alternatehistory.com
1337: The Low Countries
1337: WAR BY OTHER MEANS
"...By 1337, Prince Edward had become convinced a grand coalition such as his grandfather had attempted was the only means to counteract the French, and save his gains in Scotland and his holdings in Gascony. In this, he had the support of the most fervent of the war party, most notably Henry Burghresh, Bishop of Lincoln[1]. He also received assistance from an unexpected source--King John managed to alienate Low Country nobles with almost flamboyant aplomb, turning the Prince's aging father-in-law, William of Hainault, from a man cagily clinging to neutrality into a fevered anti-French tyro. And yet despite all this, the alliance would still require great efforts and funds from the Prince to pull off. The nobles of the Low Country were a fractious lot at the best of times, ruling for the most part over small and vulnerable fiefs often geographically divided and thus even harder to defend. They required a great deal of coaxing, as well as a great deal of bribing, before they would put themselves in the path of the French colossus...
"Burghresh set out, assisted by several English merchants well-acquainted with the Low Country nobility. His task was formidable, even with the friendship of the German Emperor and the Count of Hainault... He arrived in May at the city of Valenciennes, accompanied by the Earls of Cornwall and Gloucester[2]. There he would meet with the Counts of Hainault, Guelders, Cleves, Namur, and Aalst, the Margrave of Juliers, the Duke of Brabant, various lesser princes, and representatives from the Archbishop of Cologne and Emperor Louis[3]. Not there, despite being invited, was the Count of Flanders, as Louis of Nevers seemed quite dedicated to demonstrating his utter submission to French interests... This gathering of Low Country and Rhineland elites was in itself a testimony to the fear and alarm that John of France had inspired in the region. The resulting list of demands that they sent to the King of France was a further demonstration. John was instructed to abandon the recently purchased castles of the Cambrai, to cease aiding the Scottish rebels, to reach some sort of equitable arrangement with the Prince of Wales as regards Aquitaine, and to give safe passages to various French nobles who had fallen afoul of the court in the constant feuding of recent years and were now living in exile in either England or the Empire[4].
"This would have been an extraordinary list of demands for a milder-tempered monarch than John to accept--it seems to have been produced more as a pro forma excuse than as a true start of negotiations. It is perhaps tragic that it was delivered by perhaps one of the only people among the Lowland nobility who still hoped for peace in this affair, Joan of Valois, Countess of Hainault, to one of the only French nobles who still desired it, her brother Philip, Duke of Anjou, especially as its only real effect was to convince King John that his Grand Master could not be trusted. This unjust impression was only increased when the Cogge de Flandre, one of the largest merchant vessels in the King's possession, was captured bringing supplies to the Scots shortly after this meeting, something John was convinced was the result of espionage[5]... John's official response to the demands was that he was the King of France, and he would not have his business meddled in by a "pack of curs". As for the Prince of Wales, he was John's subject "as regards Aquitaine" and would be so for as long as he held the duchy. It would be far better, John suggested, that he realize that instead of offending God by upsetting the proper order of things in futile rebellion. Finally, as regards the exiles, they were wretches and traitors the lot of them and his foes showed what sort of people they were by consorting with them...
"Edward had spent a small fortune during the conference bribing the attendees with gifts--this perhaps proved less effective than John's high-vaulting reply, which alienated his opponents beyond rapprochement for the immediate future. Still both were probably necessary--the Prince's league was a barely cohesive alliance and likely to remain so. Perhaps the most powerful immediate member was the Duke of Brabant, who joined already existing doubts with a quarrel with one of the most enthusiastic members, Reginald the Black, Count of Guelders, who was also the Duke's father-in-law[6]. This was a significant source of the quarrel--the appropriately nicknamed Reginald had grown tired of his wife, and accused her of suffering from leprosy as an excuse to abandon the mortified lady to a nunnery[7]. Matters such as this required a certain amount of diplomatic lubrication to overcome. In the case of Brabant, it required hefty bribes--the Duke was promised at least 60,000 to be paid over the next four years--and the offer of turning Brussels into the new center of the English wool trade to make him swallow this pride. The other members of the alliance generally required lesser, but still substantial payments[8].
