John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall

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Coat of arms of John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall

John of Eltham (born August 14, 1316 in Eltham , † September 13, 1336 in Perth ) was a prince of the English royal dynasty Plantagenet . He stood in the shadow of his older brother Edward III. but although he died before he came of age, he played an active role in English politics at the beginning of his reign.

origin

John was the second son of King Edward II of England and his wife Isabelle of France . He was named after his birthplace Eltham Palace in what was then Kent .

Childhood and youth

John grew up as a toddler in the care of his nanny Matilda Pyrie in his brother's household. From 1320 he lived in the household of his mother, Queen Isabelle. As the favorite, Hugh le Despenser, gained increasing influence over John's father in the 1320s, he became a rival to Queen Isabelle and sought to limit her influence. When a war broke out between England and France in 1324, Despenser withdrew the queen's supervision of her three younger children towards the end of September 1324, because as a native of France she could possibly instigate them to betray their father. Young John was placed in the care of Eleanor de Clare , Despenser's wife, who was also a niece of the king. John's mother's mother traveled to France as a negotiator in 1325 to negotiate peace, but stayed there out of opposition to the influence of the Despensers. Young John received his own household in 1325. In London he experienced the unrest in the autumn of 1326 when his mother returned to England with her lover Roger Mortimer and an army and overthrew his father . Young John was taken to the Tower of London by royal officials, but it was stormed by angry Londoners. These expelled the royal officials and appointed John Keeper of the Tower and the City of London .

Military and administrator in the service of his brother

After his older brother as Eduard III. Having ascended the throne in 1327, John often belonged to his brother's entourage and attested with numerous documents. In 1328 his brother made him Earl of Cornwall , and in 1333 he was promised an annual pension of £ 200 until he could get hold of land with a corresponding income. When Edward III. In 1329 traveled to France to meet the new French King Philip VI. To pay homage to his French possessions, he made John his imperial administrator . Since John was only thirteen years old at the time, Archbishop Simon Mepeham , Henry of Lancaster , the Mayor of London and other bishops were appointed as advisors. In 1330 John accompanied his brother when he was traveling to his possessions in Gascony . Eventually, John accompanied his brother in the fighting during the Second Scottish War of Independence . He took part in the Siege of Berwick and the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333 . In the winter campaign to Roxburgh from 1334 to 1335 he led his own contingent of 100 men-at-arms and 40 mounted archers. As the official commander of an English armed force, he defeated a Scottish force that had invaded Redesdale in Northumberland in January 1335 , with the experienced military men Henry Percy and Ralph Neville in command. However, the king appeared to be impressed by his brother's courage and fighting spirit, for on February 2, 1335 he appointed John defender of the Scottish Marches . He gave him back Percy and Neville and a large number of men-at-arms and archers. However, before the riots in the Marches, John had to retreat to northern England on March 19. On March 27, 1335 he was to support his brother in Newcastle with 135 men-at-arms . In June 1336, John was to attend a royal council meeting in Northampton along with several other barons . However, for reasons unknown, he moved to Scotland, where he died a little later. He is said to have died from wounds he sustained in a battle with the Scots.

The report by the Scottish chronicler John Fordun ( Chronica Gentis Scotorum ), according to which John was murdered by his brother during a dispute, is described as untrustworthy. The English knight Sir Thomas Gray only wrote of a "beautiful death" in his Scalacronica .

John of Eltham was buried on January 13, 1337 with a magnificent funeral under the direction of the Archbishop of Canterbury and in the presence of the king and numerous barons in Westminster Abbey . His alabaster grave monument is still there.

Unfulfilled marriage plans

Edward III. had tried several times to adequately marry John. He had originally planned to marry him to a daughter of the French King Charles IV in order to confirm a peace treaty with France planned for 1329. After this plan failed, marriages with daughters of Count Guido I of Blois , Sire Guillaume I of Coucy or Count Guy de Penthièvre were considered until 1335 . Eventually John Maria, a daughter of King Ferdinand IV of Castile, was to marry. For this marriage he received a papal dispensation in 1334 , since John and Mary were related to each other in both the third and fourth degree. The marriage probably did not take place, however, as John died in 1336.

Web links

Commons : John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-712-64194-4 , p. 160.
  2. ^ Ranald Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots. The formative Years of a Military Career . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1965, p. 176.
  3. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-712-64194-4 , p. 361.
  4. ↑ see Fourteenth Century England II (Boydell Press, 2002) by Nigel Saul and Chris Given-Wilson
  5. ↑ Westminster Abbey: John of Eltham. Retrieved April 30, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Eltham, John of, Earl of Cornwall
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eltham, John of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English prince
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1316
PLACE OF BIRTH Eltham Palace
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 1336
Place of death Perth