Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke

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Coat of arms of Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Seal of Aymer de Valence

Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (according to another count also 11th Earl of Pembroke ) (* between 1273 and 1275; † June 23, 1324 near Saint-Riquier , Picardy ) was an English magnate . A skilled military man and diplomat, he was a long-time servant of his royal cousins Edward I and Edward II. Although he was of considerable importance during the reign of Edward II and helped the king to the best of his ability to cope with the numerous crises during his reign, became his Loyalty repeatedly tested by the king's favoritism. Although he was a powerful magnate, his decisions were increasingly determined by outside influences.

origin

Aymer de Valence came from the Poitou family Lusignan . He was the third son of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke and his wife Joan de Munchensi . His father was one of the half-brothers of the English King Henry III. and moved to England around 1247. Aymer was thus a close relative of the English kings Edward I and Edward II. Through his mother, he was a great-grandson of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke . His father returned from Prince Edward's crusade in January 1273 and stayed near Limoges until 1274 , so it is possible that Aymer was born in France. It is not clear to which place Valence he owes his nickname; it could be the southwestern French town of Valence near Lusignan , where his paternal family came from, but there is no evidence that he was born in Valence.

Inheritance and marriage

As the third son, Aymer had initially planned a spiritual career, like his uncle Aymer de Valence of the same name . However, after his eldest brother John had died in 1277 and his other brother William had died in June 1282 at the Battle of Llandeilo Fawr , Aymer became his parents' heir. He could expect an extensive inheritance from both his father and mother, with possessions in England, Wales and Ireland, and his father had extensive estates in France. When his father died in 1296, Aymer inherited his possessions, which were mainly in Northumberland and East Anglia , in addition he became lord of Rancon in the French county of La Marche as a vassal of the bishop of Limoges and as a vassal of the abbess of Sainte-Marie de Abbey la Règle in Limoges Lord of Bellac and Champagnac . As a vassal of the Bishop of Angoulême , he also became lord of Montignac in the county of Angoulême . With these French possessions, Valence was one of the last English earls with larger possessions in France. From 1296 he visited his French estates several times, and together with his official visits in the service of the English kings, he was verifiably in France 17 times from 1296 until his death. When his great cousin Guido I von Lusignan died childless in 1308, Aymer had legitimate claims to the counties of La Marche and Angoulême. The French King Philip IV bought this from him in 1309 for the impressive sum of 1000 livre tournois .

Aymer de Valence's ties to France were strengthened by his two marriages. His first marriage was before October 18, 1295, Beatrix, daughter of Raoul II. De Clermont , Lord of Nesle in Picardy and Connétable of France . After her death in September 1320, he married Marie de Saint-Pol , a daughter of Guido de Châtillon , Count of Saint-Pol, on July 5, 1321 in Paris . She brought lands near Tours-en-Vimeu , Thièvre , Orville and Fréacans in what is now the Pas-de-Calais department into the marriage. Both marriages remained childless, however, the only known child of Valence is his illegitimate son Henry de Valence , who served as a knight in his father's entourage from around 1315 to 1319 and died childless in 1322. There is no evidence of another marriage between Valence and a daughter of a Count von Bar .

Follower of Edward I.

At the beginning of 1296, Valence accompanied his father when he traveled to Cambrai to negotiate with France during the Franco-English War . After the death of his father in May 1296, Valence took the oath of allegiance to the heir to the throne Edward on July 14, 1297 in Westminster . In the same year he was knighted. From 1297 to 1298 he was part of the army of King Edward I , with whom he went to Flanders in the war with France. During the peace negotiations there, he was a member of the English delegation in 1297. In 1299 he was a member of the embassy that negotiated the marriage of Edward I with Princess Margaret of France . In the next few years he served several times as envoy, for example in 1304 he accompanied Eduard, the heir to the throne, when he paid homage to the French king for Aquitaine , which belonged to the English king . He also took part in numerous campaigns during the First Scottish War of Independence . In 1298 he fought in the Battle of Falkirk and in 1300 he took part in the siege of Caerlaverock Castle . He also fought in Scotland in 1299, 1301 and 1302. In 1303 the king appointed him commander of the English troops south of the Forth . After the death of his brother-in-law John Comyn , he became captain of the English troops in Scotland in April 1306. In this capacity he was able to inflict a heavy defeat on Robert Bruce in the Battle of Methven in June 1306 . In May 1307, however, he was defeated by Robert Bruce in the battle of Loudoun Hill , but the new King Edward II appointed him administrator of Scotland in August 1307.

Follower of Edward II.

