, were extremely high, with forces still mobilised across the country. At this point, Isabella undertook

13440-533: The English-held Montpezat . The assault was unsuccessful, but in the subsequent War of Saint-Sardos , Isabella's uncle, Charles of Valois , successfully wrested Aquitaine from English control. By 1324, Charles declared Edward's lands forfeit and occupied the entirety of Aquitaine apart from the coastal areas. Edward was still unwilling to travel to France to give homage due to England's precarious condition. Criminal gangs were occupying most of

13650-542: The Fieschi Letter of the 1340s, has argued that Edward in fact escaped from Berkeley Castle with the help of William Ockle, a knight whom Doherty argues subsequently pretended to be Edward in disguise around Europe, using the name "William the Welshman" to draw attention away from the real Edward himself. In this interpretation, a look-alike was buried at Gloucester. Ian Mortimer , focusing more on contemporary documents from 1327 itself, argues that Roger de Mortimer engineered

13860-543: The French cause, and Gaston, Count of Foix , though he visited the prince on his first arrival, was thoroughly French at heart, and gave some trouble in 1365 by refusing to do homage for Bearn. Charles V, who succeeded to the throne of France in April 1364, was careful to encourage the malcontents, and the prince's position was by no means easy. In April 1363 the prince mediated between the Counts of Foix and Armagnac, who had for

14070-503: The French court in mid-1326 and travelled north to William I, Count of Hainaut . As Joan had suggested the previous year, Isabella betrothed Prince Edward to Philippa of Hainault, the daughter of the Count, in exchange for a substantial dowry. She then used this money, plus an earlier loan from Charles, to raise a mercenary army, scouring Brabant for men, which were added to a small force of Hainaut troops. William also provided eight men-of-war ships and various smaller vessels as part of

14280-485: The French king threatened to confiscate his lands in France, beginning the Hundred Years War . His mother was Queen Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault, who married Edward III when his mother, Queen Isabella, arranged the marriage between them. His father on 10 September 1330 allowed five hundred marks a year from the profits of the county of Chester for his maintenance; on 25 February 1331,

14490-516: The French was in some disorder, the prince appears to have left his position to attack their second line. At this moment, however, the Count of Alençon charged his division with such fury that he was in great danger, and the leaders who commanded with him sent a messenger to tell his father that he was in great straits and to beg for assistance. When Edward learned that his son was not wounded, he responded that he would send no help, for he wished to give

14700-420: The French, and £20,000 in compensation for the raids across northern England. No compensation would be given to those earls who had lost their Scottish estates, and the compensation would be taken by Isabella. Although strategically successful and, historically at least, "a successful piece of policy making", Isabella's Scottish policy was by no means popular and contributed to the general sense of discontent with

14910-506: The French, who had probably by this time advanced to the rising ground of the English position. A flank attack on the side of Wadicourt was next made by the Counts of Alençon and Ponthieu , but the English were strongly entrenched there, and the French were unable to penetrate the defences and lost the Duke of Lorraine and the Counts of Alençon and Blois . The two front lines of their army were utterly broken before King Philip's division engaged. Then Edward appears to have advanced at

15120-487: The French, who were utterly defeated, left eleven thousand dead on the field, of whom 2,426 were men of gentle birth. Nearly a hundred counts, barons, and bannerets and two thousand men-at-arms, besides many others, were made prisoners, and the king and his youngest son, Philip, were among those who were taken. The English losses were not large. When King John II was brought to him, the prince received him with respect, helped him to take off his armour, and entertained him and

15330-675: The French. As the leaders of the free companies which desolated France were for the most part Englishmen or Gascons, they did not ravage Aquitaine, and the prince was suspected, probably not without cause, of encouraging, or at least of taking no pains to discourage, their proceedings. Accordingly on 14 November 1364 Edward III called upon him to restrain their ravages. In 1365 the free companies, under Sir Hugh Calveley and other leaders, took service with Bertrand du Guesclin , who employed them in 1366 in compelling King Peter of Castile to flee from his kingdom, and in setting up his bastard brother, Henry of Trastámara, as king in his stead. Peter, who

15540-403: The French. From 14 to 16 September he was at Châtellerault , and on the next day, Saturday, as he was marching towards Poitiers, some French men-at-arms skirmished with his advance guard, pursued them up to the main body of his army, and were all slain or taken prisoners. The French king had outstripped him, and his retreat was cut off by an army at least fifty thousand strong, while he had not, it

15750-506: The Lancastrian opposition to Edward, bringing all of his opponents into a single coalition. Isabella now marched south towards London, pausing at Dunstable , outside the city on 7 October. London was now in the hands of the mobs, although broadly allied to Isabella. Bishop Stapledon failed to realise the extent to which royal power had collapsed in the capital, and tried to intervene militarily to protect his property against rioters;

15960-577: The Pope and to Charles IV, expressing his concern about his wife's absence, but to no avail. Edward instructed Isabella to come home in September, but she expressed concern the young Despenser would try to kill her upon her arrival, or the Earl of Richmond. She also feared her own husband might attempt to have her killed. For his part, Charles replied that the, "queen has come of her own will and may freely return if she wishes. But if she prefers to remain here, she

16170-447: The Prince as Earl of Chester marched with Henry of Grosmont, now Duke of Lancaster , to the neighbourhood of Chester to protect the justices, who were holding an assize there. The men of the earldom offered to pay him a heavy fine to bring the assize to an end, but when they thought they had arranged matters the justices opened an inquisition of trailbaston , took a large sum of money from them, and seized many houses and much land into

16380-531: The Queen. The Scottish general Sir James Douglas , war leader for Robert I of Scotland , made a bid to capture Isabella personally in 1319. He almost succeeded in capturing her at York , with Isabella only just barely escaping. Suspicions fell on Lancaster, and one of Edward's knights, Edmund Darel, was arrested on charges of having betrayed her location, but the charges were essentially unproven. In 1320, Isabella accompanied Edward to France to try and convince her brother, Philip V, to provide fresh support to crush

16590-568: The Welsh Marches, in the process making enemies of Roger Mortimer de Chirk and his nephew, Roger Mortimer of Wigmore , their rival Marcher Lords . Whilst Isabella had been able to work with Gaveston, Edward's previous favourite, it became increasingly clear that Hugh the Younger and Isabella could not work out a similar compromise. Unfortunately for Isabella, she was still estranged from Lancaster's rival faction, giving her little room to manoeuvre. In 1321, Lancaster's alliance moved against

16800-474: The Welsh borders, where he was put into the custody of Lord Berkeley . On 23 September, Isabella and Edward III were informed by messenger that Edward had died whilst imprisoned at the castle, because of a "fatal accident". Edward's body was apparently buried at Gloucester Cathedral , with his heart being given in a casket to Isabella. After the funeral, there were rumours for many years that Edward had survived and

