This aspect of the performance is reflected in the ceremonies which were carried out: the bodies of the alleged king and queen were disinterred before a large audience at twilight. The chronicler reports that ‘there in two caskets were found the bones of the said king of wondrous size, and those of Guinevere, of marvellous beauty’ (though quite how bones are of particular beauty he regrettably does not explain). The next morning, Edward wrapped Arthur’s bones in silk, and Eleanor performed the same office for those of Guinevere. The bones were then returned to the caskets, which were then sealed with a certificate of authenticity by Edward and Eleanor respectively and removed to the monastery’s treasury until such time as a fit resting place could be prepared for them. The skulls, however, were left outside. The latter detail is not just faintly sinister, it also provides another powerful indication that the point of this event was not a romantic one but had a political purpose – to establish and publicise the deceased status and English location of the great Welsh hero. Any passing Welshman was to be left in no doubt that Arthur and Guinevere were very definitely dead.
However, there were also other resonances which the royal pair may have been positioning themselves to exploit. As mentioned above, Arthurian mania was generally running high, and the next few years would see the commencement of the fashion for ‘Round Tables’, where knights effectively identified themselves with Arthurian knights of legend. In claiming and reburying Arthur and Guinevere, Edward and Eleanor positioned themselves to be perceived as the new Arthur and Guinevere; and indeed in the years which followed this characterisation was to be picked up by their entourage and by the chroniclers, with John of London asserting that Edward had exceeded Arthur as well as Alexander. If it is tempting to regard this as an overly cynical approach, it is worth reviewing the use which was to be made of Arthurian resonances in the second Welsh campaign and the interesting circumstances of the foundation of Caernarfon (both of which will be discussed in Chapter 14). It is also worth bearing in mind that Edward later went on to deploy the Arthur myth in his arguments over Scottish jurisdiction, and that of Joseph of Arimathea (also said to have been based at Glastonbury) in certain disputes with the Church.
Two questions necessarily present themselves: did Eleanor and Edward know that the remains were a fraud? And whose idea was the whole show? We can know the answer to neither question, but probabilities present themselves. For the former, despite the certification, there has to be a suspicion that Edward was sophisticated enough to be a little sceptical, and Eleanor, with her interest in history, may well have made the effort to uncover the truth. Indeed, one cannot help suspecting that if they thought the bodies were genuine they would not have desecrated them by removing the skulls for display. As to the latter question, different commentators incline in different directions. In fact, it seems likely to have been an idea which would appeal to both. Aside from some shared interest in Arthurian romance, Edward had seen his father pick a model for his kingship in the form of the Confessor and use publicity to promote it; Eleanor’s family had form for exploiting myths to enhance family prestige. However, Eleanor’s interest in Arthurian literature is more marked than that of Edward. What is more, there appear to have been other occasions – particularly later in Wales – where Eleanor’s literary inclinations were used as a springboard for occasions which, though enjoyable in themselves, also had a considerable political point. It therefore seems very plausible that the driving force behind this occasion was Eleanor.30
Eleanor was never likely to miss a chance to visit her lands, so the period after this event was used for a whistle-stop tour which took in the northern Somerset properties and those in the New Forest before heading through Sussex and Chichester to the May/June parliament at Westminster. It was at this point that Joan of Acre rejoined her family, the elder portion of which was in residence at Westminster for the parliament, and the junior wing of which was then at the Tower. Thereafter in July there was time for a fairly decent stay at Windsor and a shorter one at Clarendon, before moving into the Marcher territories, presumably to review how the settlement was going, reaching Rhuddlan in September where, the results of the survey having been satisfactory, Llywelyn’s hostages were released. In reply, Llywelyn sent four hunting dogs to Edward and two greyhounds to Eleanor, showing that he had got to know them well enough to appreciate their interests. From Rhuddlan, the court made its way via Vale Royal and Eleanor’s dower property of Macclesfield to Worcester, where, in October 1278, the marriage of Llywelyn and Eleanor de Montfort finally took place, under Edward and Eleanor’s aegis. Thus Edward provided the wedding fee, and Eleanor gifted the bride with an elaborate kerchief. As soon as the wedding was over, it was time to return again to London for the autumn parliament, albeit with a short stay at Windsor to visit the younger children.
