This is a translation of the 'Memoires of Jacques du Clercq', published in 1823 in two volumes, edited by Frederic, Baron de Reissenberg. In his introduction Reissenberg writes: 'Jacques du Clercq tells us that he was born in 1424, and that he was a licentiate in law and a counsellor to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the castellany of Douai, Lille, and Orchies. It appears that he established his residence at Arras. In 1446, he married the daughter of Baldwin de la Lacherie, a gentleman who lived in Lille. We read in the fifth book of his Memoirs that his father, also named Jacques du Clercq, had married a lady of the Le Camelin family, from Compiègne. His ancestors, always attached to the counts of Flanders, had constantly served them, whether in their councils or in their armies.' The Memoires cover a period of nineteen years beginning in in 1448, ending in in 1467. It appears that the author had intended to extend the Memoirs beyond that date; no doubt illness or death prevented him from carrying out this plan. As Reissenberg writes the 'merit of this work lies in the simplicity of its narrative, in its tone of good faith, and in a certain air of frankness which naturally wins the reader’s confidence.' Du Clercq ranges from events of national and international importance, including events of the Wars of the Roses in England, to simple, everyday local events such as marriages, robberies, murders, trials and deaths, including that of his own father in Book 5; one of his last entries.
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1270-1299 Welsh and Scottish Wars is in 13th Century Events.
On 13th March 1271 Henry "Almain" Cornwall [aged 35] was murdered while attending mass at the Chiesa di San Silvestro, Viterbo by his cousins Simon "Younger" Montfort and Guy Montfort Count Nola [aged 27] in revenge for the deaths of their father Simon and older brother Henry at the Battle of Evesham.
The murder was carried out in the presence of the Cardinals, who were conducting a papal Election, King Philip III of France [aged 25], and King Charles of Sicily [aged 43]. The Montfort brothers were excommunicated.
Henry "Almain" Cornwall was buried in Hailes Abbey [Map].
The deed is mentioned by Dante Alighieri some forty years after in the Divine Comedy who placed Guy de Montfort in the seventh circle of hell.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. The Sultan of Babylon, who had begun to besiege the city of Acre, withdrew with his army to his own lands, his hopes disappointed. Henry, the son of Richard, formerly King of the Romans, passing through Tuscany, while he was present at the celebration of Mass at Viterbo, was slain1 [on 13th March 1271] in the church of Saint Lawrence by Guy de Montfort. Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury, departed this life; and in his place the prior of the monks was elected as his successor.
Soldanus Babyloniæ, qui civitatem Achon cœperat oppugnare, cum exercitu ad propria revertitur, spe fraudatus. Henricus, filius Ricardi quondam regis Romanorum, transiens per Tusciam, cum apud Viterbium missarum solemniis interesset, in ecclesia sancti Laurentii a Guidone de Monte-forti occiditur. Bonifacius, archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, migravit ad Dominum; cujus in successorem prior eligitur monachorum.
Note 1. On 13th March 1271 Henry "Almain" Cornwall was murdered while attending mass at the Chiesa di San Silvestro, Viterbo by his cousins Simon "Younger" Montfort and Guy Montfort Count Nola in revenge for the deaths of their father Simon and older brother Henry at the Battle of Evesham. The murder was carried out in the presence of Cardinals, who were conducting a papal Election, King Philip III of France, and King Charles of Sicily. The Montfort brothers were excommunicated. The deed is mentioned by Dante Alighieri some forty years after in the Divine Comedy who placed Guy de Montfort in the seventh circle of hell: 'Then I turned me to the Poet, and he said, "Let him now be first, and I second." A little further on the Centaur stopped above some folk who far as the throat were seen to issue from that boiling stream. He showed to us at one side a solitary shade, and said, "He cleft, in the bosom of God, the heart that still is honoured on the Thames". Then I saw folk, who out of the stream held their head, and even all their chest; and of these I recognized many. Thus ever more and more shallow became that blood, until it cooked only the feet: and here was our passage of the foss.' 'the heart that still is honoured on the Thames' is described by Villani in his New Chronicle: 'and then he [King Charles] came into England, and set the heart of his said brother [Henry] in a golden cup upon a pillar at the head of London Bridge over the river Thames, to keep the English in mind of the outrage sustained'.
New Chronicle by Villani Chapter 39. 13th March 1271. And now we return to our chief subject — how was slain Count Henry, earl of Cornwall [aged 35], brother [cousin] of King Edward, in revenge for this, as we said before. The court was greatly disturbed, giving much blame therefor to King Charles, who ought not to have suffered this if he knew thereof, and if he did not know it he ought not to have let it go unavenged. But the said Count Guy [aged 27], being provided with a company of men-at-arms on horse and on foot, was not content only with having done the said murder; forasmuch as a cavalier asked him what he had done, and he replied, "J'ai fait ma vangeance," [I took my revenge] and that cavalier said, "Comment? Votre père fut trainé;" [How? Your father was dragged] and immediately he returned to the church, and took Henry by the hair, and dead as he was, he dragged him vilely without the church; and when he had done the said sacrilege and homicide, he departed from Viterbo, and came safe and sound into Maremma to the lands of Count Rosso, his father-in-law. By reason of the death of the said Henry, Edward, his brother, very wrathful and indignant against King Charles, departed from Viterbo, and came with his followers through Tuscany, and abode in Florence, and knighted many citizens, giving them horses and all knightly accoutrements very nobly, and then he came into England, and set the heart of his said brother in a golden cup upon a pillar at the head of London Bridge over the river Thames, to keep the English in mind of the outrage sustained. For the which thing, Edward, after he became king, was never friendly towards King Charles, nor to his folk. After like manner, Philip, king of France, departed with his folk, and came and dwelt many days in Florence; and when he was come into France, he buried the body of the good King Louis, his father with great honour, and had himself crowned with great solemnity at Rheims.
Divine Comedy Canto 12. Then I turned me to the Poet, and he said, "Let him now be first, and I second." A little further on the Centaur stopped above some folk who far as the throat were seen to issue from that boiling stream. He showed to us at one side a solitary shade, and said, "He cleft, in the bosom of God, the heart that still is honoured on the Thames1." Then I saw folk, who out of the stream held their head, and even all their chest; and of these I recognized many. Thus ever more and more shallow became that blood, until it cooked only the feet: and here was our passage of the foss.
Note 1. In 1271, Prince Henry, son of Richard of Cornwall, was stabbed during the mass, in a church at Viterbo, by Guy of Montfort, to avenge the death of his father, Simon, Earl of Leicester, in 1261. The heart of the young Prince was placed in a golden cup, as Villani (vii. 39) reports, on a column, at the head of a bridge in London.
In 1272 Bishop Thomas Cantilupe [aged 54] attended the Second Council of Lyons.
On 19th August 1274 King Edward I of England [aged 35] was crowned I King of England at Westminster Abbey [Map]. Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England [aged 33] was crowned Queen Consort England.
King Alexander III of Scotland [aged 32] and Margaret Queen of Scotland [aged 33] attended.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. In the year of our Lord 1274, on the fourth day before the Nones of August [2nd August], Edward, son of King Henry, arrived in England; and on the 14th day before the Kalends of September [19th August], on the feast of Saint Magnus the martyr, he was elevated and crowned as King of England, in the second year of his reign following the death of his father. He was anointed king, and his wife Eleanor was anointed queen, by Brother Robert of Kilwardby, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminster in London, amid the rejoicing and acclamations of the crowd, who cried, "Long live the king!" He was of handsome appearance, tall and of elegant form, for from the shoulders upward he stood out among common men, and he was still of youthful age, not yet having completed his thirty-sixth year. In the early days of his reign, desiring to establish just laws and to fulfil what was lacking, being a man of justice, great counsel, and sound judgment, he summoned his nobles and, in the third year of his reign, in the year of our Lord 1275, by their common counsel, issued statutes at London, known as the First Statutes of Westminster, comprising forty-seven chapters.
Anno Domini MCCLXXIV quarto nonas Augusti applicuit in Angliam Edwardus, filius regis Edward Henrici, et XIV kalendas Septembris, die scilicet beati Magni martyris, magnificatus est, et in regem Angliæ coronatus, secundo anno regni sui post obitum patris; ipsumque inunxit in regem et Alienoram conjugem suam in reginam frater Robertus de Kiluerby archiepiscopus Cantuariensis apud Westmonasterium Londoniis, congaudentibus turbis et conclamantibus, Vivat rex! Erat enim aspectu pulcher, magnæ staturæ et elegantis formæ, ab humeris enim et supra in populo communi eminebat, et juvenilis ætatis, nondum enim compleverat annum ætatis suæ XXXVI. Hic in primordiis novitatis suæ leges justas condere et insufficientes adimplere cupiens, utpote justus, magni consilii, et discreti animi, convocatis magnatibus suis, anno regni sui tertio, de communi A. D. 1275. consilio, statuta condidit Londoniis quæ dicuntur Statuta Westmonasterii prima, et continent capitula XLVII.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. After King Edward had raised the siege, and had set the affairs of Gascony in order for the time being, he hastened to England. There he was received by the clergy and people with the greatest joy and honour, and on the Sunday [19th August 1274] within the octave of the Assumption of the glorious Virgin, in the church of Westminster, together with Eleanor his consort, he was anointed king by his brother Robert, archbishop of Canterbury, and was solemnly crowned1. At the solemnity of the coronation were present the queen mother, the king of Scotland, Alexander, and the duke of Brittany, both brothers-in-law of the king, together with a great multitude of prelates, earls, barons, and other nobles. At that time the king had completed two months of his thirty-sixth year of age, and on the day after his coronation, having received homage from the king of Scotland, he dismissed him to his own lands with great honour. Walter of Merton, formerly chancellor to Henry, was in this year made bishop of Rochester.
Edwardus rex postquam obsidionem dimiserat, ordinatis pro articulo temporis rebus Vasconiæ, in Angliam properavit; ubi a clero et populo cum gaudio receptus maximo et honore, Dominica infra octavas Assumptionis Virginis gloriosæ in ecclesia Westmonasteriensi, una cum Alienora consorte sua, a fratre suo Roberto Cantuariensi archiepiscopo inungitur in regem, et solemniter coronatur. Coronationis solemnitati interfuerunt regina mater, Alexander Scotorum rex, duxque Britanniæ, ambo regis sororii, cum prælatorum, comitum et baronum, aliorumque nobilium multitudine copiosa. Tricesimi sexti tunc ætatis suæ anni rex impleverat duos menses, qui, in crastino coronationis suæ recepto a rege Scotorum homagio, ipsum dimisit ad propria plurimum honoratum. Walterus de Mertona, quondam Henrici cancellarius, hoc anno episcopus fit Roffensis.
Note 1. Chronicle of Henry Knighton: 'On the day of his coronation, while King Edward was seated at table at the hour of dinner, there came to honour him, in a marvellous spectacle, a company of one hundred knights on fine warhorses. When they had dismounted, they let their horses go wherever they pleased, and whoever could catch them might keep them without opposition, at his will. Then there came Edmund, brother of King Edward, the earl of Cornwall, the earl of Gloucester, the earl of Pembroke, and the earl Warenne, and each of them had in his company one hundred well-appointed knights of noble bearing, clad in their lord’s arms. When they had dismounted from their palfreys, they likewise let them go to be taken by whomever wished, without any claim being made. And the conduit in Cheapside ran with white and red wine like a rain of water, and those who wished drank freely at their pleasure.'
Chronicle of Henry Knighton. On the day [19th August 1274] of his coronation, while King Edward was seated at table at the hour of dinner, there came to honour him, in a marvellous spectacle, a company of one hundred knights on fine warhorses. When they had dismounted, they let their horses go wherever they pleased, and whoever could catch them might keep them without opposition, at his will. Then there came Edmund, brother of King Edward, the earl of Cornwall, the earl of Gloucester, the earl of Pembroke, and the earl Warenne, and each of them had in his company one hundred well-appointed knights of noble bearing, clad in their lord’s arms. When they had dismounted from their palfreys, they likewise let them go to be taken by whomever wished, without any claim being made. And the conduit in Cheapside ran with white and red wine like a rain of water, and those who wished drank freely at their pleasure. Afterwards the king applied himself diligently to amend and reform the governance of the realm to the praise of God and the honour of His Church, and to correct the grievances of his people as far as he was able according to reason. And he made a statute at London which is called the Statute of Westminster.
Rex Edwardus in die coronationis suæ dum sederet ad mensam hora prandii venit honorare eum mirabili visu cum centum militibus in bonis dextrariis, et cum ab equis se dedissent, dimiserunt equos ire quo vellent, et quicunque capere potuit absque contradictione possedit ad voluntatem. Deinde venit Edmundus frater regis Edwardi, comes Cornubiæ et comes Gloucestriæ, comes de Pembrok, comes Warennæ, et quilibet eorum habuit in sua comitiva centum bene præelatos milites eleganti forma in sui domini ermis ; et cum descendissent de palefridis suis dimiserunt eos quibuscumque capere volentibus absque reclamatione qualicunque. Et aquæductus in Chepe currebat de vino albo et rubro sicut pluvia aquarum, et bibebant volentes ad placitum. Deinde fecit rex diligentiam suam emendare et reformare orratæa regni ad laudem dei et honorem ecclesiæ ejus, et gravamina communis populi sui emendare pro suo posse secundum rationem. Et fecit statutum apud Londonias quod vocatur statutum Westmonasterii.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. 1275. Gaston of Béarn, coming into England, was brought into the king’s presence with a rope about his neck. The king, receiving him into his mercy, spared him death and committed him to custody in the castle of Winchester for some years. At length, being released by the king’s grace and sent back to his own lands, he remained thereafter always grateful and faithful to the king of England. The king summoned the prince of Wales, who, though invited, had refused to attend his coronation, to come and perform the homage due to him. The prince, pretending that he did not dare to enter England because certain great men were plotting against him, demanded for his security the king’s son, the earl of Gloucester, and Robert Burnell, the king’s chancellor, as hostages. The king, taking this ill, and concealing his displeasure for the time, summoned a parliament at London. In this, among many other measures established for the benefit of the realm with the assent of the prelates, earls, and barons, it was decreed that no possessions of lands or revenues should henceforth be transferred into mortmain without the king’s special licence. The statutes issued in this parliament are called the First Statute of Westminster. After the parliament the king, so that access to him might be more readily open to the prince, advanced as far as Chester, which lies on the border of Wales, and again sent messengers demanding homage from him. When the prince refused to comply with the king’s commands, the king assembled an army, intending to make war upon the prince, who denied him the homage due for his fief.
1275. Gaston de Bierna, in Angliam veniens, cum reste circa collum ad regis præsentiam est deductus; quem ad suam rex misericordiam recipiens, morte condonata, in castro Wintoniæ per annos aliquot custodiæ mancipavit; qui tandem per regis gratiam liber ad propria dimissus, regi Angliæ semper in posterum gratus exstitit et fidelis. Rex principem Walliæ, qui coronationi suæ licet invitatus noluit interesse, vocari fecit pro homagio sibi debito faciendo; qui fingens se non ausum Angliam intrare, quibusdam majoribus sibi insidiantibus, pro securitate sua filium regis et Gilbertum Gloverniæ comitem, ac Robertum Burnelli regis cancellarium, obsides postulavit. Quod rex indigne ferens, dissimulato negotio, Londonias parliamentum convocat; in quo inter alia multa, quæ ad utilitatem regni de assensu prælatorum, comitum, et baronum, statuta sunt, inhibitum est ne de cetero possessiones terrarum seu redituum, sine speciali regis licentia, ad manum mortuam devolvantur. Vocantur autem statuta in hoc parliamento edita 'Statuta Westmonasterii prima'. Post parliamentum rex, ut principi liberior ad se pateret accessus, Cestriam usque, quæ in confinio Walliæ sita est, progreditur, missisque iteram nuntiis homagium ab eo exegit: quo regis mandatis parere detrectante, rex exercitum convocat, disponens denegantem sibi homagium de suo feodo principem expugnare.
In 1277 King Edward I of England [aged 37] and Llywelyn "Last" Aberffraw [aged 44] signed the Treaty of Aberconwy by which Llywelyn "Last" Aberffraw agreed that Welsh self-rule would end with the death of Llywelyn "Last" Aberffraw. As part of the Treaty Owain "The Red" Aberffraw [aged 45] was released from Dolbadarn Castle [Map].
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. The Welsh of the western regions, coming to the king of England’s peace, surrendered to Payn, the king’s knight and captain in those parts, the castle of Striguil [Chepstow] with the adjoining territory. The prince of Wales also, seeing that he could not withstand the king of England, whose power was daily increasing, sought and obtained peace under these terms. First, that all prisoners whom he had hitherto held in bonds on account of the king of England should be released simply and without any claim. Item, that for obtaining the king’s peace and goodwill he should pay fifty thousand pounds sterling, though the payment of this was to remain at the king’s will and grace. Item, that the land of the four cantreds, without any contradiction, should remain for ever to the king of England and his heirs, together with all lands conquered by the king and his men, except the island of Anglesey. For the island of Anglesey was granted to the prince, on condition that he should pay for it one thousand marks yearly, the payment to begin at the feast of Saint Michael next ensuing, and that for entry he should pay five thousand marks. And if the prince should die without an heir of his body, that island should revert to the possession of the king of England.
Gallenses occidentales, ad pacem regis Angliæ venientes, Pagano militiæ regis in partibus illis capitaneo, castrum de Stredewi cum adjacente patria reddiderunt. Princeps etiam Walliæ, videns se regi Angliæ cotidie invalescenti non posse resistere, pacem petiit et obtinuit sub hac forma: videlicet quod omnes captivi, quos hactenus ratione regis Angliæ detinuit in vinculis, simpliciter et sine omni calumnia liberarentur. Item pro pace et benevolentia regis habenda daret quinquaginta millia librarum sterlingorum, quorum tamen solutio in voluntate et gratia regis foret. Item quod terra quatuor cantredorum sine omni contradictione regi Angliæ et suis heredibus, cum omnibus terris conquisitis per regem hominesque regios, excepta insula Angleseia, in perpetuum remaneret. Insula enim Angleseia concessa est principi, ita quod solvat pro ea singulis annis mille marcas, quarum solutio incipienda erat in festo sancti Michaelis proximo tunc instantis: pro ingressu vero quinque millia marcaram daret. Et si princeps sine herede de suo corpore morcretur, insula illa in regis Angliæ possessionem rediret. Item quod princeps veniret in Natali Domini in Angliam ad regem, pro homagio faciendo.
