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Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia
Archaeologia is in Prehistory.
Archaeologia was first published by the Society of Antiquaries in 1770.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 1
LX. A Remembrance of the Order and Manner of the Burial of Mary Queen of Scotts.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 2
An Account of the Monument [Kit's Coty House] commonly ascribed to Catigern. By Mr. Colebrooke. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, June 12, 1766.
Conjectures on an ancient Tomb [Bishop Roger of Salisbury] in Salisbury Cathedral. By Mr . Gough. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, Feb. 22, 1770.
21 Jun 1770. A Description of the Sepulchral Monument at New Grange, near Drogheda, in the County of Meath, in Ireland. by Thomas Pownall, Esq; in a Letter to the Rev. Gregory Sharpe, D. D. Master of The Temple. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, June 21, 28, 1770.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 3
Extract from the Will of Thomas Earl of Ormond, dated July 31, 1515. From the Register called Holder in the Prerogative Office. Communicated by Thomas Astle, Esquire. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, Jan. 16, 1772.
An historical Description of an ancient Picture in Windsor castle, representing the Interview between king Henry VIII. and the French king Francis I. between Guînes and Ardres, in the year 1520. By Sir Joseph Ayloffe (age 63), Baronet, V. P. A. S. and F. R. S.
An Account of an undescribed Roman Station [Melandra aka Ardotalia] in Derbyshire. By the Reverend Mr. Watson; in a Letter to the Reverend Mr. Norris, Secretary. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, Dec. 10, 1772.
Account of opening one of the largest Barrows on Sandford Moor, Westmoreland, in a Letter from Mr. William Preston, dated Warcop Hall, Sept. 5, 1766, to Bishop Lyttelton (age 52). Read at the Society of Antiquaries, Nov. 6, 1766.
Discoveries in a Barrow [Winster Barrow] in Derbyshire. Communicated by Mr. Mander, of Bakewell, in the said County. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, March 17, 1768.
Extract of a Letter from the Reverend Mr. George Low, to Mr. Paton, of Edinburgh. Communicated by Mr. Gough. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, March 12, 19, 1773.
An Account of the Body of King Edward the First, as it appeared on opening his Tomb in the Year 1774. By Sir Joseph Ayloffe (age 66), Bart. V. P. S. A. and F. R. S. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, May 12, 1774.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 4
Observations on Kit’s Cotty House, in Kent. In a Letter to the Honourable Daines Barrington (age 56), from the Reverend Mr Pegge (age 69). Read at the Society of Antiquaries, Jan. 13, 1774.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 5
In an adjacent field, without: Mr. Morgan's garden, is the hollow circular spot, known at Caerleon by the name of Arthur's Round Table which is generally supposed to be a Roman work, and to have served by way of amphitheatre. In this case it must be considered as one of the Castrensian kind, like that; at Richborough castle, not far from Sandwich in Kent, and many others. Stukeleyt mentions one at Silchester, and another three miles from Redruth in Cornwall. Probably the round entrenchment between Perith and Shap in Westmoreland, described by Salmonu, and compared: by him to a cockpit, or wrestling ring, is of the same kind. It asfo goes:by the name of Arthur's Round Tables as does that on the castle-wall at Winchester. Such temporary amphitheatres were probably the only ones used by the Romans in the distant provinces; since their more pompous edifices of this kind seem to have been confined to Italy, France, Spain, the coals of the Adriatic, and the neighbouring province of Helvetia, &c. Lipfius has given us a lift of such of these superb buildings, of which there are any remains, in his learned book De amphitheatris extra Romam.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 6
An account of some Druidical Remains on Stanton and Hartle Moor in the Peak, Derbyshire. By Hayman Rooke (age 57), Esq. Read April 6, 1780.
A Description of an antient Picture in Windsor Castle, representing the Embarkation of King Henry VIII at Dover, May 31, 1520; preparatory to his Interview with the French King Francis I. By John Topham, Esq. F.R.S. F.S.A. Read June 21, 1781.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 7
A Disquisition on the Lows or Barrows in the Peak of Derbyshire, particularly that capital British Monument called Arbelows. By the Rev. Mr. Pegge (age 80).
A further account of some Druidical Remains [Carl Wark] in Derbyshire. By Hayman Rooke (age 62), Esq. Read December 11th, 1785.
Remarks on the preceding Article. By Mr. Bray. In a letter to the Secretary. Read December 18, 1783.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 8
02 Nov 1785. Observations by the Rev. Mr. Pegge (age 80) on the Stanton-Moor Urns, and Druidical Temple. In a Letter to Major Rooke (age 62). Read November 2,. 1785;
An Essay towards a Discovery of the great Ikineld-Street of the Romans.
