John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond

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Coat of arms of John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond

John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond ( French Jean de Bretagne , German  Johann von Bretagne ) (* 1266 ; † January 17, 1334 ) was a Breton-English magnate from the Dreux family . As the son of a French nobleman, he spent his life as a military and diplomat in the service of the English crown. He was not very successful as a military man, but he was involved in almost all important negotiations of his time, and his contemporaries valued him as a skilled and trustworthy mediator. Several modern historians, on the other hand, rate it as politically insignificant during the difficult period of Edward II's reign .

Origin and youth

John of Brittany was born the second son of Duke John II of Brittany and his wife Beatrix . There had long been close political and family ties between Brittany and the Kingdom of England. B. John was a grandson of King Henry III of England through his mother . He was brought up in England together with his cousin Henry , a son of the heir to the throne Eduard , who died in 1274. With his older brother Arthur , however, he often had a tense relationship. John received a knightly training in England and took part in several tournaments as a young man .

Military service and promotion to Earl of Richmond

During the Franco-English War , John received his first military command of his own in October 1294. As King's Lieutenant , he was sent to Gascony with John de St John and an advance detachment of the English army in order to recapture the English possessions there, which were occupied by France. John was able to win back some cities along the Gironde , but not the capital Bordeaux . He then made Rions his headquarters while John de St John moved on to Bayonne . Because of a revolt by his own troops, John of Brittany had to flee the city by ship in April 1295, so that the French could conquer the city without much resistance. After this shameful defeat, John remained in Gascony, but in February 1297 he and the Earl of Lincoln were defeated again by the French at Bellegarde . Despite these military failures, he continued to enjoy the favor of his uncle Edward I, who treated him almost like a son. During the Scottish War of Independence , he probably took part in the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298 and in the 1300 siege of Caerlaverock Castle . The king rewarded his services by granting him an annual pension of £ 1000 in August 1299. By Writ of Summons he was called to Parliament on May 24, 1305 , and after the death of his father, the king, who otherwise hardly granted earl dignity, raised John to be Earl of Richmond in October 1306 in place of his older brother Arthur . In return, John apparently did not inherit his father's possessions in Brittany.

Worked as a diplomat and politician under Edward II.

Service as diplomat and governor of Scotland

During the war in southwest France, Richmond, as it was now called, had participated in negotiations with the County of Foix and the Kingdom of Castile in 1294 and 1295 . On October 15, 1305, Edward I appointed Richmond to the governor and guardian of the apparently largely conquered Scotland . There Richmond convened a parliament after Scone , which resolved a reform of Scottish law. In March 1307 he accompanied his cousin, the English heir to the throne Edward II, when he traveled to France as his father's representative. After Edward II became the new king in July 1307 as the successor to his late father, he reinstated Richmond in September as the successor to the Earl of Pembroke as governor of Scotland, where there was, however, increasing resistance to English rule. In January 1308 the king confirmed him in his office as governor.

Mediating activity in the conflict between the king and a nobility opposition

Richmond's friendly relationship with Gaveston

Unlike many other magnates, Richmond was a loyal supporter of the king at this time. Together with six other earls, he had witnessed the elevation of the royal favorite Piers Gaveston to Earl of Cornwall in August 1307 , and when in 1308 a noble opposition demanded the exile of the unpopular Gaveston, Richmond was the only earl besides the Earl of Lancaster willing to to support the king militarily. Richmond remained on friendly terms with Gaveston, although he had significantly less property, retinue and reputation than most of the other English earls. In March 1309, Richmond was a member of the delegation led by Bishop Walter Reynolds to obtain the lifting of the excommunication of Gaveston imposed by Archbishop Winchelsey at the Papal Court in Avignon and the Pope's approval for Gaveston's return from exile.

Activity as Lord Ordainer and Diplomat

As the conflict between the king and the aristocratic opposition came to a head, a group of magnates, the so-called Lords Ordainers , was supposed to work out a reform program for the government. Although Richmond was one of the king's most loyal supporters, he was appointed Lord Ordainer in March 1310, but unlike other Lords Ordainers, he did little to help create the ordinances , but continued to serve the king. In the autumn of 1310, Richmond traveled to Gascony on behalf of the king to resolve a conflict between the English Seneschal John de Havering , the Seneschal des Agenais Arnaud Guillaume de Marsan , who came from Gascony, and the Baron Amanieu d'Albret . On December 11, it was decided to reinstate Arnaud Guillaume, who had been dismissed by Havering, despite the protests of d'Albret. Havering had scarcely reinstated Guillaume when he resigned and turned it over to Richmond. In April and May 1311, Richmond and Bishop John Salmon of Norwich were leaders of the English delegation that negotiated with France in Périgueux over the status of the English possessions in south-west France. After the negotiations were concluded, Richmond stayed in Gascony for several months on behalf of the king before he returned to England.

Mediating activity in the crisis of 1312

In England, in June 1312, when Gaveston had returned from exile without permission, he was executed on the orders of a group of magnates, including Lancaster. To prevent an impending civil war, Richmond worked on his return to England together with the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of Gloucester , with the papal legates Arnaud Nouvel and Arnaud of Poitiers and with the French ambassador Louis de Évreux in a reconciliation of the king the members of the aristocratic opposition. After long negotiations, an official settlement was reached in December 1312, but the political tensions between the groups persisted.

