Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England
32. Foedera.
33. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
34. Gesta Edwardi; Chronicle of Meaux; Vita Edwardi Secundi; Robert of Reading; Foedera.
35. Foedera; Walsingham; Strickland; Trokelowe.
36. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
37. For the reconciliation, see Foedera; Walsingham; Vita Edwardi Secundi; Trokelowe; CPR; Strickland.
38. In 1959, G. E. Trease noted that the Queen was being attended by her doctors at this time but erroneously concluded that she had suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth.
39. E.101; Trease.
40. Cotton MSS, Julius.
41. E.101; E.404.
42. E.101.
43. CCR; Gascon Calendar; E.101.
44. Foedera.
45. E.101.
46. E.101. For details of Isabella’s trip to France, I am indebted to Brown, “Diplomacy.”
47. E.101; E.404; C.47.
48. E.101.
49. Kentish Chronicle.
50. Leland; Annales Paulini.
51. E.101.
52. Foedera; CPR.
53. E.101.
54. Ibid.
55. Ibid.
56. E.101; Foedera; CPR.
57. E.101.
58. Ibid.
59. Ibid.
60. Seward, Monks of War; Doherty, thesis.
61. Doherty, thesis; Foedera; C.47; E.101; E.30; Langlois, “Rouleaux”; Cotton MSS, Julius. Isabella’s petitions are in E.30. For a full account, see Brown, “Diplomacy.”
62. E.101.
63. E.101. The castle in which Isabella stayed was destroyed by her grandson, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years’ War, but the Sainte Chapelle founded by Saint Louis in circa 1235 survives, although without its original stained glass. The present-day château dates mainly from the sixteenth century.
64. E.101.
65. CPR.
66. E.101.
67. E.101; Foedera.
68. E.101.
69. Brown, “Prince Is Father.”
70. E.101.
71. Lambeth MS 242; E.101.
72. E.101.
73. Geoffrey de Paris.
74. Grey, Scalacronica.
75. Grey, writing some years after these events, states incorrectly that two of the Princesses were put to a shameful death and that the third was imprisoned without food or drink and starved to death.
76. Archives Tallandier.
77. Chronique de Pays-Bas; Grey, Scalacronica.
78. Hallam, Capetian France; Langlois; Fawtier.
79. Langlois, “Rouleaux”; Cotton MSS, Julius.
80. Doherty, thesis.
81. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Chronicle of Meaux.
82. E.101.
83. Ibid.
84. He was later exchanged for Bruce’s wife, Elizabeth de Burgh, who had been held prisoner in England since 1306.
85. Trevet; Gransden.
86. E.101; Tout, Chapters.
87. Johnstone, “Eccentricities”; Vita Edwardi Secundi; Madox.
88. E.101.
89. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
90. Rotuli Parliamentorum; Doherty, thesis.
91. Doherty, thesis; Household Book.
92. E.101.
93. E.101; Christie; E.403.
94. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
95. Trokelowe; Phillips; Aymer; E.101.
96. Annales Londonienses; Vita Edwardi Secundi; Annales Paulini; Trokelowe; E.403; CPR; C.81; Additional MSS; Stowe MSS; E.101.
97. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
98. Vita Edwardi Secundi; E.101.
99. Doherty, thesis.
100. CPR.
101. Saaler; Cotton MSS, Nero; Cooper.
102. E.101; Lambeth MS 242.
103. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
104. Walsingham; Vita Edwardi Secundi.
105. Gesta Edwardi.
106. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
107. McKisack.
108. E.101.
109. Robert of Reading.
110. Irish Exchequer Payments; Barrow; Chartularies of St. Mary’s Abbey, Dublin.
111. Parliamentary Writs.
112. Rotuli Parliamentorum; Foedera; Vita Edwardi Secundi; Parliamentary Writs.
113. Foedera.
114. CPR.
115. Household book of Thomas of Lancaster, in Stow, London.
116. Foedera.
117. E.101.
118. CPR.
119. Ibid.
120. Phillips, Aymer; Maddicott.
121. Society of Antiquaries MS 120.
122. Brief Summary of the Wardobe Accounts of Edward II; Society of Antiquaries MS 120.
123. Household Book; Foedera; Brief Summary of the Wardrobe Accounts of Edward II.
124. CPR.
125. E.404.
126. Society of Antiquaries MS 120.
127. E.404.
128. Description from tomb epitaph in Durham Cathedral.
129. Doherty, thesis; Maddicott.
130. Historia Dunelmensis; Doherty, thesis; Packe.
131. CCR; Mortimer; CPR; Foedera.
132. CCR; E.404.
133. CPR.
134. Packe. In 1589, Jeanne’s direct descendant would ascend the French throne as Henry IV, first king of the House of Bourbon.