Description of the Druid Temple [La Hogue Bie] lately discovered on the top of the Hill near St. Hillary in Jersey. Communicated by Mr. Molseworth. Read January 11, 1787.
Description of a Druidical Monument [La Hogue Bie] in the Island of Jersey; in a Letter from the Right Honourable Henry Seymour. Conway (age 63), Governor of Jersey, to the Earl of Leicester, P. S. A. Read March 8, 1787.
An historical and descriptive account of the Ancient Painting preserved at Cowdray in Sussex, the Seat of Lord Viscount Montague: representing the Procession of King Edward VI. from the Tower of London to Westminster, February 19th, A.D. 1547, previous to his Coronation. By John Topham, Esq. F.R.A.S. Read April 19, 1787.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 9
Discoveries in opening a Tumulus [Garratts Piece Barrow] in Derbyshire. In a Letter from the Rev. Mr. Pegge (age 83) to the Rev. John Brand, Secretary. Read May 8, 1788.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 10
Some Observations on the Paintings in the Window of Brereton Church. By the Rev. Samuel Pegge (age 85), in a Letter to Owen Salusbury Brereton (age 74), Esq. Vice President. Read Nov. 26, 1789.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 11
Observations on Kits Coity House, in Kent. In a Letter to Samuel Foart Simmons, M. D . F. R. and A. SS. By William Boys, Esq . F. A. S. Read Feb. 9, 1792.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 12
Antiquities discovered in Derbyshire. In a Letter from Hayman Rooke (age 70), Esq. F. S. A. to the Rev. Dr. Pegge (age 89), F. S. A. Read November 21, 1793.
Discoveries in a Barrow [Fin Cop Barrow] in Derbyshire. In a Letter from Hayman Rooke (age 72), Esq. to Mr, Gough, Read February 11, 1796.
Account of Inscriptions discovered on the Walls of an Apartment in the Tower of London. By the Rev, John Brand3 Secretary. Read Nov. 17, 1796.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 13
Account of the Fall of some of the Stones of Stonehenge, in a Letter from William George Maton, M.B. F.A.S. to Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq. F.R.S. and F.A.S. Read June 29, 1797.
Extracts from the Parish Regifler of St. Bennet's, St. Paul’s Wharf, London. Communicated by the Rev. Mark Noble, F. A. S. In a Letter to the Rev. John Brand, Secretary. Read May 3, 1798.
Read June 26, 1800. As an Appendix to an account of certain inscriptions discovered lately on the walls of a room in the Tower of London, printed in this volume, p. 68, and particularly the very interesting Autographs found there of the amiable and unfortunate lady Jane Grey, the Secretary requests permission to lay before the Society a copy of an exceedingly rare (if not unique) printed tract, not noticed that he can find in Ames or Herbert, one part of which is entitled, "The Ende of the Ladye Jane upon the Scaffolde." It is without date, but contains internal evidence of having been printed immediately after that event in the first year of the reign of queen Mary.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 14
Account of Roman Urns discovered in Cornwall, and of a Cromlech discovered in the Parish of Madron in the same County; in a Letter from the Rev. Malachi Hitchins to the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. K. B. P. R. S, and F. S. A.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 15
Account of Tumuli opened in Wiltshire, in three Letters from Mr. William Cunnington to Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq. F.R.S. and F.A.S. Communicated by Mr. Lambert.
01 Aug 1803. Description of the opening of Golden Barrow aka Upton Lovell 2e by William Cunnington (age 49).
Description of the opening of Golden Barrow aka Upton Lovell 2e by William Cunnington (age 51).
Further Account of Tumuli opened in Wiltshire, in a Letter front Mr. William Cunnington (age 51), F.A.S. to Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq. F.R.S. F.A.S. and F.L.S. Communicated by Mr. Lambert. Read, Feb. 7, 1805.
March 14th, 1804. The Rev. the Dean of Raphoe presented to the Society four original drawings of some caves [Ballymacdermot Court Tomb], which he had discovered on his glebe, in the parish of Killevy, in the county of Armagh in Ireland. Some account of these caves, with engravings, has been published by General Vallencey, in his Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis; yet, for the satisfaction of such gentlemen as may not have seen that publication, the Dean accompanied his present with a short description, as follows:
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 16
Copy of a Roll of the Expenses of King Edward the First at Rhuddlan Castle, in Wales , in the tenth and eleventh years of his reign [1281-1282], remaining among the Records in the Tower, communicated by Samuel Lysons , Esq. F. R. S. Director: with a Translation, by the Rev. John Brand, M. A. Secretary. Read Nov. 27, 1806.
