Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster and his descendants
EDMUND PLANTAGENET, surnamed Crouchback Earl of Lancaster, younger son of King HENRY III., was born at London, in February 1245 and when he had attained his eighth year was solemnly invested by the pope, in the kingdom of Sicily and Apulia. About this time too, he was made Earl of Chester. But neither of these honours turned out eventually of much value, for the real king of Sicily, Conrad, was then living; and the Earldom of Chester is said to have been transferred to the prince’s elder brother, Edward, afterwards EDWARD I. He soon obtained, however, both possessions and dignities, for upon the forfeiture of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, the king, by letters patent, granted him the inheritance of the Earldom of Leicester, as also the honour and stewardship of England ; with the lands likewise of Nicolas de Segrave, an associate in the treason of Montfort. And the next ensuing year he had another grant from the crown of all the goods and chattels, whereof Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, was possessed upon the day of the skirmish at Chesterfield. He subsequently had grants of the honour of Derby, with the castles, manors, and lands, of the said Robert de Ferrers; and the honour of Leicester, with all the lands of Simon de Montford, late Earl of Leicester ; to hold to himself and the heirs of his body. About the 54th Henry III. the Earl went into the Holy Land, and returned within two years. In the reign of Edward I. he was in the Scottish wars and had the grants which he had received from his father confirmed, with additional castles, manors, and lands of great extent. In the 21st of that reign he procured license from the crown to make a castle of his house, in the parish of St. Clement’s Danes, in the county of Middlesex, called the Savoy, And founded the nunnery, called the Minoresses, without Aldgate, in the suburbs of London. He was afterwards in the Welsh wars ; and then proceeded to France, being sent with the Earl of Lincoln, and twenty-six bannerets, into Gascony. He eventually invested Bordeaux, but not succeeding in its reduction, the disappointment affected him so severely, that it brought on a disease which terminated his life in the year 1295. The prince’s remains were brought over to England, and honourably interred in Westminster Abbey. Upon his death-bed, he directed “that his body should not be buried ‘till his debts were paid.” This Earl espoused first, AVELINE, (daughter of William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle), Countess of Holderness, heir to her father, and by her mother, Countess of Devon and the Isle of Wight, but this great heiress d. the following year, without issue. This prince, m. 2ndly., Blanche, daughter of Robert, Earl of Artois, (third son of Lewis VIII., King of France), and widow of Henry, King of Navarre, by whom he had surviving issue,
THOMAS, his successor.
HENRY, of whom hereafter, as restored Earl of Lancaster.
His highness was s. by his elder son,
THOMAS PLANTAGENET, Earl of Lancaster, who, in the 26th Edward I., doing his homage, being then esteemed of full age by the king, had livery of his lands, except the dowry of Blanche, his mother ; and thereupon marched into Scotland, the king himself being in the expedition. The earl, who was hereditary sheriff of Lancashire, substituted Richard de Hoghton, his deputy in that office. For the remainder of this reign, the Earl of Lancaster was constantly employed in the wars of Scotland. In the 4th Edward II., having espoused Alice, only daughter and heiress of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, he had livery of the Castle of Denbigh, and other lands of her inheritance ; his homage for them being performed the ensuing year, in the presence of (livers bishops, earls and barons, and other of the king’s council, in a certain chamber, within the house of the Friars Preachers, in London. The Earl is said to have borne the title of Earl of Lincoln, in right of this lady after his decease, she married Eubold le Strange, who d.s.p., and thirdly, Hugh le Frenes ; the which Eubold and Hugh, are deemed, by many writers, to have been Earls of Lincoln. The said Alice styled herself Countess of Lincoln and Salisbury, and d. issueless in 1348. in the 5th Edward II., the Earl of Lancaster joined the confederation against Piers Gaveston, and was made their general those nobles and great personages, who had united for a redress of grievances. It is said that his father-in-law, Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, had charged him upon his death-bed, to maintain the quarrel against Gaveston, and that thereupon he joined with the Earl of Warwick, and caused the favourite to be put to death. From this period, he was never fully restored to the confidence of the king, but was esteemed