The Plantagenets: History of a Dynasty

by J. S. Hamilton

  Another area in which Edward III showed himself to be rather conventional was in his devotion to his family, and to the Plantagenet dynasty more broadly. Edward and Philippa were blessed with a remarkably large family – five sons and four daughters surviving into adulthood. Although Shakespeare and many subsequent historians would trace the problems of the fifteenth century back to this unwieldy brood, neither Edward nor his contemporaries viewed this as other than a sign of divine approbation. Of course, providing for such a large family was a great challenge. Since the loss of their overseas possessions, the Plantagenet kings from Henry III onward had faced the necessity of assigning English earldoms to their sons, a not entirely satisfactory solution, as recently demonstrated in the reign of Edward II. From the 1340s until the final decade of his reign, Edward III took a rather different approach as he worked to balance and merge his own policies and ambitions with the interests and needs of his family.

  Edward’s concern for his family, in a broad sense, commenced as soon as he asserted himself in Nottingham in 1330. As discussed earlier, at the ensuing parliament, he restored the heir of his uncle Edmund, earl of Kent, and also pardoned all those involved in the recent revolt of Henry of Lancaster. A further sign of his reconciliation with the house of Lancaster was his continuing support for the canonization of Thomas of Lancaster, a popular political martyr since his execution after Boroughbridge in 1322. In his own generation, Edward rewarded Henry of Lancaster’s son, Henry of Grosmont, with large annuities ‘for the special affection which the king bears him’. In 1337, Grosmont became earl of Derby, linking him with the king’s other favourites. Any doubt about the value of creating solidarity in the royal family was removed during the crisis of 1340–1341: that Henry of Derby chose not to play the contrariant role that Thomas of Lancaster had played in 1311 had been crucial to Edward’s survival. Had he thrown his weight behind Archbishop Stratford and the parliamentary opposition, events might have turned out very differently. Instead, he remained a trusted lieutenant of his cousin for the rest of his life.

  In the aftermath of the crisis of 1340–1341, Edward’s political designs for his family became increasingly clear. In 1342, Edward III’s second son, the 4-year-old Lionel of Antwerp, was betrothed to Elizabeth de Burgh, heiress to the earldom of Ulster. Soon thereafter, Elizabeth’s recently widowed mother Maud (sister of Henry of Grosmont) was married to Ralph de Ufford, who would be appointed Justiciar of Ireland in 1344. At the same time, in 1342, Henry of Grosmont was granted Carmarthen, while in 1343 Prince Edward was appointed Prince of Wales. The inquiries into landholding and the behaviour of local officials that these various lords carried out in 1343–1344 clearly demonstrated Edward III’s policy of reimposing effective royal lordship throughout his entire realm.

  In 1342, Edward’s third son, John of Gaunt, received the title earl of Richmond, a title that had long been connected with the dukes of Brittany, and must be seen as part of Edward’s wider ambitions. No further English titles were bestowed on any of Edward’s children between 1343 and 1362, while during this same period only Edmund of Langley and Isabella received any English territories. Moreover, by 1358, only one of the king’s children had been married, and his only grandchild was the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp and Elizabeth de Burgh, Philippa of Ulster. Some of this was simply a result of chance. Marriage negotiations had been undertaken with Flanders in the 1340s and with Brittany in the 1350s only to have fallen through, and Joan had died of the plague on her way to Spain in 1348. Isabella was betrothed to the heir of the important Gascon lordship of Albret in 1351, but simply refused to consent to the union.

  Still, all of these failed marriages were continental rather than English, and illustrate Edward’s overall policy to expand the reach of the Plantagenet dynasty.

