Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem team
[Nottingham history]
- Brewhouse Yard
- caves
- [Mortimer]
- lace
- Nottingham castle
- Robin Hood
- Third Crusade
the capture of Roger Mortimer
 |
the entrance to Mortimer's Hole |
The capture of Roger Mortimer at Nottingham Castle in 1330 was the culmination of almost a quarter of a century of rebellion and murders.
execution of a favourite
The early years of Edward II's reign were bedevilled by quarrels
with the barons who were disturbed -- as his father Edward I had
been -- by his (possibly homosexual) infatuation with Piers Gaveston.
As soon as he ascended the throne in 1307, Gaveston, son of a
Gascon noble, returned from exile, was made Earl of Cornwall and
was appointed guardian of the kingdom when the king departed for
France to marry Isabella, the daughter of Philip IV and reputedly
one of the most beautiful women of her time. The indignant nobles
combined to compel Edward to banish Gaveston, and he was sent
away twice, but by Christmas 1311, he was back with the king.
The earls took up arms, besieged Gaveston at Scarborough and captured
him. Then, in 1312, a group of them -- led by Thomas, Earl of
Lancaster, the king's cousin and the richest noble of them all
-- sentenced him, on dubious grounds, to death for treason. Edward
never forgave those whom he held responsible for his friend's
execution.
The victory of the Scots at Bannockburn two years later added to the king's humiliation. As a result of this defeat, he was forced to give in to the de facto take-over of government by Lancaster, the man he blamed for Gaveston's death.
arrogance and greed
Between 1315 and 1317, Edward gradually formed a group of allies
from among the aristocracy, and by 1318, he was in a position
to reassert his authority. However, the following year, his inadequacy
as a military leader was demonstrated again with the Scots' capture
of Berwick -- which, with Bannockburn, removed virtually every
trace of his father's conquests in the north. He also showed himself
still susceptible to the blandishments of an arrogant and greedy
favourite - this time, Hugh Despenser. The latter's predations,
especially in the Welsh Marches, allowed Lancaster - despite a
personality so alienating that all his previous allies and his wife had left him -- to lead a widespread anti-Despenser
movement that, in 1321, resulted in civil war.
Lancaster's popularity was already waning again -- he had made a political error in seeking Scottish aid - when he was defeated at Boroughbridge. Six days later, Edward had him executed for treason. It had been almost 250 years since a man of his rank had been put to death for rebellion, but the king, determined to avenge Gaveston, would not be stopped. There followed more executions and a reign of terror. After destroying their principal opponents, Edward, Despenser and the latter's son set about enriching themselves with scant regard for law or justice.
murderers and malcontents
When Charles IV of France seized Edward's territories in that
country, the English king sent Charles' sister Isabella -- who
after Gaveston's death had managed to bear Edward four children,
including the future Edward III, who now accompanied her - to
effect an amicable arrangement. She despised her husband, hated
the Despensers and now fell in love with Roger Mortimer who, condemned
to life imprisonment for rebellion, had escaped from the Tower
in 1324 and fled to the French court.
In Paris, Isabella became Mortimer's mistress. When she refused to return to England, it became clear to the population, among whom she enjoyed a great deal of support, that the Despensers' ascendancy had led to the complete alienation of their queen. In September 1326, Isabella and Mortimer landed on the Suffolk coast with a small force of malcontents. The Despensers were executed. Edward, who was so unpopular by then that no one would obey his orders, fled but was captured and taken to Kenilworth. In January 1327, Parliament accepted a damning - and largely accurate -- indictment of his rule, concluding that, since he was 'incorrigible without hope of amendment', he should be deposed. Edward abdicated in favour of his 14-year-old son and was imprisoned in Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.
However, while he lived, he remained a potential threat to Mortimer and Isabella, and attempts to rescue him sealed his fate. It was later announced that he died at Berkeley on 21 September. Almost certainly he was murdered, perhaps in a particularly gruesome fashion.
The young king still did as his mother told him, and for three years, she and her lover Mortimer were the virtual rulers of England. However, they were soon faced with gathering resentment of their ostentatious life-style and policies. The avaricious Mortimer exploited his position hugely, taking the bulk of the Despenser estates in south Wales and then, in 1328, giving himself the title Earl of March. Edward II's murder, the humiliating treaty of Northampton -- in which they recognised Robert Bruce's kingship and renounced all claims to Scotland, in return for £20,000, most of which found its way into their private coffers -- and the execution of the king's uncle, Edmund, Earl of Kent, were all laid at their door. Edward III, now 17 and increasingly asserting himself, was more than aware of the destruction of his kingdom being carried out by his mother and her lover.
Mortimer captured
In October 1330, the court came to Nottingham where a Parliament
was to be held. Edward -- with his wife of two years, Philippa
of Hainault, and his infant son, the future Black Prince -- lodged
in the town, while Mortimer and Isabella remained in the castle, protected by Welsh mercenaries. In the dead of night on 18/19
October, the king, the castle's constable William de Eland and
24 men arrived at a thicket in the park to the west of the castle.
In the dark, they failed to meet up with their fellow conspirators,
but undaunted, they proceeded with their task, entering the castle
through a 'postern in the park'. Then, according to one account,
they 'mounted the stairs leading to the upper bailey and entered
the hall where the queen was sitting in council'.
As the conspirators burst in, two of the queen's supporters cried out and tried to protect Mortimer. They were struck down and Mortimer was overpowered as he tried to arm himself and raise the alarm. By morning, he was on his way to London, and the castle had been secured for the king.
The following month, Mortimer was executed, survived by his wife Joan, by whom he had had 11 children. Isabella was forced to forfeit her estates, but the substantial annual allowance of £3,000 she received from the king enabled her to live very comfortably until, towards the end of her life, she joined the Poor Clares. She has not enjoyed a favourable press since 1327, and is still widely known by the nickname given her by the poet Thomas Gray -- the 'She-wolf of France'.