"Emperor Louis was among these. Even with the provocation of the Cambrai palaces, conflict with France was not something he could lightly pursue. His feud with Avignon was only barely made up, and John XXIII was quickly proving as quarrelsome as John XXII had been. Hostile relations with France would open it all back up again, even as Louis tried to attend to matters in the eastern sections of his fractious realm. But in the end, the Prince won his support with a hefty bribe. Louis was well-to-do for a German Emperor, but in recent times, that did not mean very much. He could hardly afford to turn away ready money, and did not. Besides, the matter of palaces and John of France's overbearing tone were things that required an answer... Louis pledged troops, and, unable to send them himself, declared the Prince of Wales his Imperial Vicar in the Low Countries[9], giving the English cause a draught of badly needed legitimacy...
"...William of Hainault lived to see the seeds he'd planted for his young son-in-law bear shoots, but not much more--he died towards the end of the year[10]. This put Hainault's commitment in the hands of William's son, a far shakier figure. The war had barely begun, and already the league had lost a linchpin..."
This Terrible Majesty (Vol. 1): Prince and Steward by Augusta Lyme (1978)
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[1] Burghresh was one of the most prominent war voices in Edward's inner circle IOTL--his ascendancy was a sign that Edward had made his mind up on foreign policy.
[2] These are Edward's full brother, John of Eltham, who was dead at this point IOTL, and our friend Gilbert Despenser. IOTL, Burghresh was accompanied by William Montague, Earl of Salisbury and William Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon.
[3] This about who attended IOTL, though the Duke of Brabant did not attend himself, instead sending a representative. Blame King John's charming personality.
[4] IOTL discussion was dominated on the matter of the most prominent of these, Robert of Artois, who Philip of Valois had rather pointedly hounded from the Low Countries.
[5] John is being unfair here--Philip lost the same ship, most likely because it was simply too obvious a target.
[6] IOTL, Reginald was, again, Edward's brother-in-law. Edward was infinitely less willing to raise a fuss over his sister's abuse than the Duke of Brabant ITTL is about his daughter's.
[7] Eleanor suffered the same treatment IOTL, though being her, she responded to this accusation by publicly disrobing to prove it false. She had moxie.
[8] Edward paid similar amounts IOTL. I'd like to say it was money well spent, but I'd be lying.
[9] Edward was likewise made Imperial Vicar IOTL.
[10] William has lived a bit longer than OTL, but only a bit. For those wondering, his son is another William.
"...By 1337, Prince Edward had become convinced a grand coalition such as his grandfather had attempted was the only means to counteract the French, and save his gains in Scotland and his holdings in Gascony. In this, he had the support of the most fervent of the war party, most notably Henry Burghresh, Bishop of Lincoln[1]. He also received assistance from an unexpected source--King John managed to alienate Low Country nobles with almost flamboyant aplomb, turning the Prince's aging father-in-law, William of Hainault, from a man cagily clinging to neutrality into a fevered anti-French tyro. And yet despite all this, the alliance would still require great efforts and funds from the Prince to pull off. The nobles of the Low Country were a fractious lot at the best of times, ruling for the most part over small and vulnerable fiefs often geographically divided and thus even harder to defend. They required a great deal of coaxing, as well as a great deal of bribing, before they would put themselves in the path of the French colossus...
"Burghresh set out, assisted by several English merchants well-acquainted with the Low Country nobility. His task was formidable, even with the friendship of the German Emperor and the Count of Hainault... He arrived in May at the city of Valenciennes, accompanied by the Earls of Cornwall and Gloucester[2]. There he would meet with the Counts of Hainault, Guelders, Cleves, Namur, and Aalst, the Margrave of Juliers, the Duke of Brabant, various lesser princes, and representatives from the Archbishop of Cologne and Emperor Louis[3]. Not there, despite being invited, was the Count of Flanders, as Louis of Nevers seemed quite dedicated to demonstrating his utter submission to French interests... This gathering of Low Country and Rhineland elites was in itself a testimony to the fear and alarm that John of France had inspired in the region. The resulting list of demands that they sent to the King of France was a further demonstration. John was instructed to abandon the recently purchased castles of the Cambrai, to cease aiding the Scottish rebels, to reach some sort of equitable arrangement with the Prince of Wales as regards Aquitaine, and to give safe passages to various French nobles who had fallen afoul of the court in the constant feuding of recent years and were now living in exile in either England or the Empire[4].
