by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

King Richard II of England was born in the Archbishop’s Palace in Bordeaux, then in the English-held Duchy of Aquitaine (now in France) on January 6, 1367. Because of his birthplace, he was known as Richard of Bordeaux. Richard was the second son and second child of Edward, Prince of Wales (known as the Black Prince), eldest son and heir of King Edward III of England, and Joan of Kent, 4th Countess of Kent in her own right. Joan was a grandchild of King Edward I of England. Her father was Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, a son of Edward I’s second marriage. Richard had one elder sibling, Edward of Angoulême (1365 – 1370), who died young of the plague. After his elder brother’s death, Richard became the second in the line of succession to the throne after his father.

Edward of Angoulême and his mother Joan of Kent, depicted on the Wilton Diptych; Credit – Wikipedia

Richard had five half-siblings from his mother’s first marriage to Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent, 2nd Baron Holland

• Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent (1350  – 1397), married Lady Alice FitzAlan; had issue
• John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter (circa 1352 – 1400), married Elizabeth of Lancaster, a daughter of John of Gaunt; had issue
• Edmund Holland (c. 1354), died young
• Lady Joan Holland (1356–1384), married John IV, Duke of Brittany; no issue
• Lady Maud Holland (1359–1391), married (1) Hugh Courtenay, no issue; (2) Waleran III of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny, had issue

Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), Richard’s father, was King Edward III’s representative in Aquitaine, and the king had created Edward and his wife Joan Prince and Princess of Aquitaine. Richard had been born in Aquitaine, but his family returned to England in 1371, shortly after his brother’s death. When in England, the chief residences of Edward’s family were at Wallingford Castle in Berkshire (since 1974 in Oxfordshire), and at Berkhamsted Castle in Hertfordshire. The Black Prince was an exceptional military leader, and his victories over the French at the Battle of Crécy and the Battle of Poitiers made him very popular during his lifetime. In 1348, he became the first Knight of the Garter and was one of the order’s 25 founders.

Edward, Prince of Wales as Knight of the Order of the Garter, illustration from the Bruges Garter Book; Credit – Wikipedia

Richard’s father entrusted his son’s education to his boyhood friend Sir Simon de Burley, who instilled in Richard a love of literature and music as well as a sense of the importance of his royal office. Richard was the first English monarch who was fluent in English as well as the traditional Norman French of his ancestors. While in the midst of his childhood, nine-year-old Richard’s life changed when his father died at the age of 45 on June 8, 1376. Richard was now the heir to his grandfather’s throne. Because it was feared that Richard’s uncle John of Gaunt might usurp his place in the succession, Richard was quickly given his father’s titles: Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, and Earl of Chester. On June 21, 1377, King Edward III died and his ten-year-old grandson was then King Richard II.

King Richard II of England with his court after his coronation; Credit – Wikipedia

Richard’s coronation took place on July 16, 1377, at Westminster Abbey, just eleven days after his grandfather’s funeral. The quickness with which all this happened was certainly affected by the controversial succession of a child king whose father had not been the king. Some believed that one of King Edward III’s younger sons (there were three still alive: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; Edmund of Langley, Duke of York; and Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester) should be king. Parliament, which was in a dispute with John of Gaunt at that time, supported Richard’s accession to the throne. John of Gaunt and his two brothers were excluded from councils that ruled during Richard’s minority, but as the uncles of the king, they still held great informal influence over the business of government. By 1380, the councils were abolished because Parliament distrusted Richard’s friends and councilors, particularly his tutor Sir Simon de Burley and Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Marquess of Dublin, and 9th Earl of Oxford.  The uncertainty in the matter of Richard II’s succession laid the groundwork for the Wars of the Roses when the House of York and the House of Lancaster battled for the English throne.

Richard’s uncle John of Gaunt; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1381, the Peasants’ Revolt led by Wat Tyler occurred over a poll tax of a shilling on all people over the age of 15. The revolt had started in Kent and Essex but ultimately came to London where John of Gaunt’s Savoy Palace was burned down and the Archbishop of Canterbury Simon Sudbury, who was also Lord Chancellor, and the Lord High Treasurer Robert Hales were both killed by the rebels. 14-year-old Richard rode out to Mile End in London to meet the rebels. Addressing the rebels in English, Richard agreed to their demands. This did not pacify the rebels and they continued the burning, looting, and killing. The next day, Richard met the rebel leader Wat Tyler at Smithfield in London and again agreed to meet their demands. However, the rebels were not convinced, the king’s men grew uneasy, and an altercation occurred in which Wat Tyler was pulled off his horse and killed. Richard, acting calmly, led the rebel mob away from the scene, granted clemency, and allowed the rebels to disperse and return to their homes. When disturbances occurred in other parts of England, Richard revoked his agreement and the clemency and went to Essex to personally defeat the last rebels. At a young age, Richard did show courage and determination in ending the rebellion. However, he saw the danger of his subjects’ disobedience which threatened his authority and this helped shape his ideas of absolute monarchy which would later prove literally fatal.