  If we accept that the settlements arranged in the Treaty of Berwick in 1357 and Brétigny in 1360 were not entirely satisfactory – Berwick making no mention of English suzerainty and Brétigny, while recognizing English sovereignty in Aquitaine, requiring the renunciation of the claim to the French crown as well as suzerainty in northern France – both arrangements left considerable room for the next generation to advance the Plantagenet cause. They also prompted the king to return his consideration to the family’s position within Britain. In 1358–1359, Princess Margaret was betrothed to John Hastings, earl of Pembroke, while Philippa of Ulster was betrothed to Edmund Mortimer, son and heir of the earl of March. These unions, especially the combination of the de Burgh and Mortimer holdings in Ireland, greatly consolidated the position of the royal family in the Celtic west. It is no coincidence that, in 1361, Lionel of Antwerp finally became king’s lieutenant in Ireland and the first member of the royal house to set foot in Ireland since King John. Meanwhile, John of Gaunt was married to Blanche, the youngest daughter and co-heiress of Henry of Grosmont, duke of Lancaster. As it turned out, by 1362, both Henry and his eldest daughter Maud had died, and John succeeded to the entire massive Lancastrian inheritance. He became, almost by default, the natural representative of the English government in the Scottish March.

  A similar pattern can be discerned in Edward’s continental undertakings after 1360. The creation of the prince of Wales as prince of Aquitaine in July 1362 was a circumvention of the treaty of Brétigny, especially as Edward III immediately took the role of superior lord for the new principality. Meanwhile, he continued to exercise suzerainty in Brittany, where he recognized the claims of his ward John de Montfort, was had recently been married to the king’s daughter Mary.

  Edward also entered into negotiations aimed at arranging a marriage between Margaret, heiress to Flanders and Burgundy, and his fourth son, Edmund of Langley. Arguably, it is this broad family settlement, both in Britain and abroad, that allowed Edward to condone the unlikely marriage of his eldest son Edward to his cousin Joan of Kent in 1361, a love match that brought little political benefit to the crown. All in all, Edward III provided both opportunities and challenges to his children within the framework of English expansion, while limiting internal conflict and rivalry. If the solid foundation upon which this settlement was built had already begun to crumble by the time of the king’s death in 1377, the achievement of three decades should not be dismissed out of hand.

  Edward returned to France in 1342 with a fresh strategy in mind. Laying aside the grand coalition that had failed both Edward I and himself, he now initiated a strategy of placing several English armies in the field simultaneously. This was first employed in Brittany. Duke John III of Brittany had died on 30 April 1341, leaving no obvious heir, the succession being contested between his niece Jeanne of Penthièvre and her husband Charles of Blois on one side, and his half-brother John de Montfort on the other. Charles of Blois was the ‘official’ candidate of Philip VI and of the Breton nobility, yet John de Montfort showed more initial energy and was able to establish himself in Nantes, Rennes and Dinan. Soon, however, he was summoned to Paris, where his refusal to renounce his claim led to his arrest and imprisonment in the Louvre. His wife, Jeanne of Flanders, showed great resolve in maintaining the Montfortian position and successfully sought English support for her husband’s cause.

  Edward III’s trusted commander Walter Mauny landed at Brest with a small English force in May 1342, and a larger army under the earl of Northampton and Robert of Artois followed in August. They were able to push back the forces of Charles of Blois, and had some success in battle against him outside Morlaix.

  On 26 October, the king himself finally landed on his flagship, the George. From Brest, the king turned his attention to Vannes. Unfortunately, however, Robert of Artois, commanding the English fleet, reached the city first and attacked before the main army arrived. His initial success was short-lived, and he died of wounds suffered in the attack. More importantly, Edward had lost the element of surprise.

  While Edward sat down to besiege the city, the earl of Northampton invaded the territory of Rohan, after which, accompanied by the earl of Warwick and Hugh Despen
ser, he led a raid against Nantes. Meanwhile, the earl of Salisbury burned the suburbs of Dinan. The presence of the English in so many places at once was devastating to French morale. In March 1343, a truce was negotiated at Malestroit, recognizing the status quo on the ground not only in Brittany, but also in Flanders, Gascony and Scotland. All in all, this was positive from Edward III’s point of view, and it allowed the English to consolidate their hold over the south and west of Brittany to an extent that Philip VI seems not to have understood.

