Queen Isabella

by Alison Weir

  Count William and his brother, Sir John of Hainault, who were at that time staying at Valenciennes, were soon apprised of Isabella’s arrival in Hainault. Sir John was “a married man and also a valiant knight,”202 but he was “at that time very young and panting for glory like a knight errant,” so he “mounted his horse and, accompanied by a few persons, set out from Valenciennes and arrived in the evening to pay the Queen every respect and honour.” Froissart, who gives a highly romanticized version of this occasion, states that Isabella was feeling very dejected; at the sight of Sir John, she burst into tears and made a lamentable complaint to him of her griefs.

  Hearing her, Sir John chivalrously resolved to champion the cause of this damsel in distress. “Lady,” he said, “see here your knight, who will not fail to die for you, though everyone else should forsake you. Therefore I will do everything in my power to conduct you safely to England with your son, and restore you to your rank, with the assistance of your friends in those parts. And I, and all those whom I can influence, will risk our lives on the adventure for your sake, and we shall have a sufficient armed force, if it please God.”

  Overcome with gratitude, Isabella tried to kneel at Sir John’s feet, but he raised her up, saying, “God forbid that the Queen of England should think of kneeling before her knight! But be comforted, Madam, and all your company, for I shall not break my promise. You shall come and see my brother and your cousin, the Countess his wife, and all their fine children, who will be rejoiced to see you, for I have heard them say so.”

  “Sir,” replied Isabella, “I find in you more kindness and comfort than in the whole world beside; and I will give you five hundred thousand thanks for all you have promised me with so much courtesy. I and my son shall be forever bound unto you, and if in time we are restored, as I hope, by the comfort and grace of God and yourself, you will be richly rewarded.” Sir John then withdrew to the nearby abbey of Denain. The next day, after Mass, he returned to Brigincourt to escort Isabella to Mons. Upon leaving with her company, she told Sir Eustace and Lady d’Ambreticourt “that she trusted a time would come when she and her son could acknowledge their courtesy and ask them to their court.”203

  Sir John and the Queen arrived at Mons by 3 August, when she confirmed an agreement between Mortimer and Count William, whereby William undertook to lease to the invaders 140 ships, and Isabella promised to pay out of her revenues of Ponthieu financial compensation for any that were lost; Charles IV had agreed to act as her guarantor.204

  On that day, Mortimer of Chirk died in the Tower. Rumor had it that he had starved to death in his grim cell. Adam Orleton conducted the funeral service at Wigmore Abbey on 14 September.205 Roger Mortimer should have inherited his uncle’s lands, but of course, they had been declared forfeit. Mortimer now had even greater cause to seek vengeance on the Despensers.

  Count William hastened to invite Isabella and her son to Valenciennes, “where they were gladly and gallantly welcomed” by their hosts and the citizens. The Count received the Queen in the great galleried hall of the Hôtel de Hollande, which was a magnificent room with a paved floor, six tall glazed Gothic windows, and splendid red hangings. When Isabella was installed in her lodgings, the Countess Jeanne came to visit her “and did her all honour and reverence”; she also paid all the Queen’s expenses throughout her stay in Hainault.206 The Count came to visit, too, despite suffering from gout and being able to ride “only with difficulty.”207

  Isabella’s visit lasted eight days (not the three weeks that Froissart claims), during which time she was “honoured and feasted nobly.” The Count was delighted when Isabella formally asked for the hand of one of his daughters for her son,208 and care was taken to ensure that Prince Edward, “a youth of great charm and much promise,”209 spent as much time as possible in the company of the Count’s four surviving girls, Margaret, Philippa, Joan, and Isabella. Soon, according to Froissart, it became apparent that the lad was “devoting himself most and inclining with eyes of love to Philippa rather than the rest. And the maiden knew him best and kept him closer company than any of her sisters. So I have heard from the mouth of the good lady herself.”

  When the time came for the Queen and her son to leave Valenciennes, and Isabella and Edward “embraced all the damsels in turn, the Lady Philippa, when it was her turn, burst into tears.” Asked what was the matter, she replied, “‘My fair cousin of England is about to leave me, and I had grown so used to him.’ Then all the knights who were there present began to laugh,”210 and perhaps to smile knowingly, aware that this youthful attachment had been just what was intended. Not only was this marriage a political necessity for Isabella, it was also a means of binding her son to her, and that bond would be all the closer if he was grateful to her for securing him a bride he could love. The promise of Philippa might also help the boy to forget that, in marrying with Hainault, he was disobeying his father’s commands.

  On 4 August, King Edward, still expecting an invasion from France, appointed searchers to comb every coastline. He himself was busy touring his realm, visiting cities and castles, and attempting to raise support among the nobility. On the tenth, a system of warning beacons was put in place, and two days later, the King ordered a number of large ships to assemble at Portsmouth.211 But Edward was not as foolish or as ill-informed as Charles IV believed, for a watch was also set on the east coast, and on 16 August, preparations began for ships to assemble at Orwell by 21 September. Edward’s intelligence must have been sound, for it had pinpointed with uncanny accuracy the date and place of the invasion.

  On 26 and 29 August, Edward ordered the imprisonment of any French persons remaining in England, on account of the King of France’s “detention” of the Queen and Prince Edward and his “cherishing” of English exiles.212 Despenser, meanwhile, had prudently withdrawn £2,000 in cash from his bankers.