Richard II watches Wat Tyler’s death and addresses the peasants in the background: taken from the Gruuthuse manuscript of Froissart’s Chroniques (c. 1475); Credit – Wikipedia

When Richard was 15, a bride was sought for him, and Anne of Bohemia, the eldest child of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, and his fourth wife, Elizabeth of Pomerania, seemed a logical choice as Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire were seen as potential allies against France in the ongoing Hundred Years’ War. However, the potential marriage was unpopular with the nobility and members of Parliament because Anne brought no dowry. Richard’s tutor and his father’s close friend Sir Simon de Burley was sent to negotiate the marriage contract and then escort the 15-year-old bride-to-be to England. After Anne arrived in Dover, England, a huge wave wrecked the ship in which she had sailed, and this was seen as a bad omen. The young couple was married at Westminster Abbey in London on January 22, 1382, the fifth royal wedding at the Abbey. It was not until the wedding of Princess Patricia of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and Alexander Ramsay in 1919, 537 years later, that another royal wedding was held at Westminster Abbey. Richard and Anne had no children.

Anne of Bohemia with her husband King Richard II of England; Credit: Wikipedia

Since 1337, England had been fighting France in the Hundred Years’ War, and the English had been consistently losing territory to the French since 1369. Richard wanted to negotiate peace with France, but much of the nobility wanted to continue the war. In 1386, Parliament blamed Richard’s advisers for the military failures and accused them of misusing funds intended for the war. Parliament authorized a commission of nobles known as the Lords Appellant to take over the management of the kingdom and act as Richard’s regents. There were originally three Lords Appellant: Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III and Richard’s uncle; Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel; and Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick. Later, Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby (son of John of Gaunt, Richard’s first cousin and the future King Henry IV), and Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk also became Lords Appellant. Richard did not recognize the authority of the Lords Appellant and started an unsuccessful military attempt to overthrow the Lords Appellant and negotiate peace with France. In 1387, the Lords Appellant launched an armed rebellion against King Richard and defeated an army under Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford at the Battle of Radcot Bridge, outside Oxford. They maintained Richard as a figurehead with little real power. Parliament convicted almost all of Richard’s advisers of treason. Most of Richard’s advisers were executed and a few were exiled.

Depiction of Mowbray, Arundel, Gloucester, Derby and Warwick demanding of Richard II that he let them prove by arms the justice of their rebellion; Credit – Wikipedia

Richard’s uncle John of Gaunt had left England in 1386 to seek the throne of Castile, claimed by the right of his second wife, Constance of Castile, whom he had married in 1371. Because of the crisis in England, in 1389, Richard’s uncle and now his supporter, John of Gaunt, returned from Castile and Richard was able to rebuild his power gradually until 1397, when he reasserted his authority and destroyed the principal three among the Lords Appellant.

Richard never forgave the Lords Appellant. His uncle Thomas, Duke Gloucester was murdered in captivity in Calais, probably on Richard’s orders. Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel was beheaded. Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick lost his title and his lands and was imprisoned on the Isle of Man until Richard was overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke. Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby and Thomas de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk were both exiled in 1399 and Richard revoked the permission he had given them to sue for any inheritance which fell due, as it did in relation to Mowbray’s grandmother and, more significantly, of Bolingbroke’s father, John of Gaunt. The actions Richard took against his first cousin would ultimately result in his downfall.

In June of 1394, Queen Anne became ill with the plague while at Sheen Palace with her husband. She died three days later on June 7, 1394, at the age of 28. King Richard II was so devastated by Anne’s death that he ordered Sheen Palace to be destroyed. For almost 20 years it lay in ruins until King Henry V started a rebuilding project in 1414. With Richard being childless, the heir presumptive to the throne was Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March who was the grandson of Richard’s deceased uncle Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence. Lionel of Antwerp was the second son of King Edward III so his heirs had a superior genealogical claim to the throne over that of Edward III’s third son John of Gaunt. Despite the fact that Richard officially recognized the claim of Roger Mortimer, the claim was unlikely to remain uncontested.