Description of a Crom-Leach [Kilmogue Portal Tomb], in the County of Kilkenny, By Mr. Joseph Thomas Finegan. Communicated by The Marquess Townshend (age 33), and Earl of Leicester, President. Read 30th April, J SOJ.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 17
An Account of some Druidical Remains in the Island of Guernsey. By Joshua Gosselin, Esq. in a Letter addressed to the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. K.B., P.R.S., F.S.A. Read 5th December, 1811.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 19
1816. An Account of a Stone Barrow, in the Parish of Wellow, at Stoney Littleton in the County of Somerset, which was opened and investigated in the Month of May 1816. Communicated by Sir Richard Colt Hoare (age 57), Bart. F.S.A. Read 22d May, 1817.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 20
I. Translation of a French Metrical History of the Deposition of King Richard the Second, written by a Contemporary, and comprising the Period from his last Expedition into Ireland to his Death; from a MS. formerly belonging to Charles of Anjou, Earl of Maine and Mortain; but now preserved in the British Museum; accompanied by Prefatory Observations, Notes, and an Appendix; with a Copy of the Original. By the Rev. JOHN WEBB, M. A. F. A. S. Rector of Tretire in Herefordshire, and Minor-Canon of the Cathedral of Gloucester.
Account of the Tomb of Sir John Chandos, Knt. A.D. 1370, at Civauux a hamlet on the Vienne, in France; by Samuel Rush Meyrick (age 40), LL. D. F.S.A. In a Letter addressed to Henry Ellis, Esq. F. R. S. Secretary. Read 5th April 1821.
An Account of the First Battle of St. Albans from a contemporary Manuscript. Communicated by Joun Baytey, Esq. F.S. A. of His Majesty's Record Office in the Tower; in a Letter to Henry Extis, Esq. F. R. S. Secretary.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 21
Account of King Edward the Fourth's Second Invasion of England, in 1471, drawn up hy one of his Followers; with the King's Letter to the Inhabitants of Bruges upon his success: translated from a French Manuscript in the Public Library at Ghent. Communicated by Edward Jerningham (age 45), Esq. F.S.A. in a Letter to Nicholas Carlisle, Esq. F.R.S. Secretary. Read 13th April, 1820.
Ill. Account of King Edward the Fourth's Second invasion of England, in 1471, drawn up by one of his Followers; with the King's Letter to the Inhabitants of Bruges upon his success: translated from a French Manuscript in the Public Library at Ghent. Communicated by Edward Jerningham, Esq. F.S.A. in a Letter to Nicholas Carlisle, Esq. F.R.S. Secretary.
How the Queen Margaret, and the Prince of Wales her son, arrived in England [Margaret Anjou lands at Weymouth]; how after their arrival they assembled a vast army; of the great battle [Battle of Tewkesbury] King Edward fought with them, and how the Prince of Wales was therein slain, and great numbers with him routed.
How the Duke of Somerset and, the Prior of Saint John, with several other Knights and Squires, made prisoners at the Battle [Battle of Tewkesbury], were beheaded in the Town of Tewksbury.
How the Bastard of Fauconberghe, and his adherents, assaulted the City of London, to which they set fire in divers places. How those within the City sallied out upon a part, and put the remainder to flight.
Account of a Monumental Effigy discovered in Stevenage Church in Hertfordshire: By Mr. Robert T. Stothard (age 29), addressed to the Right Honourable the Earl of Aberdeen (age 42), K. T. President. Read 16th March 1826.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 22
Account of a Visit to the Monument usually considered as Druidical, at Carnac in Brittany, made in the month of September 1825, by Alexander Logan, Esq.: Communicated by James Logan, Esq. F.S.A. Edinb. in a Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of Aberdeen, K.T. President. Read 14th June 1827.
Observations on several Circles of Stones in Scotland, presumed to be Druidical: by James Logan, Esq. F.S.A. Edinb. in a Letter addressed to the Right Honourable the Earl of Aberdeen, K. T. President. Read 15th November 1827.
March 28, 1822. James Logan, Esq. communicated to the Society two Drawings of Druidical Circles in Aberdeenshire, accompanied by some Remarks.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 23
V. Transcript of an original Manuscript, containing a Memorial from George Constantyne to Thomas Lord Cromwell. Communicated by Thomas Amyot, Esq. F.R.S., Treasurer, in a Letter addressed to Henry Ellis, Esq. F.R.S., Secretary.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 25
Proclamation of Henry the Eighth on his Marriage with Queen Anne Boleyn; in the possession of the Corporation of Norwich: Communicated by Hudson Gurney, Esg. V.P., in a Letter to Henry Ellis (age 54), Esq., F.R.S., Secretary.