Further role as mediator in the service of the king

In May 1313, Richmond accompanied the King and Queen Isabelle on their state visit to France. Because of his good contacts with the French court, Richmond received a particularly friendly welcome in Paris, and together with Pembroke and other magnates he negotiated open questions about the English Gascon. The king stayed in France until July for further talks, but because he had called a parliament in England, he sent Richmond and Gloucester back to London early on July 1st. There they opened parliament on July 8th, but when the arrival of the king, planned for July 16, was further delayed, the magnates, including Richmond, left London, so that no deliberations took place. Richmond remained a close confidante and advisor to the king. He negotiated with Lancaster and other opposition barons, and in January 1316 reopened a parliament in Lincoln with Gloucester and the bishops of Exeter and Norwich . In that year he was also a member of a committee with other magnates and bishops that was supposed to reform the royal household and remove unwanted favorites from the household. Despite these efforts, significant tensions persisted between the King and Lancaster. Richmond testified in August 1318 to the Treaty of Leake , which was to strike a balance between the king and Lancaster, and was one of the four earls who became members of a new permanent council of state.

Role during the Despenser War

From March 1320 Richmond had been active abroad again as the king's ambassador, and in June 1320 he met Edward II in Amiens , where the king paid homage to the French king Philip V for Gascony. In February 1321 he took part in the armistice negotiations with Scotland instead of the Earl of Hereford as envoy. A little later, Hereford was one of the rebellious Marcher Lords who rebelled against the royal favorite Hugh le Despenser and his father of the same name in the Despenser War . Given the rebels' success, Richmond, like most of the king's supporters, was reluctant to openly oppose the rebels. Instead, in the summer of 1321, he supported their demand to banish the Despensers from England. However, when the king took military action against the rebels in October, Richmond, along with the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of Norfolk, began the siege of Leeds Castle , which was the start of open fighting between the king and the rebels. At the end of November he approved the Despensers' return to England. On December 1, he was present with the Earl of Arundel at the meeting of bishops to which Archbishop Reynolds had invited and at which the bishops were to approve the return of the Despensers. In January 1322 he and other supporters of the king convinced the rebel Roger Mortimer of Wigmore and his uncle Roger Mortimer of Chirk to surrender. On March 11, he and other magnates convinced the king to declare Lancaster and the other remaining leaders of the rebellion traitors. After Lancaster was captured after the Battle of Boroughbridge , Richmond was among the seven judges who sentenced him to death at Pontefract Castle on March 22nd . Nevertheless, he received only a few possessions of the defeated rebels from the king as a reward.

Turning away from Edward II, last years and death

After defeating Lancaster and the rebels, the king launched a campaign against the Scots in the summer of 1322. Richmond also took part in the advance, but it failed completely. In the autumn he covered the king's retreat. He was defeated on October 14th by the Scots in the Battle of Byland and captured along with the French nobleman Henry de Sully . He was only released in the summer of 1324 after paying a high ransom of 14,000  marks . After his release he traveled during the war of Saint-Sardos in November 1324 as envoy to France, in February 1325 to Scotland and in March 1325 back to France. Then Richmond switched sides. He did not return to England, but stayed in France, where Roger Mortimer of Wigmore and other opponents of the king had already found refuge. Thereupon the king confiscated his English possessions in early 1326. Queen Isabelle and Eduard , the heir to the throne , also remained in exile in France to protest the influence of the Despensers on Eduard II. As governor of the heir to the throne, who was also Duke of Aquitaine , Richmond took over the administration of Gascony. Therefore he did not belong to the army with which Mortimer and Queen Isabelle landed in England in September 1326 and overthrew the rule of Edward II and the Despensers. After the successful overthrow of the king, Richmond regained its English possessions at Christmas 1326. However, he remained in France, where he again served as the English ambassador in February 1327. Apparently he did not return to England, because he was a regular in the parliaments and campaigns of the new King Edward III. apologized for his absence.

heritage

John of Brittany had remained unmarried. Shortly before his death, he transferred his English property to Mary , widow of the Earl of Pembroke, in return for an annual pension of £ 1,800 . In addition, he received the French possessions of Rancon , Bellac , Champagnac and Montignac , which they had inherited from her husband. These fell back to Mary after his death until they were confiscated by France during the Hundred Years War in 1372. John was buried in the church of the Franciscan Settlement in Nantes . His nephew Johann III inherited his English title . from Brittany .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 316
  2. ↑ 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 , p. 10
  3. ↑ Hilda Johnstone: The wardrobe and household of Henry, son of Edward I . In: Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library , 7 (1922-3), p. 389
  4. ↑ Michael Prestwich: Edward I . Berkeley, University of California Press, 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 382
  5. ↑ Michael Prestwich: Edward I . Berkeley, University of California Press, 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 132
  6. ↑ Michael Prestwich: Edward I . Berkeley, University of California Press, 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 504
  7. ↑ 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 , p. 25
  8. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 91
  9. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 71
  10. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 39
  11. ↑ Pierre Chaplais: Piers Gaveston. Edward II's Adoptive Brother . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994, ISBN 0-19-820449-3 , p. 48
  12. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 87
  13. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 94
  14. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 112
  15. ↑ 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 , p. 30
  16. ↑ Pierre Chaplais: Piers Gaveston. Edward II's Adoptive Brother . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994, ISBN 0-19-820449-3 , p. 74
  17. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 137
  18. ↑ 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 , p. 64
  19. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 150
  20. ↑ 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 , p. 65
  21. ↑ 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 , p. 95
  22. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 182
  23. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 226
  24. ↑ 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 , p. 192
  25. ↑ 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 , p. 204
  26. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 49
  27. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 280
  28. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 50
  29. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 52
  30. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 112
  31. ↑ 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 , p. 224
  32. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 312
  33. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 109
  34. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 131
  35. ↑ 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 , p. 3
predecessor Office successor
John II of Brittany Earl of Richmond
1306-1334 		Johann III. of Brittany
personal data
SURNAME John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jean de Bretagne, John of Bretagne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Anglo-Breton magnate, military and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH 1266
DATE OF DEATH January 17, 1334