Soon after the death of Anne of Bohemia in 1394, the childless King Richard II began a search for a new wife. He turned to France seeking an alliance, and after negotiations, a marriage was arranged between Isabella of Valois and Richard who was 22 years older than his bride. Isabella was the daughter of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. This marriage had many opponents, especially Louis I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of the French king and Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, youngest uncle of the English king. Nevertheless, on November 1, 1396, at the Church of St. Nicholas in Calais, seven-year-old Isabella married 29-year-old Richard. Richard and Isabella left for England a few days later and on November 23, 1396, she made her state entry into London. The couple had no children due to Isabella’s young age. After Richard’s death, Isabella returned to France and married her cousin Charles of Orléans. At the age of 19, she died on September 14, 1409, in Blois, France a few hours after giving birth to her only child.

Richard and Isabella on their wedding day; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1398, Henry Bolingbroke, first cousin of King Richard II and the eldest child of King Edward III’s third son John of Gaunt, quarreled with Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, who accused him of treason. The two men planned to duel, but instead, King Richard II banished them from England, and Henry went to France.  John of Gaunt died on February 3, 1399, and Richard confiscated the estates of his uncle and stipulated that Henry would have to ask him to restore the estates. Henry returned to England while his cousin Richard was on a military campaign in Ireland and began a military campaign of his own, confiscating the land of those who had opposed him. King Richard II eventually was abandoned by his supporters and was forced by Parliament on September 29, 1399, to abdicate the crown to his cousin Henry. King Henry IV, the first king of the House of Lancaster, was crowned in Westminster Abbey on October 13, 1399. Richard was imprisoned at Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire where he died on or around February 14, 1400. The exact cause of his death, thought to have been starvation, is unknown.

• Unofficial Royalty: Death of Richard II, King of England

Richard being taken into custody by Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland (Froissart); Credit – Wikipedia

Richard’s body was taken south from Pontefract Castle and displayed in Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London on February 17, 1400, before burial in Kings Langley Church on March 6, 1400.

King Richard II’s funeral; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1413, King Henry V of England, son of King Henry IV, to atone for his father’s act of murder and to silence the rumors of Richard’s survival, had Richard’s remains moved to Westminster Abbey where they were placed in an elaborate tomb Richard had constructed for his first wife Anne of Bohemia.

Tomb of King Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia in Westminster Abbey; Photo Credit – http://www.westminster-abbey.org

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Plantagenet Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Index
• House of Plantagenet Index (1216 – 1399)
• British Royal Births, Marriages, Deaths, and Other Important Events
• Coronations after the Norman Conquest (1066 – present)
• History and Traditions: Norman and Plantagenet Weddings
• House of Plantagenet Burial Sites

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

King Edward II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

King Edward II of England was born on April 25, 1284, at Caernarfon Castle in Gwynedd, Wales. Known as Edward of Caernarfon, he was the fourth son and the youngest of the 14-16 children of King Edward I of England and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile.  Only six of their children survived childhood.

• Daughter (stillborn in May 1255)
• Katherine of England (before 1264 – 1264)
• Joan of England (born and died 1265)
• John of England (1266 – 1271)
• Henry of England (1268 – 1274)
• Eleanor of England (1269 – 1298), married Henri III, Count of Bar, had issue
• Daughter (born and died 1271)
• Joan of Acre (1272 – 1307), married (1) in 1290 Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, had issue  (2) in 1297 Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, had issue
• Alfonso, Earl of Chester (1273 – 1284)
• Margaret of England (1275 – after 1333), married John II, Duke of Brabant, had issue
• Berengaria (1276 – 1278)
• Daughter (born and died 1278)
• Mary of Woodstock (1279 – 1332), a Benedictine nun in Amesbury, Wiltshire
• Son (born in 1280 or 1281, who died very shortly after birth)
• Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (1282 – 1316), married (1) in 1297 John I, Count of Holland, no issue (2) in 1302 Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, 3rd Earl of Essex, had issue

Edward was born less than a year after his father, King Edward I, had taken complete control of Wales. At the time of his birth, Edward had only one surviving elder brother, Alphonso, Earl of Chester. However, ten-year-old Alphonso died four months after Edward’s birth, leaving his baby brother as heir to the throne. The tradition of conferring the title Prince of Wales on the heir apparent of the monarch is usually considered to have begun in 1301 when King Edward I of England invested his son Edward of Caernarfon with the title at a Parliament held in Lincoln. Since then, the title has been granted (with a few exceptions) to the heir apparent of the English or British monarch.