17010-555: The adoption of absolute primogeniture by most of the Western European monarchies, examples of female heirs apparent include Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium; they are, respectively, the oldest children of Kings Carl XVI Gustaf , Willem-Alexander , and Philippe . Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is heir apparent to her father, who

17220-402: The attackers, who fled in panic. Carcassonne was taken and sacked, but he did not take the citadel, which was strongly situated and fortified. Ourmes (or Homps, near Narbonne ) and Trèbes bought off his army. He plundered Narbonne and thought of attacking the citadel, for he heard that there was much booty there, but gave up the idea on finding that it was well defended. While he was there

17430-544: The barons rose up, signing the Ordinances of 1311 , which promised action against Gaveston and expelled Isabella and Henry de Beaumont from court. England fully descended into civil war in 1312. Isabella stood with Edward, sending angry letters to her uncles Louis and Charles asking for support. Edward left Isabella against her will at Tynemouth Priory in Northumberland whilst he unsuccessfully attempted to fight

17640-468: The barons. The campaign was a disaster, and although Edward escaped, Gaveston found himself stranded at Scarborough Castle where his baronial enemies then surrounded and captured him. Guy de Beauchamp and Thomas of Lancaster ensured Gaveston's execution as he was being taken south to rejoin Edward. Tensions mounted steadily over the decade. In 1312, Isabella gave birth to the future Edward III , but by

17850-652: The battle. He took part in Edward III's 1349 Calais expedition . In 1355, he was appointed the king's lieutenant in Gascony , and ordered to lead an army into Aquitaine on a chevauchée , during which he pillaged Avignonet and Castelnaudary , sacked Carcassonne , and plundered Narbonne . In 1356, on another chevauchée , he ravaged Auvergne , Limousin , and Berry but failed to take Bourges . He offered terms of peace to King John II of France , who had outflanked him near Poitiers , but refused to surrender himself as

18060-406: The birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more eligible heir is known as heir presumptive . Today these terms most commonly describe heirs to hereditary titles (e.g. titles of nobility) or offices, especially when only inheritable by a single person. Most monarchies refer to the heir apparent of their thrones with

18270-461: The border town of Hereford , from where she ordered Henry of Lancaster to locate and arrest her husband. After a fortnight of evading Isabella's forces in South Wales, Edward and Hugh were finally caught and arrested near Llantrisant on 16 November. The retribution began immediately. Hugh Despenser the Elder had been captured at Bristol, and despite some attempts by Isabella to protect him,

18480-412: The clerks at the heart of the government, mostly appointed by the Despensers and Stapledon, were confirmed in office. All that was left now was the question of Edward II, still officially Isabella's legal husband and lawful king. As an interim measure, Edward II was held in the custody of Henry of Lancaster, who surrendered Edward's Great Seal to Isabella. The situation remained tense, however; Isabella

18690-445: The combat was over and the king and his prisoners sat down to feast, he and the other English knights served the king and his guests at the first course and then sat down for the second course at another table. When the king embarked at Winchelsea on 28 August 1350 to intercept the fleet of La Cerda , the Prince sailed with him, though in another ship, and in company with his brother, the young John of Gaunt , Earl of Richmond . During

18900-432: The conclusions. Isabella and Mortimer ruled together for four years, with Isabella's period as regent marked by the acquisition of huge sums of money and land. When their political alliance with the Lancastrians began to disintegrate, Isabella continued to support Mortimer. Isabella fell from power when her son, Edward III deposed Mortimer in a coup, taking back royal authority for himself. Unlike Mortimer, Isabella survived

19110-521: The contract of marriage (the engagement) was entered into without the knowledge of the king. The prince and his wife resided at Berkhamsted Castle in Hertfordshire and held the manor of Princes Risborough from 1343; though local history describes the estate as "his palace", many sources suggest it was used more as a hunting lodge. On 19 July 1362 his father, Edward III granted Prince Edward all his dominions in Aquitaine and Gascony, to be held as

19320-438: The country and there had been an assassination plot against Edward and Hugh Despenser in 1324, with the famous magician John of Nottingham being hired to kill the pair using necromancy . Edward was deeply concerned that, should he leave England, even for a short while, the barons would take the chance to rise up and take their revenge on the Despensers. Charles sent a message through Pope John XXII to Edward, suggesting that he

19530-461: The country under the government of four Gascon lords and arrived in England on 4 May, after a voyage of eleven days, landing at Plymouth. When he entered London in triumph on 24 May, King John II, his prisoner, rode a fine white charger, while he was mounted on a little black hackney . Judged by modern ideas the prince's show of humility appears affected, and the Florentine chronicler remarks that

19740-586: The cross - that is, they declined to join Peter's proposed crusade. During the summer the lord of Albret was at Paris, and his forces and several other Gascon lords held the French cause in Normandy against the party of Navarre. Meanwhile, war was renewed in Brittany; the prince allowed Chandos to raise and lead a force to succour the party of Montfort, and Chandos won the Battle of Auray (29 September 1364) against

19950-410: The current title-holder. The clearest example occurs in the case of a childless bearer of a hereditary title that can only be inherited by one person. If at any time the title bearer were to produce children, those children would rank ahead of any person who had formerly been heir presumptive. Many legal systems assume childbirth is always possible regardless of age or health. In such circumstances

20160-487: The day the army was busily engaged in digging trenches and making fences, so that it stood, as at Crécy, in a kind of entrenched camp. Prince Edward drew up his men in three divisions, the first being commanded by the earls of Warwick and Suffolk, the second by himself, and the rear by Salisbury and Oxford. The French were drawn up in four divisions, one behind the other, and so lost much of the advantage of their superior numbers. In front of his first line and on either side of

20370-515: The declaration of the Parliament. The situation could be reversed at any moment and Edward II was known to be a vengeful ruler. Edward II's subsequent fate, and Isabella's role in it, remains hotly contested by historians. The minimally agreed version of events is that Isabella and Mortimer had Edward moved from Kenilworth Castle in the Midlands to the safer location of Berkeley Castle in

20580-713: The descriptive term of crown prince or crown princess , but they may also be accorded with a more specific substantive title : such as Prince of Orange in the Netherlands, Duke of Brabant in Belgium, Prince of Asturias in Spain (also granted to heirs presumptive), or the Prince of Wales in England and Wales; former titles include Dauphin in the Kingdom of France , and Tsesarevich in Imperial Russia . The term

20790-512: The disposal of his mother in March 1334 for the expenses she incurred in bringing up him and his two sisters, Isabella and Joan. Rumours of an impending French invasion led the king in August 1335 to order that he and his household should remove to Nottingham Castle as a place of safety. When two cardinals came to England at the end of 1337 to make peace between Edward III and Philip VI of France ,

21000-426: The east coast of England on 24 September with a small force; estimates of Isabella's army vary from between 300 and around 2,000 soldiers, with 1,500 being a popular middle figure. After a short period of confusion during which they attempted to work out where they had actually landed, Isabella moved quickly inland, dressed in her widow's clothes. The local levies mobilised to stop them immediately changed sides, and by

