alternatehistory.com
1327-8: England
1327-8: MY IDIOT BROTHER
"The Prince of Wales returned with the Bishop of Exeter[1] shortly after his contentious homage to his cousin. It was, by all accounts, a hurried trip--Stapledon claimed that the Earl of Kent had invited his nephew on a hunting trip after the homage, which young Edward had refused on his guardian's advice, and that the bishop himself had been trailed by men he suspected of being in the employ of Edward's enemies. And the Bishop had worse news--the loyalty of many of Edward's servants in France had been subverted. Many, including the Earl of Kent, were meeting with escaped Contriants, most notably the notorious Roger Mortimer of Wigmore[2]. Paris was, Stapledon declared, a wasp's nest of plots against England. It was, if anything, an understatement. Edward was reportedly made quite uneasy at this, especially at the involvement of his youngest brother. Edmund was charming, but pliable--Thomas, Earl of Norfolk[3] had on one occasion noted that Edmund had 'rather less wit than a sheep'. All of which made him a horribly plausible front for another uprising.
"The bishop also brought more news of the treaty, and Edward was angered to discover that the Count of Valois had performed a bait and switch. While in theory his previous holdings in Aquitaine save the Agenais were restored, in practice, he had merely seen his holding of those territories presently in his possession confirmed. The remainder were to be returned over a period of time on the condition of his accepting numerous disputes in the Duchy decided in favor of the French throne, and paying a sizable sum on top of that[4]. Edward was furious, but there was, at the moment, little he could do. For now he accepted the treaty, albeit with rather bad grace. The response in London to the treaty--which as usual spread shockingly soon, as if it were being leaked--was more wailing and gnashing of teeth, and blaming of Edward for a situation he had done little to produce, and was in fact already working to rebalance.
"The remainder of the year passed in fitful tension. Early in the next, the Prince of Wales married his long-time betrothed Philippa of Hainaut in London, an occurrence that was greatly celebrated[5]. As opposed to his father, the young prince was well-loved by the people of England, with his defiance before King John of France rapidly becoming a matter of national pride. Even Edward, who had toyed with ending the Hainaut match for a Castilian one[6], acknowledged Philippa to be 'most charming'. For awhile, it looked as if Edward might slip through his latest patch of disasters. And then two things happened in quick succession. Firstly, young Queen Maud became pregnant, an event the King insisted on noting with "plentiful celebration". Maud was still seen as a strange and alien queen by much of England, and so this was perhaps not as well taken as he'd imagine it would be. However, it was the second event that made it disastrous.
"Late in May, Maud's father had a Spiritual Franciscan, Pietro Rainalducci, elected Pope in Rome, the latest move in the emperor's ongoing war against John XXII. Still excommunicated, Louis had inserted himself into the Spiritual Franciscans' own struggle with the irascible pontiff, who had responded to the orders' arguments by declaring that the principle of private property dated to the Garden of Eden before the fall of man[7]. Louis had called together a church council, which among other things, had declared the Pope a heretic and then folded the matter into his ongoing efforts in Italy. Rainalducci, an inspiring speaker and preacher, had, after crowning himself, taken the name Nicholas V and begun to assemble his own college of cardinals[8]. The first antipapacy of the Avignon period had begun.
"News spread to England, where it quickly became rumored that Edward was going to join his father-in-law in the schism. This was not completely unjustified--Louis appears to have approached Edward on the matter, and Edward seems to have at least considered it. The outswell of public anger seem to have killed any such plans, and also convinced Edward to send his wife and younger children out of London to the north. And it was in this atmosphere that the Earl of Kent arrived in Cornwall at the head of a small band of men, accompanied by various Contrariants, among them Mortimer. Announcing his intentions to "restore order and the rule of law" to England, he promptly began a march on London, beginning the rising that would be named for him..."
--A Magnificent Counterfeit: the Life and Reign of Edward II of England, Jason Soames 1994
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[1] Walter Stapledon, one of Edward II's few staunch loyalists.
[2] This was the case during the aftershocks of the war IOTL as well, with the major change being that Isabelle was amongst Mortimer's faction. Oh, and of course, they had Prince Edward.
[3] The middle brother of Edward I's vast brood. By most accounts, Thomas was quite a quarrelsome fellow.
[4] This happened post-war IOTL as well. Edward was justifiably put out.
[5] They were married around this time IOTL.
[6] IOTL, Edward, after pursuing a Hainaut match for some time, switched to looking at a Castilian one, though this seems to have partially about causing trouble for Isabelle and her coup plans.
[7] John XXII did this in response to the Spiritual Franciscans IOTL as well. The question was whether the Apostles owned their own clothes, and his answer was seen as a bit of... papal overreach, so to say. Medieval theological discussions tend to be both irritating and fascinating at the same time.