Observations on Dracontia [Carnac]; Communicated by the Rev. John Bathurst Deane (age 36), M.A. , F.S.A. , in a Letter to Henry Ellis, Esq. F.R.S., Secretary. Read 13th December, 1832.
Remarks on certain Celtic Monuments at Locmariaker, in Britany; in a Letter from the Rev. John Bathurst Deane (age 36), M.A., F.S.A., to Henry Ellis, Esq. F.R.S., Secretary. Read 17th January, 1833.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 27
On the Measures taken for the Apprehension of Sir Thomas de Gournay, one of the Murderers of King Edward the Second, and on their final Issue: in a Letter to Hudson Gurney, Esq, F.R.S., V.P. from the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A. Read 7th December, 1837.
Eynsford Castle, in the County of Kent.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 28
VII. The Life of Sir Peter Carew , of Mohun Ottery , co. Devon. Communicated by Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart ., F.R.S., F.S.A. in a Letter to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H. , F.R,S., Secretary. Read Nov. 20, 1838.
On The Antiquity Of Abury And Stonehenge, By John Rickman, Esq., F.R.S. Read 13th June, 1839.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 29
Observations on the Heraldic Devices discovered on the Effigies of Richard the Second and his Queen in Westminster Abbey, and upon the Mode in which those Ornaments were executed; including some Remarks on the surname Plantagenet, and on the Ostrich Feathers of the Prince of Wales. By Joan Govucu Nicuoxs, Esq. F.S.A.
Observations upon the History of certain Events in England during the Reign of King Edward the Fourth. By James Orchard Halliwell, Esq. F.RS., F.S.4., FRAS., &c.
On the Death of Eleanor of Castile (age 48), Consort of King Edward the First (age 50), and the Honours paid to her Memory. By the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A.
Effigy of King Richard, Ceur de Lion, in the Cathedral at Rouen. Communicated to the Society by Albert Way, Esq., M.A., F.S.A. in a Letter addressed to John Gage Rokewode, Esq., F.R.S., Director.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 30
09 Feb 1843. Account of the opening by Matthew Bell, Esq. of an ancient British Barrow, in Iffins Wood, near Canterbury, in the month of January, 1842, in a Letter from John Yonge Akerman (age 36) Esq. F.S.A., to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S., Secretary.
14 Apr 1842. A Letter from Joun Gage Rokewode, Esq. F.R.S., Director, to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.RS., Secretary, on the sculptured Figures of Welsh Knights at Kilpeck Church in Herefordshire.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 31
Letter of Sir Thomas Stanhope, of Shelford, co. Notts., to Lord Treasurer Burghley, respecting the Funeral of his Mother, Anne Lady Stanhope. Communicated by RICHARD ALMACK, Esq. F.S.A., in a Letter to ALBERT WAY, Esq. M.A., Director.
20 Nov 1845. XXI. Account of the Ceremonial of the Marriage of the Princess Margaret, sister of King Edward the Fourth, to Charles, Duke of Burgundy, in 1468: communicated to the Archaological Institute Of Great Britain And Ireland by Sir Thomas Phlilipps (age 53), Bart., F.S.A., and, with his permission, by the Central Committee of the Institute to the Society of Antiquaries.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 32
Observations on the Monumental Inscription to Richard Grey, Lord Grey de Wilton, in the Chapel of Eton College, Bucks. By Thomas William King, Rouge Dragon, F.S.A., in a Letter to William Bromet, M.D., F.S.A. Read 19th March, 1846.
Account of the Opening of the Coffin of Joanna de Bohun, in the Lady Chapel of Hereford Cathedral. By the Very Rev. John Merewether (age 49), D.D. Dean of Hereford. Read llth June, 1846.
Letter from the Viscount Mahon (age 41), President, FRS. &c. &c., to Sir Henry Ellis (age 68) K.H. Secretary upon the wish expressed to his Lordship by Prince Alexander Labanoff to obtain the opinion of the best English Antiquaries respecting the alleged Residence of Mary Queen of Scots at Hardwick Hall.
Observations on the celebrated Monument at Ashbury, in the county of Berks, called "Wayland Smith's Cave" by John Yonge Akerman (age 40), Esq. F.S.A. in a Letter to Capt. W. H. Smyth, R.N. Director. Read, 4th March, 1847.