  Brittany, despite its peripheral geographic location, was home to French – not just Breton – nobles with extensive holdings elsewhere. Men such as Olivier de Clisson and Godfrey de Harcourt rallied to the cause of Edward III. Clisson was foolish enough to attend a tournament in Paris in the summer of 1343, believing himself to be protected by the truce. He was arrested by Philip VI there, convicted of treasonous dealings with the king of England, and brutally executed. Harcourt, however, would be a different matter.

  In June 1345, following 2 years in which the shaky truce held as much from financial limitations as diplomatic progress, Edward III repudiated the truce of Malestroit. He planned a three-pronged offensive, with himself campaigning in Flanders, the earl of Northampton in Brittany, and Henry of Grosmont, earl of Derby, and after September 1345, earl of Lancaster, in Aquitaine. Northampton had already sailed from Portsmouth to Brest in early June, and Derby awaited only a favourable wind. If the royal fleet at Sandwich had indeed been intended for Flanders, plans changed suddenly. On 3 July, the king did sail to Sluys, where he would remain until 22 July. His repudiation of the truce of Malestroit had allowed the count of Flanders, Louis of Nevers, to disrupt the pro-English urban oligarchies of the great wool towns. On 7 July, Edward met with Jacques van Arteveldt, the demagogue of Ghent, but van Arteveldt was now a broken reed. He returned to Ghent only to be beaten to death by a mob led by a rival faction.

  Nevertheless, Edward was able to seal agreements with each of the major towns undertaking not to allow the count to assume control of government in Flanders. It took 4 days to sail from Sluys back to Dover, as the English fleet was buffeted by storms. The English troops, which had remained on their ships in Sluys, were now disembarked. Indeed, they were released from service. Edward had to arrange for new, smaller, armies to be mustered in late summer in support of the campaigns in Brittany and Gascony. He would see no action in 1345.

  In the following year, the king raised a massive army, and if he could not keep the scale or timetable of his preparations secret from the French, he could withhold his destination. Brittany and Aquitaine seemed the logical targets; Brittany had seen early successes by the earl of Northampton evaporate, while in Aquitaine the earl of Lancaster now faced a major French force commanded by the heir to the throne, John, duke of Normandy. But, ultimately, the king of England sailed to neither of these destinations. Instead, he landed unexpectedly in Normandy. Whether this was the original target of Edward’s planning remains uncertain. A tradition recorded in Froissart relates that the king was convinced to invade Normandy on the advice of Godfrey de Harcourt, who assured him, ‘I promise you, on my life, that once you reach it, it will be easy to land there. There will be no serious resistance, for the inhabitants have no experience of arms and the whole cream of the Norman knights are at the siege of Aiguillon [in Aquitaine] with the Duke’.11 For whatever reason, Edward did choose Normandy, and much of what Harcourt is reputed to have said was true. The English force of some 7,000–10,000 men sailed from Portsmouth on 28 June. The king was accompanied by his eldest son, Edward, now a young man of 16 years old.

  The first child of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault was a son, Edward, later known as the Black Prince, born at Woodstock on 15 June 1330, when the king was still some 3 months short of his eighteenth birthday, and the queen of a similar age. The king was certainly delighted in the birth of his son and namesake, rewarding Thomas Prior, the ‘yeoman’ who brought him the news at Westminster with a remarkably generous pension of 40 marks per annum.12 It may well have been the birth of a son and heir that finally emboldened Edward III in launching his coup against his mother and Roger Mortimer at Nottingham 4 months later.

  The young prince was endowed with the earldom of Chester in March 1333 and the duchy of Cornwall in 1337 prior to being granted the principality of Wales in 1343. By the time he had been made prince of Wales, his father had claimed another title for himself as king of France, and it was in support of this claim that the younger Edward would earn his reputation as a great captain. Very little can be said about his childhood. Although he may have been tutored by the philosopher Walter Burley, his education was more likely to be entrusted to the masters of his household, Nicholas de la Beche and Bartholomew Burgersh the elder. In any case, his education very clearly leaned toward the practical, and specifically the military, aspects of life, and throughout his life the inventories of his armour and jousting equipment were to be more extensive than the catalogue of his books. One other interesting aspect of his upbringing is deserving of mention. By 1334, he already had a tailor, William Stratton, who would be knighted by the prince in 1355. As early as 1337, we find Prince Edward splendidly garbed for a ceremonial entrance into London with a pair of cardinals, robed in purple and wearing a hat trimmed with scarlet and pearls. His taste for extravagant clothing and jewellery later in life may well have been acquired at an early age.