While this unwanted Welsh wedding proceeded smoothly, problems were emerging in Joan’s projected match. Rudolph, although crowned King of the Romans or King of Germany, was, like Richard of Cornwall before him, having difficulty in establishing his authority over the individual German territories. In such circumstances he could not afford to send his son, or the necessary accompanying guards, across to England for any period of time, and the match was put on hold. Young Berengaria, however, was not to reach even the precocious age at which a marriage could first be proposed for her: sometime in the period between June 1277, when a sum was paid to the woman who was her nurse, and the same date next year when the payment was to the woman who ‘had been’ her nurse, the youngest member of the family died, aged around eighteen months. She lies with her aunt Katherine and Edward and Eleanor’s other dead children in Westminster Abbey.31
At the same time, it was necessary to take steps with reference to the archbishopric of Canterbury, Robert Kilwardby having been promoted to Cardinal Bishop of Porto in mid-September. This provided Edward with a second opportunity to try to get the trusted Robert Burnell installed here, confident that Burnell was no Becket. On this occasion, Edward did not find his wishes impeded by the monks of Canterbury and he despatched a lawyer from Bologna to the papal court to try to get this consensus approved by the papacy. Also sent to assist in the good work was one John Pecham. A distinguished theologian who had taught at Oxford and disputed with Aquinas, he was formerly head of the Franciscans in England and thus would be deemed likely to find favour with the new Pope Nicholas III, whose father had been a close friend of St Francis.32
After the parliament in the middle of November, it was necessary to visit Norwich for the dedication of the cathedral, which took place on 26 November. However, rather typically, the journey, taken over the period of Eleanor’s birthday, was made via Newmarket, which was situated right between Eleanor’s Cambridgeshire holdings of Soham and Dullingham. Interestingly, this journey commenced with a one-night stay at Waltham Abbey, where Eleanor was later to be commemorated. Norwich itself offered a good base for inspection of the Burgh–Scottow–Aylsham grouping of properties, which Eleanor had acquired just a few months earlier from John de Burgh and which were to be a major centre of her holdings. Indeed, the visit then progressed directly to Burgh and the court seems to have remained there for some time, with the party only returning to Cambridge in mid-December, before heading to Windsor for a family Christmas and New Year.
After a short stay in Westminster in January, the party proceeded to Woodstock, where the whole of February was spent awaiting Eleanor’s latest baby. An interesting sidelight on this journey is that on the way there one of Eleanor’s damsels exchanged promises of marriage with one of the king’s marshals, a vignette which emphasises the familial nature of the peripatetic court party. So too does it show the high moral tone which was generally expected – this incident resulted in an episcopal inquiry later in the year.33
During this period, the news of the papal response to the request to install Robert Burnell in Canterbury was received – fairly unsurprisingly, Nicholas III was unwilling to accede to this plan. His solution, however, wa
s both surprising and witty – he instead nominated John Pecham. Pecham’s relations with both king and queen were to be, to put it politely, rather mixed. On the one hand, his academic distinction appealed to Eleanor, for whom he wrote a theological work; and his loathing of Welsh law, which he considered profoundly immoral, was very pleasing to Edward. Further, there are certainly signs of fairly friendly exchanges between them; for example, Pecham’s 1283 letter berating Eleanor for her stance on usury is topped and tailed by kind words about a consolatory letter she had sent him, venison despatched to him and a pretty chapel he had just completed and which he was sure she would like.