An early 14th-century depiction of Edward I (left) declaring his son Edward (right) the Prince of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1290, Edward’s mother, Eleanor of Castile, died at the age of 49. When Eleanor died, only six children, five daughters and one son, Edward, were still living. Edward was the youngest child and only six years old. King Edward I had to be worried about the succession, and a second marriage with sons would ensure the succession. On September 10, 1299, in Canterbury, England, 60-year-old King Edward I and 17-year-old Margaret of France were married.  Edward also had three half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Margaret of France:

• Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300 – 1338), married (1) Alice de Hales, had issue (2) Mary de Brewes, no surviving issue
• Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (1301 – 1330), married Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell, had issue including Joan of Kent (The Fair Maid of Kent) who married King Edward III‘s eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales (The Black Prince) and was the mother of King Richard II of England
• Eleanor of England (1306 – 1311), died young

Because his father was often away on military campaigns and was accompanied by his mother, Edward had seen little of his parents and lacked parental guidance for most of his childhood. He had no living brothers, and four of his five surviving sisters (all older than him) were married, and the other sister was a nun. His half-siblings were not born until after he was 16 years old. Therefore, Edward did not grow up surrounded by siblings. Edward had an official household since he was an infant, and staff that took care of his personal needs and education.

Edward probably grew up as a lonely boy, longing for male companions of his own age, but his choices of favorites caused him many problems. His first favorite was Piers Gaveston from a family from Gascony (now in France). Gaveston had impressed King Edward I, and he was assigned to Edward of Caernarfon’s household and became Edward’s inseparable companion. Gaveston became involved in conflicts between King Edward I and his son. The situation got so bad that shortly before his death, King Edward I banished Gaveston.

Isabella of France; Credit – Wikipedia

King Edward I died on a military campaign on July 7, 1307. As a child, Edward was betrothed to Isabella of France, daughter of King Philippe IV of France and Joan I, Queen of Navarre in her own right.  The marriage was arranged to resolve the conflicts between France and England over England’s possession of Gascony and claims to Anjou, Normandy, and Aquitaine.  However, King Edward I attempted to break the betrothal several times, and the marriage did not occur until after his death.  Isabella and King Edward II were married on January 25, 1308, at Boulogne Cathedral in France.  The couple’s coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on February 25, 1308.  Isabella and Edward had four children.

• King Edward III of England (1312 – 1377), married Philippa of Hainault, had issue
• John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall (1316 – 1336), unmarried
• Eleanor of Woodstock (1318 – 1355), married Reinoud II of Guelders, had issue
• Joan of the Tower (1321 – 1362), married King David II of Scotland, no issue

One of King Edward II’s first acts as king was to recall to court his favorite Piers Gaveston.  From the start of her marriage, Isabella was confronted with the close relationship between her husband and Gaveston, described as “an arrogant, ostentatious soldier, with a reckless and headstrong personality.”  The true nature of their relationship is not known, and there is no contemporary evidence that comments directly on Edward’s sexual orientation. Gaveston was created Earl of Cornwall, a title usually given to the sons of the king, and Edward arranged for Gaveston to marry his niece Margaret de Clare, which greatly displeased the English nobility.

Eventually, with the influence of Isabella’s father, Dowager Queen Margaret, who was Isabella’s aunt, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward agreed to exile Gaveston to Ireland.  However, in a move that angered the barons, Edward made Gaveston Regent of Ireland.  When Gaveston returned to England in 1312, he was hunted down and executed by a group of barons led by Edward’s uncle, Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, and Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick.

Depiction of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 from the Holkham Bible; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1314, King Edward II took up arms in an attempt to complete his father’s campaign in Scotland, resulting in a decisive Scottish victory at the Battle of Bannockburn by a smaller army led by Robert the Bruce, King of Scots.

From 1312 – 1321, there is no evidence that Edward and Isabella had a discordant marriage or that Isabella was not loyal to her husband.  Isabella took a role in the reconciliation between Edward and the barons, who were responsible for the execution of Gaveston. However, during this period, Hugh Despenser the Elder became part of Edward’s inner circle, marking the beginning of the Despensers’ increased prominence at Edward’s court.  His son, Hugh Despenser the Younger, became a favorite of Edward II.  Edward was willing to let the Despensers do as they pleased, and they grew rich from their administration and corruption.

