Despenser War

The Despenser War was a rebellion by English nobles, especially Welsh Marcher Lords , against the royal favorite Hugh le Despenser . They were joined by Thomas of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Lancaster , the leader of the aristocratic opposition against King Edward II . After the rebels had successfully occupied the Welsh possessions of Despensers in May 1321, the king had to give in to their demands in August and agree to the Despensers' exile. In autumn 1321, however, the king began a successful military counter-attack, in which he was able to decisively defeat the rebels by March 1322 and initially completely crush the aristocratic opposition.

prehistory

Against the weak and unsuccessful rule of the English King Edward II in the struggle for rule in Scotland, a nobility opposition formed shortly after the king took over rule in 1307, the leader of which was the Earl of Lancaster, a cousin of the king. Lancaster gained high political influence in the meantime, but he did not achieve any success in Scotland either, so that the king was able to consolidate his rule again. New resentment among the barons came from the rise and ambitions of Hugh le Despenser , the new royal favorite and his father of the same name . Through his marriage to Eleanor de Clare in 1317 the younger Despenser had become heir to the important Glamorgan rule in South West Wales, and in the next few years he tried by all means to extend his rule to the adjacent territories. In 1318 his brother-in-law Hugh de Audley had to leave the neighboring Wentloog to him. In 1319 Despenser began a border dispute with John Giffard , lord of neighboring Cantref Bychan, in his Cantref Mawr territory . Giffard had previously been a loyal supporter of King Edward II, but the dispute with Despenser eventually drove him to the side of the rebelling barons. The inheritance dispute over Gower brought even more unrest . The old Baron von Gower, William de Braose had no surviving male offspring. He had first bequeathed Gower to his son-in-law John Mowbray , but because of his tight financial situation, he secretly tried to sell Gower. Both Despenser, but also the Marcher Lords Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Roger Mortimer of Wigmore showed interest in acquiring the rule. When Mowbray learned of these negotiations, he occupied Gower in 1320 to save his inheritance. The king then forced Mowbray to hand over the rule to him on December 14, 1320, and planned to pass it on to his favorite Despenser. Since Gower as the rule of the Welsh Marches was not subject to English law and the king would not have the right to withdraw his inheritance from Mowbray, the other contenders for Gower allied with Mowbray to protect their privileges as Marcher Lords and their territories against the growing influence of Defending Hugh le Despenser in South Wales. In addition to Mowbray, Humphrey de Bohun, Roger Mortimer of Chirk , Roger Mortimer of Wigmore, John Giffard and Hugh de Audley belonged to the alliance . They left the royal court in December 1320 and decided to fight for their privileges and take military action against despensers.

Neath Castle was one of Despenser’s numerous castles to be captured by the rebels in South Wales in May 1321

The Despenser Was in Glamorgan

King Edward II learned before the beginning of March that the Marcher Lords were gathering troops. He then forbade his barons to meet and told them to keep the peace. On March 1, 1321, the King and Despenser traveled to the Welsh border, where on March 8 they ordered that the Royal Justiciar of Wales, Roger Mortimer of Chirk, should put the royal castles on standby. Despenser also ordered his representative, John Iweyn , to prepare the castles in his rule for attacks and, if necessary, to demand hostages from the Welsh in the event of unrest. In March 1321 Lancaster invited the aristocratic opposition to a meeting at Pontefract Castle , while the king ordered the nobles to come to Gloucester on March 28th . Then events escalated. When Audley first refused to appear before the king, the latter ordered his possessions to be confiscated. Until April 9, 1321, Audley's estates were in the hands of the king. The Earl of Hereford also refused to appear because he feared for his safety while Despenser was with the king. He demanded that Parliament be convened before which he would submit his claims against Despenser. In the meantime, the Earl of Lancaster should see to the safety of Despenser. To the king, this proposal must have sounded cynical in view of the fate of his favorite Piers Gaveston, who was murdered by Lancaster in 1312 . He replied that Despenser had been recognized as royal chamberlain by Parliament in the fall of 1318, where Hereford had also been present , and refused to recall Despenser without cause. He convened a council at Oxford on May 10, 1321 and left Gloucester on April 16 to travel back to Westminster . The Marcher Lords no longer believed in a peaceful solution to the conflict. On May 1st the king learned of their planned attack, which they began on May 4th on Despenser's estates. The army of the rebellious Marcher Lords consisted of 800 men-at-arms , 500 light riders and 10,000 foot soldiers who were able to conquer Despenser's possessions in south Wales in a swift campaign. After a four-day siege, Newport Castle fell on May 8, Cardiff Castle surrendered on May 9, and on May 13 Gower was in the hands of the rebels. Also Caerphilly Castle and other castles Despensers arose in view of the superiority of the rebels. Despenser's representative John Iweyn was captured at Neath Castle , taken to Swansea and executed there. Roger Mortimer of Wigmore conquered Clun , a Welsh rule of the Earl of Arundel, who was related by marriage to the younger Despenser .