On 16th March 1278 William Jülich IV Count Jülich [aged 68] and his sons William Jülich [aged 38] and [natural] Roland were killed. He and his two sons had entered the town of Aachen to collect taxes for King Rudolph I of Germany [aged 59]. There was a riot and William and his sons were killed. The city of Aachen was later ordered to pay a high compensation to William's widow Richardis [aged 63] as compensation for his murder.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
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French Chronicle of London. In the same year, upon the Octaves of Saint Martin [11th November 1238] which was a Friday, just before tierce1, all the Jews of England were seized by reason of the coin, which was vilely clipped and falsified, and, upon the Feast of Saint Lucy [13th December 1238] after, all the goldsmiths of London, and all those of the Exchange, and many of the good folks in town were seized, by reason of the purchase of bullion and the exchange of large coin for small2, for which they had been indicted by the Wards. And on the Monday next after the Tiffany3, the Justiciars sat at the Guildhall for delivery thereon, namely, Sir Stephen de Pevencestre, Sir Walter de Helyon, and Sir John de Cobham, and such as they might think proper to associate with them; and by reason of such doings, three Christians and 293 Jews were drawn and hanged, for clipping the coin.
Note 1. A canonical division of the day, beginning at 9 in the morning, and extending to Sext or mid-day.
Note 2. And of inferior value.
Note 3. A corruption of 'Theophaneia,' or Epiphany, 6th January.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. In the year of our Lord 1278, within the fortnight after the feast of Saint John the Baptist (around 8th July), the king held his parliament at Gloucester, and he issued the statutes known as the Statutes of Gloucester,1 containing fifteen chapters. And in the month of August, he went to Chester, where he issued the statute called Quo Warranto, and began an inquiry into landholding rights. A separate investigation was made concerning clipped coinage by the Jews, and on the 18th of November 1278, they were arrested throughout all of England. When the fraud was discovered, many of them were hanged.
Anno Domini MCCLXXVIII in quindena Sancti Johannis Baptistæ tenuit rex parliamentum suum apud Gloucestriam, fecitque statuta quæ dicuntur Statuta Gloucestriæ, continentia XV capitula; et in mense Augusti fecit cester, ibidem rex statutum Quo Warranto; et tractatum Warranto. est de moneta retonsa per Judæos, et capti sunt per totam Angliam XIV kalendas Decembris, et detecta maleficorum fraude plures eorum suspensi erant;
Note 1. This statute was given at Gloucester on the 2nd of August. "Done a Gloucester le demeine procheine apres la feste sein Pere a la goule de Aust" i.e. "Done at Gloucester the Sunday next after the feast of Saint Peter in Chains, at the beginning of August". Statutes of the Realm, 1.45-50. The old printed copies of the Statutes read "le quart jour de October" i.e. "the fourth day of October".
Annals of Dunstable. [18th November 1278] In the same year, in the month of November, all the Jews throughout England were arrested on one and the same day, and imprisoned in London, because of the clipping of the king's coin. And many Christians were accused by the Jews of being in agreement with them, especially among the more prominent men of London. Of the Jews of both sexes, two hundred and twenty were hanged at London for the aforesaid offense; and in the other cities of England, a very great number. For the ransom of the Christians the king received an immeasurable sum of money; yet some of the Christians were nevertheless handed over to execution by hanging.
Eodem anno, mense Novembri, capti sunt omnes Judæi per Angliam uno die, et Londoniæ inprisonati, pro retonsura monetæ regis. Et indicati sunt per Judæos Christiani plurimi de consensu; et præcipue de nobilioribus Londoniæ. De Judæis utriusque sexus prædicta occasione sunt suspensi Londoniæ ducenti et quater viginti. In aliis civitatibus Angliæ maxima multitudo. Pro redemptione Christianorum habuit rex pecuniam infinitam; aliqui tamen ex Christianis suspendio tradebantur.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. In this year the Jews, for the clipping of the coinage, were hanged in great numbers throughout England1. The king held a parliament at Gloucester in the octave of Saint John the Baptist [1st July], in which statutes were issued that are called the Statutes of Gloucester. Soon afterwards, crossing into France, he obtained the restoration of certain lands, though not of all those which had been promised to his father at the time of the surrender of Normandy. In this year the queen of Castile, mother of the queen of England, died, to whom the county of Ponthieu had come by hereditary right after the death of her mother. In this year, before the king crossed into France, the king of Scotland, Alexander, coming into England, consulted the king concerning important affairs of his realm. Some think that he then performed his homage, though others more truly assert that this was done on the day after the coronation of the king of England. He obtained, however, letters from the king testifying that the assistance he had given in the war in Wales had not been rendered as a matter of service. In this year Robert Burnell, bishop of Bath, was elected archbishop of Canterbury, but the pope, annulling the election, conferred that dignity upon Brother John of Pecham, a lector of the papal court.
Hoc anno Judæi pro tonsura monetæ in magna multitudine ubique per Angliam suspenduntur. Rex parliamentum tenuit Gloverniæ in octava S. Joannis Baptistæ, in quo edita sunt statuta, quæ 'de Glovernia' appellantur. Cito vero post in Gallias transiens, restitutionem aliquarum terrarum obtinuit, non tamen omnium quæ in venditione Normanniæ promissæ fuerant patri suo. Obiit hoc anno regina Castellæ, mater reginæ Angliæ, ad quam jure hereditario post mortem matris devolutus est Pontivii comitatus. Hoc anno, antequam rex transiret in Gallias, rex Scotorum Alexander in Angliam veniens, regem consuluit de negotiis arduis terræ suæ. Putant quidam eum tunc suum fecisse homagium, quod alii verius in crastino coronationis regis Angliæ asserunt esse factum. Impetravit autem a rege litteras, testificantes auxilium in guerra Walliæ præstitum, non nomine servitii factum esse. Hoc anno Robertus Burnel, episcopus Bathoniensis, in Cantuariensem archiepiscopum est electus; sed papa, electione cassata, lectori curiæ fratri Joanni de Pecham eamdem contulit dignitatem.
Note 1. Annals of Dunstable: 'In the same year, in the month of November, all the Jews throughout England were arrested on one and the same day, and imprisoned in London, because of the clipping of the king's coin. And many Christians were accused by the Jews of being in agreement with them, especially among the more prominent men of London. Of the Jews of both sexes, two hundred and twenty were hanged at London for the aforesaid offense; and in the other cities of England, a very great number. For the ransom of the Christians the king received an immeasurable sum of money; yet some of the Christians were nevertheless handed over to execution by hanging.'
On 9th February 1281 King John Balliol I of Scotland [aged 32] and Isabella Warenne were married. She the daughter of John Warenne 6th Earl of Surrey [aged 50] and Alice Lusignan Countess of Surrey. They were fourth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.
On 17th June 1282 the army of Gilbert "Red Earl" Clare 7th Earl Gloucester 6th Earl Hertford [aged 38] were ambushed by the Welsh at Llandeilo.
William "The Younger" Valence was killed.
Much of Gilbert Clare's army of 1600 men was destroyed.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. Gilbert, earl of Gloucester, making great raids with his force against the Welsh, engaged them near Llandeilo in open battle [on 17th June 1282], and fought a hard contest with them. In this, many on the Welsh side were slain, but he himself lost five knights, among whom was William de Valence the younger, a kinsman of the king of England. After the earl of Gloucester had withdrawn, the prince of Wales entered the lands of Cardigan and Ystrad Tywi, and devastated the territories of Rhys, son of Maredudd, who in this war had supported the king against the prince.
Gilbertus comes Gloverniæ, magnas cum militia sua Wallensium prædas faciens, juxta Lantylawir facta copia apertæ pugnæ, cum eisdem duro prælio dimicavit: in quo maltis de parte Wallensium occisis, ipse quinque milites perdidit; de quorum numero erat Willelmus de Valentiis junior, consanguineus regis Anglorum. Discedente autem comite Gloverniæ, princeps Walliæ terram intrans de Kardigan et Stradewi, devastavit terras Resi, filii Mereduci, qui cum rege contra principem tenuit in hoc bello.
On 6th November 1282 the English forces attempted to cross the Menai Straits to invade Gwynedd without waiting for the arrival of Edward's larger force. The battle was a rout. Roger Clifford [aged 39] drowned. The brothers William Burnell and Philip Burnell were killed.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. Then the king, having gathered a large army, set out for Wales around the feast of Pentecost and forced the Welsh to retreat into the mountains. The sailors from the ports also acted boldly and, placing themselves in great danger, captured the island of Anglesey. They drove out the Welsh and killed some of them. The king said, Now Llywelyn has lost the fairest feather in his whole tail. He ordered a bridge to be built across the Menai Strait toward the entrance to Snowdonia. The bridge was constructed using many ships fastened together, with timbers and planks laid across them so that sixty armed men could cross abreast in a single front. While the king remained at the castle of Aberconwy and had not yet prepared to cross, a group of our men, seven nearly-bannerets with about three hundred armed soldiers, crossed prematurely. They sought to win praise and make a name for themselves. The bridge was not yet fully secured or completed. They crossed during low tide when the water had receded. After they had moved into the foothills of the mountains and had gone some distance from the bridge, the tides and the swelling of the sea came in again. The water became so great that they could not return to the bridge. At that moment, the Welsh emerged from the high mountains and advanced toward them, tracking their movements and path. But our men, stunned and fearing the great number of enemies, chose rather to entrust themselves to the water than to the foe. They entered the strait as they were, heavily burdened and armed, and were almost immediately drowned. Among them was the well-known knight Sir Luke de Tany, who had formerly been seneschal of Gascony. For the king had in his army many men from Gascony and the Basque country, who had come to his aid in splendid fashion, though not all of them would return. Yet the Lord preserved on that day the most valiant knight Sir William Latimer, who was carried through the deep waters on his war horse. This tragic drowning took place on the feast of Saint Leonard, Confessor [6th November 1282].
Deinde rex, congregato exercitu copioso, profectus est in Walliam circa festum Pentecostes, et coarctavit eos ut in montes ascenderent. Marinarii etiam de portubus agentes animose, et periculo se credentes immenso, ceperunt insulam de Anglesay, fugatis Wallensibus et aliquibus interfectis. Et ait rex, Jam Leulinus, inquit, perdidit pulchriorem pennam totius caudæ suæ, fecitque fieri pontem ultra aquam Meneth ad ingressum de Snawdon super naves multas ad invicem conjunctas, compositis lignis et conjunctis tabulis super ipsas naves ita quod in fronte una transire possent LX armati. Dumque esset rex in castro Abreconway nec adhuc transire parasset, ecce quidam ex nostris VII quasi baneretti cum CCC fere armatis, ut laudem acquirerent et nomen curiosum, necdum ponte plene firmato et perfecto, incautius transierunt, et hoc in descensu aquæ et aqua retracta; cumque lustrassent pedes montium, et essent a ponte aliquantisper remoti, superque venissent fluctus marisque inundantia ita quod ad pontem redire non possent præ aqua nimia, egressi sunt Wallenses a montibus excelsis, dirigentes ad eos iter et gressus suos. At nostri attoniti et multitudinem timentes magnam, se potius aquæ quam hosti credere voluerunt; ingressique sunt aquam ita ut erant Strait. onusti et armati, et quasi in puncto submersi sunt inter quos erat ille nominatus miles dominus Lucas Tanay qui senescallus Vasconia dudum extiterat, habuit enim rex in exercitu suo multos Vasconienses et Basclenses qui in ejus auxilium pompose venerant, sed non revertebantur omnes; salvavit tamen Dominus in illa die illum strenuissimum militem dominum Willelmum Latymer, qui in dextrario suo portatus est per medium aquarum multarum. Facta est illa submersio misera die Sancti Leonardi, confessoris.
On 1st June 1283 the Treaty of Rheinfelden was the first treaty to determine the Habsburg order of succession.
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 1st May 1308 Albert Habsburg I Duke Austria [aged 52] was murdered by his nephew John "Parricide" Habsburg [aged 18] who he had deprived of his inheritance when Albert Habsburg I Duke Austria forced John's eleven year old father Rudolf Habsburg II Duke Austria to waive his rights to the Habsburg duchies of Austria and Styria as part of the Treaty of Rheinfelden.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. In the same year, namely on the Sunday within the octave of the Epiphany of the Lord, which that year fell on the ninth of January [1284], Saint William, Archbishop of York, was translated, and reverently placed in a silver and gold reliquary by the venerable father William de Wickwane, then Archbishop of York, along with the other bishops of England who had gathered there for the occasion. The king and queen were present, together with other nobles of the realm, clergy, and a great crowd of people. On that same day, Antony de Bek [aged 39] was consecrated Bishop of Durham in the same place, by Archbishop de Wickwane. Shortly afterward, the king set out for Wales, in order to stabilize and organize that land. While he was at Caernarfon, the queen gave birth to a son, whom they named Edward; this occurred in the year 1284. That same year, Alfonso [aged 10], son of the king, died at Windsor.
Eodem anno, scilicet dominica infra octavas Epiphaniæ Domini, quæ fuit anno illo V idus Januarii, translatus fuit sanctus Willelmus Eborum archiepiscopus, et in capsa argentea et aurea reverenter reconditus, per venerabilem patrem Willelmum Wichewange tunc Eborum archiepiscopum, et cæteros Angliæ episcopos qui ob hoc ibidem convenerant, assistente rege et regina cum cæteris magnatibus terræ et clero et populo. Eodem etiam die consecratus est ibidem et ab eodem de Bek, archiepiscopo Antonius de Bek Dunolmensis episcopus. Et profectus est exinde rex in Walliam ut terram illam et stabiliret et ordinaret; ubi cum esset apud Carnarvan peperit ei regina filium, et vocavit nomen ejus Edwardum, scilicet MCCLXXXIV; et eodem anno obiit Alfonsus, filius Prince Alregis, apud Windesover.
On 25th December 1285 Bishop Antony Bek [aged 40] was enthroned at Durham Cathedral [Map].
On 23rd April 1287 Guy Montfort Count Nola [aged 43] was captured during the Battle of the Counts.
On 14th December 1287 a great storm caused a significant number of deaths on both sides of the English Channel. In the Low Countries around 50,000 people are believed to have died. In England hundreds were killed. The port of New Romney was so changed as to be replaced by Rye [Map] through which the course of the River Rother now ran. The port of Dunwich, Suffolk never recovered from the storm and thereafter declined.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. 1289. Charles, Prince of Achaea, coming to Rome, is absolved by Pope Nicholas from the oath made to the King of Aragon, and is crowned King of Sicily. Between James, occupier of Sicily, and the Count of Artois, a truce of two years is established. The King of England, having returned from Gascony, is solemnly received in London about the feast of the Assumption of the glorious Virgin [15th August 1289], who in the same year, having expelled all the Jews from England, after expenses had been granted for their passage into France, confiscated their remaining goods. Moreover, having heard the complaints of those who wished to complain of the king’s ministers, the king, administering justice to all, removed almost all the justices, having been found guilty of corruption, from their office, punishing them severely according to their deserts. In this year the king held a parliament in London, in which statutes were issued which are called the 'Third Statute of Westminster', in which also, for the expulsion of the Jews, there was granted to the king by the people a fifteenth part of their goods.
1289. CAROLUS, princeps Achaiæ, Romam veniens, per papam Nicolaum a juramento regi Aragonum præstito absolvitur, et in regem Siciliæ coronatur. Inter Jacobum occupatorem Siciliæ et comitem Atrebatensem firmantur induciæ biennales. Rex Angliæ, de Vasconia reversus, Londoniis solemniter recipitur circa festum Assumptionis Virginis gloriosæ; qui Judæos omnes eodem anno expellens de Anglia, datis expensis in Gallias, bona eorum reliqua confiscavit. Auditis autem querimoniis eorum, qui de regis ministris conqueri volebant, rex omnibus exhibens justitiam, justitiarios fere omnes de falsitate deprehensos a suo officio deposuit, ipsos juxta demerita puniens gravi multa Tenuit hoc anno rex parliamentum Londoniis, in quo edita sunt statuta quæ dicuntur 'Westmonasterii tertia'; in quo etiam pro expulsione Judæorum concessa est regi a populo quinta decima pars bonorum.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. In the year of our Lord 1290, after Easter, the king held his parliament in London, where he issued the Third Statute of Westminster, along with a clarification of the Statute of Quo Warranto. In that same parliament, the magnates complained to the king about the malice and deceitfulness of the Jews, stating that through usury and false documents, they had impoverished many nobles and corrupted the coinage throughout the land. Therefore, by the king and a secret council, it was ordained that on a fixed day, between the first and third hour, all Jews in every city should be seized and then expelled from the kingdom. For all were inflamed with a kind of zeal, believing themselves to be doing a great service to God by removing from the Christian faithful a people rebellious to Christ. And so it was done, for they were all captured on the same day and expelled on a later fixed day. All their immovable goods, including lands, houses, and their contracts and bonds, were confiscated. The king, however, allowed them to take with them their movable goods, including silver and gold, which displeased many. Among these Jews were some of the wealthiest and most noble in London, who possessed immense treasures. They hired a great and lofty ship from one of the ports, loaded it with their belongings, and set sail. As they came down the Thames toward the sea, the shipmaster, driven by his own thoughts and feeling sorrowful that such riches might leave the land, anchored the ship in the middle of the waters. When the tide went out, the ship rested upon dry ground. The shipmaster said to the Jews, "My lords, you are now burdened by the waters, and greater troubles are still to come. It would be good for you to come with me and walk a little on the dry sand, for the sea will not return soon." They gladly agreed, left the ship, and followed him. He led them farther and farther away from the vessel until he knew the tide was about to return. As the sea waters rose, he ran back, climbed aboard the ship using a rope, and left them behind. The Jews, realizing their danger, cried out to him to save them, but he replied, "Cry not to me, but to your prophet Moses. He led your fathers through the Red Sea, and he is able to deliver you now if he so wishes." They cried out to God and to Moses, but they were not heard, and the sea swallowed them, and they perished in the waves. The shipmaster then returned to the king, told him the entire story, and was rewarded with favour and a gift.1 For this expulsion of the Jews,2 the common people gave the king fifteen pence each, and the entire clergy contributed one-tenth of their income.