It is thought that Edward’s wife Isabella first met and fell in love with Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March when he was a prisoner in the Tower of London, both a royal palace and a prison at that time.  Isabella arranged for Mortimer’s death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment.  In 1323, Isabella helped arrange Mortimer’s escape from the Tower and his subsequent flight to France.  During the next year, Isabella had had enough of the Despensers and left Edward, who made an unwise decision to send Isabella and their 12-year-old son Edward on a mission to France.  Not surprisingly, Isabella met Mortimer in France, where they planned to depose Edward II. Isabella gathered an army and set sail for England, landing at Harwich on September 25, 1326.  With their mercenary army, Isabella and Mortimer quickly seized power. The Despensers were both executed, and Edward II was forced to abdicate. Isabella’s son was crowned King Edward III, and Isabella and Mortimer served as regents for the teenage king.

A 15th-century depiction of Isabella capturing Edward II; Credit – Wikipedia

King Edward II was sent to Berkeley Castle, where castle records indicate he was well treated. The circumstances of what happened to him are uncertain.  One theory is that he died at Berkeley Castle on September 21, 1327, murdered on the orders of Isabella and Mortimer.  His body was then embalmed at Berkeley Castle, was shown to local town leaders, and was buried at St. Peter’s Abbey in Gloucester. The abbey was dissolved in 1540 by King Henry VIII and became Gloucester Cathedral in 1541. Certainly, King Edward III arranged for a tomb for his father to be constructed with an alabaster effigy, a tomb chest, and a canopy made of oolite and Purbeck stone. King Edward II’s tomb, restored in 2007-2008, can still be seen in Gloucester Cathedral.  However, there are other theories about his death, including one that says he did not die in 1327 but escaped Berkeley Castle with the help of a servant.

Tomb of King Edward II; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Effigy of King Edward II; By Philip Halling http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/1837 – http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2133715, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31221892

In 1330, the 18-year-old King Edward III conducted a coup d’état at Nottingham Castle, where Mortimer and Isabella were staying.  Mortimer was arrested and executed on fourteen charges of treason, including the murder of Edward II. After the coup, Isabella was taken to Berkhamsted Castle and then held under house arrest at Windsor Castle. In 1332, Isabella was moved to her own Castle Rising in Norfolk, where she was confined for the rest of her life, enjoying a regal lifestyle, until her death at the age of 63 in 1358.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Plantagenet Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Index
• House of Plantagenet Index (1216 – 1399)
• British Royal Births, Marriages, Deaths, and Other Important Events
• Coronations after the Norman Conquest (1066 – present)
• History and Traditions: Norman and Plantagenet Weddings
• House of Plantagenet Burial Sites

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Portrait at Westminster Abbey done sometime during reign of Edward I, thought to be an image of the king; Credit – Wikipedia

King Edward I of England, the firstborn child of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence, was born on June 17, 1239, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was the first time the Anglo-Saxon name Edward (Anglo-Saxon Ēadweard, ead: wealth, fortune; prosperous and weard: guardian, protector) was used for a child of the monarch since the Norman Conquest. Henry III was devoted to St. Edward the Confessor, King of England and named the infant after the monarch/saint.

Edward had four siblings:

• Margaret, Queen of Scots (1240 – 1275), married Alexander III, King of Scots, had issue
• Beatrice, Countess of Richmond (1242 – 1275), married John II, Duke of Brittany, had issue
• Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster (1245–1296), married (1) Aveline de Forz, no issue (2) Blanche of Artois, had issue
• Katherine of England  (1253 – 1257)

Henry III (top) and his children, (l to r) Edward, Margaret, Beatrice, Edmund, and Katherine; Credit – Wikipedia

Edward was raised under the care of Hugh Giffard of Boyton, a royal justice, and his wife Sibyl, daughter and co-heiress of Walter de Cormeilles. After Giffard’s death in 1346, Sir Bartholomew Pecche became Edward’s tutor. Edward spoke Norman French as did his ancestors, but he mastered English fairly well. His closest childhood friend was his first cousin Henry of Almain, the son of his paternal uncle Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, who remained a close companion of Edward.