[8] This entire antipapacy happened IOTL.
"The Prince of Wales returned with the Bishop of Exeter[1] shortly after his contentious homage to his cousin. It was, by all accounts, a hurried trip--Stapledon claimed that the Earl of Kent had invited his nephew on a hunting trip after the homage, which young Edward had refused on his guardian's advice, and that the bishop himself had been trailed by men he suspected of being in the employ of Edward's enemies. And the Bishop had worse news--the loyalty of many of Edward's servants in France had been subverted. Many, including the Earl of Kent, were meeting with escaped Contriants, most notably the notorious Roger Mortimer of Wigmore[2]. Paris was, Stapledon declared, a wasp's nest of plots against England. It was, if anything, an understatement. Edward was reportedly made quite uneasy at this, especially at the involvement of his youngest brother. Edmund was charming, but pliable--Thomas, Earl of Norfolk[3] had on one occasion noted that Edmund had 'rather less wit than a sheep'. All of which made him a horribly plausible front for another uprising.
"The bishop also brought more news of the treaty, and Edward was angered to discover that the Count of Valois had performed a bait and switch. While in theory his previous holdings in Aquitaine save the Agenais were restored, in practice, he had merely seen his holding of those territories presently in his possession confirmed. The remainder were to be returned over a period of time on the condition of his accepting numerous disputes in the Duchy decided in favor of the French throne, and paying a sizable sum on top of that[4]. Edward was furious, but there was, at the moment, little he could do. For now he accepted the treaty, albeit with rather bad grace. The response in London to the treaty--which as usual spread shockingly soon, as if it were being leaked--was more wailing and gnashing of teeth, and blaming of Edward for a situation he had done little to produce, and was in fact already working to rebalance.
"The remainder of the year passed in fitful tension. Early in the next, the Prince of Wales married his long-time betrothed Philippa of Hainaut in London, an occurrence that was greatly celebrated[5]. As opposed to his father, the young prince was well-loved by the people of England, with his defiance before King John of France rapidly becoming a matter of national pride. Even Edward, who had toyed with ending the Hainaut match for a Castilian one[6], acknowledged Philippa to be 'most charming'. For awhile, it looked as if Edward might slip through his latest patch of disasters. And then two things happened in quick succession. Firstly, young Queen Maud became pregnant, an event the King insisted on noting with "plentiful celebration". Maud was still seen as a strange and alien queen by much of England, and so this was perhaps not as well taken as he'd imagine it would be. However, it was the second event that made it disastrous.
"Late in May, Maud's father had a Spiritual Franciscan, Pietro Rainalducci, elected Pope in Rome, the latest move in the emperor's ongoing war against John XXII. Still excommunicated, Louis had inserted himself into the Spiritual Franciscans' own struggle with the irascible pontiff, who had responded to the orders' arguments by declaring that the principle of private property dated to the Garden of Eden before the fall of man[7]. Louis had called together a church council, which among other things, had declared the Pope a heretic and then folded the matter into his ongoing efforts in Italy. Rainalducci, an inspiring speaker and preacher, had, after crowning himself, taken the name Nicholas V and begun to assemble his own college of cardinals[8]. The first antipapacy of the Avignon period had begun.
"News spread to England, where it quickly became rumored that Edward was going to join his father-in-law in the schism. This was not completely unjustified--Louis appears to have approached Edward on the matter, and Edward seems to have at least considered it. The outswell of public anger seem to have killed any such plans, and also convinced Edward to send his wife and younger children out of London to the north. And it was in this atmosphere that the Earl of Kent arrived in Cornwall at the head of a small band of men, accompanied by various Contrariants, among them Mortimer. Announcing his intentions to "restore order and the rule of law" to England, he promptly began a march on London, beginning the rising that would be named for him..."
--A Magnificent Counterfeit: the Life and Reign of Edward II of England, Jason Soames 1994
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Walter Stapledon, one of Edward II's few staunch loyalists.
[2] This was the case during the aftershocks of the war IOTL as well, with the major change being that Isabelle was amongst Mortimer's faction. Oh, and of course, they had Prince Edward.
[3] The middle brother of Edward I's vast brood. By most accounts, Thomas was quite a quarrelsome fellow.
[4] This happened post-war IOTL as well. Edward was justifiably put out.
[5] They were married around this time IOTL.
[6] IOTL, Edward, after pursuing a Hainaut match for some time, switched to looking at a Castilian one, though this seems to have partially about causing trouble for Isabelle and her coup plans.
[7] John XXII did this in response to the Spiritual Franciscans IOTL as well. The question was whether the Apostles owned their own clothes, and his answer was seen as a bit of... papal overreach, so to say. Medieval theological discussions tend to be both irritating and fascinating at the same time.
[8] This entire antipapacy happened IOTL.
- Space Oddity
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