21210-415: The elderly. This was condemned by contemporary chroniclers, and is felt to have caused concern to Isabella as well; some of those widows being persecuted included her friends. Isabella's relationship with Despenser the Younger continued to deteriorate; the Despensers refused to pay her monies owed to her, or return her castles at Marlborough and Devizes . Indeed, various authors have suggested that there

21420-435: The end of the year Edward's court was beginning to change. Edward was still relying heavily upon his French in-laws, one of which was Isabella's uncle Louis who had been sent from Paris to assist him. However, Hugh Despenser the Elder now formed part of the inner circle, marking the beginning of the Despensers' increased prominence at Edward's court. The Despensers were opposed to both the Lancastrians and their other allies in

21630-489: The engagement several times for political advantage, and only after he died in 1307 did the wedding proceed. Isabella and Edward II were finally married at Boulogne-sur-Mer on 25 January 1308. Isabella's wardrobe gives some indications of her wealth and style — she had dresses of baudekyn , velvet , taffeta and cloth, along with numerous furs; she had over 72 headdresses and coifs ; she brought with her two gold crowns, gold and silver dinnerware and 419 yards of linen. At

21840-500: The first to break with Isabella and Mortimer. By 1327 Lancaster was irritated by Mortimer's behaviour and Isabella responded by beginning to sideline him from her government. Lancaster was furious over the passing of the Treaty of Northampton, and refused to attend court, mobilising support amongst the commoners of London. Isabella responded to the problems by undertaking a wide reform of royal administration and local law enforcement. In

22050-579: The following day Isabella was in Bury St Edmunds and shortly afterwards had swept inland to Cambridge . Thomas, Earl of Norfolk , joined Isabella's forces and Henry of Lancaster – the brother of the late Thomas, and Isabella's uncle – also announced he was joining Isabella's faction, marching south to join her. By the 27th, word of the invasion had reached the King and the Despensers in London. Edward issued orders to local sheriffs to mobilise opposition to Isabella and Mortimer, but London itself

22260-538: The garrison of the castle of Vierzon set out on 29 August towards Romorantin . Some French knights who skirmished with the English advanced guard retreated into Romorantin, and when Prince Edward heard of this he said: "Let us go there; I should like to see them a little nearer". He inspected the fortress in person and sent his friend Chandos to summon the garrison to surrender. The place was defended by Boucicault and other leaders, and on their refusing his summons he assaulted it on 31 August. The siege lasted three days, and

22470-501: The greater part of the princes and barons who had been made prisoners at supper. He served at the king's table and would not sit down with him, declaring that "he was not worthy to sit at table with so great a king or so valiant a man", and speaking many comfortable words to him, for which the French praised him highly. The next day the Black Prince continued his retreat on Bordeaux; he marched warily, but no one ventured to attack him. At Bordeaux, which Prince Edward reached on 2 October, he

22680-411: The head of the reserve, and the rout soon became complete. When Edward met his son after the battle was over, he embraced him and declared that he had acquitted himself loyally, and the prince bowed low and did reverence to his father. The next day he joined the king in paying funeral honours to King John of Bohemia . The prince was present at the siege of Calais (1346–1347) , and after the surrender of

22890-601: The heir apparent for the remainder of William's reign. She eventually succeeded him as Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The position of an heir apparent is normally unshakable: it can be assumed they will inherit. Sometimes, however, extraordinary events—such as the death or the deposition of the parent—intervene. In some jurisdictions, an heir apparent can automatically lose that status by breaching certain constitutional rules. Today, for example: Queen Isabella of France Isabella of France ( c.  1295 – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as

23100-408: The hill. The prince kept Chandos by his side, and his friend did him good service in the fray. As they prepared to charge he cried: "John, get forward; you shall not see me turn my back this day, but I will be ever with the foremost", and then he shouted to his banner-bearer, "Banner, advance, in the name of God and St. George!". All the French except the advance guard fought on foot, and the division of

23310-462: The honour done to King John II must have increased the misery of the captive and magnified the glory of King Edward; but this comment argues a refinement of feeling which neither Englishmen nor Frenchmen of that day had probably attained. After his return to England Prince Edward took part in the many festivals and tournaments of his father's court, and in May 1359 he and the king and other challengers held

23520-415: The humiliating defeat of the English under Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, and this time, Edward III defeated the Scots at the decisive Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, killing many Scottish nobles and routing the entire Scottish army. Edward III was able to recover the country politically and militarily, and was welcomed as a "great champion of the English nation". On 18 March 1333, Edward

23730-431: The impending campaign in France, and as he incurred heavy debts in the king's service, his father authorised him to make his will and provided that, in case he fell in the war, his executors should have all his revenue for a year. Edward, Prince of Wales, sailed with King Edward III on 11 July 1346, and as soon as he landed at La Hougue received knighthood from his father in the local church of Quettehou . Then he "made

23940-505: The intervention of Isabella's father, Philip IV before Edward began to provide for her more appropriately. Isabella's relationship with Gaveston was complex. For a time, her dislike of him was widely known, and she was said to be in contact with her father, the pope and cardinals in order to have him exiled. Baronial opposition to Gaveston, championed by Thomas of Lancaster, increased; and Philip IV began to covertly fund this grouping, using Isabella and her household as intermediaries. Edward

24150-459: The king was at Loches on 12 September he had as many as twenty thousand men-at-arms, and with these and his other forces he advanced to Chauvigny . On 16 and 17 September his army crossed the Vienne . Meanwhile, the prince was marching almost parallel to the French and at only a few miles distance from them. It is impossible to believe Froissart's statement that he was ignorant of the movements of

24360-517: The knights of his household with profitable offices. They kept much state, and their extravagance displeased the people. Many of the Gascon lords were dissatisfied at being handed over to the dominion of the English, and the favour the prince showed to his own countrymen, and the ostentatious magnificence they exhibited, increased this feeling of dissatisfaction. Arnaud Amanieu, Lord of Albret , and many more were always ready to give what help they could to

24570-427: The lavish ceremony was held in London to popular acclaim. Isabella and Mortimer had already begun a trend that continued over the next few years, in starting to accumulate huge wealth. With her lands restored to her, Isabella was already exceptionally rich, but she began to accumulate yet more. Within the first few weeks, Isabella had granted herself almost £12,000; finding that Edward's royal treasury contained £60,000,

24780-515: The left, in which some German mercenaries marched with the Gascons, by Jean, Captal de Buch , and the Count of Foix; and the rear or main battle by the prince, with three thousand lances, and with the prince was Peter and, a little on his right, the dethroned James of Majorca and his company; the numbers, however, are scarcely to be depended on. Before the battle of Nájera began, the prince prayed aloud to God that as he had come that day to uphold