In 1254, a possible invasion of the English territory Gascony (in France) by Castile, caused King Henry III to make a marriage alliance with King Alfonso X of Castile. 15-year-old Edward was to marry 13-year-old Eleanor of Castile, the half-sister of King Alfonso X of Castile. Eleanor was the daughter of (Saint) King Ferdinand III of Castile and his second wife Jeanne de Dammartin, Countess of Ponthieu in her own right. The young couple was married on November 1, 1254, in the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos, Kingdom of Castile, now in Spain.

Edward and Eleanor (sculptures on the facade of Lincoln Cathedral); Credit – Wikipedia

Edward and Eleanor had a loving marriage and were inseparable throughout their married life.  Edward is one of the few English kings of the period to apparently be faithful to his wife.  Eleanor accompanied her husband on Crusade and other military campaigns.

The couple had 14-16 children, but only six survived childhood.

• Daughter (stillborn in May 1255)
• Katherine of England (before 1264 – 1264)
• Joan of England (born and died 1265)
• John of England (1266 – 1271)
• Henry of England (1268 – 1274)
• Eleanor of England (1269 – 1298), married Count Henry III of Bar, had issue
• Daughter (born and died 1271)
• Joan of Acre (1272 – 1307), married (1) in 1290 Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, had issue  (2) in 1297 Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, had issue
• Alfonso, Earl of Chester (1273 – 1284)
• Margaret of England (1275 – after 1333), married John II of Brabant, had issue
• Berengaria (1276 – 1278)
• Daughter (born and died 1278)
• Mary of Woodstock (1279 – 1332), a Benedictine nun in Amesbury, Wiltshire
• Son (born in 1280 or 1281, died very shortly after birth)
• Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (1282 – 1316), married (1) in 1297 John I, Count of Holland, no issue (2) in 1302 Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, 3rd Earl of Essex, had issue
• King Edward II of England (1284 – 1327), married Isabella of France, had issue

Edward’s father King Henry III was a weak king. His wife’s family and his half-brothers from his mother’s second marriage were rewarded with large estates, largely at the expense of the English barons. From 1236 to 1258, the weak king fluctuated repeatedly between various advisers including his brother Richard of Cornwall and his Lusignan half-brothers, greatly displeasing the English barons. In addition, the English barons were displeased with Henry III’s demands for extra funds, Henry’s methods of government, and widespread famine.

The displeasure of the English nobility with the king ultimately resulted in a civil war, the Second Barons’ War (1264–1267). The leader of the forces against Henry III was led by his brother-in-law Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, who was married to Henry’s sister Eleanor. de Montfort wanted to reassert the Magna Carta and force the king to surrender more power to the baron’s council. Edward loyally supported his father during the Barons’ War.

In 1264 at the Battle of Lewes, Henry III and his son Edward I were defeated and captured. Henry was forced to summon a parliament and promise to rule with the advice of a council of barons. Henry was reduced to a figurehead king, and de Montfort broadened parliamentary representation to include groups beyond the nobility, members from each English county and many important towns. Fifteen months later, Edward led the royalists into battle again, defeating and killing de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. Ultimately, authority was restored to King Henry III and severe retribution was exacted on the rebellious barons. In 1266, the Dictum of Kenilworth worked out a reconciliation between the king and the rebels. In the years that followed his death, Simon de Montfort’s grave was frequently visited by pilgrims. Today, de Montfort is considered one of the fathers of representative government.

King Henry III was increasingly ill and infirm during his final years. Edward became the Steward of England and began to play a more prominent role in government. King Henry III died at the age of 69 on November 16, 1272, at the Palace of Westminster and Edward became king. in 1270, Edward had gone off on the Crusades accompanied by his wife Eleanor, and at the time of his father’s death, he was in Sicily making his slow way back to England. The new king thought England was safe under his mother’s regency and a royal council led by Robert Burnell,  so he did not hurry back to England. On his way back to England, King Edward I visited Pope Gregory X in Rome and King Philip III of France in Paris and suppressed a rebellion in Gascony. He finally arrived back in his kingdom on August 2, 1274. On August 19, 1274, King Edward I and his wife Eleanor were crowned in Westminster Abbey.

