The New Year of 1310! Much opposition to the country’s political condition!
‘Happy New Year! Please put away your fears!
This year, Piers will prove himself, by far the greatest of his peers!’
Piers Gaveston
As the debris from the Christmas festivities was cleared away from the Great Hall of the royal palace, Edward pondered the political situation. A parliament was to be held the following month and the signs were not auspicious. Of course the main bone of contention was Gaveston. King Edward was most upset about the attitude of the nobles to Gaveston. The king was not having a happy January and he lamented:
‘Well the dreadful fuss regarding the harmless, humorous nicknames that Piers has bestowed on the magnates! Have these aristocrats no sense of humour? He calls Henry de Lacy, ‘Burst belly’, well you only have to look at him to see that it is accurate !
The Earl of Lancaster has been named as ‘Rangy Pig’, but I feel that Piers is actually being quite kind. Given Thomas’ character, there are much worse things that you could call him with some justification and I am saying that as his cousin!’
The coat of arms of Thomas, second earl of Lancaster.
King Edward was contemplating an invasion of Scotland in 1310, as the situation there had become quite dire. Robert Bruce had captured a number of English held castles and something had to be done before Edward’s rule there was broken.
‘The nobles won’t stop bitching about Piers, it’s constant bitch, bitch, bitch!
They should remember that it was the power of the English crown which allowed their families to become so fabulously rich!’
The barons demand more say over how the government is run.
A parliament was arranged for February of 1310 on condition that Gaveston did not attend. Edward reluctantly agreed to attend because he needed baronial support for his campaign in Scotland. The King had to agree to the establishment of a committee of 21 magnates known as the ‘Ordainers’ to look into political reform. Fundamentally, the Ordainers were demanding more parliamentary control over how the country was run and of course they wanted rid of Gaveston.
Scotland 1310.
While the Ordainers were preparing to formally present their case, Edward departed for Scotland taking Gaveston with him. This was a most lacklustre campaign and nothing significant was actually achieved. Robert Bruce refused to engage Edward’s army in conventional battle and preferred to retaliate with highly effective guerrilla tactics.
‘King Edward and Gaveston sped north to deal with Robert Bruce!
But their plans were foiled by Bruce’s habit of fighting fast and loose!
Bruce played a skilful game of hit and run!
T’was a successful method, and eventually he won!
Although military success in Scotland eluded him, Edward was happy enough, as he had Gaveston in tow and he was far away from his critics at Westminster. However, the king could not stay away from the capital indefinitely, and a parliament was summoned for August 1311. it was time for Edward to face the music and the tunes were not to be to his liking.
The Ordinances.
These constituted a strong challenge to the king’s power by parliament. Apart from parliament’s demand for influence over appointments and finance, they also wished to curtail the king’s authority to wage war. Needless to say, there was the inevitable call for the banishment of Gaveston. The Ordainers insisted that he should depart the realm before November 1st, All Saints Day. Although Edward vigorously protested the demands, he was eventually forced to back down. The king did however, petition the pope to annul the ordinance pertaining to Gaveston.
Gaveston did actually leave the country, but not for long. The irascible earl had secretly returned to the realm by Christmas 1311. Events would soon take a most serious turn with fatal consequences.