24990-715: The liberation of King John and the ratification of the treaty. He rode with John to Boulogne, where he made his offering in the Church of the Virgin . He returned with King Edward to England at the beginning of November. On 10 October 1361 the prince, now in his 31st year, married his cousin Joan, Countess of Kent , daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent , younger son of Edward I , and Margaret , daughter of Philip III of France , and widow of Thomas Lord Holland , and in right of his wife Earl of Kent, then in her thirty-third year, and

25200-443: The lists at a joust proclaimed at London by the mayor and sheriffs, and, to the great delight of the citizens, the king appeared as the mayor and the prince as the senior sheriff. Festivities of this sort and the lavish gifts he bestowed on his friends brought him into debt, and on 27 August, when a new expedition into France was being prepared, the king granted that if he fell his executors should have his whole estate for four years for

25410-434: The main body on the flanks. Then the prince brought the main body of his army into action, and the fighting became intense, for he had under him "the flower of chivalry, and the most famous warriors in the whole world". At length Henry's vanguard gave way, and he fled from the field. Heir apparent Works An heir apparent is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by

25620-493: The marauding raids of the English and Gascon free companies in 1364. He entered into an agreement with Kings Peter of Castile and Charles II of Navarre , by which Peter covenanted to mortgage Castro Urdiales and the province of Biscay to him as security for a loan; in 1366 a passage was secured through Navarre . In 1367, he received a letter of defiance from Henry of Trastámara , Peter's half-brother and rival. The same year, after an obstinate conflict, he defeated Henry at

25830-469: The marriage arrangements. Although Edward was now fearing an invasion, secrecy remained key, and Isabella convinced William to detain envoys from Edward. Isabella also appears to have made a secret agreement with the Scots for the duration of the forthcoming campaign. On 22 September, Isabella, Mortimer and their modest force set sail for England. Having evaded Edward's fleet, which had been sent to intercept them, Isabella and Mortimer landed at Orwell on

26040-501: The marriage as early as 1298 but it was delayed by wrangling over the terms of the marriage contract. The renewal of the Anglo-French truce in 1299 led to the marriage of Edward I to Philip's sister Margaret, further anticipating the marriage of Isabella to Edward II. In 1303, Edward I may have considered a Castilian bride for Edward II instead of Isabella and even increased her dowry before the wedding. Edward I attempted to break

26250-469: The medieval period, contemporaries also commented on her high intelligence. As queen, the young Isabella faced numerous challenges. Edward was handsome, but also to have possibly formed close romantic attachments first to Piers Gaveston and then to Hugh Despenser the Younger . Edward found himself at odds with the barons, too, in particular his first cousin Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster , whilst continuing

26460-446: The monarch's will ). In a hereditary system governed by some form of primogeniture , an heir apparent is easily identifiable as the person whose position as first in the line of succession to a title or office is secure, regardless of future births. An heir presumptive , by contrast, can always be "bumped down" in the succession by the birth of somebody more closely related in a legal sense (according to that form of primogeniture) to

26670-490: The mother of three children. As the prince and the countess were related in the third degree, and also by the spiritual tie of sponsorship, the prince being godfather to Joan's elder son Thomas , a dispensation was obtained for their marriage from Pope Innocent VI , though they appear to have been contracted before it was applied for. The marriage was performed at Windsor , in the presence of King Edward III, by Simon Islip Archbishop of Canterbury . According to Jean Froissart

26880-480: The narrow lane that led to his position the prince stationed his archers, who were well protected by hedges, and posted a kind of ambush of three hundred men-at-arms and three hundred mounted archers, who were to fall on the flank of the second battle of the enemy, commanded by the Dauphin , Charles, Duke of Normandy . At daybreak on 19 September Prince Edward addressed his little army, and the fight began. An attempt

27090-420: The next apparent successor. But even in legal systems that apply male-preference primogeniture, female heirs apparent are by no means impossible: if a male heir apparent dies leaving no sons but at least one daughter, then the eldest daughter would replace her father as heir apparent to whatever throne or title is concerned, but only when it has become clear that the widow of the deceased is not pregnant. Then, as

27300-532: The next year resigned the principality of Aquitaine and Gascony. He led the Commons in their attack upon the Lancastrian administration in 1376. He died in 1376 of dysentery and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, where his surcoat , helmet, shield, and gauntlets are still preserved. Edward, the eldest son of Edward III of England , Lord of Ireland and ruler of Gascony , and Queen Philippa ,

27510-410: The old Roman road, probably on a spot now called La Cardinerie, a farm in the commune of Beauvoir , for the name Maupertuis has long gone out of use, and remained there that night. The next day, Sunday, 18 September, the cardinal, Hélie Talleyrand , called "of Périgord", obtained leave from King John II to endeavour to make peace. The prince was willing enough to come to terms, and offered to give up all

27720-482: The open with the certainty of defeat. John II made a fatal mistake in allowing the prince the respite of Sunday; for while the negotiations were going forward he employed his army in strengthening its position. The English front was well covered by vines and hedges; on its left and rear was the ravine of the Miausson and a good deal of broken ground, and its right was flanked by the wood and abbey of Nouaillé. All through

27930-525: The pair must have been carrying on an illicit affair, and appears to have informed her father of this during her next visit to France in 1314. The consequence of this was the Tour de Nesle affair in Paris , which led to legal action against all three of Isabella's sisters-in-law. Blanche and Margaret of Burgundy were imprisoned for life while Joan of Burgundy was imprisoned for a year before being acquitted. Isabella's reputation in France suffered somewhat as

28140-496: The party headed by the king of Navarre and Geoffrey d'Harcourt. In Normandy he expected to be met by his father, He crossed the Dordogne at Bergerac on 4 August, and rode through Auvergne, Limousin, and Berry, plundering and burning as he went until he came to Bourges, where he burnt the suburbs but failed to take the city. He then turned westward and made an unsuccessful attack on Issoudun on 25–27 August. Meanwhile, King John II

28350-463: The payment of his debts. In October 1359 Prince Edward sailed with his father to Calais, and led a division of the army during the Reims campaign (1359–1360). At its close he took the principal part on the English side in negotiating the Treaty of Brétigny , and the preliminary truce arranged at Chartres on 7 May 1360 was drawn up by proctors acting in his name and the name of Charles, Duke of Normandy,

28560-458: The power to continue the succession through issue to Mary II, elder daughter of the previous king, James II . William, by contrast, was to reign for life only, and his (hypothetical) children by a wife other than Mary would be placed in his original place (as Mary's first cousin) in the line of succession—after Mary's younger sister Anne . Thus, after Mary's death William continued to reign, but he had no power to beget direct heirs, and Anne became

28770-422: The price of their acceptance. This led to the Battle of Poitiers , where his army routed the French and took King John prisoner. The year after Poitiers, Edward returned to England. In 1360, he negotiated the Treaty of Brétigny . He was created Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony in 1362, but his suzerainty was not recognised by the lord of Albret or other Gascon nobles. He was directed by his father to forbid