the great champion of the popular party, in whose cause he eventually laid down his life; for taking up arms against the Spencers, he was made prisoner in a skirmish at Boroughbridge, and being thence conveyed to Pontefract, was be headed on a plain without the town, (where a beautiful church was after wards erected, in honour of his memory), in April, 1321. Dugdale details the event that immediately preceded the earl’s untimely death, thus—” That being come to Boroughbridge, he there found Sir Andrew de Harcla, warden of Carlisle, and the Marches, and Sir Simon Ward, sheriff of Yorkshire, ready to encounter him. Where relating to Harcla his just quarrel to the Spencers, he (the earl) promised him, if he would favour his cause, to give him one of those five earldoms which he had in possession ; and that Harcla refusing, he told him he would soon repent it, and that he should die a shameful death (as it afterwards happened.) Also, that Harcla, then causing his archers to shoot, the fight began, in which many of this earl’s party being slain, he betook himself to chapel, refusing to yield to Harcla, and looking to the crucifix, said, ‘Good Lord, I render myself to thee, and put myself into thy mercy,’ Also, that they then took off his coat armour, and putting upon him one of his men’s liveries, carried him by water to York, where they threw balls of dirt at him. Moreover, that from thence, they brought him back to the king at Pontefract castle, and there put him in a tower, towards the abbey, which he had newly made. Likewise, that soon after, being brought into the hall, he had sentence of death, by these justices :—Aymer, Earl of Pembroke, Edmund, Earl of Kent, John de Bretaigne, and Sir Robert Malmethorpe, who pronounced the judgment. ‘Whereupon, saying, shall I die without answer ? A certain Gascoigne took him away, and put a pill’d broken hood on his head, and set him on a lean white jade, without a bridle; and that then he added, ‘King of Heaven, have mercy on me, for the king of earth nôus ad guerthi.’ And that thus he was carried, some throwing pellots of dirt at him, (having a Fryer-preacher for his confessor), to an hill without the town, where he kneeled down towards the east, until one Hugin de Muston caused him to turn his face towards Scotland, and then a villain of London, cut off his head. After which, the prior and monks obtaining his body from the king, buried it on the right hand of the high altar. The day of his death was certainly upon the Monday next, preceding the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. Touching his merits,” continues the same authority, “there happened afterwards very great disputes: some thinking it fit that he should be accounted a saint, because he was so charitable, and so much an honour of the religious; as also that he died in a just cause; but chiefly because his persecutors came within a short period to untimely ends. On the other side many there were who taxed him for adultery, in keeping of sundry women, notwithstanding he had a wife. Aspersing him likewise for cruelty, in putting to death some persons for small offences; and protecting some for punishment who were transgressors of the laws ; alleging also, that he was chiefly swayed by one of his secretaries ; and that lie did not fight stoutly for justice, but fled, and was taken unarmed. Nevertheless many miracles were reported to have been afterwards wrought in the place where his corps was buried; much confluence of people coming thereto, in honour thereof, till the king, through the incitation of the Spensers, set guards to restrain them. Whereupon they flocked to the place where he suffered death; and so much the more eagerly, as endeavours had been used to restrain them, until a church was erected on the place where he suffered.” All the honours of this prince became forfeited under his attainder: yet his brother and heir, (having himself no issue,)
HENRY PLANTAGENET, being a distinguished soldier in the Scottish wars, had livery of his lands in the 17th Edward II., and was restored to the dignity of Earl of Leicester. This prince was subsequently one of the leaders in the great confederacy which overturned the power of the Spencers, and deposed King EDWARD II. Upon the accession of EDWARD III., the earl had the honour of girding him with the sword of knighthood, and as soon as the new monarch was crowned, he was appointed, the king being a minor, his guardian. After which, in the parliament begun at Westminster, the attainder against his brother being reversed, he was restored to all the lands of his father and brother, with the Earldoms of Lancaster and Leicester, and the same year (1st Ed ward III.), he was constituted Captain-General of all the king’s forces in the marches of Scotland. The earl m. Maud, daughter and heiress of Sir Patrick Chaworth, Knt., and had issue,
HENRY, Earl of Derby, his successor.