Sepulchral Memorials, commemorative of Robert de Roos of Hamlake, in the Church of Bottesford, and of Lord Grey of Codnor, in Eton College Chapel.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 33
Account of a Gold Torquis found in Needwood Forest in Staffordshire, in a Letter to the Viscount Mahon, President, from Sir HENRY ELLIS, K.H. Secretary. Read June 8th, 1848.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 34
Account of some of the Celtic Antiquities of Orkney, including the Stones of Stenness, Tumuli, Picts-houses, &c, with Plans, by F. W. L. Thomas (age 38), R.N., Corr. Mem. S.A. Scot., Lieutenant Commanding H.M. Surveying Vessel Woodlark. Read Feb. 6th and 13th, 1851.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 35 1853
Notices of the Last Days of Isabella, Queen of Edward the Second, drawn from an Account of the Expenses of her Household. By Edw. A. Bond, Esq. Egerton Librarian in the Department of MSS. British Museum. Read March 16, 1854.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 37
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 38 1883
On The Examination Of A Chambered Long Barrow At West Kennet, Wiltshire. By John Thurnam (age 49). Read 15th March, 1860.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 42 1869
On Ancient British Barrows, especially those of Wiltshire and the adjoining Counties. (Part I. Long Barrows). By John Thurnam, Esq. M.D., F.S.A., Local Secretary for Wiltshire. Read December 12th, 1867; February 20th and 27th, 1868.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 45 1877
An Account Of Discoveries Made In Celtic Tumuli [Ringwould Round Barrows] Near Dover, Kent. By Cumberland Henry Woodruff, Esq., F.S.A. Read December 12, 1S72.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 50 1887
XIII. Documents relating to the death and burial of King Edward II. By Stuart Archibald Moore, F.S. A. Read April 8, 1886.
The task I have set myself in this paper, a task in which I fear I shall hardly succeed, is to endeavour to wipe away from the pages of our national history one of the foulest blots that stains them, viz., the legend, the unproved rumour, of the hideous detail of the murder of king Edward II. in Berkeley Castle.
I suspect I am not the first inquirer on this subject, for I find the wardrobe account of 1 Edward III. which I shall presently refer to has been "galled," probably for the purpose of making a copy of it.
I can find no better authority for the story of king Edward's murder than the chronicle of Adam Murimuth1, who tells the tale of how the deposed king was taken to Kenilworth, and thence to Berkeley, and to Corfe, and back again to Berkeley. And that about the feast of St. Matthew the Evangelist (September 21) he was murdered by Maltravers and Gurney by the insertion of a red-hot spit into the intestines. Murimuth states that although many abbots and priors and burgesses of Bristol and Gloucester were called to see the body they only looked upon it superficially, and that it was commonly said (dictum tamen fuit vulgariter) that by the order of Maltravers and Gurney the king was placed under a heavy door to prevent his moving, and that a horn having been inserted in the anus the hot spit was thrust through it into the intestines in order that the murder might be committed without leaving marks of violence upon the body.
Moore referring to Murimuth is somewhat confusing since Murimuth doesn't describe the detail about the "red-hot spit". That information is provided in The Brut.
The account of Murimuth has been enlarged, elaborated, and varied by De la More, and later historians have improved on his account, Rapin going so far as to say that his body was immediately buried without any funeral pomp in the abbey church of Gloucester; and the tale appears to have been generally received as authentic history unto the present time, Lingard stating it as actual fact.
Bishop Stubbs in his introduction to the second volume of the Life of Edward II. appears to doubt the tale, and remarks that the statements of De la More, being recorded full twenty years after the event, are susceptible of some criticism if any conflicting statements can be brought against them, and further says it is not to be wondered that, as the whole treatment of the king was secret, there should be a great mystery about his end. He corrects the error that he was buried hastily, and states (correctly) that he was buried at Gloucester with sufficient pomp, but there were suspicious "marvellous circumstances" about the whole matter. He prints the curious letter from Manuel Fieschi, purporting to contain the confession of Edward II. after his escape from Berkeley and certain mysterious adventures which had ended in his finding a resting-place in Italy. The tale of escape is that Edward changed dresses with his servant and escaped to Corfe castle, and thence to Ireland, and subsequently to Italy; but Bishop Stubbs appears to think that the letter was either a political trick devised in the French court at the beginning of the great war to throw discredit on Edward III., and possibly to create disaffection in England, or that it was the invention of an impostor or the confession of a madman ; but, carefully criticising its contents, although he doubts its authenticity, he says that there "the fact remains at present, inexplicable."
The documents to which I am about to refer may, I think, help us to throw some little light on the subject, and will, I think, utterly disprove the tale of the king's escape; but the history of his death is a dark one, and one entry in these documents to which I shall presently refer more particularly gives ground for surmises with respect to the story which cuts both ways.