28980-441: The prince only rested eleven days in all the places he visited, and without performing any feat of arms did the French king much mischief. During the next month, before 21 January 1356, the leaders under his command reduced five towns and seventeen castles. On 6 July 1356 Prince Edward set out on another expedition, undertaken with the intention of passing through France to Normandy, and there giving aid to his father's Norman allies,

29190-442: The prince replied that the king had told him that all the persons he had slain were traitors. On the morning of 3 April, the prince's army marched from Navarrete, and all dismounted while they were yet some distance from Henry's army. The vanguard, in which were three thousand men-at-arms, both English and Bretons, was led by Lancaster, Chandos, Calveley, and Clisson; the right division was commanded by Armagnac and other Gascon lords;

29400-434: The prince the opportunity to "win his spurs " (he was in fact already a knight), and to allow him and those who had charge of him the honour of the victory. The prince was thrown to the ground and was rescued by Sir Richard FitzSimon , his standard bearer , who threw down the banner, stood over his body, and beat back his assailants while he regained his feet. Harcourt now sent to Earl of Arundel for help, and he forced back

29610-480: The prince was met by John Chandos, the king's lieutenant, and proceeded with him to Poitiers, where he received the homage of the lords of Poitou and Saintonge ; he then rode to various cities and at last came to Bordeaux, where from 9 to 30 July he received the homage of the lords of Gascony. He received all graciously, and kept a splendid court, residing sometimes at Bordeaux and sometimes at Angoulême . The prince appointed Chandos constable of Guyenne , and provided

29820-399: The prince wrote an answer to Henry's letter. On 2 April he left Logroño and moved to Navarrete, La Rioja . Meanwhile, Henry and his French allies had encamped at Nájera , so that the two armies were now near each other. Letters passed between Henry and the prince, for Henry seems to have been anxious to make terms. He declared that Peter was a tyrant, and had shed much innocent blood, to which

30030-495: The prince's hands as hostages for the fulfilment of these terms, and further agreed that whenever the king, the prince, or their heirs, the king of England, should march in person against the Moors, they should have the command of the vanguard before all other Christian kings, and that if they were not present the banner of the king of England should be carried in the vanguard side by side with the banner of Castile. The prince received

30240-557: The prince's, their earl's, hands. On his return from Chester the prince is said to have passed by the Abbey of Dieulacres in Staffordshire, to have seen a fine church which his great-grandfather, Edward I , had built there, and to have granted five hundred marks, a tenth of the sum he had taken from his earldom, towards its completion; the abbey was almost certainly not Dieulacres but Vale Royal . When Edward III determined to renew

30450-453: The prince, who was enraged at the death of one of his friends, declared that he would not leave the place untaken. Finally he set fire to the roofs of the fortress by using Greek fire, reduced it on 3 September. On 5 September the English proceeded to march through Berry. On 9 September King John II, who had now gathered a large force, crossed the Loire at Blois and went in pursuit of them. When

30660-500: The process, and lived as a hermit for many years; in this interpretation, the body in Gloucester Cathedral is of Edward's dead captor. In all of these versions, it is argued that it suited Isabella and Mortimer to publicly claim that Edward was dead, even if they were aware of the truth. Other historians, however, including David Carpenter , have criticised the methodology behind this revisionist approach and disagree with

30870-448: The regent of France. He probably did not return to England until after his father, who landed at Rye on 18 May. On 9 July he and Henry, Duke of Lancaster, landed at Calais in attendance on the French king. As, however, the stipulated instalment of the king's ransom was not ready, he returned to England, leaving King John in the charge of Sir Walter Manny and three other knights. He accompanied his father to Calais on 9 October to assist at

31080-463: The regime. Secondly, the Gascon situation, still unresolved from Edward II's reign, also posed an issue. Isabella reopened negotiations in Paris, resulting in a peace treaty under which the bulk of Gascony, minus the Agenais, would be returned to England in exchange for a 50,000- mark penalty. The treaty was not popular in England because of the Agenais clause. Henry, Earl of Lancaster was amongst

31290-468: The representative of her father's line she would assume a place ahead of any more distant relatives. For example, had George, Prince of Wales (the future George IV) predeceased his father, King George III , between 1796 and 1817, the former's daughter, Princess Charlotte , being his only legitimate child, would have become heir apparent to the British throne. Such a situation has not to date occurred with

31500-399: The rest of the castle, leaving Edward in control of his own government for the first time. Parliament was convened the next month, where Mortimer was put on trial for treason. Isabella was portrayed as an innocent bystander during the proceedings, and no mention of her sexual relationship with Mortimer was made public. Mortimer was executed at Tyburn , but Edward III showed leniency and he

31710-420: The right and reinstate a disinherited king, God would grant him success. Then, after telling Peter that he should know that day whether he should have his kingdom or not, he cried: "Advance, banner, in the name of God and St. George; and God defend our right". The knights of Castile attacked and pressed the English vanguard, but the wings of Henry's army failed to move, so that the Gascon lords were able to attack

31920-401: The right to a place somewhere in the order of succession, but when it comes to what that place is, a female will rank behind her brothers regardless of their ages or her age. Thus, normally, even an only daughter will not be heir apparent, since at any time a brother might be born who, though younger, would assume that position. Hence, she is an heir presumptive. For example, Queen Elizabeth II

32130-463: The roof, before using rope ladders provided by an accomplice to get down to the River Thames . He then crossed the river and eventually made it to safety in France. Victorian writers suggested that, given later events, Isabella might have helped Mortimer escape. Additionally, some historians continue to argue that their relationship had already begun at this point, although most believe that there

32340-621: The royal Chancery from the Tower of London . After surrendering to Edward's forces on 31 October 1321, Margaret, Baroness Badlesmere, Kent and her children were sent to the Tower, and 13 of the Leeds garrison were hanged. By January 1322, Edward's army, reinforced by the Despensers returning from exile, had forced the surrender of the Mortimers, and by March Lancaster himself had been captured after

32550-403: The rumours spread considerably before Deydras' eventual execution, and appear to have greatly upset Isabella. Isabella responded by deepening her alliance with Lancaster's enemy, Henry de Beaumont , and by taking up an increased role in government herself, including attending council meetings and acquiring increased lands. Henry's sister, Isabella de Vesci , continued to remain a close adviser to

32760-465: The sacrament with his father at Crécy , and took the command of the right, or van, of the army with the earls of Warwick and Oxford , Sir Geoffroy d'Harcourt , Sir John Chandos , and other leaders, and at the head of eight hundred men-at-arms, two thousand archers, and a thousand Welsh foot, though the numbers are by no means trustworthy. When the Genoese bowmen were discomfited and the front line of

32970-451: The service of Henry of Trastámara, and joined Prince Edward "because he was their natural lord". While the prince was at Pamplona he received a letter of defiance from Henry. From Pamplona the prince marched by Arruiz to Salvatierra , which opened its gates to his army, and thence advanced to Vitoria , intending to march on Burgos by this direct route. A body of his knights, which he had sent out to reconnoitre under Sir William Felton ,