135. Clarendon was last used as a royal residence in 1453, by Henry VI. The palace has now largely disappeared, and only ruined fragments remain. The site was excavated in 1936 and in the 1960s. The tiled pavement from the Queen’s chamber is now in the British Museum.
136. E.404.
137. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
138. Historia Dunelmensis; Doherty, thesis; Packe.
139. Rotuli Parliamentorum; Foedera; Vita Edwardi Secundi; Parliamentary Writs.
140. Dene; Additional MSS; Phillips, Aymer.
141. Chronicon Abbatiae Ramesiensis.
142. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
143. It was said to have been named in honor of Prince Edward and his younger brother, John of Eltham.
144. E.403.
145. Vita Edwardi Secundi; CP; Robert of Reading; Chronicle of Meaux; Annales Paulini; Gesta Edwardi; Walsingham. After Lancaster’s death, Alice married Sir Eubulo Lestraunge second and Hugh, Baron Freyne, third. She died in 1348.
146. Foedera.
147. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
148. Walsingham.
149. Brief Summary of the Wardrobe Accounts of Edward II.
150. CPR.
151. Society of Antiquaries MS 121.
152. C.53.
153. Brief Summary of the Wardrobe Accounts of Edward II.
154. Baker.
155. Rotuli Parliamentorum.
156. E.404; Tanner MS 197.
157. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
158. Doherty, thesis; CPR; CCR; Lists and Indexes; E.404.
159. Davies, Baronial Opposition; Tout, Chapters; Tout, Place.
160. Rotuli Parliamentorum.
161. E.101.
162. Knighton; Gee.
163. E.159.
164. CPR.
165. Ibid.
166. CPR; CCR.
167. Phillips, Aymer; Maddicott.
168. Rotuli Parliamentorum; Doherty, thesis; Maddicott; Documents Illustrative of English History.
169. CPR.
170. Much of Woodstock was destroyed during the Civil War, and the remaining buildings were swept away in the early eighteenth century when Blenheim Palace was built in the palace grounds. A pillar now marks the site.
171. Society of Antiquaries MS 121; E.101; Lambeth MS 242.
172. E.101.
173. E.101; Vita Edwardi Secundi.
174. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Robert of Reading.
175. For the imposter, see Vita Edwardi Secundi; Chronicle of Lanercost; Walsingham; Johnstone, “Isabella.”
176. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
177. D.L.28.
178. Vita Edwardi Secundi. Leake is in Nottinghamshire.
179. Beverley Chapter Act Book.
180. Rotuli Parliamentorum.
181. Robert of Reading.
182. Rotuli Parliamentorum; Documents Illustrative of English History; Tout, Place; Maddicott.
183. E.403; S.C.1.
184. Annales Paulini.
185. “War of Saint Sardos.”
186. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
187. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Trokelowe.
188. This was Sir James Douglas (1286?–1330), one of Scotland’s most famous heroes.
189. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Robert of Reading.
190. Barbour.
191. Gesta Edwardi.
192. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
193. “Chronicle of the Civil Wars”; Vita Edwardi Secundi.
194. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
195. See also Doherty, thesis, and Society of Antiquaries MS 120.
196. Maddicott; CCR; E.101.
197. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Trokelowe.
198. Additional MSS; CFR.
199. Additional MSS.
200. Ibid.
201. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
202. Annales Paulini.
203. Doherty, thesis.
204. Register of Thomas Cobham.
205. Robert of Reading.
206. History of the King’s Works; Robert of Reading.
207. Lambeth MS 242.
208. E.159.
209. E.101.
210. Additional MSS.
211. CPR; Phillips, Aymer.
212. Annales Paulini; Foedera; Baker.
213. Trevet; Cotton MSS, Nero; Lettres Secrètes.
214. S.C.1.
215. Walsingham.
216. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
217. Foedera.
218. Ibid.; Chronicles…of Edward I and Edward II.
219. S.C.1.
220. Chronicle of Lanercost; Davies, “Despenser War.”
221. Froissart.
222. Chronicles…of Edward I and Edward II.
223. Robert of Reading.
224. Ibid.
225. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
226. Ibid.
227. Robert of Reading.
228. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
CHAPTER FIVE The Displeasure of the Queen
1. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
2. Ibid.
3. CCR.
4. Smith, “Revolt of William Somerton”; Walsingham.
5. C.81; CPR; Doherty, thesis; Lists and Indexes.
6. CCR.
7. CCR; Robert of Reading; Murimuth; Dugdale, Monasticon; Annales Paulini.
8. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
9. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Robert of Reading.