Anno Domini MCCXC tenuit rex parliamentum suum Londoniis post Pascha, ubi fecit Statuta Westmonasterii tertia, et explanationem super statutum Quo Warranto: in quo quidem parliamento conquesti sunt magnates regi de malitia. Judæorum et eorum perfidia, eo quod per usuras varias et falsa scripta multos magnatum depauperaverant, et monetam corruperant in omni terra; ordinatumque est per regem et secretum from Engconsilium, quod, certo die infra horam primam et tertiam, omnes Judæi in singulis civitatibus caperentur et deinde expellerentur a terra; etenim omnes par zelus accenderat, arbitrantes se grande obsequium præstare Deo si gentem Christo rebellem a Christi fidelibus abraderent: factumque est ita, quoniam omnes in una die Edward I capti sunt et infra alium diem certum expulsi. Confiscataque sunt omnia bona eorum immobilia their possescum starris et obligationibus suis; reliqua vero cated. mobilia cum argento et auro eos asportare permisit rex, quod tamen displicuit multis; inter quos quidam Judæi Londonienses nobiliores et ditiores totius civitatis, cum immensos haberent thesauros conduxerunt navem de portubus magnam et excelsam, qua onerata ascenderunt eam et abierunt; cumque essent in descensu Themisia juxta mare gratis anchoravit eam magister navis in mediis fluctibus, cogitavit enim intra se et condoluit ne tantis forte divitiis spoliaretur terra. Decrescentibus tandem aquis remansit ipsa navis super aridam et ait Judæis: Domini mei, jam gravati estis in aquis, et superventura sunt multo majora gravamina; bonum est quod mecum ascendatis spatiaturi in arida super arenam maris, non enim venient aquæ magno spatio. Adquieverunt ergo ei gaudentes et exierunt; ipse vero adduxit eos et a navi longius attraxit, quousque cognosceret mare iterum redundare debere: advenientibus tandem fluctibus præcucurrit ipse nauta et navem cum chorda ascendit; Judæi vero, lento pede sequentes, clamaverunt ad eum ut salvi fierent; at ille: Non, inquit, ad me sed ad prophetam vestrum Moysen clamate fortiter; ipse enim eduxit patres vestros per medium Maris Rubri, et potens est vos eripere de fluctibus istis si velit. Clamaverunt ergo ad Dominum et Moysen, nec exauditi sunt, quoniam absorbuit eos mare, et submersi sunt in mediis fluctibus; ipse vero nauta reversus ad regem narravit ei omnia, et gratiam promeruit et præmium. Pro hac autem expulsione Judæorum a terra dedit communis populus regi XV denarium, et totus clerus unam decimam.
Note 1. Sir Edward Coke, from a MS. record of the Judges Itinerant in Kent, informs us that the master and his accomplices were indicted, convicted of murder, and hanged. This was no doubt the case, as we find in the safe-conduct granted to the Jews, dated on the 27th of July, the King forbade the bailiffs, barons, and mariners of the Cinque Ports, on pain of forfeiture, to permit any injury to be done either to their persons or property.
Note 2. At this time sixteen thousand five hundred and eleven Jews received the king's pass and were banished from England.
On 30th November 1292 King John Balliol I of Scotland [aged 43] was crowned I King Scotland at Scone Abbey [Map].
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. These things having been done and the kingdom settled, and guardians placed in the castles and towns, the king returned to the southern parts, appointing a date for his return on the [1st November 1292] in the following year. On that date, when he returned, he arranged that fifty judges should be chosen from the kingdom of Scotland, men of discretion and learned in the law. To these he added thirty elected men from England, commanding all, in the faith of their sworn oaths, to weigh the claims of the petitioners with God before their eyes, and to bring the matter of the succession to a proper conclusion. These men, withdrawing as they had been instructed, heard the claims and petitions of all who asserted a right or claim in the kingdom of Scotland. When nearly all the petitioners had been heard and completed their cases, the matter came down to John de Balliol and Robert de Bruce, whose claims are summarized briefly as follows: Since no nearer royal bloodline appeared, attention was turned to David, formerly Earl of Huntingdon and brother of William, formerly King of Scotland, who had reigned in Scotland in the time of Henry II. This David had three daughters. The eldest he gave in marriage to John de Balliol, the middle one to the Lord Bruce, and the youngest to the Lord Hastings. From these daughters descended John de Balliol, Robert de Bruce, and John de Hastings, each of whom claimed the succession to the kingdom. But since a kingdom should never be divided and, as some argued, should belong to the nearest of royal blood, Robert de Bruce, although descended from the second daughter, petitioned that he, as the closer in blood by one degree, should be admitted to the succession. However, the appointed judges did not accept this reasoning. They adjudged the succession of the kingdom of Scotland to John de Balliol, as he was descended from the eldest daughter. Our king, approving their decision, restored to John the kingdom of Scotland with all its integrity, reserving for himself the homage and fealty to be rendered in due time. On the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle [30th November 1292], John de Balliol [aged 43] was made King of Scotland in the Scottish manner, which was as follows. At the monastery of Scone [Map], there was placed a very large stone in the church of God beside the high altar, hollowed out and shaped like a round chair, in which future kings were customarily seated in a kind of coronation rite. The placing of a new king in this stone was the hereditary duty of the Earl of Fife, after the king had sworn an oath to rule the holy mother Church and the people subject to him justly, to establish good laws, and to maintain established and newly enacted laws until death. With the new king seated upon the stone, the solemn celebration of the Mass began, and apart from the elevation of the sacred body of the Lord, the king remained seated on the stone. On the feast of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr [26th December 1292], the same King of Scots performed homage1 to our king at Newcastle upon Tyne in the year of our Lord 1292. Our king restored to him all his rights entire and unharmed along with all his castles. And thus he returned to the southern parts.
Hiis itaque gestis et ordinato regno positisque custodibus suis in castris et villis, reversus est ad partes australes rex, statuens eis suæ reversionis terminum in festo Omnium Sanctorum anni sequentis; in quo quidem termino reversus, apordinavit ut de regno Scotia eligerentur L arbitri, viri discreti et legem scientes, quibus electis associavit eis ex Anglia XXX viros electos, præcipiens universis, in fide præstiti sacramenti, ut Deum habentes præ oculis vota petentium ponderarent, et debito fine clauderent negotium successionis prædictum; qui secedentes, ut in mandatis habuerant, omnium, qui in regno Scotia jus vel clamium vendicabant, audiebant vota, et petitiones singulorum, et, absolutis petentibus quasi universis, in fine perventum est ad Johannem de Balliolo et Robertum de Bruys, quorum petitio sic brevibus declaratur. Cum enim sanguis regius proximior non appareret, tandem habitus est recursus ad David quondam comitem Huntingdoniæ et fratrem Willelmi quondam regis Scotiæ, qui temporibus Henrici secundi regnavit in Scotia: hic David, cum tres haberet filias, primogenitam dedit Johanni de Balliolo, mediam domino de Brus, et ultimam domino de Hastinges, ex quarum sanguine prædicti Johannes et Robertus cum Johanne de Hastinges successionem regni vendicabant; verum quia regnum debet nunquam dividi et, ut a quibusdam dicebatur, proximiori regio sanguini debeatur; prædictus Robertus de Bruys, licet de secunda sorore exisset, tamen in eo quod sanguini proximior in uno erat gradu, petiit se, tanquam sanguini proximiorem, ad regni successionem admitti. Prædicti tamen arbitri rationem non admittentes, prædicto Johanni de Balliolo, tanquam e primogenita exeunti, successionem regni Scotia adjudicarunt: rex vero noster, eorum approbando arbitrium, eidem Johanni regnum Scotiæ cum omni integritate restituit, salvo sibi homagio suo et fidelitate pro tempore faciendis. Die vero Sancti Andreæ Apostoli idem Johannes de Balliolo effectus est rex Scotia more Scotorum, qui sequitur. Apud monasterium de Scone positus erat lapis pergrandis in ecclesia Dei juxta majus altare, concavus quidem ets ad modum rotundæ cathedræ confectus, in quo futuri reges loco quasi coronationis ponebantur ex more; et hujusmodi novi regis depositio ad comitem de Fyf jure hæreditario pertinebat, facto tamen juramento quod sanctam matrem ecclesiam Scotland. populumque sibi subjectum juste regendo defenderet, legesque bonas conderet, usitatasque et inventas usque ad mortem continuaret: rege itaque novo in lapide posito missarum solemnia incepta peraguntur, et præterquam in elevatione sacri Dominici corporis semper lapidatus mansit. Die autem beati protomartyris Stephani idem and does rex Scotorum homagium fecit regi nostro apud Novum Castrum super Tynam anno Domini MCCXCII restituitque ei rex noster omnia sua jura integra et illæsa cum omnibus castris suis; et sic reversus est ad partes australes.
Note 1. The oath of fealty is printed in Rymer, Fœdera, 1.782.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. The King of England, coming into Scotland after the feast of Saint John the Baptist [24th June], having received the allegations of those who claimed the kingdom of Scotland concerning their right, caused forty persons to be chosen, namely twenty from England and twenty from Scotland, who should examine these claims with deliberate care, deferring the pronouncement of the final judgement until the feast of Saint Michael [29th September] next to come. When that feast had arrived, after a careful discussion of the matter, with the assent of all, he adjudged the whole kingdom to John de Balliol, who was descended from the elder daughter of King David of the Scots. For Robert de Brus, between whom and the said John, all others having been excluded, the question lay, although he was nearer by one degree, nevertheless descended from the second daughter of King David. John, however, on the following feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle [30th November], having been placed upon the royal stone in the church of the canons regular at Scone, was solemnly crowned. After his coronation, approaching the King of England, who kept the feast of the Nativity of the Lord at Newcastle upon Tyne, he did him homage in these words, 'My lord, Lord Edward, King of England, superior lord of Scotland, I, John de Balliol, King of Scotland, acknowledge myself your liege man for the whole kingdom of Scotland, and all its appurtenances, and those things which pertain thereto, which kingdom I hold, and by right ought and claim to hold hereditarily, from you and your heirs, kings of England, with life and limb and earthly honour, against all men who may live and die.' And the king received the homage in the aforesaid form, saving his own right and that of others. The homage of King John having been received, the King of England immediately restored to him the kingdom of Scotland in its entirety with all its appurtenances.
Rex Angliæ, post festum beati Joannis Baptistæ, in Scotiam veniens, receptis eorum qui regnum Scotiæ vendicabant allegationibus pro jure suo, eligi fecit quadraginta personas, videlicet viginti de Anglia et viginti de Scotia, qui istas allegationes deliberata diligentia discuterent; sententiam finalem usque in festum S. Michaelis proxime venturum differens proferendam. Adveniente autem prædicto festo, post [diligentem negotii] discussionem, de assensu omnium Joanni de Balliolo, qui de filia David regis Scotorum descenderat seniore, adjudicavit ex integro regnum ipsum. Robertus enim de Brus, inter quem et Joannem prædictum exclusis ceteris quæstio vertebatur, licet uno gradu esset propinquior, tamen descendit a filia regis David secunda. Joannes autem in festo S. Andreæ Apostoli sequenti, [collocatus] super lapidem regalem in ecclesia canonicorum regularium de Scona, solemniter coronatur. Post coronationem vero accedens ad regem Angliæ, qui festum Nativitatis Dominicæ apud Novum-Castrum tenuit super Tinam, eidem fecit homagium sub his verbis: 'Domine mi, domine Edwarde, rex Angliæ, superior Scotiæ domine, ego Joannes de Balliolo rex Scotiæ recognosco me hominem vestrum ligium de toto regno Scotiæ, et omnibus pertinentiis, et his quæ ad hoc spectant, quod regnum teneo et de jure debeo et clamito tenere hereditarie de vobis et heredibus vestris regibus Angliæ, de vita et membris et terreno honore, contra omnes homines qui possunt vivere et mori.' Et rex recepit homagium in forma prædicta, suo et alterius jure salvo. Recepto autem regis Joannis homagio, rex Angliæ eidem regnum Scotiæ integraliter cum omnibus pertinentiis restituit indilate.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. 1292. Pope Nicholas IV passed along the way of all flesh [on 4th April 1292], who shortly before, inviting the King of England to recover the Holy Land, had appointed him leader and captain of all the Christians. After Easter of the same year, at the anchorage of ships which is usually at Saint-Mathieu in Brittany, a quarrel arose between the sailors of Bayonne and the Normans, and they began to attack one another both by land and sea1, and their sides having been strengthened, the conflict grew, while the English adhered to the men of Bayonne, but to the Normans the other sailors who were under the dominion of the King of France. Now ships on both sides were laden not only with merchandise, but with arms, and the calmer the breeze became, the sea lying smooth, the more dangerous shipwrecks they encountered, not dashed upon rocks, but violently overpowered by the enemy. Rudolf, King of the Romans, died, in whose place Adolf, Count of Nassau, was elected as successor, and without opposition was solemnly crowned King of Germany. Alfonso also, King of Aragon, died in this same year.
1292. NICOLAUS papa quartus viam universæ carnis ingressus est, qui paullo ante regem Angliæ ad recuperandum Terram Sanctam invitans, ducem et capitaneum omnium constituit Christianorum. Post Pascha anni ejusdem in statione navium, quæ solet esse apud Sanctum Matthæum in Britannia, suborta est inter nautas Baionenses et Normannos discordia, cœperuntque se terra marique mutuo impugnare: roboratisque partibus crevit seditio, dum Baionensibus adhærent Anglici; Normannis vero nautæ ccteri, qui erant de ditione regis Francorum. Onerantur jam naves hinc inde non tantum mercibus, sed armis, et quo magis aura placidior defervescebat, strato æquore maris, tanto periculosiora incurrebant naufragia, non cautibus illisæ, sed expugnatæ violenter ab hoste. Moritur rex Romanorum Radulphus, in cujus successorem electus est Adulfus comes de Naasso, et sine contradictione in regem Alemanniæ solemniter coronatur. Alfonsus etltam, Aragonum rex, mortuus est hoc anno.
Note 1. The Battle of Point St Mathieu was fought on 15th May 1293.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough: 'At last, when the appointed day arrived they came together there fully equipped with weapons of war. And just as there had been a disparity in their spirits, so too on that day there arose the greatest imbalance in the elements, namely, snow, hail, and a fierce wind. A fierce battle was joined between the parties, and at last Almighty God granted victory to our side. Many thousands perished by the sword, besides those drowned with their ships, who were almost beyond number. Our men brought back about 240 ships laden with spoils.' Chronicle of Bury St Edmunds: '... which was the Friday before Pentecost [15th May], a fierce and terrible battle was fought at sea off the Pointe Saint-Mathieu between the English, Irish and men of Bayonne on one side and the Normans on the other. The Normans and their forces having been wiped out, some by drowning in the water, some felled by the sword, the English won a triumphant victory and took a huge spoil without any loss to their army. Nine score Norman ships were captured in the battle and distributed among the victors. Thirty of these ships were allotted to Yarmouth and were taken there laden with immense booty by way of prize. The rest of the ships were divided among the other belligerents according to their number and the amount of help they had supplied. Only three ships from Bayonne took part in the battle'.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. At last, when the appointed day arrived [15th May 1293], they came together there fully equipped with weapons of war. And just as there had been a disparity in their spirits, so too on that day there arose the greatest imbalance in the elements, namely, snow, hail, and a fierce wind. A fierce battle was joined between the parties, and at last Almighty God granted victory to our side. Many thousands perished by the sword, besides those drowned with their ships, who were almost beyond number. Our men brought back about 240 ships laden with spoils. When this was reported to King Philip of France, although his brother Charles had been the chief instigator of this naval battle, he nevertheless sent messengers to the King of England, urgently demanding that reparations be made, that the perpetrators be punished and handed over, and that an enormous sum of money be paid to compensate for the plundering of his merchants. To these demands our king wisely replied that he would respond through his own appointed representatives. And having sent his own envoys, he requested the King of France, as both kinsman and overlord, to name a specific day and place, to which both sides with common counsel might come together to discuss the matter amicably and to proceed according to what the truth of the case would require. But this offer was rejected by the King of France, who, with the advice of his nobles, ordered the King of England to be summoned by writ to appear on a fixed day before his court, to answer for the aforesaid injuries. When the King of England did not appear on the appointed day, it was ordered and judged by the court of the King of France that all his lands across the sea should be seized. He was to be summoned again to appear on another day, under penalty of forfeiting all his transmarine possessions.
Adveniente demum die, convenerunt ibidem armis bellicis sufficienter instructi, et sicut in eis fuerat disparitas animorum sic et eodem die contigit maxima inæqualitas elementorum, nivis scilicet et grandinis ventique validissimi; consertumque est grave proelium inter partes, et tandem victoriam dedit nostris ipse Deus omnipotens, perieruntque gladio multa millia præter submersos cum navibus quasi infinitos, reduxeruntque nostri onustas cum præda naves circiter CCXL. Quæ cum Philippo regi Francourum nunciata fuissent, licet frater ejus Carolus hujus navalis proelii auctor extitisset, missis tamen ad regem Angliæ nunciis obnixe petiit emendas sibi fieri, auctoresque facti puniendos tradi, et infinitam pecuniæ summam pro spoliatione mercatorum suorum liberari. Quibus rex noster prudenter respondit quod per proprios responsales ad interrogata responderet; missisque nunciis rogavit regem Francourum tanquam parentem et dominum ut certos diem et locum nominaret ad quos cum communi consilio hinc inde properarent, amicabiliter super hujusmodi tractaturi, et facturi ulterius quod ipsa rei veritas suaderet. Quod quidem oblatum rex Franciæ non admittens, de communi consilio magnatum suorum præcepit regem Angliæ per brevem vocari, certo die super hujusmodi injuriis in curia sua responsurum. Qui, cum ad diem non veniret, præceptum fuit et a curia regis Franciæ judicatum, quod tota terra sua transmarina seisiretur, et iterum recitaretur ad diem alterum, sub pœna forisfacturæ totius terræ suæ transmarinæ responsurus.
Annals of the six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet
Translation of the Annals of the Six Kings of England by that traces the rise and rule of the Angevin aka Plantagenet dynasty from the mid-12th to early 14th century. Written by the Dominican scholar Nicholas Trivet, the work offers a vivid account of English history from the reign of King Stephen through to the death of King Edward I, blending political narrative with moral reflection. Covering the reigns of six monarchs—from Stephen to Edward I—the chronicle explores royal authority, rebellion, war, and the shifting balance between crown, church, and nobility. Trivet provides detailed insight into defining moments such as baronial conflicts, Anglo-French rivalry, and the consolidation of royal power under Edward I, whose reign he describes with particular immediacy. The Annals combines careful year-by-year reporting with thoughtful interpretation, presenting history not merely as a sequence of events but as a moral and political lesson. Ideal for readers interested in medieval history, kingship, and the origins of the English state, this chronicle remains a valuable and accessible window into the turbulent world of the Plantagenet kings.
