Robert le Ewer

Robert le Ewer (also Ewer ) († December 27, 1322 in Winchester ) was an English military man and rebel.

Rise in the service of the king

Robert le Ewer was from Hampshire . He probably came from a relatively simple background, but probably grew up at the royal court. As a yeoman , he then served in the royal household from April 1309 at the latest. Because of his unscrupulousness, the Lords Ordainer demanded his removal from the royal court in 1311. Le Ewer was evidently highly favored by Edward II. He was allowed to stay at the royal court, although there were further allegations and complaints against him in 1314 and 1315. Le Ewer had served as a soldier in the war against Scotland . In 1315 he was possibly captured by the Scots along with Andrew Harclay . Eventually he became the commandant of the royal Odiham Castle in Hampshire. In February 1320 he was replaced as commandant of Odiham by the royal favorite Hugh le Despenser . Le Ewer was apparently so angry that he assaulted royal officials and threatened death to anyone who tried to arrest him. The exact reason for his revolt is unclear, but it was directed against a person close to the king. But it was probably not Hugh le Despenser and his father of the same name . The king did not order le Ewers' arrest until August 1320, then he pardoned him. After Hugh le Despenser and his father had to go into exile due to the Despenser War in the summer of 1321, le Ewer was reappointed in July 1321 as commander of Odiham Castle.

The ruins of Odiham Castle, which was under the command of le Ewer for several years

Role in cracking down on the Marcher Lords and Earl of Lancaster rebellion

From autumn 1321 the king took military action against the rebels who had enforced the banishment of the Despensers. Le Ewer was part of the army with which Edward II moved to the Welsh Marches . On December 27th, the king sent le Ewer along with Fulk Fitz Warin , Oliver Ingham and John Pecche as the advance guard to Bridgnorth to secure the bridge over the Severn . On January 5, 1322, however, the rebels under Roger Mortimer of Wigmore and Roger Mortimer of Chirk attacked Bridgnorth and forced the royal troops to withdraw to Worcester . The king then moved on to Shrewsbury , where he could cross the Severn. A little later, most of the rebelling Marcher Lords surrendered . Together with Earl Warenne , le Ewer brought the captured Mortimers to the Tower of London . After defeating the rebels in the Welsh Marches, the king moved against the remaining rebels who had fled to the Earl of Lancaster in northern England. At the bridge of Burton the rebels tried again in early March to stop the advance of the royal army. After several days of fighting , part of the royal troops evaded the position of the rebels, while le Ewer led a diversionary attack on the bridge. The rebels then fled further north. During the further suppression of the rebellion, le Ewer was noticed by the particularly intensive plundering of an estate belonging to John Giffard and other rebel possessions.

Revolt, capture and death

After defeating the rebels, the king went on a campaign to Scotland in August 1322 . Le Ewer was supposed to be part of the royal army, but he either did not obey the request or left the army without permission. He went to his home in Hampshire, where he, together with supporters such as John Wyard, plundered the estates of the elder Despenser, who had since been raised to Earl of Winchester. He is said to have distributed part of the booty to the poor in the region. Winchester, who had not taken part in the campaign to Scotland and remained in England, fled to Windsor Castle before le Ewers attacks . When the king heard of the revolt, he asked le Ewer on September 20th to hand over Odiham Castle. Before November 1, 1322 le Ewer had evaded to Lancashire . After he had also looted a royal estate, Edward II ordered his arrest in November 1322. On November 15, the Earl of Kent was sent with a force to the Welsh Marches to catch le Ewer. This was initially able to escape despite the persecution by Kent and Winchester. It was only by chance that he and his wife were arrested in Southampton on December 13th while trying to flee to France by ship. Le Ewer refused to testify in court. He was then imprisoned in Winchester . Heavily chained, he was given no water or food, so he died the day after Christmas.

Le Ewer began his revolt at his own risk and did not belong to any major conspiracy against the king. But he had apparently expected greater support for his revolt.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3
2. ^ ^{A b} Andy King: Bandits, Robbers and Schalvadours. War and Disorder in Northumberland in the Reign of Edward II. In: Michael Prestwich, Richard Britnell and Robin Frame (Eds.): Thirteenth century England IX: proceedings of the Durham conference 2001 . Boydell, Woodbridge 2003, ISBN 0-85115-575-8
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7
4. ↑ 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. 221