We have first on the Chancellor’s Roll of 1 Edward III. the account of Thomas de Berkeley and John Maltravers of the moneys received by them and expended for the expenses of king Edward II. while they had the custody of him living, and the custody of his body after his death, from 3 April, 1 Edward III., on which day they "were assigned to be in his company" at Kenilworth, until 21st September, when he died at Berkeley, and thence to 21st day of October, when they delivered his body to the Abbot of St. Peter of Gloucester, at Gloucester. They account for the receipt of £700 and take credit for their payments for his expenses for 201 days at 100s. a day, viz. £1005, and so their expenditure exceeded their receipts by £305. This balance I find from the records of the Exchequer was allowed to them in discharge of certain debts owing by them for custodies of lands due in the Exchequer. Of the particulars of the account, unfortunately, there is no record, nor do the accountants refer to any such particulars; so that we have nothing to check the tale of the king’s illusage, which has been told by the chroniclers. Rewards and grants were showered lavishly on Maltravers after the death of the king; and in 8 Edward III we find him as steward of the household to queen Isabella, and receiving a grant of several manors forfeited by John Giffard.
We have on the Chancellor’s Roll of 6 Edward III, amongst the records of the Court of Exchequer, the enrolment of the account of Hugh de Glaunvill, clerk, who was assigned, by patent dated 22nd October, 1 Edward III. to cause the body of the king to be brought from Berkeley castle to the abbey of St. Peter, Gloucester, and to pay the wages of those who were to stay with the body, and to pay other expenses for the keeping of the said body. And he accounts for payments made from 21st September until 20th December, when the body was buried. He accounts for various sums received from various quarters, amounting to £77. 12s., and takes credit for the following payments among others: To the bishop of Llandaff, who was ordered by the king to stay with the body at Gloucester until the funeral, viz. 13s. 4d. a day for his expenses from 21st day of October, when the body was taken from Berkeley to Gloucester, until the 10th November following; and for a further payment to the said bishop of £26. for staying there from the 10th November to the 20th December. He paid to Robert de Hastang, knight, £11 6s. 8d. for staying with the body from the 20th October to the 23rd November, and a further sum of £8. 13s. 4d. for staying | on until the 20th December. There are similar payments to Edmund Wasteneys knight ; Bernard de Burgh, the king’s chaplain; Richard de Potesgrave, called Byfleet, the king’s chaplain ; Bertrand de la More and John de Enfield, the king’s serjeants-at-arms ; and to Andrew, the king’s candelarius; all these payments dating from 20th October. The body was given up by Berkeley and Maltravers on 21st October, and was brought to Gloucester on that day.
~he next item of this account however dates back to the day of the king's death, viz., 21st September, and is a payment to William Beaukaire, the king’s serjeant-at-arms, for staying at Berkeley and Gloucester with the body of the king (juxta corpus regis) from 21st September—the day of his death—until 20th December.
Now we have seen that Berkeley and Maltravers had the custody of the body from 21st September until the 21st October, during which time it must have been embalmed. Berkeley and Maltravers had their wages for the care of the king's body during this time, and we should have expected that they would have provided for the attendance of the body, and paid the wages of those who attended it. But here, in this account, we find that Beaukaire must have been at Berkeley with the king at the time of his death, and that he was a royal officer apparently independent of Berkeley and Maltravers, and if this were so, some doubt is thrown upon the suggestion that the unfortunate king was left wholly unprotected and unattended, at the mercy of his keepers, as the historians have stated. In the next item in the account, Glaunvill takes credit for his own wages from the 23rd October to the 20th December. He then further claims for four days after the burial of the king, when he was accounting with the king’s ministers, and returning from Gloucester to Worcester, "bringing a certain woman who disembowelled the king to the queen by the king’s order, for two days, staying there one day, and thence returning to York for four days"; and he refers for the item to the roll of particulars delivered by him into the Exchequer. Now this roll of particulars exists, and it is remarkable that the item for the journey to Worcester with the woman is entirely omitted from it. This, of course, may have been a purely accidental omission, which he may have corrected at the passing of his account; but the omission has a suspicious appearance, and it would look as though the suppression of the item was intentional. In the roll of particulars he charges for the four days after the funeral as spent in accounting with the king’s ministers, and then charges for seven days going thence to York. Now, seven days is too long a period for such a journey, and it is just possible that the Barons of the Exchequer at the audit of the account may have inquired how those seven days were spent, and thus have elicited from the accountant that he spent two days taking the woman to Worcester. The alteration is suspicious. The motive for suppressing the fact is still more so, and gives rise to much speculation. Longman, in his History of Edward III., p. 20, says that it is nearly certain that no suspicion that the king’s death was caused by violence was entertained at the time, for the young king took no steps to inquire into the cause of his father’s death; but this entry goes to show that he did take steps to inquire, and we may fairly surmise that a rumour having reached the king that his father had been barbarously mur- dered in the manner suggested by the historians, he had made inquiries—possibly at the instigation of the queen, and had sent the woman—who must have known the truth, if the tale of the historians is true—to prove to the queen the untruth of the story. It is impossible to conceive, if the result of his inquiry was to prove the truth of the hideous tale, that the king would have deliberately suppressed the fact; or, that if he had found