However, as an archbishop who criticised usury and pluralism, both of which were intrinsic features of Eleanor’s business dealings, he will inevitably have roused her anger on numerous occasions. Still more so, one cannot help thinking, did his habit of sending her letters of reprimand; a number of such letters survive, and more may well have existed. Nor did Edward find Pecham’s first move on returning to England – ordering the display of Magna Carta in every church – much to his taste. For his part, Pecham was to find Eleanor’s close association with one of his bêtes noires, the distinguished Dominican theologian William of Hotham, a matter for disapproval. Still more did he consider undesirable her habit of judging for herself on theological issues such as usury.34
The new baby, Mary, eventually arrived on 11 or 12 March 1279 and on this occasion Eleanor had to abandon the spring trip to Quenington, remaining at Woodstock with her household while the rest of the royal party moved into Gloucestershire, where the best part of the month was spent. But her lying-in was no peaceful event. Eleanor was busy acquiring new properties, in particular the wardship of some East Anglian lands proximate to her existing lands, and the inquiry into the marriage of her lady Amice de Weston was held in Eleanor’s chamber on 9 April. Such peace as there was was soon to be brought to an end, however. On 16 March, Eleanor’s mother, Jeanne of Dammartin, died. Eleanor was Countess of Ponthieu in her own right.
The news will probably have reached Eleanor and Edward at this point, or when they shortly afterwards reunited at or en route to Westminster. Jeanne had been in her fifty-ninth year and had made her will in 1276, so the news was probably no great shock; it was, however, of great significance for both, but particularly for Eleanor, who finally had a status in her own right. The importance of that status to her is evidenced by her later use of the Ponthevin arms, and Edward’s use of them in her commemorations. The news was probably not very heartbreaking – although Eleanor kept in touch with her mother, the contacts had not been close or frequent. In fact, the evidence suggests that of latter years they had consisted largely of requests for assistance, often financial, from Jeanne.35
The position on succession to Jeanne’s lands of Ponthieu and Aumale echoed the issue which arose in Castile. In Ponthieu, part of Picardy, customary law was that in the absence of an adult heir in the direct line the eldest living heir would succeed – to the exclusion of grandchildren in the direct line. Thus, so far as Ponthieu was concerned, it descended to Eleanor, regardless of the existence of her brother Ferdinand’s children. In Aumale, which was in Normandy, customary law was different, requiring that the senior heir of the direct line must succeed regardless of age. It is perhaps not surprising, given Eleanor’s fondness for property acquisition, that she and Edward initially tried to muddy the waters on this point by claiming Aumale as if it were part of Ponthieu. But it may actually have been a tactical step to strengthen their bargaining position, given that Jeanne had provided in her will for her eldest grandson, Jean, to inherit all the lands Jeanne had granted his father, all the lands she had purchased in her lifetime and the reversion of the lands held by her second husband for his life. It was also asserted by Jean that she had left him the maximum part of the county which she was able to leave by will under the law of Picardy (a fifth). Certainly, Eleanor and Edward’s approach enabled the issue to be brought into the court of the French king, and the claim to the fifth share in the county was ultimately defeated.
However, the inheritance was, quite apart from the succession dispute, not an unmixed blessing. Ponthieu had been in debt ever since Marie de Dammartin’s submission 1225, which involved ceding part of her lands. This had not been helped by the Dammartin ladies’ tastes for expensive second husbands. Marie’s had run up debts which had resulted in the sale of more land and Jeanne’s, Jean de Nesle, had assisted her to run up considerable debts to tradesmen – over £700 to the merchants of Arras alone. To avoid these debts ending up before the French king, Edward and Eleanor had to agree to assume the widower’s share of them, as well as Jeanne’s. It appears that considerable work was needed to sort through and reconcile all the debts: in 1279 and 1280, Eleanor’s auditor, John de Lovetot, with John de Vescy and Otho de Grandison, put in considerable work on an audit of the county’s finances.36