"This would have been an extraordinary list of demands for a milder-tempered monarch than John to accept--it seems to have been produced more as a pro forma excuse than as a true start of negotiations. It is perhaps tragic that it was delivered by perhaps one of the only people among the Lowland nobility who still hoped for peace in this affair, Joan of Valois, Countess of Hainault, to one of the only French nobles who still desired it, her brother Philip, Duke of Anjou, especially as its only real effect was to convince King John that his Grand Master could not be trusted. This unjust impression was only increased when the Cogge de Flandre, one of the largest merchant vessels in the King's possession, was captured bringing supplies to the Scots shortly after this meeting, something John was convinced was the result of espionage[5]... John's official response to the demands was that he was the King of France, and he would not have his business meddled in by a "pack of curs". As for the Prince of Wales, he was John's subject "as regards Aquitaine" and would be so for as long as he held the duchy. It would be far better, John suggested, that he realize that instead of offending God by upsetting the proper order of things in futile rebellion. Finally, as regards the exiles, they were wretches and traitors the lot of them and his foes showed what sort of people they were by consorting with them...
"Edward had spent a small fortune during the conference bribing the attendees with gifts--this perhaps proved less effective than John's high-vaulting reply, which alienated his opponents beyond rapprochement for the immediate future. Still both were probably necessary--the Prince's league was a barely cohesive alliance and likely to remain so. Perhaps the most powerful immediate member was the Duke of Brabant, who joined already existing doubts with a quarrel with one of the most enthusiastic members, Reginald the Black, Count of Guelders, who was also the Duke's father-in-law[6]. This was a significant source of the quarrel--the appropriately nicknamed Reginald had grown tired of his wife, and accused her of suffering from leprosy as an excuse to abandon the mortified lady to a nunnery[7]. Matters such as this required a certain amount of diplomatic lubrication to overcome. In the case of Brabant, it required hefty bribes--the Duke was promised at least 60,000 to be paid over the next four years--and the offer of turning Brussels into the new center of the English wool trade to make him swallow this pride. The other members of the alliance generally required lesser, but still substantial payments[8].
"Emperor Louis was among these. Even with the provocation of the Cambrai palaces, conflict with France was not something he could lightly pursue. His feud with Avignon was only barely made up, and John XXIII was quickly proving as quarrelsome as John XXII had been. Hostile relations with France would open it all back up again, even as Louis tried to attend to matters in the eastern sections of his fractious realm. But in the end, the Prince won his support with a hefty bribe. Louis was well-to-do for a German Emperor, but in recent times, that did not mean very much. He could hardly afford to turn away ready money, and did not. Besides, the matter of palaces and John of France's overbearing tone were things that required an answer... Louis pledged troops, and, unable to send them himself, declared the Prince of Wales his Imperial Vicar in the Low Countries[9], giving the English cause a draught of badly needed legitimacy...
"...William of Hainault lived to see the seeds he'd planted for his young son-in-law bear shoots, but not much more--he died towards the end of the year[10]. This put Hainault's commitment in the hands of William's son, a far shakier figure. The war had barely begun, and already the league had lost a linchpin..."
This Terrible Majesty (Vol. 1): Prince and Steward by Augusta Lyme (1978)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Burghresh was one of the most prominent war voices in Edward's inner circle IOTL--his ascendancy was a sign that Edward had made his mind up on foreign policy.
[2] These are Edward's full brother, John of Eltham, who was dead at this point IOTL, and our friend Gilbert Despenser. IOTL, Burghresh was accompanied by William Montague, Earl of Salisbury and William Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon.
[3] This about who attended IOTL, though the Duke of Brabant did not attend himself, instead sending a representative. Blame King John's charming personality.
[4] IOTL discussion was dominated on the matter of the most prominent of these, Robert of Artois, who Philip of Valois had rather pointedly hounded from the Low Countries.
[5] John is being unfair here--Philip lost the same ship, most likely because it was simply too obvious a target.
[6] IOTL, Reginald was, again, Edward's brother-in-law. Edward was infinitely less willing to raise a fuss over his sister's abuse than the Duke of Brabant ITTL is about his daughter's.
[7] Eleanor suffered the same treatment IOTL, though being her, she responded to this accusation by publicly disrobing to prove it false. She had moxie.
[8] Edward paid similar amounts IOTL. I'd like to say it was money well spent, but I'd be lying.
[9] Edward was likewise made Imperial Vicar IOTL.
[10] William has lived a bit longer than OTL, but only a bit. For those wondering, his son is another William.
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