33180-555: The throne, Edward had attempted to avoid doing so again, increasing tensions between the two. One of the elements in the disputes was the border province of Agenais , part of Gascony and in turn part of Aquitaine. Tensions rose in November 1323 after the construction of a bastide , a type of fortified town, in Saint-Sardos , part of the Agenais, by a French vassal. Gascon forces destroyed the bastide, and in turn Charles attacked

33390-451: The time of her marriage, Isabella was probably about twelve and was described by Geoffrey of Paris as " the beauty of beauties... in the kingdom if not in all Europe. " This description was probably not simply flattery by a chronicler, since both Isabella's father and brothers were considered very handsome men by contemporaries, and her husband was to nickname her "Isabella the Fair". Isabella

33600-477: The time, having left his wife Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere in charge of the castle. When the latter adamantly refused the Queen's admittance, fighting broke out outside the castle between Isabella's guards and the garrison, marking the beginning of the Despenser War . Whilst Edward mobilised his own faction and placed Leeds Castle under siege, Isabella was given the Great Seal and assumed control of

33810-486: The town harried and burned the country for 30 miles (48 km) around, and brought much booty back with him. He returned to England with his father on 12 October 1347, took part in the jousts and other festivities of the court, and was invested by the king with the new Order of the Garter (1348). Prince Edward shared in the king's expedition to Calais in the last days of 1349, came to the rescue of his father, and when

34020-404: The towns and castles he had conquered, to set free all his prisoners, and not to serve against the king of France for seven years, besides, it is said, offering a payment of a hundred thousand francs. King John, however, was persuaded to demand that the prince and a hundred of his knights should surrender themselves up as prisoners, and to this he would not consent. The cardinal's negotiations lasted

34230-834: The traditional pursuits of a king for the period — jousting , hunting and warfare — and instead enjoyed music, poetry and rural crafts . Furthermore, there is the question of Edward's sexuality in a period when homosexuality was considered a serious crime, but there is no direct evidence of his sexual orientation. Contemporary chroniclers made much of his close affinity with a succession of male favourites . Some condemned Edward for loving them "beyond measure" and "uniquely", others explicitly referring to an "illicit and sinful union". Nonetheless, Isabella bore four children by Edward, leading some historians to believe that Edward's affairs with his male favourites were platonic , despite Isabella's complaints of whose bed he visited. When Isabella first arrived in England following her marriage, her husband

34440-399: The transition of power, remaining a wealthy and influential member of the English court, albeit never returning directly to active politics. Isabella's regency lasted only four years, before the fragile political alliance that had brought her and Mortimer to power disintegrated. 1328 saw the marriage of Isabella's son, Edward III to Philippa of Hainault, as agreed before the invasion of 1326;

34650-433: The war against the Scots that he had inherited from Edward I. Using her own supporters at court and the patronage of her French family, Isabella attempted to find a political path through these challenges. She successfully formed an alliance with Gaveston, but after his death at the hands of the barons, her position grew increasingly precarious. Edward began to take revenge on his enemies, using an ever more brutal alliance with

34860-540: The war with France in 1355, he ordered the Black Prince to lead an army into Aquitaine while he, as his plan was, acted with the king of Navarre in Normandy, and the Duke of Lancaster upheld the cause of John of Montfort in Brittany. The prince's expedition was made in accordance with the request of some of the Gascon lords who were anxious for plunder. On 10 July the king appointed him his lieutenant in Gascony, and gave him powers to act in his stead, and, on 4 August, to receive homages. He left London for Plymouth on 30 June,

35070-408: The whole day, and were protracted in the interest of the French, for John II was anxious to give time for further reinforcements to join his army. Considering the position in which the prince then was, it seems probable that the French might have destroyed his little army simply by hemming it in with a portion of their host, and so either starving it or forcing it to leave its strong station and fight in

35280-463: The whole of these profits were assigned to the queen for maintaining him and the king's sister Eleanor . In July of that year, the king proposed to marry him to a daughter of Philip VI of France . His father was Edward III of England, who became king at the young age of fourteen years in 1327, when his father (and the Black Prince's grandfather) Edward II of England was deposed by his wife Isabella of France , daughter of Philip IV of France , and by

35490-406: Was "very rich and fertile" according to the Black Prince, and the people "good, simple, and ignorant of war", so the prince took great spoil, especially of carpets, draperies, and jewels, for "the robbers" spared nothing, and the Gascons who marched with him were especially greedy. The only castle to resist the English forces was Montgey . Its châtelaine defended its walls by pouring beehives onto

35700-475: Was 7 years old in 1299. The French chronicler Guillaume de Nangis and English chronicler Thomas Walsingham describe her as 12 years old at the time of her marriage in January 1308, placing her birth between January 1295 and of 1296. A papal dispensation by Clement V in November 1305 permitted her immediate marriage by proxy , despite the fact that she was probably only 10 years old. Since her brother Charles

35910-424: Was a powerful Marcher lord, married to the wealthy heiress Joan de Geneville , and the father of twelve children. Mortimer had been imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1322 following his capture by Edward during the Despenser wars. Mortimer's uncle, Roger Mortimer de Chirk finally died in prison, but Mortimer managed to escape the Tower in August 1323: making a hole in the stone wall of his cell and then escaping onto

36120-549: Was a strangely unemotional man; one contemporary described him as "neither a man nor a beast, but a statue"; modern historians have noted that he "cultivated a reputation for Christian kingship and showed few weaknesses of the flesh". Philip built up centralised royal power in France, engaging in a sequence of conflicts to expand or consolidate French authority across the region, but remained chronically short of money throughout his reign. Indeed, he appeared almost obsessed about building up wealth and lands, something that his daughter

36330-584: Was a strong sexual attraction between the two, that they shared an interest in the Arthurian legends , and that they both enjoyed fine art and high living. One historian has described their relationship as one of the "great romances of the Middle Ages" in spite of the fact that they are reputed to have murdered her husband. They also shared a common enemy: the regime of Edward II and the Despensers. Taking Prince Edward with them, Isabella and Mortimer left

36540-548: Was able to recover her daughters Eleanor and Joan , who had been kept in the Despensers' custody. By now desperate and increasingly deserted by their court, Edward and Hugh Despenser the Younger attempted to sail to Lundy , a small island in the Bristol Channel , but the weather was against them and after several days they were forced to land back in Wales. With Bristol secure, Isabella moved her base of operations up to

36750-719: Was already involved with Piers Gaveston, an "arrogant, ostentatious" soldier, with a "reckless and headstrong" personality that appealed to Edward. Isabella, then aged twelve, was effectively sidelined by the pair. Edward chose to sit with Gaveston rather than Isabella at their wedding celebration, causing grave offence to her uncles Louis, Count of Évreux , and Charles, Count of Valois , and then refused to grant her either her own lands or her own household. Edward also gave Gaveston Isabella's own jewelry, which he wore publicly. Isabella complained to her father that Gaveston took her place next to Edward II, she received insufficient funds and Edward visited Gaveston's bed more than hers. It took