Banishment of the Despensers

In the period that followed, both parties waited and waited. The Earl of Lancaster formed a defensive alliance with fifteen barons from Northern England on May 24th at Pontefract. On June 28th, Lancaster met with the Marcher Lords in Sherburn , Northern England , where they made him their leader. However, Lancaster did not succeed in mediating an alliance between the northern English barons and the Marcher Lords. In Sherburn, however, Bartholomew de Badlesmere , the previous Steward of the Royal Household , joined the rebels. The King had convened Parliament in Westminster on May 15th for July 15th. The Marcher Lords now marched with their army towards London, where they plundered numerous goods of the Despensers, and arrived in London on August 1st. They continued to insist on the banishment of the two Despensers, attempting to discredit the younger Despenser as an enemy of the king with an exaggerated and falsified indictment, and even threatened the king's removal. Realizing that they had no legal claim to most of Despenser’s occupied holdings, they had placed the plundered areas under the administration of Despenser's brother-in-law, Roger Damory . In view of the determined opposition of numerous barons, the supporters of the king behaved cautiously. After the Earl of Pembroke advised the King and Queen Isabelle implored him to banish the Despensers, Edward II bowed to pressure from the rebels on August 14, 1321 and agreed to the Despensers' banishment. Parliament pardoned the rebels on August 20 for their crimes committed during the rebellion. However, after they had left London with their army, the king again contacted the Despensers, supported them and prepared a counter-attack. Favored by the unpopularity of Lancaster, he succeeded in attracting numerous moderate barons to his side.

Counterstrike from the King

Siege of Leeds Castle

King Edward II met with Despenser on the Isle of Thanet in Kent, where they discussed how to proceed. He hoped the rebel alliance would not last and tried to split them further. On September 26, 1321, King Bartholomew de Badlesmere ordered Tonbridge Castle to be handed over to him. Badlesmere refused, but Tonbridge Castle and his estates in Kent were isolated from the rest of the rebel estates, which is why he fled to the Marcher Lords gathered in Oxford. The King sent Queen Isabelle to Leeds Castle , the headquarters of Badlesmere, to be allowed in without military conquest. This plan failed, however, as Badlesmere's wife Margaret de Clare, according to her husband's instructions, also kept the castle gate closed to the queen. On October 13th there was a skirmish with the castle crew, in which several members of the Queen's entourage were killed. The king used this attack on the queen as a pretext and summoned an army to conquer Leeds Castle. The Earl of Pembroke chose to follow the king, as did the Earls of Norfolk and Richmond . The siege of the castle began on October 17, 1321, which started the civil war. Badlesmere asked the rebels in Oxford to relieve the besieged castle with their army, but they hesitated. Lancaster refused to support him over a personal feud with Badlesmere, and without their leader the other rebels made only a half-hearted advance. They came across Walter Reynolds , the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London and the Earl of Pembroke, who were to negotiate as the King's envoy. Leeds Castle was captured on October 31st. The king had Badlemere's Constable Walter Culpeper and the castle crew executed, while Badlesmere's wife and children were brought to the Tower of London . At the behest of the king, Archbishop Walter Reynolds convened a synod of bishops in Canterbury on November 14th for December 1st to end Despenser's exile. Because of the short-term summons, only five of the seventeen bishops who finally consented to the lifting of exile appeared. In return, the Marcher Lords met with Lancaster to agree on how to proceed.