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Chronicle of Bury St Edmunds. On 13 June [1293], which was the Friday before Pentecost1, a fierce and terrible battle was fought at sea off the Pointe Saint-Mathieu between the English, Irish and men of Bayonne on one side and the Normans on the other. The Normans and their forces having been wiped out, some by drowning in the water, some felled by the sword, the English won a triumphant victory and took a huge spoil without any loss to their army. Nine score Norman ships were captured in the battle and distributed among the victors. Thirty of these ships were allotted to Yarmouth and were taken there laden with immense booty by way of prize. The rest of the ships were divided among the other belligerents according to their number and the amount of help they had supplied. Only three ships from Bayonne took part in the battle.
Note 1. Friday before Pentecost was on 15th May 1293.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. At the same time the Welsh, rising against the king, in different regions set up different leaders over themselves. For the northerners, who dwell about the parts of Snowdonia, having as their captain and leader a certain man of the lineage of Llywelyn, the last prince, named Madog, burned the town and castle of Caernarfon, a great number of Englishmen, who had come to the fair suspecting nothing of the kind, having been slain. The western Welsh, however, having set over themselves a certain youth named Maelgwn, committed many outrages in the parts of Pembroke and Carmarthen. There was also a certain man called Morgan, who, stirring up the southern Welsh, drove out and expelled the Earl of Gloucester, Gilbert, who had disinherited his ancestors from their land, which is called Glamorgan. The King of England, entering Wales, recalled to himself into Wales his brother Edmund and Henry, Earl of Lincoln, who were preparing to cross over into Gascony with an army. As they approached on the day of Saint Martin [11th November 1294] towards the castle of the Earl of Lincoln at Denbigh, the Welsh met them in great force, and, a fierce battle having been joined, drove them back.
Eodem tempore Wallenses, insurgentes contra regem, in diversis partibus diversos sibi principes præfecerunt. Aquilonares enim, qui circa partes Snowdoniæ habitant, capitaneum habentes et ducem quemdam de genere Lewelini principis ultimi, Madocum nomine, villam et castrum de Karnervan combusserunt; magna Anglicorum multitudine, qui nihil tale suspicantes ad nundinas venerant, interfecta. Occidentales vero Wallenses, præposito sibi juvene quodam Mailgone, in partibus Penbrochiæ et Kaermerdyn mala plurima perpetrarunt. Qui dam etiam Morganus dictus, Wallenses australes concitans, comitem Gloverniæ Gilbertum, qui progenitores suos exheredaverat de terra sua, quæ Glamorgan dicitur, fugavit et expulit. Rex Angliæ Walliam ingressus, Eadmundum germanum suum et Henricum comitem Lincolniæ, parantes se ad transfretandum in Vasconiam cum exercitu, ad se in Walliam revocavit. Quibus in die sancti Martini appropinquantibus castello comitis Lincolniæ de Dunbey, Wallenses in magna virtute occurrerunt, et conserto gravi prælio repulerunt.
In December 1294 Madog ap Llywelyn besieged King of England in Conwy Castle [Map] for three months.
On 5th March 1295 William Beauchamp 9th Earl Warwick [aged 58] defeated the army of Madog ap Llywelyn during the Battle of Maes Moydog at Llanfair Caereinion, Montgomeryshire [Map]. English losses were around 100 dead, Welsh around 700.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. The Earl of Warwick, having heard that the Welsh had gathered in great numbers in a certain plain between two woods, taking with him a chosen force with crossbowmen and archers, came upon them by night1 and surrounded them on all sides, and they, fixing their spears in the ground, directed their points against those charging, so that in this way they might defend themselves from the attack of the horsemen. But the earl, placing a crossbowman between two horsemen, and with bolts from the crossbows having struck down a great number of those who held the spears, charging with a troop of horse upon the rest, inflicted such slaughter upon them as is not believed to have been inflicted at one time in past ages. Meanwhile the King of England, in order to restrain the insolence of the Welsh, built a castle on the island which is called Anglesey, which he wished to be called Beaumaris. The Welsh, worn out by hunger and famine, were in a short time compelled to come to the king’s peace.
Comes Warwici, audito quod Wallenses in maxima multitudine in quadam planitie inter duo nemora se adunassent, assumpta secum electa militia cum balistariis et sagittariis, de nocte superveniens eos undique circumcinxit; qui fixis in terra lanceis cuspides in oppositum irruentium dirigunt, ut sic se ab impetu equitum tuerentur. Sed comes inter duos equites posito uno balistario, ac jaculis balistarum magna parte eorum, qui lanceas tenebant, prostratis, cum turma equitum in reliquos irruens, tantam intulit stragem, quanta eis una vice illata non creditur temporibus retroactis. Interim rex Angliæ, ad compescendas Wallensium insolentias, castrum in insula, quæ Angleseia dicitur, construxit, quod Bellum-mariscum voluit appellari. Wallenses, fame et inedia consumpti, ad pacem regis in brevi venire coguntur.
Note 1. Annals of Worcester: 'On the fifth day of March [1295], William de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, engaged in battle with the Welsh at a place called Meismeidoc in their language. He overcame seven hundred of them, besides those who were drowned and lethally wounded. However, Madoc ap Llywelyn, their disgraced prince, barely escaped.'
Annals of Worcester. On the fifth day of March [1295], William de Beauchamp [aged 58], Earl of Warwick, engaged in battle with the Welsh at a place called Meismeidoc [Map] in their language. He overcame seven hundred of them, besides those who were drowned and lethally wounded. However, Madoc ap Llywelyn, their disgraced prince, barely escaped.
Quinto die Martii Willelmus de Bello Campo comes Warewik commisit bellum cum Wallensibus in loco quod dicitur lingua eorum Meismeidoc [Map]; et prostravit ex illis de nobilioribus septingentos viros præter submersos et letaliter vul neratos. Sed Madocus ap Lewelin eorum princeps cum dedecore vix evasit.
On 24th June 1295 King Edward I of England [aged 56] created new baronies through writs for summons to his 36th Parliament
John Montfort 1st Baron Montfort [aged 31] was created 1st Baron Montfort. Alice Plaunche Baroness Montfort by marriage Baroness Montfort.
Walter Fauconberg 1st Baron Fauconberg [aged 75] was created 1st Baron Fauconberg.
Thomas Furnival 1st Baron Furnivall [aged 35] was created 1st Baron Furnivall. Joan Despencer Baroness Furnivall [aged 37] by marriage Baroness Furnivall.
Robert Fitzwalter 1st Baron Fitzwalter [aged 48] was created 1st Baron Fitzwalter. Eleanor Ferrers Baroness Fitzwalter by marriage Baroness Fitzwalter.
Ralph Basset 1st Baron Basset Drayton [aged 31] was created 1st Baron Basset Drayton. Hawise Grey Baroness Basset Drayton [aged 40] by marriage Baroness Basset Drayton.
The following Baronies may have been created at the 36th Parliament or the 37th Parliament summoned on 30th September 1295.
John Wake 1st Baron Wake of Liddell [aged 27] was created 1st Baron Wake of Liddell.
Andrew Astley 1st Baron Astley [aged 49] was created 1st Baron Astley.
Thomas Berkeley 6th and 1st Baron Berkeley [aged 49] was created 1st Baron Berkeley. Joan Ferrers Baroness Berkeley by marriage Baroness Berkeley.
Reginald Grey 1st Baron Grey of Wilton [aged 55] was created 1st Baron Grey of Wilton. Maud Fitzhugh Baroness Grey Wilton [aged 73] by marriage Baroness Grey of Wilton.
John Hastings 13th Baron Abergavenny 1st Baron Hastings [aged 33] was created 1st Baron Hastings by a summons to Parliament. Isabel Valence Baroness Bergavenny Baroness Hastings by marriage Baroness Hastings.
Ralph Neville 1st Baron Neville of Raby [aged 32] was created 1st Baron Neville Raby. Euphemia Clavering Baroness Neville Raby [aged 28] by marriage Baroness Neville Raby.
John Beke 1st Baron Beke [aged 72] was created 1st Baron Beke (although there is some doubt whether he was created Baron).
Fulk Fitzwarin 1st Baron Fitzwarin [aged 43] was created 1st Baron Fitzwarin.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. Meanwhile, the king of France, having hired many ships, from Marseilles, Genoa, and wherever else he could, sent a great force of his army to sea, so that at one point more than 300 large ships could be seen, awaiting the signal they had been given. But when they had waited a long time and saw no signal, they sent, by their own decision, five selected galleys to scout the land. One of them, however, hastily landed at Hythe near the port of Romney. Seeing this, the English who had been appointed as guards there pretended to flee, and following the counsel of their leader, they withdrew so as to lure the enemy more eagerly onto land. So, as the English appeared to flee, the others pursued them. But when the English suddenly turned to face them, the French also turned and fled, and all of them, namely, 240 men, were killed, and their ship was burned. When the remaining four galleys saw this, they withdrew to the main fleet. For though they could be seen by our men, our sailors did not dare to engage them, fearing their great numbers. Around the feast of Saint Peter in Chains [1st August 1295], a large part of the same fleet landed on the western side of Dover, where no one had suspected a landing due to the abundance of stones and the steep cliffs. About 15,000 of their strongest warriors disembarked and plundered Dover from the first hour until nearly evening, setting much of it ablaze.
And when at their arrival (the French) all the people had fled and scattered, crying out and wailing, the local inhabitants regrouped, and the knights who had charge of the sea gathered as well. So it happened that, on that very day around the eleventh hour, they boldly attacked the enemy. About 5,000 were slain, and the rest were scattered in various directions. Some fled into the grain fields and were later cut down by the locals; the others who could, fled by ship. But thirty of the bravest men took refuge within the enclosure of the abbey, fighting fiercely until evening, such that our besieging forces could do them no harm. When, in the evening, our men became less vigilant and many returned home, those thirty also slipped away, escaping in two small boats. At daybreak, when this was discovered, two large ships gave chase; hoisting sail, they overtook the boats in open water and sank them with all aboard. During the initial invasion of the town of Dover, thirteen of our men and one monk were killed. This monk, while his fellow brothers took shelter in the church's bell tower, remained in the church of God, occupied in prayer before the very altar, where he was slaughtered. Thus was he offered to God as a morning sacrifice.
Rex autem Franciæ, conductis interim navibus multis de Marsilio scilicet et de Gene et undecunque poterat, magnum robur exercitus misit in mare, ita quod aliquando viderentur plusquam CCC naves magnæ signum expectantes quod acceperant; cumque mansissent diu nec signum vidissent, miserunt ex consilio proprio V galeas electas ut terram explorarent; at una earum ris festinans applicuit apud Hydam juxta portum de Rumenai; quod videntes Anglici, qui ibidem fuerant custodes deputati, simulabant fugam, et ex consilio ducis eorundem retraxerunt se ut ferventius hostes ad terram allicerent; illis itaque fugientibus insequuntur alii, sed facies convertentibus mox et ipsi terga verterunt, et cæsi sunt omnes scilicet CCXL viri, et navis eorum combusta est: quod videntes aliæ quatuor retraxerunt se usque ad magnam classem, poterant enim videri a nostris, nec tamen cum eis audebant congredi marinarii nostri, timentes multitudinem magnam. Circa festum beati Petri ad Vincula magna pars ejusdem classis applicuit apud Doverniam ex parte occidentali, ubi nulla fuerat applicandi suspicio præ multitudine lapidum et rupis excelsæ, egressique sunt bellatores fortissimi circiter XV millia hominum, et spoliaverunt Doverniam ab hora prima usque fere vesperam, incendentes eam igni pro magna parte.
Cumque in ingressu eorum fugissent omnes et dispersi fuissent conclamantes et ejulantes, conglobati sunt incolæ et concurrebant milites qui they are decuram maris habebant, ita quod eodem die hora quasi undecima hostes aggressi sunt animose, cæsisque quasi V millibus reliquos in partes diviserunt; quidam enim fugerunt in segetes qui postea cædebantur ab incolis, et cæteri qui poterant navigio fugerunt; triginta autem viri fortissimi receperunt se infra clausum abbatiæ, strenuissime pugnantes usque in vesperum, ita quod nihil eis nocere poterant nostri obsidentes. Cumque in vesperis nostri remissius agerent, et multi reverterentur ad propria, ipsi quoque dilapsi sunt, cum duabus scaphis fugientes; quo mane cognito, insecutæ sunt eos duæ magnæ naves, quæ vela levantes in altum scaphas cum hostibus submerserunt. In ipso autem introitu hostium in villa de Dover, ceciderunt ex nostris XIII viri et unus monachus; hic quidem monachus, cæteris suis fratribus in campanili ecclesiæ se receptantibus, cum orationi vacaret in ecclesia Dei coram ipso altari trucidatus est, et obtulerunt eum Deo sacrificium matutinum.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. The French fleet, coming to Dover, sent out raiders, who, having plundered the priory and slain one aged monk, burned a great part of the town, some of whom were killed before they could return to their ships, but the greater number escaped. Soon afterwards a certain French galley, by chance putting in at the port of Hythe, was captured by John de Columbariis, a noble knight, the sailors who were attempting to carry it off having been slain. The sailors of Yarmouth also laid waste Cherbourg in Normandy by fire, and, having plundered the abbey of the canons regular, carried off a certain aged canon into England. The men of Portsmouth captured fifteen Spanish ships laden with merchandise, bound for the port of Damme in Flanders, and brought them to Sandwich.
Classis Gallicana, Dovoriam veniens, emisit prædones, qui, spoliato prioratu et uno monacho sene occiso, partem magnam oppidi incenderunt; quorum aliqui ante reditum ad naves interfecti sunt, sed plurimi evaserunt. Cito post vero galea quædam Gallicorum, casu quodam ad portum de Hyda appulsa, capta est per Joannem de: Columbariis, militem nobilem, nautis qui eam abducere conabantur interfectis Nautæ etiam Gernemuthenses Cæsaris-burgum in Normannia incendio vastaverunt, spoliataque abbatia canonicorum regularium, canonicum quemdam senem in Angliam adduxerunt. Portuenses quindecim naves Hispanicas onustas mercibus, tendentes in Damonem portum Flandriæ, captas deduxerunt Sandwicum.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. We, therefore, in willing agreement with the praiseworthy intentions of the said king [King John Balliol I of Scotland [aged 46]] in this matter, so that the alliance of this confederation and the fruitful bond of friendship may flourish the more fervently and endure the more firmly, being founded on better auspices and bound by stronger ties, it has been done, agreed, and concluded between us, with the will and consent of our dearest brother and faithful companion, Charles [aged 24], Count of Valois and Anjou, and the aforesaid procurators, acting in the name of the said king by authority of their commission, that a marriage shall be contracted between Edward [aged 12], the firstborn son of the said king, who by express agreement made with the above-mentioned procurators is to succeed the king in the kingdom of Scotland and in his other lands, and Joan [aged 1], the firstborn daughter of our said brother.
Nos itaque ipsius regis votis laudabilibus in hac parte grato concurrentes animo, ut hujusmodi confoederationis affinitas et amicitiæ fructuosus contractus eo ferventius vigeat, stabiliusque perduret, quo melioribus firmatus auspiciis, nexuque constrictus fuerit fortiori; actum, conventum, et concordatum extitit inter nos, de voluntate et assensu carissimi germani et fidelis nostri Caroli Valesiæ et Andegavensis comitis, et procuratores prædictos, procuratorio nomine dicti regis, quod inter Edwardum, primogenitum filium regis ejusdem, futurum regem Scotiæ, et qui per conventionem expressam habitam cum procuratoribus antedictis successurus est eidem regi in regno Scotia et aliis terris suis, et Johannam primogenitam filiam germani nostri prædicti, matrimonium contrahetur.
This is a translation of the 'Memoires of Jacques du Clercq', published in 1823 in two volumes, edited by Frederic, Baron de Reissenberg. In his introduction Reissenberg writes: 'Jacques du Clercq tells us that he was born in 1424, and that he was a licentiate in law and a counsellor to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the castellany of Douai, Lille, and Orchies. It appears that he established his residence at Arras. In 1446, he married the daughter of Baldwin de la Lacherie, a gentleman who lived in Lille. We read in the fifth book of his Memoirs that his father, also named Jacques du Clercq, had married a lady of the Le Camelin family, from Compiègne. His ancestors, always attached to the counts of Flanders, had constantly served them, whether in their councils or in their armies.' The Memoires cover a period of nineteen years beginning in in 1448, ending in in 1467. It appears that the author had intended to extend the Memoirs beyond that date; no doubt illness or death prevented him from carrying out this plan. As Reissenberg writes the 'merit of this work lies in the simplicity of its narrative, in its tone of good faith, and in a certain air of frankness which naturally wins the reader’s confidence.' Du Clercq ranges from events of national and international importance, including events of the Wars of the Roses in England, to simple, everyday local events such as marriages, robberies, murders, trials and deaths, including that of his own father in Book 5; one of his last entries.
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On 30th March 1296 the army of King Edward I captured Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland [Map] from William "Hardy" Douglas 2nd Lord Douglas [aged 56]. Richard Cornwall [aged 44] was killed during the course of the siege. Robert Clifford 1st Baron Clifford [aged 21] fought.