36960-533: Was also accused of in later life. Isabella's mother died when Isabella was still quite young; some contemporaries suspected Philip IV of her murder, albeit probably incorrectly. Isabella was brought up in and around the Louvre Palace and the Palais de la Cité in Paris. Isabella was cared for by Théophania de Saint-Pierre, her nurse, given a good education and taught to read, developing a love of books. As

37170-488: Was at a breaking point. Travelling to France on a diplomatic mission, Isabella may have begun an affair with Roger Mortimer , and the two may possibly have agreed at this point to depose Edward and oust the Despenser family. The Queen returned to England with a small mercenary army in 1326, moving rapidly across England. The King's forces deserted him. Isabella deposed Edward, becoming regent on behalf of her young son, Edward III . Some believe that Isabella then arranged

37380-425: Was becoming unsafe because of local unrest and Edward made plans to leave. Isabella struck west again, reaching Oxford on 2 October where she was "greeted as a saviour" – Adam Orleton , the Bishop of Hereford , emerged from hiding to give a lecture to the university on the evils of the Despensers. Edward fled London on the same day, heading west towards Wales. Isabella and Mortimer now had an effective alliance with

37590-423: Was born at Woodstock , Oxfordshire, on 15 June 1330. His father, Edward III, had been in conflict with the French over English lands in France and also the kingship of France; Edward III's mother and the Prince's grandmother, Queen Isabella of France was a daughter of the French king Philip IV of France , thus placing her son in line for the throne of France. England and France's relations quickly deteriorated when

37800-623: Was born on 18 June 1294, and she had to reach the canonical age of 12 before her marriage in January 1308, the evidence suggests that she was born between April 1295 and January 1296. Her parents were King Philip IV of France and Queen Joan I of Navarre ; her brothers Louis , Philip and Charles became kings of France. Isabella was born into a royal family that ruled the most powerful state in Western Europe . Her father, King Philip, known as "le Bel" (the Fair) because of his good looks,

38010-540: Was clearly concerned about Edward's supporters staging a counter-coup, and in November she seized the Tower of London, appointed one of her supporters as mayor and convened a council of nobles and churchmen in Wallingford to discuss the fate of Edward. The council concluded that Edward would be legally deposed and placed under house arrest for the rest of his life. This was then confirmed at the next parliament , dominated by Isabella and Mortimer's followers. The session

38220-432: Was committed to bringing this issue to a conclusion by diplomatic means. Edward III initially opposed this policy, before eventually relenting, leading to the Treaty of Northampton . Under this treaty, Isabella's daughter Joan would marry David Bruce (heir apparent to the Scottish throne) and Edward III would renounce any claims on Scottish lands, in exchange for the promise of Scottish military aid against any enemy except

38430-495: Was convinced that this was the moment to act, and on 19 October, Montagu led a force of twenty-three armed men into the castle by a secret tunnel. Up in the keep , Isabella, Mortimer and other council members were discussing how to arrest Montagu, when Montagu and his men appeared. Fighting broke out on the stairs and Mortimer was overwhelmed in his chamber. Isabella threw herself at Edward's feet, famously crying "Fair son, have pity on gentle Mortimer!" Lancastrian troops rapidly took

38640-407: Was customary for the period, all of Philip's children were married young for political benefit. Isabella was promised in marriage by her father to Edward II , the son of King Edward I of England , with the intention to resolve the conflicts between France and England over the latter's continental possession of Gascony and claims to Anjou , Normandy and Aquitaine . Pope Boniface VIII had urged

38850-409: Was decided to ask the wishes of the English king. Edward replied that it was right that his son should help Peter, and the prince held another parliament at which the king's letter was read. Then the lords agreed to give their help, provided that their pay was secured to them. To give them the required security, the prince agreed to lend Peter whatever money was necessary. The prince and Peter then held

39060-412: Was decided to make a short campaign before the winter, and on 10 October he set out with fifteen hundred lances, two thousand archers, and three thousand light foot. Whatever scheme of operations the King may have formed during the summer, this expedition of the Prince was purely a piece of marauding. After grievously harrying the counties of Juliac, Armagnac , Astarac , and part of Comminges , he crossed

39270-650: Was defeated by a skirmishing party, and he found that Henry had occupied some strong positions, and especially Santo Domingo de la Calzada on the right of the river Ebro , and Zaldiaran mountain on the left, which made it impossible for him to reach Burgos through Álava . Accordingly he crossed the Ebro, and encamped under the walls of Logroño . During these movements the prince's army had suffered from want of provisions both for men and horses, and from wet and windy weather. At Logroño, however, though provisions were still scarce, they were somewhat better off. On 30 March 1367,

39480-429: Was detained there by contrary winds, and set sail on 8 September with about three hundred ships, in company with four earls (Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, William Ufford, Earl of Suffolk , William Montagu, Earl of Salisbury , and John Vere, Earl of Oxford), and in command of a thousand men-at-arms, two thousand archers, and a large body of Welsh foot. At Bordeaux the Gascon lords received him with much rejoicing. It

39690-478: Was edging back towards Edward II, his half-brother. Edmund of Kent was in conversations with other senior nobles questioning Isabella's rule, including Henry de Beaumont and Isabella de Vesci. Edmund was finally involved in a conspiracy in 1330, allegedly to restore Edward II, who, he claimed, was still alive: Isabella and Mortimer broke up the conspiracy, arresting Edmund and other supporters—including Simon Mepeham , Archbishop of Canterbury . Edmund may have expected

39900-408: Was facing increasing pressure from Hugh Despenser the Younger, Edward's new royal favourite. With her lands in England seized, her children taken away from her and her household staff arrested, Isabella began to pursue other options. When her brother, King Charles IV of France, seized Edward's French possessions in 1325, she returned to France, initially as a delegate of the King charged with negotiating

40110-608: Was forced to abdicate — his eventual fate and possible murder remains a matter of considerable historical debate. Isabella ruled as regent until 1330 when her son Edward deposed Mortimer and began to rule directly in his own right. Isabella's husband Edward, as the Duke of Aquitaine , owed homage to the King of France for his lands in Gascony . Isabella's three brothers each had only short reigns, and Edward had successfully avoided paying homage to Louis X, and had paid homage to Philip V only under great pressure. Once Charles IV took up

40320-514: Was forced to exile Gaveston to Ireland for a period and began to show Isabella much greater respect, assigning her lands and patronage. In turn, Philip ceased his support for the barons. Gaveston eventually returned from Ireland , and by 1309–11, the three seemed to be co-existing together relatively comfortably. Indeed, Gaveston's key enemy, Edward and Isabella's uncle Thomas of Lancaster , considered her to be an ally of Gaveston. Isabella had begun to build up her own supporters at court, principally