it necessary to suppress it, he would have suborned the woman to perjure herself to the queen, when the simple course lay open to him to get rid of the woman, and to assure the queen that no barbarous violence had been used. The other supposition must be, that the woman had deceived the king under threats from Gurney and Maltravers, and that the queen was particeps criminis1, and wished to know the details of the king’s death. Many other suggestions might be made. But on the whole, I think it is extremely difficult to suppose that if the queen was cognisant of the murder she would have run the risk of the discovery of her complicity in its guilt by this unknown woman, with whom she seems to have desired to hold converse. Of course, silence might be imposed upon such a woman by various means, but the danger of her knowledge leaking out was very serious, and the chance of her talking on the subject was greatly increased by her having been brought specially into the royal presence. Again, when the inquiry as to the murder of the king was made three years after in parliament, in 4 Edward III., this woman's evidence (supposing her to be still alive) would have been sought to procure the condemnation of the murderers, but there is no trace of it nor any reference whatever to the manner of the murder, so far as I can discover. It is merely said that Thomas Gurney and William de Ocle falsely and traitorously murdered him, and the only evidence that we have of the horrible tale is the gossip of the chronicler, told by him only as gossip, and the amplification of that gossip by Thomas de la More written twenty years after. Thomas de la More's tale smacks strongly of romance. The story that the keepers tried to shave the king with ditch water, and the small joke that the king cried out that he would have hot water whether they liked it or not, and then began to weep profusely, seem too ridiculous. It reminds one much of the narratives of the miracles of saints, and numerous similar tales may be found in the Polychronicon. It would be interesting to discover whether there was such a person as William Bischop, on whose testi- mony this tale is given, but whether there was such a person or not, unless the spiritualists will produce his ghost, I for one decline to believe it. Again, De la More’s description of the message sent to Gurney and Maltravers in the ambiguous phrase "Edwardum occidere nolite timere bonum est2," and the suggestion of what may be called a slip in punctuation whereby the king’s keepers interpreted it into an order to kill him is another specimen of that species of medieval witticisin with which old chronicles and tales abound, and cannot I think be taken as serious history by anyone; nor is it likely that anyone would have dared to write on such a subject, even in enigmas. Again, De la More’s tale that the king was shut up in a chamber full of feetid smells with a view to cause his death smacks strongly of the romancer. De la More moreover differs in two particulars from Murimuth’s tale, for he says that the king was smothered with great bolsters and heavy weights, and murdered by the insertion of a red hot plumbing iron through a tube passed into the anus, whereas Murimuth states that dictum fuit vulgariter that he was placed under a heavy door and killed with a heated spit, veru.
Note 1. participant in the crime.
Note 2. The phrase "Edwardum occidere nolite timere bonum est" is a famous Latin sentence, reportedly sent as an ambiguous royal command during the imprisonment of Edward II of England. The ambiguity lies in the lack of punctuation, leading to two possible meanings depending on how the sentence is punctuated:
"Edwardum occidere, nolite timere: bonum est." i.e. "Do not fear to kill Edward; it is a good thing."
"Edwardum occidere nolite, timere bonum est." i.e. "Do not kill Edward; it is good to fear [doing so]."
The inflated and pompous style of De la More does not add greatly to the credibility of his narrative. Whether he took the tale from the vulgariter dictum or how this vulgariter dictum came to be spread it is impossible to tell, but it is worthy of remark that one of the serjeants-at-arms who attended the king’s body a month after his death was Bertrand de la More. I cannot discover that there is any connection between this person and William de la More. All that I can find about him is that in 20 Edward III. before the king’s deposition, a pension of ten marks out of the fee-farm of the city of London was granted to him for good service. He may have heard the vulgariter dictum and may have told it ¢ with advantages "’ to Thomas de la More assuming that they were connected. That the king was murdered in some way hardly I think admits a doubt. The fact of his body remaining for a month in the hands of Berkeley and Maltravers in the care of only a single serjeant-at-arms (Beaukaire), during which period it was secretly embalmed, and embalmed by a woman and not by the king’s physicians, shows almost conclusively that there was good reason to conceal a crime, but that this crime was committed in the horrible manner which rumour has reported is I think scarcely credible. The art of poisoning, and secretly poisoning, was we may be assured as well understood at this period in England as in Italy, and the chance of detection in the then condition of medical knowledge was infinitesimal. We are told that many knights and burgesses of Gloucester and Bristol were called to view the body, but we are not told that the face of the corpse showed signs of the horrible and violent death which is assigned to it. On the contrary, historians have said that the face was peaceful in its expression. The object of the murderers was secrecy, and their desire was to produce every appearance of natural death. It is, I think, inconceivable that they would have had recourse to a form of torture which must have left unmistakeable marks of agony on the face of the deceased when their end might well have been attained by the administra- tion of a simple narcotic. That Murimuth was right in saying that the rumour of the cause of death was spread gains in credence from the discovery of the before-mentioned account, but that it was anything but a rumour is, I think, not proven. If De la More's narrative be rejected, and I think after what I have said its credibility is rudely shaken, we have only Murimuth and his imitators to fall back upon, and he goes no further than that vulgariter dictum fuit.