  So was his taste for war. The campaign of 1346 may have seemed to contemporaries a desperate attempt by Edward III to salvage his claims to the French throne. For the prince, it was the beginning of a glorious military career. He was accompanied by a powerful retinue that included 11 bannerets, 102 knights, and well over 1,000 assorted men-at-arms, archers and foot-soldiers. Following the landing at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, the king knighted his eldest son, along with other young notables including both Roger Mortimer, son of his former nemesis, and William Montagu, son of the man who had helped him seize his throne. The prince himself then knighted many other aspirants. The prince’s column participated in the devastating advance that not only served to punish the French, but may very well also have been designed to lead to the pitched battle that finally resulted at Crécy. In the meantime, its target was Caen, which was reached on 26 July. The prince, like many of the young tiros in the English army, was anxious for action, and the fighting at Caen began prematurely when some of his men seized one of the western gates to the city, leading to an all-out struggle led by the earl of Warwick. The city quickly fell, as more than 100 French knights and 120 esquires surrendered for ransom, including the Constable and Chamberlain of Normandy. More than 2,500 lesser men lay dead in the streets. Before leaving Caen 5 days later, Edward III sent out orders for reinforcements, seeking an additional 1,200 archers from East Anglia with the requisite supply of bows and arrows to meet the army later at Le Crotoy. Along with these orders, the valuable prisoners taken at Caen were sent to England, and this, along with the booty already returning with English sailors, made clear the success of the campaign so far. The king reinforced this message, writing newsletters to the archbishops of York and Canterbury, calling for the prayers of the people while celebrating his own achievements at arms.

  The king’s next target appears to have been Rouen, or perhaps even Paris itself. Edward was delayed briefly at Lisieux after entering into unproductive negotiations with a pair of cardinals dispatched by Philip VI offering the same terms as ever: Aquitaine and Ponthieu held in fee from the king of France. After 2 days, the English army moved on toward the Seine, but by now Philip had arrived at Rouen with a substantial army of his own, intent upon keeping Edward’s army on the left bank. To that end, he reinforced or destroyed all of the bridges across the river. Nevertheless, on 14 August, Edward was able to repair the broken bridge at Poissy, cross the river, and open the way north toward Picardy and his Flemish allies. Interestingly, Edward paused for 2 days at Poissy, raiding the countryside around Paris. Two royal manors, at Montjoie and Saint-Germain-
en-Laye, were burned to the ground, yet Philip did not march out to confront his adversary despite this clear provocation.

  On 16 August, the English army moved off, now covering 15 miles per day as it hastened north. According to a contemporary journal of the campaign on 18 August, the vanguard of the English army under the command of the Black Prince lingered before Beauvais while hoping for the king’s permission to attack: this was firmly refused. Two days later, however, a similar scene played itself out with the rearguard at Poix, where a delay in the advance for such a small prize might have endangered the entire English army. Meanwhile, the French army also marched north, very nearly catching the English just as they crossed the Somme at Blanquetache at low tide on 24 August, but unable to pursue them across the river. Philip withdrew to Abbeville, while Edward, having gained needed supplies with the capture of Le Crotoy, advanced another 9 miles to Crécy-en-Ponthieu.

  The battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346. The battlefield had been chosen by the earl of Warwick and other seasoned commanders. Still, the French outnumbered the English by two, perhaps three, to one. At about 5 p.m., as the skies darkened and rain began to fall, the French attacked. The Genoese cross-bowmen led this assault, but they were quickly broken by the English longbows and cannon. Outraged at the apparent cowardice of the Italian mercenaries, the count of Alençon charged forward with the second French battalion and was followed by the rest of the cavalry. They trampled their Genoese allies underfoot, but the French horses were likewise shot down by English arrows and cannon: nonetheless, they continued their charge toward the centre of the English line and the prince of Wales.