40530-549: Was gathering a large force at Chartres , from which he was able to defend the passages of the Loire , and was sending troops to the fortresses that seemed in danger of attack. From Issoudun the prince returned to his former line of march and took Vierzon . There he learnt that it would be impossible for him to cross the Loire or to form a junction with Lancaster, who was then in Brittany. Accordingly he determined to return to Bordeaux by way of Poitiers, and after putting to death most of

40740-482: Was heir presumptive during the reign of her father, King George VI ; had George fathered a legitimate son, then that child would have displaced Elizabeth in the line of succession and become heir apparent. However, a granddaughter could for example be heir apparent if she were the only daughter of the deceased eldest son of the sovereign (e.g. Queen Elizabeth II would have been heir apparent to George V if her oldest uncle and father both had died before their father). In

40950-410: Was held in January 1327, with Isabella's case being led by her supporter Adam Orleton , Bishop of Hereford . Isabella's son, Prince Edward, was confirmed as Edward III of England , with his mother appointed regent. Isabella's position was still precarious, as the legal basis for deposing Edward was doubtful and many lawyers of the day maintained that Edward II was still the rightful king, regardless of

41160-409: Was in alliance with Edward III, sent messengers to Prince Edward asking his help, and on receiving a gracious answer at Corunna , set out at once, and arrived at Bayonne with his son and his three daughters. The prince met him at Capbreton , and rode with him to Bordeaux. Many of the prince's lords, both English and Gascon, were unwilling that he should espouse Peter's cause, but he declared that it

41370-402: Was increasingly insecure, and Isabella's son, Edward III, was growing frustrated at Mortimer's grip on power. Various historians, with different levels of confidence, have also suggested that in late 1329 Isabella became pregnant. A child of Mortimer's with royal blood would have proved both politically inconvenient for Isabella, and challenging to Edward's own position. Edward quietly assembled

41580-438: Was invested with the earldom and county of Chester , and in the parliament of 9 February 1337, he was created Duke of Cornwall and received the duchy by charter dated 17 March. This is the earliest instance of the creation of a duke in England. By the terms of the charter the duchy was to be held by him and the eldest sons of kings of England. His tutor was Dr. Walter Burley of Merton College, Oxford . His revenues were placed at

41790-437: Was made by three hundred picked men-at-arms to ride through the narrow lane and force the English position, but they were shot down by the archers. A body of Germans and the first division of the army which followed were thrown into disorder; then the English force in ambush charged the second division on the flank, and as it began to waver the English men-at-arms mounted their horses, which they had kept near them, and charged down

42000-423: Was not fitting that a bastard should inherit a kingdom, or drive out his lawfully born brother, and that no king or king's son ought to suffer such disrespect to royalty; nor could any turn him from his determination to restore the king. Peter won friends by declaring that he would make Edward's son king of Galicia, and would divide his riches among those who helped him. A parliament was held at Bordeaux, in which it

42210-473: Was not quartered or disembowelled . After the coup, Isabella was initially transferred to Berkhamsted Castle , and then held under house arrest at Windsor Castle until 1332, when she then moved back to her own Castle Rising in Norfolk . Agnes Strickland , a Victorian historian, argued that Isabella suffered from occasional fits of madness during this period but modern interpretations suggest, at worst,

42420-417: Was pregnant at the moment of his death, since such a posthumous child, regardless of its sex, would have displaced Victoria from the throne. Adelaide was 44 at the time, so pregnancy was possible even if unlikely. Daughters (and their lines) may inherit titles that descend according to male-preference primogeniture, but only in default of sons (and their heirs). That is, both female and male offspring have

42630-580: Was promptly executed by his Lancastrian enemies – his body was hacked to pieces and fed to the local dogs. The remainder of the former regime were brought to Isabella. Edmund Fitzalan , a key supporter of Edward II and who had received many of Mortimer's confiscated lands in 1322, was executed on 17 November. Hugh Despenser the Younger was sentenced to be brutally executed on 24 November, and a huge crowd gathered in anticipation at seeing him die. They dragged him from his horse, stripped him, and scrawled Biblical verses against corruption and arrogance on his skin. He

42840-492: Was really alive somewhere in Europe, some of which were captured in the famous Fieschi Letter written in the 1340s, although no concrete evidence ever emerged to support the allegations. There are, however, various historical interpretations of the events surrounding this basic sequence of events. According to legend, Isabella and Mortimer famously plotted to murder Edward in such a way as not to draw blame on themselves, sending

43050-405: Was received with much rejoicing, and he and his men tarried there through the winter and wasted in festivities the immense spoil they had gathered. On 23 March 1357 the prince concluded a two years' truce, for he wished to return home. The Gascon lords were unwilling that King John II should be carried off to England, and the prince gave them a hundred thousand crowns to silence their murmurs. He left

43260-461: Was said to resemble her father, and not her mother, queen regnant of Navarre, a plump, plain woman. This indicates that Isabella was slender and pale-skinned, although the fashion at the time was for blonde, slightly full-faced women, and Isabella may well have followed this stereotype instead. Throughout her career, Isabella was noted as charming and diplomatic, with a particular skill at convincing people to follow her courses of action. Unusual for

43470-502: Was subjected to a colossal fine, effectively crippling his power. Isabella was merciful to those who had aligned themselves with him, although some — such as her old supporter Henry de Beaumont, whose family had split from Isabella over the peace with Scotland, which had lost them huge land holdings in Scotland — fled to France. Despite Lancaster's defeat, however, discontent continued to grow. Edmund of Kent had sided with Isabella in 1326, but had since begun to question his decision and

43680-414: Was the eldest child and eldest son. His father had begun a war with Scotland to regain lost territories which were captured by the Scots during the reign of Edward II and began the military operations undertaken by Edward III's grandfather, Edward I of England , recapturing English lands such as Berwick-Upon-Tweed. Edward III took his grandfather's military strategies and tactics against the Scots to avenge

43890-508: Was then dragged into the city, presented to Queen Isabella, Roger Mortimer and the Lancastrians. Despenser was then condemned to hang as a thief, be castrated, and then to be drawn and quartered as a traitor, his quarters to be dispersed throughout England. Simon of Reading, one of the Despensers' supporters, was hanged next to him, on charges of insulting Isabella. Once the core of the Despenser regime had been executed, Isabella and Mortimer began to show restraint. Lesser nobles were pardoned and

44100-717: Was willing to reverse the forfeiture of the lands if Edward ceded the Agenais and paid homage for the rest of the lands. The Pope proposed Isabella as an ambassador, and Isabella saw this as a perfect opportunity to resolve her situation with Edward and the Despensers. Having promised to return to England by the summer, Isabella reached Paris in March 1325 and rapidly agreed to a truce in Gascony, under which Prince Edward, then thirteen years old, would come to France to give homage on his father's behalf. Prince Edward arrived in France, and gave homage in September. At this point, however, rather than returning, Isabella remained firmly in France with her son. Edward began to send urgent messages to

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