When his mother died in October 1307, Valence inherited the title of Earl of Pembroke and other estates including Pembroke and Goodrich Castle in the Welsh Marches and the reign of Wexford in Ireland. In November 1307, Pembroke was a member of the legation that concluded negotiations in France on the marriage of Edward II with the French princess Isabelle . In mid-January 1308 he was one of the magnates who accompanied the King of Dover to Boulogne when he married Isabelle . Although he had witnessed the elevation of the royal favorite Piers Gaveston to Earl of Cornwall on August 6, 1307 , by this time he had already become Gaveston's opponent. On January 31, 1308, he was one of the signatories of the so-called Boulogne Agreement , with which a group of magnates expressed their concern for the financial situation and the security of the empire, but which was also directed against Gaveston's influence. After Gaveston's exile was demanded during parliament in April 1308 , Pembroke helped convince the king in May to comply with this demand. In March 1309, however, Pembroke traveled to Avignon on behalf of the king to obtain approval from Pope Clement V for the lifting of Gavestons' exile. Gaveston did return to England in the summer of 1309, but Valence now became a bitter opponent of the royal favorite. The king's refusal to implement the reforms promised in Stamford in August 1309 certainly contributed to this . A major reason also the arrogance of Gaveston, the Pembroke because of his size and his pale skin was there openly as Joseph the Jew ( German  Joseph the Jew ) reviled.

Opposition to the King and to Gaveston

It is not surprising, therefore, that in March 1310 Pembroke was elected one of the Lords Ordainers whom the king reluctantly entrusted with drawing up a reform program for the government. He played an active role in the work of this body. For this reason, despite several requests from the king, he stayed away from a planned campaign against Scotland, which the king wanted to wage together with Gaveston in September 1310. When the reform program of the Lords Ordainer, the so-called Ordinances , was publicly announced on September 27, 1311 in London, Pembroke was present. When, contrary to the provisions of the Ordinances, Gaveston returned from exile in early 1312, an assembly of magnates and prelates commissioned Pembroke in March 1312 with the capture of Gaveston. Together with the Earl of Surrey, Pembroke besieged Gaveston in Scarborough Castle on May 17 , which surrendered on May 19. Pembroke guaranteed his integrity until Gaveston's conviction by an ordinary court, no later than August 1. He then took him into his personal custody and had him taken south. On June 9th, Pembroke and Gaveston reached Deddington , Oxfordshire . Pembroke left Gaveston under the supervision of a few followers at the local rector's house while he visited his wife at Bampton Manor , some 30 km away . In his absence, on the morning of June 10, the Earl of Warwick seized Gavestons. He had him taken to Warwick Castle and executed on June 19th with the consent of the Earl of Lancasters and other magnates. This act of violence and the associated attack on his honor brought Pembroke back to the king's side. Although he continued to support the reforms of the Ordinances, he no longer supported the other Lords Ordainers, but loyally the King.

Renewed supporter of Eduard II.

Pembroke was already in Paris in August 1312, where he asked the French King Philip IV for help in negotiations with the Lords Ordainer on behalf of the king . Back in England, he tried on September 20 and 21, at high risk, to secure the loyalty of the City of London to the King. In the following negotiations between the king and the aristocratic opposition he took part as a partisan of the king until they were concluded on December 20, 1312 with a settlement between the parties. From February to March 1313 he was back in Paris to prepare for a visit by Edward II to France. In June and July he accompanied the king and queen when they visited the French king in Paris to diplomatically resolve a conflict in Aquitaine. In December 1313 he again accompanied the king to France, where he met Philip IV in Montreuil .

In April 1314 Pembroke was appointed the king's deputy in preparation for the English campaign to Scotland. The campaign led to the catastrophic defeat of the English at the Battle of Bannockburn . During the battle, Pembroke fought in the immediate retinue of the king, and when defeat loomed he is said to have urged the king to seek safety. After the battle, Pembroke escaped from the battlefield on foot, but escaped the victorious Scots with an escort of his Welsh soldiers. On January 2, 1315, Pembroke attended the solemn funeral of Gaveston, who was finally buried in Langley . In May and June he traveled to Paris again to have the new French King Louis X assure him that the agreements previously concluded with France would continue. Between July and October 1315 he was in northern England, where he was supposed to fend off Scottish raids. In February 1316 he represented the king during the opening of parliament in Lincoln , during which parliament the Earl of Lancaster was appointed chief counselor to the king and so on determined the government. In July 1316, Pembroke put down a revolt in Bristol , where the citizens had rebelled against the royal constable Baron Badlesmere .

captivity

In December 1316, Pembroke was appointed head of an embassy that included the newly elected Pope John XXII. should ask for support against the Scottish attacks and especially for financial concessions. To do this, he should try to have the king's oath to keep the ordinances lifted. On his way back from Avignon, he was captured by the knight Jean de Lamouilly near Étampes in May 1317 and taken to a place in the county of Bar . There he was held until he agreed to pay the high ransom of £ 10,400 demanded. Jean de Lamouilly is said to have served in English services in the war with Scotland between 1299 and 1312. Allegedly he did not receive the full pay due to him, but it is also possible that Lamoilly acted on behalf of Count Eduard von Bar . His sister Johanna had been cast out by her husband, the English Earl of Surrey , against which King Edward II had done nothing. The capture of the royal confidante Pembroke would have been the Count von Bar's revenge on the English king. Pembroke was released before the end of June 1317, but he had to host hostages, including his illegitimate son Henry, until the ransom was paid. In order to raise the large ransom and free the hostages, Pembroke, who had around £ 3000 annual income, went into debt, which weighed on him financially until his death.

