Boulogne Agreement
The Boulogne Agreement , also Boulogne Document , was a written complaint by a group of English magnates to the English King Edward II. It marks the beginning of the conflict between the king and an opposition of the nobility that arose during the king's reign and throughout most of his reign duration. Eventually, the king was deposed as the first English king after the Norman conquest and probably murdered.
Emergence
Edward II had succeeded his father King Edward I in July 1307 . After just a few months there was growing dissatisfaction among the nobles about his rule. When the king, accompanied by the leading magnates , traveled to Boulogne in northern France to marry the French princess Isabelle de France in January 1308 , he left his favorite Piers Gaveston as regent in England. His father had exiled Gaveston in February 1307, and right at the beginning of his reign Edward II had brought him back from exile and made him Earl of Cornwall . On January 25, the king's wedding with the French princess took place in the Notre Dame church in Boulogne. On January 31, the king paid homage to his father-in-law, the French King Philip IV , for his French possessions. Presumably on the same day he was handed a letter of protest that numerous nobles and prelates, all of whom had belonged to his father's counsel, had sealed it. The signatories of this Boulogne Agreement included Bishop Antony Bek of Durham, Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln , John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey , Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and several English barons.
content
In their letter of protest, the signatories stated that by taking their oath of allegiance to the king they wanted to preserve the king's honor and rights, and that they wanted to eliminate anything that could damage his honor. In addition, they wanted a supplement to the coronation oath that the king should take at his upcoming coronation. Thereafter, the king should promise to obey and defend the laws and customs that the community of the empire had decided. None of the signatories is known to have had a conflict with the king at this point. Presumably the signatories only wanted to draw attention to the financial, economic and political consequences of the continued war against Scotland , which had been going on for over a decade. However, the declaration could also be understood as a protest against Piers Gaveston, who was said to have had a sexual relationship with the king and who snubbed the nobles with his behavior.
consequences
Given the unity of the leading magnates, the king had to take the coronation oath as requested. Magnates' anger over Gaveston's behavior continued to mount, however, and a group of magnates led by the Earl of Lincoln appeared before the king during a parliamentary meeting on April 28. They demanded the observance of the coronation oath and the banishment of Gaveston, which the king finally had to agree to under pressure from the nobles.
literature
- Ronald H. Fritze; William B. Robison: Historical Dictionary of Late Medieval England, 1272-1485 , Greenwood press, Wesport (Conn.) 2002. ISBN 0-313-29124-1 , pp. 68-69
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Prestwich: Plantagenet England. 1225-1360. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007. ISBN 0-19-822844-9 , p. 178