For the present, however, the news necessitated a trip to France; and fortunately one was already in the diary. Since late the previous year Robert Burnell and Otho de Grandison had been working on a treaty whereby the remaining issues from the 1259 Treaty of Paris could be resolved. This was scheduled for May. The royal couple crossed the Channel in early May, meeting up with Edward’s cousin Philip III and the returning John Pecham, en route from the papal curia, at Amiens. Also present, and completing the cousinly theme, was Charles of Salerno, who seems to have been a much more endearing character than his father, though plainly lacking his talents and force of character. It is notable that he even attracted positive reviews as a good and just man from an Aragonese chronicler, who was naturally disposed against the Angevin family. The fondness which Edward had for him was very clearly demonstrated by the fact that Charles continued to intercede with Edward on behalf of Guy de Montfort, the principal in Henry of Almain’s murder, even seeking the return of the Leicester lands to Guy, without receiving a rude or even a plain rebuff. Edward stonewalled with the utmost courtesy and even suggested that Guy’s representatives propose a deal to Otho de Grandison for consideration – and sent the various horses and dogs which Charles also requested. Given that Edward was continuing to hold Amaury de Montfort in captivity on the grounds of his alleged complicity, when it was plain that he had been a student in Padua at the time of the murder, this surely evidences affection between the two.37
So at Amiens, on 23 May, the Treaty of Paris of 1259 was ratified and the key territory of the Agenais made over to Edward as provided for in that treaty, twenty years before. Eleanor’s claim to Ponthieu was recognised by Philip, and Eleanor did homage to Philip as the new countess. The diplomatic accord was celebrated with the usual feasts and jousts, though Edward and Eleanor did not go on to the truly magnificent tournaments held in Charles of Salerno’s honour by the French king at Senlis and Compiègne, during the course of which the king’s brother Robert suffered life-changing head injuries.
Thereafter, Edward and Eleanor made a short tour of Ponthieu, staying in Abbeville and Crécy, before returning via Montreuil. Arrangements were made for the administration of the new territory thus joined to the English Crown, with Edward and Eleanor jointly appointing one Pierre Aucoste as their receiver, Sir Thomas de Sandwich as seneschal and her cousin William de Fiennes, who held most of his lands in the county, as custodian of the county. Administratively, the transition to the new rulership seems to have been relatively unproblematic, at least as regards the nobility, a fact which can probably be substantially put down to Eleanor’s extensive familial connections to the most important families of the region; she could claim kinship to the counts of Eu and Dreux, the lords of Pécquigny and Roncherolles, as well as the Fiennes.38
During this period, there is evidence that Eleanor, never one to miss a financial trick, continued her property acquisitions, this time in Ponthieu itself, where many of the noble class were financially straitened and welcomed the chance to dispose advantageously of some land. Such acquisitions continued for some period; in May 1281 the ki
ng and queen sent £1,000 from England to help pay for the purchase of new land there. Over the period from her accession to her death, Eleanor acquired no fewer than twenty-four properties in Ponthieu. Smaller purchases were also made while the royals were in Ponthieu – Blandurel apple trees (this apple still being much esteemed for the making of apple tarts), pet birds, silver ornaments for the queen’s books, and most notably the commissioning of the quasi-dynastic romance referred to as ‘un romanz de Isembart’. Probably, too, it was at this point that Eleanor made contact with Girard d’Amiens, who was to produce Escanor for her. At the same time, she did not neglect her English properties: one of the surviving letters from her concerns the church at Fordingbridge on the edge of her New Forest property and is dated from Le Gard in France.39
The return brought the party via Dover and Canterbury to Leeds Castle, acquired the previous summer. Rather typically it would appear that the royal party was actually on the road between Montreuil and Dover on Edward’s fortieth birthday on 17/18 June 1279; the 17th and 18th are blank days in the itinerary sandwiched between these destinations. Although Morris suggests there may have been celebrations at Dover Castle, there seems little sign of this – the stay there was only one night and the memorandum of the king’s arrival is dated 19 June. However, there seems little sign of the court paying much mind to birthdays at any point.40
If there were celebrations, they will have been at Leeds, to which the royal family was paying its first visit. After its acquisition in 1278, given that it had been passed from one debtor to the other, it obviously needed plenty of work doing to it to make it a suitable venue for the court. In all likelihood, it was still very substantially a building site in 1279 when the visit was made. After the break at Leeds, there was a stay in London for the summer parliament and then a lengthy stop at Windsor Castle, presumably with the children, for the rest of July.
Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen Page 41