Mediator between the King and the Earl of Lancaster

After his return to England, Pembroke tried to diplomatically resolve the conflict that had broken out again between the King and Lancaster. It is sometimes suggested that as a third party leader, he went to government instead of Lancaster, but that is only a guess. Indeed, given its tight financial position, Pembroke was barely able to play a major political role. Presumably he was just trying to avoid a civil war that would have further burdened him. On November 1, 1317, Pembroke pledged to the king to serve him in peace and war. On November 24, he and Baron Badlesmere urged Roger Damory , who was considered the most greedy of the royal favorites at the time, to hold back from accepting royal gifts in order not to anger Lancaster any further. As early as October 1, 1317, Pembroke and other companions had barely prevented the king from attacking Lancaster at Pontefract Castle on his return journey from York to the south . Together with other magnates and prelates, Pembroke played an important role in the difficult negotiations that followed between the king and Lancaster, until a balance was finally found again in the treaty concluded by Leake on August 9, 1318 . Pembroke was one of the most important members of the new permanent Privy Council, which was decided by Parliament in York in October 1318 and which was to advise the king in the future. As a member of this Privy Council, Pembroke heard the complaints of the citizens of London in March 1319 in the chapter house of St Paul's Cathedral . Before taking part in another campaign to Scotland in September, he made his will in August 1318. After the failed campaign, in which the British besieged Berwick in vain , Pembroke belonged to the English delegation that agreed a two-year armistice with Scotland.

Role during the Despenser War

In February 1320 Pembroke was appointed imperial administrator for the duration of the king's planned visit to France. After several delays, the visit finally took place in June and July. The royal favorite Hugh le Despenser together with his father of the same name now had actual power in England . When Pembroke's wife died in September 1320, Pembroke also traveled to France in late November 1320 to make preparations for a new marriage. He returned shortly before the beginning of the Despenser War , a rebellion of the Marcher Lords and other barons against the Despensers in late March 1321. At the end of May Pembroke traveled again to France, where he married his new bride Marie de Saint-Pol and returned to England with her at the end of July. Immediately after his return he succeeded in convincing the king to agree to the exile of the Despensers demanded by the aristocratic opposition. He threatened the king that even his loyalty would be shaken if the king refused to go into exile. Nevertheless, members of the aristocratic opposition continued to distrust Pembroke. In the civil war that followed, Pembroke was again on the king's side. In October 1321 he assisted the king in the siege of Leeds Castle . In December he agreed to the Despensers' return from exile, and then took part in the king's successful campaign against the rebels under Lancaster. He was one of the earls who sentenced the captured Lancaster to death as a traitor on March 21, 1322 after the king's victory. Still, Pembroke's reputation had suffered from his changeable attitudes during the rebellion. The opponents of the king regarded him as a traitor, while the king, under the influence of the Despensers, demanded an almost humiliating loyalty from him in May 1322.

Funerary monument to Aymer de Valence in Westminster Abbey. Drawing from 1826

Renewed service to the king and death

In the late summer of 1322 Pembroke took part in the failed campaign of the king to Scotland, which ended on October 14th in the humiliating defeat of the English army at the Battle of Byland in Yorkshire. He then belonged to the English negotiating delegation that negotiated the thirteen-year armistice with Scotland, which was finally agreed in May 1323. In June 1324 the king sent him to Paris to mediate in the conflict over Saint-Sardos with France. On the way there he died suddenly, probably near Saint-Requier in Picardy. His body was brought back to England and buried near the high altar of Westminster Abbey on August 1st .

Most likely, he died of natural causes, possibly from blood vessel disease, but his opponents claimed he was poisoned. The fact that he died without any legitimate offspring was seen as divine punishment for his contribution to the death of Lancaster, then venerated as a saint. The Despensers, however, harassed his widow Marie de Saint-Pol in revenge for his consent to their exile in 1321. She lived in seclusion after his death and did not die until 1377. In memory of her husband, she donated his magnificent funeral monument and a chapel in Westminster Abbey, which is now part of the chapel of St John the Baptist , and a window in the new Franciscan church in London . With Aymer de Valence's death, his title Earl of Pembroke expired, his widow founded Pembroke College in Cambridge in 1347 .

Pembroke's loyalty was a model for many of his followers, who included his nephew John Hastings, Lord of Abergavenny , Thomas de Berkeley, and John Darcy . Lawrence Hastings , a son of his nephew John Hastings, was raised in 1339 as Pembroke's successor to Earl of Pembroke.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses the Valence Casket , an ornate jewelry box that was probably made for Aymer de Valence in the early 14th century in England or France.

literature

  • John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 .

Web links

Commons : Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andy King: The English and the battle of Bannockburn (act. 1314). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
  2. Natalie Fryde: The Tyranny and Fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1979, ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 113.
  3. Westminster Abbey: William and Aymer de Valence. Retrieved February 17, 2016 .
  4. ^ V&A Search the Collections: The Valence Casket. Retrieved February 17, 2016 .
predecessor Office successor
William de Valence Earl of Pembroke
1307-1324
Title expired