10. Annales Paulini.
11. Strickland.
12. Additional MSS; C.53; CCR.
13. Wigmore Abbey Annals; Annales Paulini.
14. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
15. CCR.
16. Murimuth; Vita Edwardi Secundi; Baker; Chronicles…of Edward I and Edward II; Maddicott.
17. Chroniques de London.
18. Annales Paulini.
19. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
20. CCR; Statutes of the Realm; Parliamentary Writs; CPR; Harleian MSS; Vita Edwardi Secundi.
21. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Robert of Reading; Chronicles…of Edward I and Edward II.
22. Foedera.
23. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
24. Kentish Chronicle.
25. E.101.
26. History of the King’s Works; CPR; CCR; CFR.
27. Kentish Chronicle.
28. Walsingham; Higden.
29. Kentish Chronicle. Murimuth and Baker assert that Isabella reached Leeds on 29 September; the Annales Paulini place her arrival as late as 13 October. See Doherty, thesis, for a fuller discussion of this. It seems that the likeliest date for her arrival was 2 October, since her request for soldiers was sent to the King (then at Witley) on 3 October (E.101).
30. Doherty, thesis; E.101.
31. CCR. This was probably Leeds Priory in the village of Leeds, which had been founded by the builder of the castle, Robert de Crevecouer. The priory site has recently been excavated. For the episode at Leeds Castle, see Foedera; Le Livere de Reis; Walsingham; Annales Paulini; Trokelowe; Kentish Chronicle; Baker; Vita Edwardi Secundi; Robert of Reading.
32. Walsingham; E.101.
33. E.101; Foedera.
34. Foedera.
35. CCR; Foedera.
36. CCR.
37. Annales Paulini.
38. Anominalle Chronicle.
39. Grey, Scalacronica; Murimuth.
40. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Robert of Reading.
41. She was released on 12 November 1322.
42. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
43. CCR; S.C.6.
44. CFR; S.C.6; History of the King’s Works.
45. CCR; E.101.
46. Kentish Chronicle; Vita Edwardi Secundi.
47. Anominalle Chronicle.
48. Strickland; Denholm-Young, introduction to Vita Edwardi Secundi.
49. Foedera; Chronicles…of Edward I and Edward II; Murimuth; Annales Paulini.
50. Haskins, “Doncaster Petition.”
51. Cotton MSS, Nero.
52. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
53. Ibid.
54. CPR; Foedera.
55. Foedera; CCR.
56. Chronicle of Meaux; Vita Edwardi Secundi.
57. CPR.
58. Parliamentary Writs; Murimuth.
59. CPR.
60. Walsingham; Parliamentary Writs; Murimuth; Anominalle Chronicle.
61. CCR; CPR.
62. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Robert of Reading.
63. Foedera.
64. Foedera; Annales Paulini.
65. Walsingham.
66. For the Battle of Boroughbridge, see Grey, Scalacronica; Vita Edwardi Secundi; Mason, “Sir Andrew de Harcla”; Tout, “Tactics”; The Brut; Chronicle of Lanercost.
67. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
68. Rotuli Parliamentorum.
69. For Lancaster’s trial and condemnation, see Gesta Edwardi; Keen, Treason Trials; Robert of Reading; Fryde, Tyranny.
70. Vita Edwardi Secundi; The Brut; Trokelowe; Robert of Reading; Annales Paulini; Foedera.
71. CCR; Sayles; Murimuth.
72. Kentish Chronicle; E.101; CPR; Murimuth.
73. D.L.42; CPR.
74. Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers.