See
Walter of Guisborough, Scotichronicon, Chronicle of William Rishanger and the Annals of Worcester.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. On the same day, namely Wednesday [28th March 1296] in Easter week, the king, advancing with his army, having crossed the river called the Tweed, entered Scotland, and inviting the burgesses of Berwick to peace, waited for a whole day, and when they refused to come to peace, he began on the Friday to approach the town, pitching his tents at the house of the nuns of Coldstream, from which the town of Berwick was distant only half a league. There also arrived twenty-four ships of England, whose sailors, the sun having grown hot, seeing the royal army drawn up in a certain plain, where the king had made new knights, supposing that the king intended to assault the town, entered the harbour and, landing, engaged in conflict with the townsmen, where, four ships having been lost, the others returned safe and unharmed with the ebbing tide. The deed of the sailors having been spread through the army, the king, crossing the open ground, without difficulty passed the ditch which the Scots had made, and took the town, only one of his knights having been slain. For the Flemish merchants, who in the same town had a very strong house built in the manner of a tower, casting darts and bolts at the English, struck down Richard of Cornwall, a valiant knight, with a missile. When access to them was not easily possible, fire having been brought, they were suffocated by burning. That same night the king slept in the castle, which was surrendered to him, the lives and limbs of those who were in it having been spared, and an oath having been given that they would not thereafter bear arms against the King of England, and all were permitted to depart whither they wished, except their captain William Douglas, whom the king kept with him until the end of the war. While the king was strengthening the town of Berwick with a new ditch, about the beginning of the month of April there came to him the guardian and the lector of the Friars Minor of Roxburgh, bringing letters of John, King of Scotland, containing the following tenor:
Eadem die, scilicet feria quarta in hebdomada Paschæ, rex cum exercitu progrediens, transito flumine quod Tweda dicitur, Scotiam ingressus est; et burgenses Berewici ad pacem invitans, per diem unum integrum expectavit; quibus ad pacem venire nolentibus, cœpit in die Veneris villæ appropinquare, fixis tentoriis in domo monialium de Caldestreme, a qua distabat villa Berewici per dimidiam tantum leucam. Advenerunt autem et viginti quatuor naves Angliæ; quarum nautæ incalescente sole exercitum regium in quadam planitie præparatum conspicientes, ubi rex novos milites fecerat, æstimantes regem velle villæ dare insultum, portum ingressi et ad terram applicantes conflictum ineunt cum villanis, ubi quatuor navibus perditis, ceteræ cum refluxu salvæ et integræ revertuntur. Divulgato autem in exercitu facto nautarum, rex apertæ terræ transgressus sine difficultate fossatum, quod Scoti fecerant, villam occupavit, unico tantum de suis militibus interfecto. Mercatores enim Flandrenses, qui in villa eadem domum ad modum turris fortissimam habebant, jacula mittentes in Anglicos et pila, Ricardum de Cornubia, militem strenuum, a casu spiculo trajecerunt. Ad quos cum non de facili pateret accessus, allato igne, incendio suffocantur. Eadem nocte dormivit rex in castro, quod redditum est ei, salvis vita et membris iis qui in eo erant, et præstito juramento quod contra regem Angliæ arma de cetero non portarent; omnesque quo volebant abire permittuntur, excepto eorum capitaneo Willelmo Duglas, quem usque ad finem guerræ rex secum retinuit. Dum autem rex villam Berewici novo fossato muniret, circa ingressum mensis Aprilis venerunt ad eum gardianus et lector fratrum Minorum de Rokesburgia, deferentes litteras Joannis regis Scotiæ, tenorem hujusmodi continentes:
Scotichronicon Book 11. In the year of the Lord 12951, King John, with the counsel of the magnates adhering to him, ordered and sent all the nobles and free tenants, as well as the other able men of the county of Fife, which was then without a head and deprived of its lawful leader, and dispatched them for the custody and defence of the town of Berwick, where the greatest danger was then threatening. Against this place a great fleet of the king of England, gathered from the Cinque Ports, arrived, laden with a great multitude of men. But the defenders of the town, making a strong assault from the sea, being valiant in arms, strong in body, and fierce in spirit, repelled them and burned eighteen ships loaded with armed men, all of whom they slew. In the following year, therefore, for the reasons aforesaid, the king of England, greatly angered, came in person with great force to the town of Berwick; and, since he could not take it by strength, he resolved to deceive it by cunning and stratagem. When, therefore, he had encamped for some time near the town, he pretended that he intended to withdraw, and, removing his tents, feigned that he was going farther away. But on the fourth day before the Kalends of April [29th March 1296], that is, on the sorrowful day of Good Friday, a Friday, immediately after dawn, having raised banners and military standards fashioned deceitfully in the likeness of a Scottish army, he approached the gates of the town. When the Scottish defenders saw this, they became exceedingly joyful and glad, since it had been announced to them that the aid of their king would soon arrive; and, thus unhappily deceived by this expectation, like men faithful and unaware of any trickery, they confidently opened the gates. But immediately, the deceit having been revealed and the truth recognized, when they strove to resist, they were suddenly surrounded by the enemy and, being attacked on all sides, were miserably overwhelmed in sudden fighting. And thus, in the manner described, the town having been taken and the citizens struck down, the aforesaid king of England, sparing neither age nor sex, in a frenzy of tyranny, ordered seven thousand five hundred souls of both sexes to be slaughtered over two days, so that streams of blood flowed. There the noble, high-spirited, and warlike men of Fife were utterly destroyed, so that mills might have been turned by the flow of their blood.
ANNO Dom. millesimo ducentesimo nonagesimo quinto Johannes rex, cum consilio magnatum sibi adhærentium, ordinavit et misit omnes nobiles et libere tenentes, necnon ceteras valentes personas comitatùs de Fyfe, qui tune acephalus erat et legitimo destitutus auriga, et eos ad custodiam et defensionem villæ Bervici, ubi majus tune imminebat periculum, destinavit. Ad quam copiosum navigium regis Angliæ, de quinque portubus collectum, cum magna hominum multitudine, applicuit oneratum. Quos, ex parte maris magnum dantes insultum custodes villæ, ut erant armis strenui, robore fortes, et animo feroces, VI repulerunt, et octodecim naves onustas viris armatis, ipsasque, cunctis interfectis, igne combusserunt. Anno itaque sequenti, ob causas prædictas, rex Angliæ vehementer commotus, in propria persona cum magna potentia ad villam Bervici accessit; et, quam viribus capere non potuit, ingeniosè et callidè decipere cogitavit. Dum igitur circa villam aliquamdiu castrametatus fuisset, simulavit se velle recedere, et removens tentoria, se longius ire finxit. Sed IV kalendas Aprilis, tunc pœnosa scilicet Parasceue, die Veneris, statim post auroram diei, erectis vexillis et signis bellicis Scoticani exercitùs dolosè ante confictis, ad portas ville appropinquavit. Quod videntes Scoti ville custodes, fatis læti et hilares effecti, quia nunciatum erat eis sui regis auxilium in proximo affuturum, sub tali promissione infeliciter decepti, tanquam fideles et totius fraudis ignari januas aperuerunt confidenter. Sed mox, detect fraude, et cognita veritate, cum niterentur resistere, subito ab hostibus circumvallati, et circumquaque insultum patientes, repentinis congressibus miserabiliter sunt oppressi. Atque modo prædicto villa capta, civibus prostratis, rex Angliæ prædictus nulli ætati parcens aut sexui, duobus diebus rivulis de cruore occiforum fluentibus, septem millia et quingentas animas promiscui sextis jusserat, in sua tyrannide desæviens, trucidari; ubi nobiles magnanimi et valentes bellicosi de Fyfe penitùs sunt extincti; ita ut in eorum sanguinis profluvio circumrotari poterant molendina.
Note 1. 1295 in the Julian Calendar, 1296 in the Gregorian Calendar. The capture took place on 30th March 1296.
Lanercost Chronicle. But they [the head men of Berwick], on the contrary, being blinded by their sins, became more scornful, and, while he waited for three days, they gave no reply to so liberal an offer; so that when he came to them on the fourth day, addressing them personally in a friendly manner, they redoubled their insults. For some of them, setting themselves on the heights, bared their breeches and reviled the king and his people; others fiercely attacked the fleet which lay in the harbour awaiting the king's orders and slew some of the sailors. Their women folk, also, bringing fire and straw, endeavoured to burn the ships. The stubbornness of these misguided people being thus manifest, the troops were brought into action, the pride of these traitors was humbled almost without the use of force and the city was occupied by the enemy. Much booty was seized, and no fewer than fifteen thousand of both sexes perished, some by the sword, others by fire, in the space of a day and a half, and the survivors, including even little children, were sent into perpetual exile. Nevertheless this most clement prince exhibited towards the dead that mercy which he had proffered to the living; for I myself beheld an immense number of men told off to bury the bodies of the fallen, all of whom, even those who began to work at the eleventh hour, were to receive as wages a penny a piece at the King's expense.
These events took place on the third of the kalends of April [30th March 1296], being the Friday in Easter holy week, a penalty exacted by God corresponding to the crime. For it was on the Friday in Passion week that a detachment of the Scottish army made their first incursion into England, devastating with slaughter and fire some country villages and the monastery of Car ham; yet these very citizens, perjured and hardened in evil-doing, feared not to receive at Easter the communion of perfect love in fraternal hatred to their own perdition. Whence it may be assumed as proved that 'day unto day uttereth speech' — that is, punishment, and 'night unto night' — that is, the penal scourge upon wickedness, indicates knowledge of sin. Besides, as Chrysostom bears witness [although] wickedness is sometimes overcome by reason, it is never so checked in those who sin by deliberate intent and not through ignorance.
Chronicle of William Rishanger. Immediately one of the Scots began loudly to hurl insults and abusive words at the King of England in his own tongue: ‘King Edward, when you have Berwick, take your pick; when you have got it, begone!’ Without delay, the town was taken on the seventh day before the Ides of April1 by Edward, King of England, and he at once entered it without difficulty with his whole army. That people, naked and unarmed, were miserably cut down; they fell like the leaves of trees in autumn, nor did the king’s sword leave a single Scot alive in the town. At length divine mercy adorned his men with victory and disgraced the faithless Scots with slaughter and flight. Struck with extreme terror, they fled, saying: ‘Let us flee from here, for God is not with us.’ In that miserable conflict the magnificence of divine power granted such favour to the English that not one of them fell, except only Richard, brother of the Earl of Cornwall. He, through carelessness, foolishly lifted his helmet in order to see the Scots fleeing; whereupon one of them suddenly cast a javelin and struck him on his uncovered forehead, and he immediately died.
Confestim unus e Scotis alta voce cœpit convitia et verba probrosa Regi Angliæ inferre, patria lingua;— "Kyng Edward, wanne pu havest Berwic, pike pe, wanne pu havest geten, dile pe." Nec mora; capta est civitas septimo Idus Aprilis per Edwardum, Regem Angliæ, et sine difficultate statim intravit, cum toto exercitu suo. Gens illa nuda et inermis misere lacerata occubuit; ceciderunt quemadmodum folia arborum in autumno, nec solum superstitem in civitate de Scotis inventum reliquit gladius Regis. Tandem suos divina pietas victoria decoravit, Scotos infideles cæde simul et fuga dehonestavit. Nimio terrore perculsi fugerunt, dicentes—"Fugiamus hine, quia non est Deus nobiscum." In illo conflictu miserabili tantam gratiam contulit Anglicanis divinæ potentiæ magnificentia, quod nec unus ex illis occubuit, nisi tantum Ricardus, frater Comitis Cornubiæ, qui ex incuria levavit galeam suam stolide, ut videret Scotos fugientes; unde quidam ex eis inopinate emisit jaculum, et percussit eum in fronte nuda, et statim mortuus est.
Note 1. A mistake. Berwick was taken on the seventh day before the Ides of April i.e. 30th March 1296.
Annals of Worcester. On the penultimate day of March [30th March 1296], the king captured the town of Berwick by force of arms before evening; and the army, enraged at the death of Richard, brother of the Earl of Cornwall, and because of certain sailors who had been killed, slaughtered many of the townspeople.
Penultimo die Martii rex civitatem Berewyk VI et armis superatam ante vesperam expugnavit; et iratus exercitus pro morte Ricardi fratris comitis de Cornubia et pro quibusdam nautis interfectis, multos de civibus trucidavit.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. On Wednesday in the same Easter week, after the Easter solemnity was reverently celebrated as was fitting, our king with his army entered the land of his enemies, crossing the river called the Tweed below the monastery of the holy nuns of Coldstream. And though the water was severely flooding, it happened almost miraculously that not one person perished, except for a single boy, who was separated from his horse and swept away by the surging waves. Meanwhile, the Bishop of Durham with his troops crossed the Tweed near Norham, not far from his castle. When the king had waited that whole day and the next for the burgesses of Berwick to accept peace, and they refused the peace he offered, on Friday [30th March 1296] he moved camp and pitched his tents at the nunnery opposite Berwick, about half a league away. As the sun grew hot and the army stood ready on the plain, the king knighted new men there, Henry de Percy among many others. When our sailors, who were waiting at sea with twenty-four warships before the port, saw the king's army armed and many banners unfurled, they believed the king was about to launch an immediate assault on the town. With the sea rising, they entered the port. One ship, raising her sail higher than the rest and driven toward the shore, ran aground. Surrounded by the Scots, the mariners defended themselves bravely for a long time, killing many with missiles and sword, but at last the Scots brought up scaling ladders and set fire to the ship, storming aboard and killing twenty-eight men, though many died on both sides. Another ship that also ran aground was soon consumed by devouring flames, though the sailors escaped in their boat. A third vessel, which carried men from the house and household of the Prior of Durham, held out powerfully from the first hour until the eleventh. But eventually she too grounded and, once set aflame, was destroyed. Many escaped in the boat, and the rest, staying until the end, leapt into the sea, trusting themselves more to the water than to the enemy. Miraculously, not one of them perished, but were saved with the boats of the other ships. The remaining thirty ships, as the tide receded, withdrew, occasionally launching missiles at the enemy when the opportunity arose. When such reports were brought to our king, still encamped in the field, and all beheld the smoke rising high from the ships, the king commanded the trumpets to sound and that the city be forcefully entered. At once, as the trumpets blared, they crossed a ditch the Scots had made, planked over with wooden boards, as though it were nothing, and entered upon the enemy, cutting down men on every side all the way to the sea. At their entrance, the Scots were struck dumb, there was not one among them who raised a sword or loosed a missile; instead, they stood stunned, like men beside themselves. Thirty Flemings, who had taken possession of a house called the Red Hall on the condition that they would defend it against the King of England at all times, held out bravely until evening. But when fire was finally set to it, they too perished in the flames along with the building. There fell also the brother [Richard [aged 44]] of the Earl of Cornwall [Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall [aged 46]], a most valiant knight, who, as he raised his head boldly toward the enemy, was struck by a missile through the eye-slit of his helmet, and instantly fell and died. With the city thus taken, more than eight thousand of the enemy were slain. That same day, the strong men who were in the garrison of the castle surrendered, with their lives and limbs, lands, and goods preserved. Their captain, Sir William Douglas1, the king kept under custody until the end of that war. As for the 200 men who had been with him, after swearing an oath never to raise arms against the king or the kingdom of England, they were allowed to depart freely, bearing arms. The women of the city were, after a few days, sent out to their people and went away in peace. The king remained in that city for fifteen days and caused a new ditch to be constructed, eighty feet wide and forty feet deep.
Die Mercurii in eadem ebdomada Paschæ, peracta solemnitate Paschali reverentia qua deceret, rex noster cum exercitu suo terram inimicorum suorum ingressus est, aquam quæ Tweda dicitur transeundo subtus monasterium sanctarum monialium de Caldestrem, et aqua nimium inundante quasi miraculose contigit quod non periit nisi puer unus pro omni populo, qui separatus ab equo ab inundantibus fluctibus interceptus est. Episcopus autem Dunolmensis cum turma sua Twedam transiit juxta Norham non longe a castro suo. Cumque toto die illo et and lays sequente ipse rex noster burgenses de Berewyk Berwick, expectasset ad pacem, nec voluerunt amplecti pacem quam tetendit, ipso die Veneris castra movens fixit tentoria sua in domo monialium ex opposito de Berewyk per dimidiam leucam. Incalescenteque sole, et exercitu præparato in planitie, fecit ibidem rex novos milites Henricum scilicet de Percy cum aliis multis. Quod cum vidissent marinarii nostri, quicum XXIIII navibus bellicis expectabant in mari coram portu, credebant regem velle confestim insultum facere urbi, eo quod videbant armatum exercitum et multa vexilla explicata, moxque cum fluctibus maris redundantibus et ipsi portum ingressi sunt. Quarum una præ cæteris velum elevans in alto terræ affixa est, quam circumdantes Scoti, cum se marinarii diutissime defendissent multosque peremissent telis et gladio, tandem allatis scalis et igne apposito eam ingressi sunt, XXVIII personas mutua tamen cæde perimentes. Alteram etiam navem cito postea solo inhærentem vorax flamma consumpsit, fugientibus tamen nautis cum scapha sua. Tertia vero navis, in qua fuerant viri de domo et familia prioris Dunolmensis, cum ab hora prima usque horam undecimam potenter tueretur, tandem innixa solo et igne allato combusta est, fugientibus cum scapha plurimis, et cæteris qui usque in finem permanserant in aquas maris salientibus, potius se credentes aquæ quam hosti; et quasi miraculose contigit quod non periit eorum aliquis, sed cum batellis aliarum navium salvati sunt. Cæteræ vero triginta naves cum aqua retrahente et se retraxerunt, telas emittentes ad hostes cum se facultas offerret. Cumque regi nostro, adhuc in campo existenti, talia dicerentur, videntibusque cunctis fumum a navibus extendi in altum, præcepit rex ut tubæ canerent urbemque potenter ingrederentur. Moxque clangentibus tubis, fossatum quoddam quod Scoti fecerant, cum lignis tabulatis quasi pro nihilo transeuntes, super hostes ingressi sunt, cædentes hinc et inde usque ad mare. Ad quorum introitum attoniti Scoti, non erat ex eis qui gladium erigeret vel telum emitteret, immo stabant stupefacti velut homines extra se. Triginta vero Flandrenses, qui Aulam Rubeam sic nominatam tali conditione receperant ut eam contra regem Anglorum omni tempore tuerentur, domum eandem usque ad vesperum viriliter defenderunt; sed apposito tandem igne, et ipsi cum domo combusti sunt. Ibi corruit frater comitis Cornubiæ miles strenuissimus, qui cum ad hostes caput in altum erigeret, in ipsa oculari apertura galeæ percussus telo, confestim cecidit et expiravit. Capta itaque urbe, ceciderunt ex hostibus plusquam octo millia. Eodem etiam die viri fortes qui erant in præsidio castri dederunt se, salvis eis vita et membris, terris et catallis; quorum capitaneum, scilicet dominum Willelmum Duglas, retinuit ibidem rex usque in finem ejusdem guerræ suæ, ducentos vero viros qui cum eo fuerant, accepto prius juramento quod nunquam contra se vel regnum Angliæ manum erigerent, portantes arma libere abire permisit. Mulieres etiam ejusdem urbis post dies aliquot mittebantur ad populum suum, et abierunt in pace. Mansit autem rex in eadem urbe diebus XV et novum fecit construi fossatum latitudinis LXXX pedum et profunditatis XL.
Note 1. William Douglas [aged 56], 2nd Lord Douglas, died 1298, in the Tower of London.
Flowers of History. In the year of grace 1296, on the third day before the Kalends of April [30th March 1296], the town and castle of Berwick having been taken by the illustrious King Edward, the English slew all whom they found there, except for a few who afterwards abjured the town. [It is reported that sixty thousand persons of both sexes among the Scots were killed.] On the eighth day before the Ides of April [6th April], the king of Scotland, for himself and for all Scots holding any land in England, rendered homage to the king of England by written instrument.