Maud, m. 1st, to William de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, by whom the had an only dau. and heiress,
ELIZABETH DE BURGH m. to Lionel, Duke of Clarence.
The Lady Maud espoused, 2ndly, Ralph de Ufford, Justice of Ireland, temp. Edward III., and brother of Robert, Earl of Suffolk, by whom she had an only daughter,
MAUD, m. to Thomas, son of John de Vere, Earl of Oxford.
Blanch, m. to Thomas, Lord Wake, of Lydell, and d. issueless,
Eleanor, m. 1st, to John, son and heir of Henry, Earl of Buchan and 2ndly, to Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel.
Jane, m. to John, Lord Mowbray.
Isabel, prioress of Ambresbury.
His lordship d. in 1345, and was succeeded by his son,
HENRY PLANTAGENET, who having distinguished himself in the life time of his father, in the Scottish wars, was made captain general of all the king’s forces there, had considerable grants from the crown, and was created Earl of Derby, (11th Edward III.) The next year he was with the king in the wars of Flanders, as he was in two years afterwards in the great naval engagement with the French, off Sluges. In the 15th Edward III. we find the prince again in the wars of Scotland, being then the king’s lieutenant for the northern parts of England, and general of ins army against the Scots : in which capacity he was authorised to treat of peace. After this, as Earl of Derby, (his father still alive,) he be came one of the first and most successful captains of the age, reducing no less than fifty-six French cities and places of note to the dominion of the king of England, and taking immense treasure in gold. In the year of those great exploits his father died, so that he was prevented assisting the deceased earl’s funeral. He had afterwards a chief command at the siege of Calais, bearing then the title of Earl of Lancaster, Derby, and Leicester, and Steward of England ; at which time he had, of his own retinue, eight hundred men at arms, and two thousand archers, with thirty banners, which cost him, in hospitality, a daily disbursement of one hundred pounds. In the 22nd Edward III., after having had previously for his brilliant services extensive grants from the crown, he was made the king’s lieutenant in Flanders and France, and the next year was created, by letters patent, Earl of Lincoln, soon after which he was constituted the king’s lieutenant and captain-general in Poictou, made a Knight of the Garter, and created Duke of Lancaster. To the latter high dignity he was raised in full parliament, and invested with power to have a chancery in the county of Lancaster, arid to enjoy all other liberties and royalties appertaining to a county palatine, in as ample a manner as the Earls of Chester did, in the county palatine of Chester. About this time, too he was constituted admiral of the king’s whole fleet westward. The same year, having obtained licence to go abroad to fight against the infidels, he was surprised in his journey, and forced to pay a large ransom for his liberty: which surprisal having occurred through the Duke of Brunswick’s means, the English prince expressed his resentment in language so unmeasured, that the duke sent him a challenge, which being accepted, a day was appointed for the combat: but when it arrived, the Duke of Brunswick was so panic-struck, that he could not wield his shield, sword, or lance ; while the Duke of Lancaster, with the most undaunted firmness, in vain awaited his attack. They were, however, afterwards reconciled, by the interference of the French monarch; and thus the English prince acquired great renown for personal valour, while his adversary was covered with disgrace. The close of this heroic nobleman’s martial career was quite as splendid as its opening, and after a most brilliant course of achievements, he d. in 1360, deeply lamented by all classes of his countrymen, including his gallant companions in arms: he lived in one of the most glorious periods of English history, and he was himself the first actor in that splendid era. The prince married Isabel, daughter of Henry, Lord Beaumont, and left two daughters, his coheirs: viz.
MAUD, m. 1st, to Ralph, son and heir of Ralph, Lord Stafford, and 2ndly, to William, Duke of Zealand, and d.s.p.
BLANCH, m. to John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond, fourth son of King EDWARD III.