75. Murimuth; CP; Anominalle Chronicle; Fryde, Tyranny.
76. Cotton MSS, Vitellius.
77. S.C.8; CP.
78. Froissart.
79. Parliamentary Writs; Statutes of the Realm.
80. Cotton MSS, Vitellius.
81. Vita Edwardi Secundi; Annales Paulini; Robert of Reading; Baker; Chronicle of Lanercost; Froissart.
82. Froissart.
83. CCR.
84. Froissart.
85. CCR; Tout, Place.
86. Dene; CP.
87. Taylor, “Judgement.”
88. Shepherd.
89. D.L.42.
90. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
91. Ibid.
92. Grey, Scalacronica.
93. Tout, Place; Tout, Chapters.
94. E.101.
95. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
96. Ibid.
97. CPR; Plucknett.
98. Parliamentary Writs.
99. “War of Saint Sardos.”
100. Trokelowe.
101. Stowe MSS; Blackley, “Adam.”
102. E.163.
103. Stowe MSS.
104. Chronicle of Lanercost; Barrow; Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland.
105. Chronicle of Lanercost.
106. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland.
107. Stowe MSS.
108. Ibid.
109. Chronicle of Lanercost.
110. E.163.
111. Stowe MSS.
112. The continuator of William de Nangis, in Receuil des historiens des Gaules.
113. Stowe MSS.
114. The Brut; Stow
e MSS; Robert of Reading; Grey, Scalacronica; Barbour; Trokelowe.
CHAPTER SIX Then Let Her Live Abandoned and Forlorn
1. CCR; CPR.
2. Stowe MSS; E.101; Additional MSS.
3. Chronographia Regum Francorum.
4. Vita Edwardi Secundi.
5. Historiae Anglicana Decem Scriptores.
6. The Brut.
7. See Doherty, Isabella, and Susan Howatch in her fictionalized version of these events in the novel Cashelmara.
8. CCR; Foedera.
9. Cappellani.
10. Ibid.
11. Foedera.
12. CPR.
13. E.101; Calendar of Plea and Memoranda Rolls.
14. Foedera.
15. Stonor Letters.
16. E.101; S.C.1.
17. Doherty, thesis.
18. Mortimer.
19. Knighton; Robert of Reading.
20. C.81; CPR; Political Poems and Songs; Higden; Riches; Anominalle Chronicle.
21. Robert of Reading; Chroniques de London.
22. Knighton.
23. Chronicle of Lanercost; Mason, “Sir Andrew de Harcla”; Foedera; Trokelowe; Gesta Edwardi; Murimuth; Robert of Reading; The Brut; Walsingham; Annales Paulini; Letters and Papers from Northern Registers.
24. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland; Foedera; Robert of Reading; Vita Edwardi Secundi.
25. Foedera.
26. E.159; Beverley Chapter Act Book.
27. Le Livere de Reis.
28. The original Lanthorn Tower was gutted by fire in 1774; the present building is a Victorian reconstruction.
29. For Mortimer’s escape, see Foedera; Bayley; Knighton; Strickland; Murimuth; Mortimer; Stones, “Date”; Anominalle Chronicle; Robert of Reading; Chroniques de London; Trokelowe. Murimuth incorrectly dates the escape to 1322.
30. Chronicle of Meaux; “War of Saint Sardos.”
31. Kentish Chronicle; Doherty, thesis.
32. “War of Saint Sardos.”
33. Mortimeriados (1596), revised as The Barons’ Wars (1619); and England’s Heroical Epistles (1619).
34. Hopkinson and Speight.
35. Mortimer; Hicks.
36. Trokelowe.
37. Haines, Church and Politics; Williams, Mediaeval London; Registrum Ade de Orleton.
38. Edwards, “Political Importance”; “War of Saint Sardos.”
39. Froissart.
40. Trokelowe; Mortimer.
41. Mortimer.
42. CCR; Foedera.
43. CCR.
44. E.159.
45. Mortimer; Fryde, Tyranny; Chronicle of Meaux.
46. “War of Saint Sardos.”
47. Ashmole MS 794; E.101.
48. Additional MSS; E.159; CPR.
49. Chronicles of London, ed. Kingsford; Trokelowe; Baker; “War of Saint Sardos.”
50. E.403; Foedera; Tout, Place; Chronicle of Lanercost.
51. “War of Saint Sardos.”
52. CPR; Walsingham.
53. The Brut. Pembroke was buried near the high altar in Westminster Abbey. His tomb and effigy still survive. His widow, Marie, survived him for fifty-three years.