Anno gratiæ MCCXCVI Tertio kalendas Aprilis per magnificum regem Edwardum villa et castro de Berewyk captis, omnes ibidem inventos Anglici peremerunt, paucis exceptis qui villam ipsam postmodum abjurarunt; [hominum autem Scotorum promiscui sexus peremptorum sexaginta milia referuntur]. Octavo idus Aprilis rex Scotie pro se et Scotis omnibus tenentibus terram quamcumque in Anglia homagium regi Anglie reddidit per scripturam.
John of Fordun's Chronicle. 90. Taking of the town of Berwick by Edward I, King of England.
On the 30th of March 1296, the king of England, being strongly stirred up by the causes stated above, marched in person, with a large force, upon the town of Berwick; and as lie could not take it by force, he thought to outwit the garrison by sleight and cunning. So he pretended he was going to withdraw; and, striking his tents, he made a feint of going far away. But on the 30th of March, bearing aloft the craftily counterfeited banners and war-ensigns of the Scottish army, he neared the gates of the town. When the garrison of the town saw this, they became right glad and merry, because they had got news that their king would soon be there to rescue and help them; and being thus unhappily deceived through that promise, they trustfully opened their gates, like true men that knew no guile. But as soon as the trick was found out, and they became aware of the truth, they strove to withstand the foe. Being, however, hemmed in by the enemy, and assaulted on every side, they were wretchedly borne down by a sudden charge. On this wise, therefore, was the town taken, and all were swept down; and, sparing neither sex nor age, the aforesaid king of England, in his tyrannous rage, bade them put to the sword 7500 souls of both sexes; so that, for two days, streams flowed from the bodies of the slain. There were the nobles of Fife utterly destroyed.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. John [aged 47], by the grace of God, King of Scotland, to all those who see or hear these present letters, greeting. Whereas we, through evil and false counsel, and by our own simplicity, have grievously offended and angered our lord, Edward, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, in many ways, that is to say: While being and remaining under his faith and in his homage, we made an alliance with the King of France against him, who was then and still is his enemy; And we contracted a marriage with the daughter of his brother, Sir Charles; And we tried to harm our lord the King of England, aiding the King of France with all our power, by war and in other ways; And afterward, through the same evil counsel, we withdrew from our lord the King of England, renouncing his homage and fealty by formally rendering it back to him; And we sent our people into his land of England, to commit arson, to take plunder, to kill people, and to do many other damages; And in the land of Scotland, which is of his fief, we placed and established armed men in towns, castles, and other places, to defend the land against him and to deny him his rightful lordship. Because of these acts and said transgressions, our lord the King of England entered the land of Scotland by force and has taken and conquered it, despite the power we mustered against him; which he could rightfully do, as lord of his fief, since we had done him homage and yet committed the aforementioned wrongs. For which reason, we, being in our full power and free will, have rendered the land of Scotland and all its people, with all their homages, back to him. In testimony of this, we have had these our open letters made. Given at Brechin on the tenth day of July, in the fourth year of our reign [1296].1
Johan, par la grace de Dieu, rey d'Escoce, a touz ceaux qui cestez presentz lettres verrount ou orront, saluz. Cum nous par mauveys counsaile e faus, e par nostre symplese, eioms grevousement offendu et coruce nostre seignor Edward, par la grace de Dieu roy d'Engleterre, seignour d'Yrland, et duc d'Aquitaigne, en meiutes choses; ceo est assavoir: Nous, esteant e demorant a sa feie en sun homage, de faire aliaunce au roy de Fraunce countre lui, qui dunke estoit e uncore est sun ennemy: a fere mariage ove la fille son frer sire Charles: e pur nostre seignor grevere, et le rei de Fraunce eidere e a tout nostre poer, par guerre e en altres maners: e puis, par nostre mauveis conseil avantdit, defere nostre signor le roy d'Engleterre et nous mettre hors de son homage e sa feie, par le homage rendre: e ausi noz gentz envoier en sa terre d'Engleterre, pour fere arsons, praies prendre, homicides fere, et autrez damages plusors: e la terre d'Escoce, la quele est de son fee, de gentz dez armes, en villes, chastells, et aliours mettre et estabiler pur la terre defendre encountre lui et pur son fee lui deforcier;-Por lez quelez chosez et trespasses desousdit, nostre seignor le roi d'Engleterre avantdit est en la terre d'Escoce entre, et a force lad pris e conquis, non osteant le poer que nous avons mys encontre lui; la quele chose il poet fere de dreit, com seignor de son fee, puisque nous lui avons le homage rendu et fet les choses avantditz. Pur la quele chose nous, esteant en nostre plein poer e nostre fraunche volunte, lui avoms rendu la terre d'Escoce e tout la gent ove touz lour homages. En tesmoignaunce de quele chose nous avoms fet fere cestez noz lettres overtz. Donez a Bregchine le dysme jour de Jule l'an de nostre reigne quart.
Note 1. In the Treasury of the Receipt of the Exchequer is preserved an Original Instrument, verbatim the same as the preceding document, with the exception of the date, which is as follows: "Donees a Kyncardyn le secund jour de Jul', an de nostre regue quart." i.e. "Given at Kincardine on the second day of July, in the fourth year of our reign. Rymer, Fœdera, 1.841.
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Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. 28th August 1296. After these events, and after the Great Seal of Scotland had been broken following the signing of the aforementioned letter, our king continued on to survey the mountainous regions of Scotland, and the Bishop of Durham, with his retinue, always preceded the king by a day or two. As the king travelled through the region of Moray all the way to Elgin and found everything peaceful, he chose not to go further. Instead, he returned to Berwick, where he had planned to hold his next Parliament. And on his return through Scone, he ordered the Stone, upon which, as previously mentioned, the Kings of Scotland were accustomed to sit during their coronation, to be taken and carried to London1. This was to serve as a sign of the kingdom having been conquered and resigned. The king then held his Parliament at Berwick-upon-Tweed, over several days, where the magnates of the kingdoms of Scotland and Galloway came before him. He received their homage and fealty, and a formal document was drawn up to record it, expressed in these words...
Hiis ita gestis, et fracto communi sigillo 'Scotia' post consignationem prædictæ literæ, processit rex noster ut montes regni Scotia transeundo videret, et semper præcessit faciem regis per unam dietam vel duas Dunolmensis episcopus cum turma sua. Cumque iter suum faceret rex per medium Murref usque Elayn, noluit ulterius procedere eo quod pacata vidisset omnia, sed reversus est usque Berewyk, ubi parliamentum suum in proximo teneri statuerat. Et in redeundo per Scone, præcepit tolli et Londoniis cariari lapidem illum, in quo, ut supradictum est, reges Scotorum solebant poni loco coronationis suæ, et hoc in signum regni conquesti et resignati. Tenuitque parliamentum suum diebus The Scots do multis apud Berewyk super Twedam, ubi venerunt ad eum magnates regni Scotia et Galawaliae, et recepit homagia et fidelitates eorum, et super hoc conficiebatur scriptum in hæc verba conceptum.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. The king proceeded in order to view the mountainous regions of Scotland, the Bishop of Durham always going before him by one day’s journey. When he had passed through Moray and reached as far as Elgin, seeing that all things were peaceful, he turned back and returned to Berwick. On his return he passed through the abbey of Scone, where, having taken away the stone which the kings of Scotland were accustomed to use as a throne at the time of their coronation, he carried it off to Westminster, ordering it to be made into a chair for priests celebrating there. The king, having summoned a parliament at Berwick, received the fealties and homages of all the magnates of Scotland, who, for the perpetual memory of the matter, caused letters patent to be drawn up on this, sealed with their seals, containing in French the following tenor:
Processit rex ut videret montana Scotiæ, præcedente eum semper per unam dietam episcopo Dunelmensi. Cumque transisset Moraviam, et pervenisset usque Elgin, omnia videns esse pacata, converso itinere revertitar Berewicum. In redeundo autem transivit per abbatiam de Scone, ubi sublato lapide quo reges Scotorum tempore coronationis solebant uti pro throno, usque Westmonasterium transtulit illum, jubens inde fieri celebrantium cathedram sacerdotum. Rex apud Berewicum convocato parliamento, omnium magnatum Scotiæ fidelitates recepit et homagia; qui ad rei gestæ memoriam perpetuam confecerunt super hoc litteras patentes, eorum sigillis munitas, continentes in Gallico hunc tenorem:
On 8th January 1297 John Gerulfing I Count Holland [aged 13] and Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Countess Essex, Hereford and Holland [aged 14] were married at Ipswich, Suffolk [Map]. She by marriage Countess Holland. The wedding was attended by her sister Margaret Plantagenet Duchess Brabant [aged 21], her father King Edward I [aged 57], her brother Edward [aged 12] and her future second husband Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex [aged 21]. She the daughter of King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England. He the son of Floris Gerulfing V Count Holland and Beatrix Dampierre. They were half third cousin twice removed. He a great x 4 grandson of King Stephen I England.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. [July 1297] These are the complaints that the archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, and barons, and all the commonalty of the land present to our lord the king, and they humbly pray him, as their lord, that he may be willing to redress and amend these matters to his own honour and to the salvation of the people." First, it seems to the whole community of the land that the summons made to them by writ of our lord the king was not sufficiently adequate, because no specific place was mentioned where they were to go; for according to the place, they must make provision and prepare to render the service due, or not. Because it is commonly said that our lord the king intends to pass over to Flanders, it is the opinion of the whole community that they are not bound to perform any service there, because neither they, nor their predecessors, nor their ancestors, ever did service in that land. And even if they were bound to do service there or elsewhere, they do not have the power to do it, because they have been so heavily burdened with various tallages [taxes], aids, and exactions, namely of wheat, oats, barley, wool, hides, oxen, cows, salted meat, all taken without payment, with which they should have supported and maintained themselves. They say therefore that they cannot give aid because of the poverty they are in due to these tallages and exactions, for they scarcely have the means to sustain themselves, and many of them do not have the means to live nor have their lands cultivated. Moreover, the whole community of the land feels heavily burdened that they are not governed according to the laws and customs of the land by which their ancestors used to be governed, nor do they have their liberties which they used to enjoy, but are deprived of them arbitrarily, and for this reason they feel heavily aggrieved. Moreover, clergy and laity feel heavily burdened that they used to be governed according to the points of the Magna Carta, whose provisions are now entirely disregarded, which is a great injury to the people. Wherefore, they pray our lord the king that he may be willing to have these things redressed, for his own honour and the safety of the people. Moreover, the commonalty of the land feels heavily burdened by the forest law, which is not now kept as it used to be in times past, nor is the Charter of the Forest observed. instead, attachments are made arbitrarily outside of the assize [legal process], contrary to what used to be done. Moreover, the whole community of the land feels heavily burdened by the maltolt [bad tax] of wool, which is so burdensome, namely, 40 shillings for each full sack of wool, and for each broken sack, 5 marks, that wool of England, which is nearly half the value of the whole land annually, is taxed at a rate which amounts to a fifth of the entire value of the land per year at such a price. Because the community of the land desires honour and soundness for our lord the king, as they rightly should, it seems to them that it would not be to his advantage to cross over to Flanders, unless he were better assured of the loyalty of the Flemish, both for himself and for his people, and also for the land of Scotland, which is beginning to rise up against him now in his absence; and they well understand that they would rebel in a worse manner if they knew for certain that he had crossed the sea. And not only they, but other lands that are not yet well settled.
Ces sount les monstraunces qe erceveskes, eveskes, abbes, priours, countes, et barounes, et tout la comuniautie de la terre monstrent a nostre seignour le roy, et humblement lui prient, com a leur seignour, qe cestes chosez voill redresser et amendere al honour de lui, et a la salvacion du pople. En primes, il semble a tote la communalte de la terre qe le garnisement qe feet lur fuit par le bref nostre seignour le rey ne fuit pas assez sufficiaunt, pur ceo qe il ny avoit nul certein lu especifie ou ils devereint alere; car solom le lu couyent il fere la purveiaunce, et puissent aversne le quele il duissent lui fere servis ou noune; pur ceo qe dit est comunialment qe nostre seignour le rey vout passer en Flaundres, avis est a tout la communalte qe la ne deyvent il nul servis fere, pur ceo qe eaus, ne lur predecessours, ne auncestres, unkes en cele terre servis ne firent. Et tut fuit il issint qe ils dussent le servis la ou aliours, ils ne aveient pas poer de fer le, pur ceo qe ils ount este tant greves de diverses talliages, eides, prises, cest asavoir dez furmentez, aveynes, braes, leynes, quires, boefs, vaches, chars sales, saunz nul dener paier, dount ils sei dussent aver sustenu et mayntenu. Il dient estre ceo qe eide ne pount il fere pur la poverte qe ils sount einz pur les talliages et prises avantdites, car il ne ount a pein dount ils se pount sustenir, et multz en sount qe ne ount pas lur sustenaunce ne lur terres gaygnes. Estre ceo tote la communalte de la terre se sentent durement grevez qe ils ne sont pas menes solom lez leys et lez usagez de la terre par les qeux lur auncestrez solayent estre menez, ne ils ne ount lur fraunchises les queux ils solayent avoir, mes sount mys hors voluntriement, par qoi ils se sentent durement grevez. Estre ceo clerks et lays se sentent durement greves de ceo qe ils solayent estre menes solom les poyntes de la Graunt Chartre, les quex poyntes sount tut le pluis tresseillez, laquele chose est trop graunt damage ou pople: par qoi ils prient a nostre seignour le rey quil voille qe cestes choses soient redressez, al honour de lui et a salvacion du pople. Estre ceo la communalte de la terre se sentent durement grevez de lassise de la foreste, qe nest my gardie com ele solait estre en arere, ne la chartre de launder, mes fount atachementz volunters hors de lassise altrement qe homme ne solait. Estre ceo tut la communalte de la terre se sentent durement grevez de la maltolt des laynes, qe est si grevouse a chescun sake de la layn entire XL S et de la layn brisee a chescun sake V marcs, pur ceo qe la layn d'Engleterre est a poye la moyte de la valu de tout la terre par an, e si amunte la maletoute par an le quinte de la value de totte la terre par tiel pris. Pur ceo qe la communalte de la terre volent honour et sannetie a nostre seignour le rey, sicome il deyvent voler, ne lur semble pas qe ceo serroit a lui preu de passer en Flaundres, si il ne fust plus assure pur lui et pur sa gent des Flaundres, et auxi pur la terre d'Escoce la quele se comence a lever contre lui tant com il est ore en terre; et bien entendent qe ils en frayent en plus mauveise maner si ils fuissent seure qe il fuit la mere passe. Et ne my seulement eaus, mes altres terres qi ne sount pas uncore bien affermez.
On 20th August 1297 the Battle of Furnes was a battle between French led by Robert Artois II Count Artois [aged 46], and Flemish forces led by Guy Dampierre Count Flanders [aged 71]; the French were victorious.
Philip Artois [aged 29] was wounded during the Battle of Furnes. He died a year later as a consequence of his wounds.
Walram Jülich [aged 54] died four days after the battle.
Bourgeois de Valenciennes. When the Count of Blankenberghe and Sir John of Gavre and Walram of Jülich [aged 54] learned that Lord Charles of Valois and Count Robert of Artois were before Furnes [on 20th August 1297] with so great a host of men-at-arms, and that they had begun to set fires and kill their people, the alarm was raised, and they sallied out of the town against the French. They were fully sixteen thousand men, both Germans and others. They attacked and struck the French vigorously, and the French did the same to them. There was a great and fierce battle and much slaughter on both sides, and it lasted a long time; and there the son1 of the Lord of Artois was taken by Sir John of Gavre. And there was such great slaughter and such a great battle that it was a matter of great pity. There the Count of Blankenberghe was killed, and Lord Walram of Jülich was mortally wounded, and he was taken and led prisoner to Saint-Omer, where he lived no more than four days. And Lord John of Gavre remained with the Germans and performed many feats of arms that day; and he might have escaped from the battle that day if he had wished, but he said that, if it pleased God, the arms he bore would never proclaim that he had turned back from his enemies. And so he threw himself again into the fight with the Germans who remained. And there was a great, cruel, and perilous battle, and John of Gavre was grievously wounded there and struck down from his horse and surrounded on all sides, stabbed, pierced, cut, and hurled to the ground. He rose again quickly and still defended himself; then he was struck down again and defended himself on his knees for a long while. In the end he was hemmed in and pressed hard among his enemies, but he would never agree to surrender, and there he was killed; and the remainder of his men turned to flight. And thus Lord Charles and the Count of Artois and the French won the town of Furnes, but it cost them dearly, and they lost many men there, for there were indeed more than twenty thousand dead, on both sides alike.
Quant le conte de Blans-Mons et messire Jehan [de Gavres] et Guillame de Jullers sceurent que monseigneur Charles de Valois et le conte Robert d'Artois estoient devant Furnes à tout sy grans gens d’armes et qu’ils commenchoient à bouter les feux et à tuer leurs gens, on cria alarme, et widèrent hors de la ville contre les Franchois. Ils estoient bien XVI mille hommes, que Allemans, que aultres gens. Sy assallirent et se férirent ès Franchois vigoreusement, et les Franchois à eulx. Sy y eult grande bataille et forte, et grande ochision d’une partye et d'aultre, et longuement dura, et là fut prins le fils monseigneur d’Artois de monseigneur Jehan de Gavres. Et là eult sy grant murdre et sy grande bataille que ce fut ung grant pité. Et là fut le conte de Blans-Mons ochis et monseigneur Guillame de Jullers navres à mort, et fut prins et menés en prison à Saint-Omer où il ne vesqui que IIII jours. Et monseigneur Jehan de Gavres demoura avoec les Allemans et y fit moult d'armes celle journée, et fusist eschappés de la bataille celle journée s’il volsist, mais il dit que, se Dieu plaisoit, les armes qu’il portoit, ne dénonchoient mye qu'il reculast envers ses ennemis, etadont se reférist-il en une bataille avec les Allemans, qui demourés estoient. Et là eult grande bataille cruele et perilleuse, et moult y fut navres Jehan de Gavres et jus de son ceval abatu et de toutes pars avironné, lanchies, perchiés, trenchiés et à la terre trébuchiés. Sy se releva légièrement, et toudis se deffendoit, puis fut rebatu et se deffendist à genoux une grant pièche. En la fin fut-il enclos et apressés entre ses ennemis, mais onques ne se volut rendre et là fut-il ochis, et le remanant de ses gens tournèrent en fuitte. Et aussy gaingnèrent monseigneur Charles et le conte d’Artois et les Franchois la ville de Furnes, mais moult leur cousta, et moult y perdirent, car il y eult bien mors, que d’une part, que d'aultre, plus de XX mille hommes.