Submission of the Welsh Marches

Lancaster called a meeting with the Marcher Lords, which was originally supposed to take place in Doncaster on November 29th, but which eventually took place in Pontefract. However, they could not agree on a coordinated approach, but only decided on the Doncaster petition , in which they accused Despenser of supporting the king's attack on the peers of the empire. The king ignored this and on November 30th called his army to Cirencester . On December 8th he and his troops left London, reached Cirencester on December 25th and Worcester on December 31st . The Marcher Lords blocked the crossings over the Severn . Because the river, swollen by meltwater, could not be crossed without a bridge, the king moved north on the east bank of the river. He sent an advance guard under Fulk Fitz Warin , Robert le Ewer, and other knights who occupied Bridgnorth and the bridge there over the Severn. However, on January 5, 1322, the Mortimers and other rebels attacked Bridgnorth, driving the royal troops from the city and destroying the bridge. The king then had to move north on the east bank of the Severn. In the meantime royal agents had succeeded in persuading some Welsh lords to attack the estates of the Mortimers and other Marcher lords. Gruffydd Llwyd attacked the estates of Mortimer and the Earl of Hereford in Wales, while his nephew Rhys ap Gruffydd invaded Gower and South Wales. On January 14th, the King reached Shrewsbury , where he could cross the Severn. There the Mortimers surrendered on January 22nd, and presumably contrary to his promises the King had them brought to the Tower of London. The King wasted no time in completely conquering the Welsh Marches , but left Shrewsbury on January 24th and reached Gloucester on February 6th, where Maurice de Berkeley and Hugh Audley the Elder surrendered. Hereford, the younger Hugh de Audley and Roger Damory fled to northern England to join Lancaster.

Execution of Lancaster. Medieval representation

Campaign against Lancaster

→ Main article : Battle of Boroughbridge

After the king broke the resistance of the Marcher Lords, the king called his troops to Coventry on March 5th . To this end, he ordered Sir Andrew Harclay , the commander of the royal troops in Carlisle , to advance from the north against the rebels. He left Gloucester on February 18 and arrived in Coventry on February 27. The garrison of the mighty Kenilworth Castle, which was owned by Lancaster, surrendered to the royal troops without resistance on February 26th. In the meantime Lancaster had gathered his army at Doncaster and was going to meet the king. At Burton-upon-Trent he tried to stop the royal troops and blocked the bridge over the Trent . In the battle for the bridge that followed , part of the superior royal army crossed the river in a nearby ford . Lancaster then moved north to avoid being trapped. Via Tutbury he reached Pontefract Castle, where he initially wanted to hide. However, the other rebels, including the Earl of Hereford and Roger de Clifford, convinced him to move further north. Lancaster was trying to reach Dunstanburgh Castle , from where he may have tried to get support from the Scottish King Robert Bruce . A part of the royal army under the Earls of Surrey and Kent pursued the rebels, on March 2nd the army commanded by the king united with a force at Lichfield called up by the Despensers who had returned from exile . On March 9, the King captured Tutbury Castle , where the fatally wounded Roger Damory was captured, while Robert de Holand , the commander of Lancaster's house troops, surrendered with 500 men. After the capture of Tutbury Castle, the king officially declared Lancaster a traitor and offered a reward for his capture, presumably he found evidence of a conspiracy between Lancaster and the Scottish king in Tutbury Castle. On March 16, the army raised by Andrew Harclay in Northern England blocked the escape route for the rebels at Boroughbridge . In the ensuing battle at Boroughbridge , the rebels were decisively defeated. The Earl of Hereford fell, and Lancaster was captured the next day.

consequences

Lancaster and numerous other rebels, including Clifford, Mowbray and Badlesmere, were executed, the Mortimers and other minor barons remained captive in the Tower or other castles. A few rebels such as William Trussell , John Maltravers or John Botetourt were able to flee into exile. In doing so, the king had eliminated the aristocratic opposition and the danger of a split in the empire. For the next few years, supported by the Despensers, he ruled tyrannically. When the Queen, who had fled into exile, landed with an army in England with her lover, Roger Mortimer of Wigmore, who had escaped from the Tower, the reign of Edward II collapsed. He was captured and deposed, and the two despensers were captured and executed.

literature

• James Conway Davies: The Despenser War in Glamorgan . In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (Third Series) (9) 1915, pp. 21-64
• Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 38
2. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 44
3. ↑ JR Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1970. ISBN 978-0-19821837-1 , pp. 262-263
4. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , p. 378
5. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 391
6. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 51
7. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 54
8. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 403
9. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 411
10. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 57