We have no distinct evidence in these accounts that the knights and burgesses came to view the body, nor as to when they did so. It is clear, however, that it is meant that this inspection took place at Berkeley, but we have, unluckily, no particulars of Berkeley and Maltravers’ account. In Glaunvill’s account he charges for four great pieces of oak fit to be sawn into bars to resist the pressure of the crowding people, with the wages of the carpenters sawing them ; but this seems to refer to something taking place at Gloucester, although it is not so actually stated.
There is one other fact in this mysterious case that must not be forgotten, viz. that Glaunvill’s account was not passed in the Exchequer until 8 Edward III, seven years after the death of the king, and four years after the condemnation of his murderers. This circumstance is worthy of remark, but too much must not be made of it, as innumerable instances of accounts not passed for many years after they had been closed can be shown on the Exchequer rolls.
There is a legend that queen Isabella was buried at the Grey Friars, London, with th2 heart of her murdered husband on her breast. If this be true, it offers another solution of the visit of the woman to the queen, but hardly accounts for the king’s order to send her.
The account of Thomas de Useflet, the supervisor of the great wardrobe for the year 1 Edward III. shows us very fully that the funeral of king Edward the Second was conducted with great pomp. There are charges for quantities of gold leaf for decorating with leopards the harness, four standards, and twenty pennants for the king’s funeral. More gold leaf for decorating the coverings of the horses. Eight hundred gold leaves was used for the covering lying upon the body of the king at Gloucester. There are charges for robes of knights, and tunics. Also for four great lions made by the hands of John de Eastwick, painter, of the best gilt, with mantles upon them of the arms of the king of England, to be carried on four sides of the hearse, together with the making of four images of the Evangelists standing upon the hearse. Also for the making of eight angels censing with gold censers, and with two great lions rampant, otherwise called volant, nobiliter deaurat., standing outside the hearse. There are large charges for the carriage of necessaries from London to Gloucester.
A careful perusal of the account shows the elaborate nature of the funeral, Sir John Darcy, knight, was appointed to provide and supervise the things necessary for the obsequies, and was paid his wages at 13s. 4d. a-day from 22nd November to 21st December. The hearse appears to have been hired at London from Andrew, candelarius, but another seems to have been made between 24th November and 11th December.
Forty shillings was paid for carving a wooden image in the likeness of the deceased king, and a copper gilt crown for the same cost 7s. 3d. The sewing of the vestments in which the king was buried, together with a German coverchief, are charged for, but the account is decayed and I cannot read the amount. The account has been marked with gall, and has probably been referred to by some previous inquirers. It is marked as enrolled, but I have not discovered the enrolment.
I regret that I have not the leisure to work out the records relating to this period more carefully. Some future labourer may I hope be instigated by this attempt to complete the work. I cannot claim to have elucidated this difficult question to a very great extent, but I have appended to this paper copies of those accounts that remain on record as a guide to future students. I devoutly hope that further research and criticism may at last absolutely demonstrate that this awful tale of barbarous murder is only a "vulgariter dictum."
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 62 1910
The Discovery of Prehistoric Pits at Peterborough, by G. Wyman Abbott, Esq.; and the Development of Neolithic Pottery, by Reginald A. Smith, Esq., B.A, F.S.A.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 64 1913
Excavations at Caerwent, Monmouthshire, on the Site of the Romano-British City of Venta Silurum, in the years 1911 and 1912. By Alfred E. Hudd, Esq. F.S.A. Read 29th May, 1913.
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 65 1914
Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Volume 84 1935
The Avebury Excavations, 1908-1922. By H. St. George Gray (age 62), Esq., F.S.A. Read 15th November 1934.