Note 1. Philip of Artois, 1269-1298, son of Robert, II Count of Artois. He was captured, possibly released, but died of his wounds soon after. History and Chronicles of Flanders, Volume 1, Page 241-242: "And the Germans and the Flemings who were in Furnes came out against them, and the battle was joined at a small hamlet called Bullecamp. At that battle the Count of Jülich was in command, who was the son of the daughter of the Count of Flanders, and he had with him the Count of Mons and a great multitude of Germans and Flemings. There was the Lord of Gavre, who was very valiant and bold. On that day the Count of Jülich gave his banner to a knight called Baldwin Ruffin to carry, and at the joining of the battle he cast his banner down and withdrew toward the castellan of Bergues, who was with the French. There the Flemings and Germans were defeated, and there was a great number of dead. There the Count of Jülich was taken and sent to Saint-Omer, but he was so badly wounded that he lived only three days thereafter. The Count of Blanmont and the Count of Mons escaped from the battle and went to Ypres. The Lord of Gavre was killed in that battle: on that day he fought against Philip of Artois and took him prisoner, but he was rescued; nevertheless he was so grievously injured that he never bore arms again, but died very soon afterward."
History and Chronicles of Flanders. Count Robert heard, while at the siege of Lille, that there were Flemings in the town of Furnes who were harassing the people of his land of Artois. Then he assembled his friends and summoned Philip his son, Guy Count of Saint-Pol, James his brother, Louis Duke of Bourbon, Robert Count of Boulogne, John of Tancarville, chamberlain of France, and many others, and led them toward Furnes with great force of men. And the Germans and the Flemings who were in Furnes came out against them, and the battle was joined at a small hamlet called Bullecamp. At that battle the Count of Jülich was in command, who was the son of the daughter of the Count of Flanders, and he had with him the Count of Mons and a great multitude of Germans and Flemings. There was the Lord of Gavre, who was very valiant and bold. On that day the Count of Jülich gave his banner to a knight called Baldwin Ruffin to carry, and at the joining of the battle he cast his banner down and withdrew toward the castellan of Bergues, who was with the French. There the Flemings and Germans were defeated, and there was a great number of dead. There the Count of Jülich was taken and sent to Saint-Omer, but he was so badly wounded that he lived only three days thereafter. The Count of Blanmont and the Count of Mons escaped from the battle and went to Ypres. The Lord of Gavre was killed in that battle: on that day he fought against Philip of Artois and took him prisoner, but he was rescued; nevertheless he was so grievously injured that he never bore arms again, but died very soon afterward.
Li contes Robers oy dire au siége de Lille que il y avoit Flamens en la ville de Furnes, qui grevoyent le gent de son pays d'Artois. Lors assambla ses amis et manda Phelippe sen fil, Guy conte de Saint-Pol, Jaques sen frére, Loys duc de Bourbon, Robert conte de Boulongne, Jehan de Tancarville , cambrelenc de Franche, et pluiseurs aultres, et les mena vers— Furnes, à grant poissanche de gens; el li Alemant et li Flamenc qui estoient à Furnes, yssirent contre yaux, et assambla li bataille à un petit hamiel que on appelle : Bullecamp. A celle bataille là fu en kief li contes de Jullers, qui estoit fieuls de le fille le conte de Flandres, et avoit avoec luy le conte des Mons et grant plentet d'Alemans et de Flamens. Là estoit li sires de Gavres qui moult estoit preus et hardis. Li contes de Jullers bailla che jour se baniére à porter à un chevalier qu'on appelloit: Bauduin Ruffin, et à l'assambler de le bataille il gielta se baniére jus et se traist vers le castelain de Berghes, qui estoit avoec les Franchois. Là furent Flamenc et Alemant desconfit, et en y ot grant plentet de mors. Là fu pris li contes de Jullers et envoyés à Saint-Omer, mais il fu si navrés qu'il ne vesqui depuis que III jours. Li contes de Blanmont et li contes des Mons escapérent de le bataille et s'en alérent à Yppre. Li sires de Gavres fu mors en celle bataille: en ce jour se combatti contre Phelippe d'Artois el le prist, mais il fu rescous, et non pour quant fu si fourmenés que oncques puis ne porta armes, ains moru! moult tost apriés.
On 11th September 1297 the combined forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the forces of John Warenne 6th Earl of Surrey [aged 66] near Stirling Bridge. After around half the English had crossed the narrow bridge the Scots attacked subjecting the English to a significant defeat.
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. On that day [11th September 1297] envoys were sent to William Wallace and the Scots who were with him, inviting them to the king’s peace and promising them immunity for past actions. They replied that they had come for battle, not for peace. Richard de Lundie advising that the English should not cross the bridge, because they could not advance together in any number, but only two or three at most at a time, nevertheless, others urging it, the guardian decided that they should cross by the bridge. And behold, before half the army had crossed, the multitude of the Scots came upon them, and, engaging with those who had already crossed, slew almost all who had passed over. Among the few who escaped was Marmaduke de Thweng, who with great valour held the bridge so that he might return safely. The Guardian of Scotland fled as far as Berwick, committing the custody of the castle of Stirling to Marmaduke. The Steward of Scotland and the Earl of Lennox, seeing that the English had been overthrown, went over to the Scots. In this battle there fell Hugh de Cressingham, Treasurer of Scotland, whom the Scots, out of particular hatred, flayed, and divided his skin into pieces. The Guardian of Scotland fled from Berwick into England, going to the king’s son, and after him fled the other English who were in Berwick, leaving the town empty to the Scots, but the keepers of the castle, holding it, defended it bravely.
Exeunte vero mense Augusto comes Warenniæ, cum promissionem factam a Scotis de obsidibus videret decidere in nihilum, Willelmumque Waleis populum commoventem, et magnates sub dissimulatione ista permittentes, de Berewico progreditur versus Strivelin exercitu adunato; ubi venerunt ad comitem Warenniæ senescallus Scotiæ et comes de Lewenes, rogantes ut quiesceret, dum ipsi populum Scotorum ad pacem regis reducere attentarent. Cum autem non proficerent, redierunt quarto idus Septembris, se cum quadraginta equis in comitis adjutorium redituros in crastino promittentes. Quo die missi sunt nuntii ad Willelmum Waleis et Scotos qui cum eo erant, invitantes eos ad pacem regis, et pro retroactis impunitatem spondentes. Qui responderunt, Se ad pugnam, non ad pacem venisse.: Dissuadente autem Ricardo de Lundi ne Anglici pontem transirent, quia non possent simul in multitudine aliqua progredi, sed tantum bini vel terni ad plus; nihilominus tamen suadentibus aliis, elegit custos, ut per pontem transirent. Et ecce, antequam transiret exercitus medietas, supervenit Scotorum multitudo, et cum his qui jam transierant, congressa, pæne omnes qui transierant peremerunt. Inter paucos qui evaserunt fuit Marmeducus de Tuenge, qui in magna virtute obtinuit pontem, ut salvus rediret. Custos Scotiæ usque Berewicum fugiens, castri de Strivelin commisit custodiam Marmeduco. Senescallus Scotiæ et comes de Lewenes, videntes Anglicos corruisse, transfugerunt ad Scotos. Cecidit in hoc prælio Hugo de Cresingham, thesaurarius Scotiæ, quem Scoti ob odium speciale excoriantes, pellem ejus in particulas diviserunt. Custos Scotiæ de Berewico fugit in Angliam, adiens filium regis; fugeruntque post eum et ceteri Anglici, qui in Berewico erant, villam Scotis vacuam relinquentes. Custodes tamen castri illud tenentes viriliter defenderunt.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. [11th September 1297] When the enemy [Scots] saw that so many of our men had already crossed the bridge, more than they believed they could overcome, they descended from the hill and, sending their spearmen, seized the foot of the bridge. From that moment, no passage or retreat was possible; many, in trying to flee, were thrown from the bridge and drowned. As the Scots came down from the hill, Sir Marmaduke de Tweng said to his companions, "Is it time, brothers, for us to ride against them?" When they responded that it was, they spurred their horses and charged. Some of the Scots fell, and nearly all their cavalry turned in flight. While they pursued the fleeing enemy, one of our men said to Sir Marmaduke, "My lord, we have been deceived, our troops are not following, and the royal and earl's banners are not to be seen." Looking back, they saw many of our men and the royal standard-bearers lying slain. They said, "The bridge is now closed to us; we've been cut off from our army. It would be better to entrust ourselves to the peril of the water, if we might possibly cross it, than to be cut down attempting to break through enemy lines, it is now difficult, indeed impossible, for us to pass through the Scots." But that most valiant Marmaduke said, "Surely, my dear friends, it will never be said of me that I drowned myself freely. Far be it from you also! Follow me, and I will carve a path through the midst of them to the bridge." Spurring his warhorse, he charged into the enemy, cutting them down to the left and right with his sword, and passed through them unharmed. A wide path opened for those who followed him, for he was mighty in strength and of great stature. While fighting bravely, his nephew, wounded and stunned, his horse slain but still on foot, cried out, "My lord, save me!" Marmaduke replied, "Climb up behind me. I cannot," the youth said, "for my strength has failed." Then one of Marmaduke's squires, dismounting, lifted the young man onto his own horse and said to his lord, "I will follow you wherever you go." He followed him to the bridge, and both were saved. Having seized the bridge by the strength of his arms, all those who remained behind perished, about a hundred knights and nearly five thousand foot soldiers, including three hundred Welsh who, although they had taken many lives, were finally overcome. Some survivors swam across the river, and one knight made it over on his fully armed horse, though with difficulty. That day, among the Scots' lance-bearers, fell Lord Hugh de Cressingham, treasurer of the king, rector of the church of Rudby, and chief justice in the assizes of York. Although he held prebends in many churches and had the care of many souls, he never put on spiritual armour or wore a chasuble, but donned helmet and mail, in which he fell. He who had once terrified many with the sword of his tongue in courts of law was finally slain by the sword of rebels. The Scots flayed him and divided his skin into small pieces among themselves, not as relics, but in mockery. For he was exceedingly fat and handsome. They called him not the king's treasurer, but his "traitor", and this was more accurate than they knew. For he led many astray that day, and he himself was misled, being fickle, slippery, arrogant, and wholly given to greed.
In the first engagement of our forces with the Scots, the Seneschal of Scotland and the Earl of Lennox, who had previously come peacefully, when they saw our men falling in battle, immediately withdrew to their own troops who were lying in wait in the woods near the marshes. Witnessing the outcome of that shameful affair, they came out to meet our fleeing soldiers and slaughtered many of them individually at the marshes, carrying off much spoil and carts laden with supplies; for the carts and pack animals could not easily be withdrawn by those fleeing through the lakes and marshes. Our commander, who had remained on this side of the bridge the entire time, upon the return of Sir Marmaduke with his men, ordered the bridge to be broken and burned. He entrusted custody of the castle of Stirling to the aforementioned Sir Marmaduke, promising him faithfully, on oath, that within the first ten weeks he would return to support him with a strong force. However, he did not fulfil what he had promised. Forgetful of his old age, he set out to Berwick with such haste that the charger he had been riding, stabled among the Friars Minor, did not taste any feed. Then he departed to join the king's son in the southern regions, leaving the country utterly desolate. This disaster took place on the third day before the Ides of September [11th September 1297], a Wednesday, in the year of grace above mentioned.
Cumque vidissent hostes tot jam evenisse quot superare potuerant, ut credebant, mox descenderunt de monte, et missis viris lanceariis occupaverunt pedem pontis, ita quod extunc nulli patebat transitus vel regressus, sed in revertendo sicut et in festinando super pontem præcipitati sunt multi et submersi. Descendentibus itaque Scotis de monte, dixit dominus Marmeducus consociis suis, "Estne tempus, fratres, ut equitemus ad eos?" Quibus respondentibus quod sic, mox stimulatis equis mutuo congressi sunt, et corruentibus quibusdam ex Scotis, cæteri equestres quasi omnes in fugam versi sunt. Quos cum insequerentur fugientes sic dixit unus ex nostris domino Marmeduco, "Domine mi, decepti sumus; non enim sequuntur nostri, et vexilla regis et comitis non comparent." Ad hæc respicientes retro, viderunt multos ex nostris et vexillarios regis et comitis corruisse, dixeruntque, "Præclusa est jam nobis via ad pontem, et a populo nostro intercepti sumus; melius est ergo ut credamus nos aquæ periculo, si forte transire possimus, quam hostium cuneos penetrantes quasi pro nihilo corruamus: difficilis immo impossibilis jam factus est nobis transitus per medium Scotorum." Ad hæc ille strenuissimus Marmeducus: "Certe, carissimi, nunquam dicetur de me quod gratis me submerserim; absit et hoc a vobis, sed sequimini me, et per medium eorum vobis viam faciam usque ad pontem; stimulatoque dextrario, mox irruit in hostes, et nunc hos nunc illos cædens gladio per medium transivit illæsus; patuitque via magna sequentibus eum, erat enim fortis robore et staturæ proceræ. Cumque ita strenue militaret, nepos illius vulneratus et attonitus, equo suo interfecto, sed stans tamen pedes, clamavit ad eum: "Domine mi, salva me." ille, "Ascende," inquit, "post me. Non possum; defecit enim robur meum." Moxque consocius ejus, armiger ejusdem domini Marmeduci, descendens de equo suo, eum ascendere fecit, et dixit domino suo, "Sequar te domine quocunque ieris;" et secutus est eum usque ad pontem, et uterque eorum salvatus est. Apprehenso itaque ponte per fortitudinem strenue militantis, omnes extunc quotquot ibi remanserant corruerunt, numero armatorum fere centum et peditum quasi quinque millia, inter quos trecenti Wallenses cum multos vita privaverant tandem quidam ex eis qui remanserant aquam natando transierunt. Unus etiam miles ex nostris cum difficultate aquam transiit in equo armato. Corruit eodem die inter Scotos lancearios prænominatus ille thesaurarius domini regis dominus Hugo de Cressyngham, rector Hugh de ecclesiæ de Ruddeby et capitalis justitiarius in is slain. assisis Eborum, qui cum esset præbendarius in multis ecclesiis, et multarum haberet curam animarum, nunquam tamen arma spiritualia vel casulam induit, sed galeam et loricam in quibus corruit. Et qui gladio linguæ suæ multos olim exterruerat in judiciis multis, gladio tandem perversorum occisus est; quem excoriantes Scoti diviserunt inter se pellem ipsius in modicas partes, non quidem ad reliquias sed in contumelias; erat enim pulcher et grassus nimis vocaveruntque eum non thesaurarium sed trayturarium regis, et verius hoc quam credebant; multos enim seduxit in die hac, sed et ipse seductus est qui erat levis et lubricus, elatus superbia et avaritiæ deditus.
In primo congressu nostrorum cum Scotis, senescallus Scotia et comes de Levenax, qui prius pacifice venerant, cum vidissent nostros corruisse confestim recesserunt ad suos qui in silvis latitabant juxta polles; qui nefandæ rei videntes eventum, egressi sunt obviam nostris, et multos particulariter fugientes peremerunt ibidem ad polles, asportantes spolia multa et quadrigas onustas abducentes; non enim poterant quadrigæ vel summarii a fugientibus abduci de facili in lacubus et mariscis. Comes vero noster citra pontem semper existens, reverso domino Marmeduco cum suis, præcepit pontem frangi et comburi, et commissa custodia ejusdem castri de Stryvelyn prædicto domino Marmeduco, promisit ei fideliter data fide quod infra primas decem ebdomadas veniret in ejus auxilium cum manu forti; non tamen adimplevit quod promisit. Oblitusque senectutis suæ profectus est apud Berewyk cum festinatione tanta quod dextrarius in quo sederat in stabulo fratrum Minorum positus nusquam pabulum gustavit. Deinde processit ad filium regis in partes australes, et reliquit patriam penitus desolatam. Facta fuit confusio hæc III idus Septembris, scilicet feria quarta, anno gratiæ supradicto.
Anne Boleyn. Her Life as told by Lancelot de Carle's 1536 Letter.
In 1536, two weeks after the execution of Anne Boleyn, her brother George and four others, Lancelot du Carle, wrote an extraordinary letter that described Anne's life, and her trial and execution, to which he was a witness. This book presents a new translation of that letter, with additional material from other contemporary sources such as Letters, Hall's and Wriothesley's Chronicles, the pamphlets of Wynkyn the Worde, the Memorial of George Constantyne, the Portuguese Letter and the Baga de Secrets, all of which are provided in Appendices.
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Chronicle of William Rishanger. Battle of Stirling
Meanwhile, not long after [11th September 1297] in the same year, the Scots, when they heard the news that King Edward had entered Flanders with bare hand and small company, and then into France, despairing of his return, rashly, and more than usual, for the second time made an attack upon the English. At Stirling Bridge, they suddenly assaulted the Earl Warenne, whom Edward, king of England, had appointed guardian of Scotland; and with the earl, because of urgent necessity, taking to flight with his men, they slew Sir Hugh de Cressingham, treasurer deputed in Scotland, and some others, nearly a hundred, whom they had captured there, knowing that they had no obstacle, since the king was absent, at that time delaying in Flanders. Then four English earls, moving in close array, pressed on against the Scots, advancing through a narrow place, not knowing what tricks the cunning enemy had prepared. But when they began to pass by, the Scots suddenly rushed out, catching them off guard and unprepared, and broke into their ranks. Yet the English, although taken by surprise and thrown into disorder, at last reformed their companies, regained their strength, and resisted manfully. In the end, the Scots, unable to withstand the encounter with the English, quickly abandoned the field and fled, using the aid of the hills, and hid themselves in the density of the woods.
Bellum de Strivelyin.