Edward I’s relentless, but unsuccessful campaign to assert his overlordship over Scotland was resisted by William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, (later King Robert I of Scotland) but it gave him one of his nicknames, “Hammer of the Scots,” which was inscribed on his tomb. In 1296, Edward I captured the Stone of Scone, an oblong block of red sandstone used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland. Edward had the Stone of Scone taken to Westminster Abbey, where it was fitted into a wooden chair, known as King Edward’s Chair, on which most subsequent English monarchs have been crowned. In 1996, 700 years after it was taken, the Stone of Scone was returned to Scotland. It is kept at Edinburgh Castle in the Crown Room alongside the crown jewels of Scotland (the Honours of Scotland) when not used at coronations.

Coronation Chair with Stone of Scone in Westminster Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia

King Edward I’s campaign in Wales was much more successful, resulting in Wales being completely taken over by England. It ended with the deaths of the last two native Princes of Wales: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. who was ambushed and killed in 1282 and his brother Dafydd ap Gruffydd, who was the first prominent person in recorded history to have been hanged, drawn, and quartered in 1283. Edward I ensured that Wales remained under English control by building the castle fortresses at Rhuddlan, Conwy, Denbigh, Harlech, and Caernarfon, and all the castles still stand today. The tradition of conferring the title “Prince of Wales” on the heir apparent of the monarch is usually considered to have begun in 1301 when King Edward I of England invested his son Edward of Caernarfon (later King Edward II) with the title at a Parliament held in Lincoln. Since then, the title has been granted (with a few exceptions) to the heir apparent of the English or British monarch.

Early 14th-century depiction of Edward I (left) declaring his son Edward (right) the Prince of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

In the autumn of 1290, while traveling north to meet her husband who had been attending a session of Parliament in Nottinghamshire, Eleanor, Edward’s beloved wife, fell ill. As she reached the village of Harby in Nottinghamshire, 22 miles from Lincoln, she could go no further, so she sought lodging at the house of Richard de Weston in Harby.  Eleanor’s condition worsened and messengers were sent to summon the king to her bedside.  King Edward arrived in Harby before Eleanor died on the evening of November 28, 1290.  Eleanor was 49 years old, had been married to Edward for 36 years, and had given birth to 14-16 children.

King Edward I was devastated when Eleanor died.  Eleanor’s body was taken to the Gilbertine Priory of St. Catherine in Lincoln, where she was embalmed. Her viscera were buried at Lincoln Cathedral and her body was then taken to London, where Eleanor was to be interred at Westminster Abbey.  It took 12 days to reach Westminster Abbey and twelve crosses, known as Eleanor Crosses, were erected at the places where her funeral procession stopped overnight.  Charing Cross in London is perhaps the most famous, but the cross there is a reconstruction.  Only three original crosses survive although they have had some reconstruction: Geddington Cross, Hardingstone Cross, and Waltham Cross.

Original Eleanor Cross, in Geddington, England;  Credit – Wikipedia

Statue of Eleanor of Castile, part of the Eleanor Cross at Waltham, Hertfordshire, England; Victoria and Albert Museum in London; Photo – Susan Flantzer

When Eleanor died, only six children, five daughters and one son, were still living. The son was the youngest child and only six years old. Edward I had to be worried about the succession, and a second marriage with sons would ensure the succession.  On September 10, 1299, in Canterbury, 60-year-old King Edward I and 17-year-old Margaret of France were married. This was followed by four days of wedding festivities. Margaret was never crowned, making her the first queen since the Norman Conquest in 1066 not to be crowned.

Edward and Margaret had three children:

• Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300 – 1338), married (1) Alice de Hales, had issue (2) Mary de Brewes, no surviving issue
• Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (1301 – 1330), married Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell, had issue including Joan of Kent (The Fair Maid of Kent) who married King Edward III‘s eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales (The Black Prince) and was the mother of King Richard II of England
• Eleanor of England (1306 – 1311), died young

Edward I of England and Margaret of France; Credit – Wikipedia

As King Edward I’s first wife did, Margaret accompanied him on military campaigns. Margaret got along well with her stepson Edward, Prince of Wales, who was two years younger than her, and Margaret often reconciled the prince with his father when the two disagreed. In the summer of 1307, Margaret accompanied Edward I on a military campaign in Scotland. On the way to Scotland, the 68-year-old king died on July 7, 1307, at Burgh by Sands in Cumbria, England.  King Edward I was buried in Westminster Abbey near his father and his first wife Eleanor of Castile, adjacent to the tomb of his namesake Edward the Confessor, which can be seen in the background on the left in the photo below.

Tomb of Edward I at Westminster Abbey; Photo Credit – https://www.westminster-abbey.org

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