Interea, non multum post in eodem anno, Scoti, audito nuncio, quod Rex Edwardus cum nuda manu et parvo comitatu Flandriam intrasset, deinde in Galliam, desperati sui reditus, incunctanter, et plus solito, jam secundo irruere in Anglicanos priesumpserunt. Ad pontem de Strivelin, Comiti Warenniw, quem constituerat Edwardus, Rex Anglite, Custodem Scotiw, de eis improviso, dederunt insultum; et Comite, cum suis, propter urgentem necessitatem in fugam converso, Dominum Hugonem de Cressingham, Thesaurarium deputatum in Scotia, et quosdam alios, fere usque ad centum, ibidem captos, interemerunt; scientes se non habere obstaculum, ratione absentize Regis, tunc in Flandria moram trahentis. Denique quatuor Comites Angliæ, densata caterva, incedentes impetum Scotorum, per strictum locum incedentes, nescii quos dolos versuti hostes instituerant; cum vero preieterire incepissent, egressi ex improviso Scoti ipsos, nihil tale preemeditantes, occupaverunt, et penetraverunt. At illi, tametsi ex improviso occupati et dissipati fuissent, tandem tamen resociatis catervis, resumptis viribus, viriliter resistunt. Tandem Scoti, congressus Anglicanorum ferre non valentes, ocius campum relinquentes, fugam inierunt; usi montium auxilio, in nemorum densilitate delituerunt.
Scalacronica. 11th September 1297. And the following winter, the said William Wallace burnt all Northumberland. The Earl of Warenne [aged 66], who was Keeper of Scotland for the King of England, being in the south1, turned towards Scotland; where at the bridge of Stirling he was defeated by William Wallace, who, being at hand in order of battle2, allowed so many of the English as he pleased to cross over the said bridge, and, at the right moment3, attacked them, caused the bridge to be broken, where many of the English perished, with Hugh de Cressingham, the King's Treasurer; and it was said that the Scots caused him to be flayed, and in token of hatred made girths of his skin. The Earl of Warenne took flight to Berwick. William Wallace, to whom the Scots adhered, immediately after this discomfiture, followed4 the said Earl of Warenne in great force, and skirting Berwick, arrived on Hutton Moor in order of battle; but perceiving the English arrayed to oppose him, he came no nearer to Berwick, but retired and bivouacked in Duns Park5.
Note 1. Warenne, or Surrey, which was his principal title, had been recalled on 18th August for service with King Edward on the Continent, and Sir Brian Fitz Alan was appointed Keeper of Scotland in his place. But Sir Brian having raised a difficulty about his salary (£1128 8s.), the Prince of Wales wrote on 7th Sept., 1298, requiring Surrey to remain at his post. (See Stevenson's Documents illustrative of the History of Scotland, ii. 230.)
Note 2. En batailA soun point. i.e., in force or in order of battle; used in both senses.
Note 3. A soun point. i.e.
Note 4. Suyst, misprinted fuyst in Maitland Club Ed.
Note 5. Not Duns Park on Whitadder, but in a place which then bore that name a little to the north of Berwick.
John of Fordun's Chronicle. 11th September 1297. 99. Battle of Stirling Bridge
In the year 1297, the fame of William Wallace was spread all abroad, and, at length, reached the ears of the king of England; for the loss brought upon his people was crying out. As the king, however, was intent upon many troublesome matters elsewhere, he sent his treasurer, named Hugh of Clissingham, with a large force to repress this William's boldness, and to bring the kingdom of Scotland under his sway. When, therefore, he heard of this man's arrival, the aforesaid William, then busy besieging the English who were in Dundee Castle, straightway intrusted the care and charge of the siege of the castle to the burgesses of that town, on pain of loss of life and limb, and, with his army, marched on, with all haste, towards Strivelyn (Stirling), to meet this Hugh. A battle was then fought, on the 11th of September, near Strivelyn (Stirling), at the bridge over the Forth. Hugh of Clissingham was killed, and all his army put to flight: some of them were slain with the sword, others taken, others drowned in the waters. But, through God, they were all overcome; and the aforesaid William gained a happy victory, with no little praise. Of the nobles, on his side, the noble Andrew of Moray alone, the father of Andrew, fell wounded.
Lanercost Chronicle. 11th September 1297. When this had been done and the greater part of the army had been dismissed, the Steward brought them to the bridge of Stirling, where on the other side of the water the army of Scotland was posted. They [the Scots] allowed as many of the English to cross the bridge as they could hope to overcome, and then, having blocked the bridge1, they slaughtered all who had crossed over, among whom perished the Treasurer of England, Hugh de Cressingham, of whose skin William Wallace caused a broad strip to be taken from the head to the heel, to make therewith a baldrick for his sword1. The Earl of Warenne escaped with difficulty and with a small following, so hotly did the enemy pursue them. After this the Scots entered Berwick and put to death the few English that they found therein; for the town was then without walls, and might be taken as easily by English or Scots coming in force. The castle of the town, however, was not surrendered on this occasion.
Note 1. Ponte obturato i.e. with the bridge blocked.
Note 2. Other writers say the skin was cut up into horse-girths.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. Edward, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, to all those who shall see or hear these present letters, greetings. Know that we, to the honour of God and of Holy Church and to the benefit of our whole realm, have granted, for us and for our heirs, that the Great Charter of Liberties and the Charter of the Forest, which were made by common consent of the whole kingdom in the time of King Henry our father, shall be held and kept in all their points, without any breach. And we will that these same charters, under our seal, shall be sent to our justices, as well of the forest as of the others, and to all our sheriffs of counties, and to all our other officials, and to all our cities throughout the land, together with our writs, in which it shall be contained that they cause the aforementioned charters to be published, and that they make it known to the people that we have granted to have them observed in all their points. And to our justices, sheriffs, mayors, and other officials who hold law for us and under us, we command that the same charters shall be allowed before them in pleas and in judgments, that is to say, the Great Charter of Liberties as the common law, and the Charter of the Forest according to the assize of the forest, for the amendment of our people. And we will that if any judgments from now on shall be given against the points of the said charters by our justices or by any of our ministers who hold pleas before them, they shall be undone and held for nothing. And we will that the same charters, under our seal, be sent to the cathedral churches throughout our realm, and remain there, and shall be read twice a year before the people. And that the archbishops and bishops shall pronounce sentence of great excommunication against all those who shall infringe the said charters in deed, word, counsel, or any point of them, and against all those who aid, abet, or counsel such infringement. And that these sentences be publicly announced and published twice a year by the said prelates. And if the same prelates or any of them are negligent in making the said denunciation, they shall be compelled to do it by the archbishops of Canterbury and York who shall be in office at the time. And because some people of our realm are in doubt as to the aids and charges which they have given to us before this time, for our wars and other needs, by their own good will, whatever manner they were made in, that these could become a custom and burden to them and their heirs, because they might be found in records, or because of certain levies made throughout the realm by our officials in our name: We have granted for us and our heirs that such aids, charges, or levies shall not be taken as a precedent or custom, and that nothing shall be drawn from them as a future obligation. And also, we have granted for us and our heirs to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other people of Holy Church, and to the earls, barons, and all the community of the land, that for no need or cause will we take such aids, charges, or levies from our realm without the common assent of all the realm and for the common benefit of the same realm, saving the ancient aids and charges due and customary. And because the greater part of the common people of the realm feel themselves heavily burdened by the evil toll on wool, that is, forty shillings on each sack, they have prayed us to remit it. We, at their request, have fully remitted it, and we have granted that neither this nor any other similar levy shall be taken without their common assent and good will, saving to us and our heirs the custom on wool, hides, and leather previously granted by the community of the said realm. In testimony whereof, we have caused these our letters to be made open. Given at London the tenth day of October [1297], in the twenty-fifth year of our reign. Witness: Edward our son.
Edward par la grace de Dieu roy d'Engleterre, seignur dIrland, et ducs d'Aquitaine a toutz ceus qui cestes presentes lettres verront ou orront, saluz. Sachiez nous al honeur de Dieu et de seinte eglise et au profit de tut nostre roiaume, aver grante, pour nous e pour nos heirs, qe la Grand Chartre des franchises et la Chartre de la Forest lesqueles furent faites par commun assent de tut le roiaume en tens le rey Henry nostre pere, seient tenuz en toutz leur pointz, sanz nul blemisement. E voloms qe meismes celes chartres desuth nostre seal seient envoiez a nos justices ausibien de la forest come as autres, e a toutz les viscontes des contez, et a toutz nos autres ministres, et a totes nos citees parmi la terre, ensemblement ove nos briefs en les queux serra contenu qil facent les avantdites chartres pupplier, e qil facent dire au poeple qe nous les avoms grauntees de tenir les en toutz leur pointz; e a nos justices, viscontes, maires, e autres ministres qi la ley de la terre desouth nous et pour nous ount a guier, meismes les chartres en toutz leur pointzen plez devaunt eus e en jugementz les facent alower, cest asavoir la Grand Chartre des franchises come ley commune e la Chartre de la Forest solom lassise de la forest, al amendement de nostre poeple. E voloms que si nuls jugementz soient donez desoremes encontre les pointz des chartres avantdites par justices et par autres nos ministres, qui contre les pointz des chartres tenent plez devant eus, seient defaitz e pour nient tenuz. E voloms qe mesmes celes chartres desuth nostre seal seient envoiez as eglises cathedrales parmi nostre roiaume, et la demorgent. E seient deu foitz par an lues devant le poeple. E qe ercevesques et evesques doignent sentences du grant escomenge contre toutz ceus qui contre les avantdites chartres vendront en fait, ou en ayde, ou en conseil, ou nul point enfreindront, ou encontre vendront. E que celes sentences seient denuncies e pupplies deu foitz par an par les avantditz prelatz. E si mesmes les prelatz evesques ou nul de eus seient negligentz en la denunciacion susdite faire, par les ercevesques de Canterbire et de Everwyk, qui pur tens serront, sicome covient, soient repris, et destreinz a mesme cele denunciacion faire en la fourme avauntdite. E pur ceo qe aucunes gentz de nostre roiaume se doutent qe les aides, e les mises, les queles il nous ount fait avant ces oures, pur nos guerres et autres bosoignes, de leur graunt e leur bone volunte, en quele manere qe faitz seient, pussent turner en servage a eus e a leur heirs, parce qil serroient autrefoitz trovez en roule, e ausi prises qe ont este faites parmi le roiaume par nos ministres en nostre noun, avoms grante pur nous et pur nos heirs qe mes tieles aides, mises, ne prises, ne treroms Edward I a custume pur nule chose qe soit fait, ou Confirmation qe par roule ou en autre maniere peust of Magna estre trove. E ausi avoms grante pour nous e pour nos heirs as ercevesques, evesques, abbes, e priurs, e as autres gentz de seinte eglise, et as contes, et barons, et a tote la communaute de la terre que mes pur nule busoigne tieu manere des aides, mises, ne prises de nostre roiaume ne prendroms fors que par commun assent de tut le roiaume, et a commun profit de meisme le roiaume, sauve les auncienes aides et prises, dues et custumees. E pour ceo que tut le plus de la communaute del roiaume se sentent durement grevez de la maletoute des leines, cest asavoir de chescun sak de leine quarant soudz, e nous ont prie que nous les vousissoms relesser, nous a leur priere les avoms pleinement relesse, e avoms graunte qe cele ne autre mes ne prendroms sanz lour commun assent e leur bone volunte; sauve a nous et a nos heirs la custume des leines, peaus, e quirs, avant grantez par la communaute du roiaume avauntdit. En tesmoignance de queux choses nous avoms fait faire cestes nos lettres overtes. Tesmoigne Edward nostre fitz a Londres le disme jour de Octobre, lan de notre regne vintisme quynt.
In 1298 Simon Montagu 1st Baron Montagu [aged 48] attended Edward I 43rd Parliament at York [Map].
On 6th February 1299 King Edward I of England [aged 59] created a number of new Barons by writ of summons to Edward's 44th Parliament...
John Ferrers 1st Baron Ferrers of Chartley [aged 27] was created 1st Baron Ferrers of Chartley.
John Lovell 1st Baron Lovel [aged 45] was created 1st Baron Lovel of Titchmarsh. Joan Ros Baroness Lovel [aged 39] by marriage Baroness Lovel of Titchmarsh.
William Ros 1st Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 44] was created 1st Baron Ros Helmsley. Maud Vaux Baroness Ros [aged 42] by marriage Baroness Ros Helmsley.
William Devereux 1st Baron Devereux Lyonshall [aged 55] was created 1st Baron Devereux Lyonshall. Lucy Burnell Baroness Devereux Lyonshall by marriage Baroness Devereux Lyonshall.
Adam Welles 1st Baron Welles [aged 50] was created 1st Baron Welles. Joan D'Engayne Baroness Welles and Ughtred by marriage Baroness Welles.
Robert Clinton 1st Baron Clinton [aged 41] was created 1st Baron Clinton. Ida Odingsells Baroness Clinton [aged 34] by marriage Baroness Clinton.
John Moels 1st Baron Moels [aged 30] was created 1st Baron Moels.
The next baronies may not have been created on 6th February 1299 but were created in 1299 possibly for Edward's 45th and 46th Parliaments on 10th April 1299 and 21st September 1299 respectively.
Edmund Deincourt 1st Baron Deincourt [aged 49] was created 1st Baron Deincourt.
John Strange 1st Baron Strange Knockin [aged 46] was created 1st Baron Strange Knockin. Maud Walton Baroness Strange Knockin by marriage Baroness Strange Knockin.
John St John 1st Baron St John Lagenham [aged 49] was created 1st Baron St John of Lagenham.
Robert Clifford 1st Baron Clifford [aged 24] was created 1st Baron de Clifford. Maud Clare Baroness Clifford Baroness Welles [aged 23] by marriage Baroness de Clifford.
Henry Grey 1st Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 44] was created 1st Baron Grey of Codnor. Eleanor Courtenay Baroness Grey Codnor by marriage Baroness Grey of Codnor.
John Mohun 1st Baron Dunster [aged 30] was created 1st Baron Mohun of Dunster. Ada Tiptoft Baroness Dunster [aged 24] by marriage Baroness Mohun of Dunster.
Roger Scales 1st Baron Scales was created 1st Baron Scales.
John St John 1st Baron St John of Basing [aged 25] was created 1st Baron St John of Basing.
John Beauchamp 1st Baron Beauchamp Somerset [aged 24] was created 1st Baron Beauchamp Somerset.
Alan Zouche 1st Baron Zouche Ashby [aged 31] was created 1st Baron Zouche Ashby.
Henry Percy 9th and 1st Baron Percy [aged 25] was created 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick. Eleanor Fitzalan Baroness Percy [aged 15] by marriage Baroness Percy of Alnwick.
William Grandison 1st Baron Grandison [aged 37] was created 1st Baron Grandison. Sibylla Tregoz Baroness Grandison by marriage Baroness Grandison. His brother was also created Baron Grandison on the same day.
Otto Grandison 1st Baron Grandison [aged 61] was created 1st Baron Grandison. His brother was also created Baron Grandison on the same day.
Thomas de Multon 1st Baron Multon was created 1st Baron Multon Egremont. Eleanor Burgh Baroness Multon Egremont [aged 17] by marriage Baroness Multon Egremont.
On 10th September 1299 King Edward I of England [aged 60] and Margaret of France Queen Consort England [aged 20] were married at Canterbury Cathedral [Map]. She by marriage Queen Consort England. The difference in their ages was 39 years. She the daughter of King Philip III of France and Maria of Brabant Queen Consort France [aged 43]. He the son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence Queen Consort England. They were first cousin once removed. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.
Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl Warwick [aged 27] was present.
Annals of Worcester. On the sixth day before the Ides of September [8th September 1299], Margaret, the sister of Philip, King of France, arrived in England at Dover. Through her arrival, our captives were freely released from French custody.
Sexto idus Septembris Margareta soror Philippi regis Franciæ in Angliam applicuit apud Dovere; per cujus adventum captivi nostri libere redierunt de custodia Gallicana;
Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet [1258-1328]. The King of England, on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin [8th September 1299], at Canterbury espoused Margaret1, sister of the King of France.
Rex Angliæ in Nativitate Virginis gloriosæ apud Cantuariam Margaretam, sororem regis Franciæ, desponsavit.
Note 1. Other sources describe Margaret arriving on 8th September 1299 and being married on Thursday 10th September 1299. Annals of Worcester: 'On the sixth day before the Ides of September [8th September 1299], Margaret, the sister of Philip, King of France, arrived in England at Dover. Through her arrival, our captives were freely released from French custody. On the fourth day before the Ides of the same month [10th September 1299], very early in the morning, King Edward took her as his wife and consort in Canterbury Church; and Robert, the archbishop, fulfilled what pertained to the ecclesiastical office.' Matthew Paris: 'In that year, Lady Margaret, sister of Lord Philip, King of France, arrived at Dover around the Nativity of the Blessed Mary, and two days later [10th September 1299], Lord Edward, King of England, joined her to himself in marriage at Canterbury by the authority of the Pope.'
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. And the wedding ceremony1 itself took place in London, on the Thursday within the octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary [10th September 1299], with all the nobles rejoicing and the people of both realms celebrating in gladness.
Factaque est ipsa matrimonialis solemnitas Londoniis1, in ipso die Jovis infra octavas Nativitatis Beatæ Virginis, congaudentibus optimatibus cunctis et lætante populo utriusque terræ.
Note 1. Margaret, Philip's sister, arrived at Dover September 8, and was married two days after to King Edward at Canterbury. Matthew of Westminster, Flores Historium, 432: "In that year, Lady Margaret, sister of Lord Philip, King of France, arrived at Dover around the Nativity of the Blessed Mary [8th September 1299], and two days later, Lord Edward, King of England, joined her to himself in marriage at Canterbury by the authority of the Pope." Amadeus Duke of Savoy had been appointed proxy to contract the espousals, as appears by the instrument dated on the 12th of May. Rot. Alemann. 27 Edward I m. 11. in Turr. Lond.; Rymer, Fœdera, 1.904.
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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Annals of Worcester. On the fourth day before the Ides of the same month [10th September 1299], very early in the morning, King Edward took her as his wife and consort in Canterbury Church; and Robert [aged 54], the archbishop, fulfilled what pertained to the ecclesiastical office.
... quam Edwardus rex quarto idus ejusdem valde mane in ecclesia Cantuariensi cepit in conjugem et consortem; et Robertus archiepiscopus quod ad officium ecclesiasticum pertinet, adimplevit.
Flowers of History. In that year, Lady Margaret [aged 20], sister of Lord Philip, King of France, arrived at Dover around the Nativity of the Blessed Mary, and two days later [10th September 1299], Lord Edward, King of England [aged 60], joined her to himself in marriage at Canterbury by the authority of the Pope.
Quo anno domina Margareta, soror domini Philippi regis Franciæ, Doveriæ applicuit circa nativitatem beatæ Mariæ, quam post biduum dominus Edwardus rex Angliæ auctoritate Pape Cantuariæ in uxorem sibi copulavit.