  Back in Mons, on 17 August, Isabella drew up an agreement with her subjects in Ponthieu, whereby they would provide her with financial assistance to help fund the invasion; this would be sealed on 5 September at Ostrelte, with Charles IV again acting as the Queen’s guarantor.213 The Queen was now busily involved in raising money and men for the invasion, preparing for her journey to England, and putting her affairs in order. Notable people who joined her at this time included Sir Wiliam Trussell, Mortimer’s client Simon de Beresford, and the celebrated Flemish chevalier Walter de Manny. Several Gascons came, and the city of Bayonne sent the Queen thirty-five sailors, much to the disapproval of many in the duchy.214

  On 27 August, again at Mons, Isabella took the irrevocable step of signing a treaty providing for the betrothal of Prince Edward to a daughter of the Count of Hainault. The princess’s dowry was to be in the form of troops, money, and ships, which were to be delivered in advance of the marriage and put at the Queen’s disposal; in return, Isabella promised that the wedding would take place within two years and that, once she gained power in England, she would settle its maritime dispute with Hainault to everyone’s satisfaction.215

  The Queen then departed on a tour of Brabant, seeking to raise men for her cause. Meanwhile, mercenaries from all over northern Europe were converging on Dordrecht, the main embarkation point. Their appearance owed as much to Mortimer’s sustained efforts over the past three years and the recent entreaties of Sir John as to Isabella’s presence in Hainault. The latter certainly proved effective, for Sir John was not the only one to see her as a damsel in distress: the burghers of Malines (Mechelen) and Diest were also touched by her plight and sent mercenaries, arms, and supplies for her army. When the Queen was able to, she would reward them for it.216

  While Isabella was in Brabant, she learned that her husband’s envoy William Weston had arrived there on his way home from Avignon. Perhaps fearful of what he might report to Edward, she seems to have persuaded John III, Duke of Brabant, to detain Weston for the time being, which prompted several puzzled complaints from Edward II.217

  True to his word, Sir John of Hainault had exert
ed himself indefatigably on Isabella’s behalf. He had written to all the knights of his acquaintance in Hainault, Brabant, and Bohemia, and many had responded to his call to arms “for love of him; though many refused, for all his entreaties.” Sir Eustace d’Ambreticourt was one of those who did respond to his summons. But Sir John’s determination to accompany the invading army earned him a rebuke from his brother, the Count, who thought this notion too “bold and perilous, in view of the prevailing discord among the barons and the common people of England, and since the English are generally ill-disposed towards foreigners who gain the advantage over them and invade their country.” Sir John might, warned William, never return home. But he “would not be dissuaded.”

  “I believe for certain that this lady and her son have been driven from their kingdom wrongfully,” he told his brother. “If it is for the glory of God to help the afflicted, how much more is it to help and succour one who is daughter of a king, descended from royal lineage, and to whose blood we ourselves are related?” He insisted “that he could only die once, and that it was in the hands of Our Lord. He had promised this noble lady to escort her back to her kingdom, and he would support her to the death. And he would just as soon die with that noble lady, who had been forced to leave her country, as anywhere else, for it was the solemn duty of every knight, especially when appealed to, to help ladies in distress.” He added dramatically, “I will renounce everything here and go and take up the Cross in heathendom if this good lady leaves us without comfort and aid.”218

  Hearing this, the Count gave up arguing.

  Edward arrived at Portchester, where his fleet was gathering, on 30 August. The next day, he sent orders to Oliver Ingham, recently appointed Seneschal of Gascony, to refuse all aid to the Queen, but Ingham defied him and hastened north to join her, for which she would later reward him. From now on, Ingham would be regarded chiefly as Mortimer’s man.219

  On 2 September, Edward ordered his half brother, Norfolk, and his other commissioners of array in East Anglia to raise two thousand men by 21 September to defend the Suffolk port of Orwell against invasion. Again, his instincts were accurate, but strangely, he did not follow up these orders, and the muster never took place; this may in part be due to Norfolk’s covert operations on the Queen’s behalf. Around this time, the King launched a naval attack on the French fleet in Normandy, but his ships were driven back.220

  On 7 September, Isabella joined William V’s court at Dordrecht and was entertained there by the Count and his wife the following day.221

  Meanwhile, Bishop Airmyn had returned to England and gone into hiding. Learning of his whereabouts, the King attempted to lure him to London, but Airmyn continued to elude him.222 He had still not received the temporalities of his office and, having failed to respond to Edward’s earlier summons, could not expect a warm reception.

  On 10 and 12 September, Edward ordered a squadron to take up battle stations at Hunstanton on the north Norfolk coast and sent small flotillas to guard the approaches to Orford and Thanet. He left Portchester for London on 16 September and took up residence in the Tower with the Despensers.223

  On 11 September, Isabella promised to pay for the upkeep of the ships that were being loaned to her.224 She had accompanied Count William and his court to Rotterdam and was still with him and the Countess when they left on 13 September and traveled fourteen miles westward to the port of Brielle on the River Maas, arriving there on the sixteenth. Here they were joined by Sir John of Hainault and a host of knights. In the Countess Jeanne’s account books, Isabella is last recorded at Brielle on 20 September, but she was probably still there when Mortimer arrived on the twenty-first.225 By now, the Queen had apparently successfully concluded her secret agreement with Robert the Bruce.226

  Froissart says that Isabella bade farewell to Count William and his family on 22 September at Valenciennes, but that is more than 110 miles south of Dordrecht and Brielle: the Hainault court could not have got there in a day, and there is no reason why Isabella should have traveled with them so far from Dordrecht. The farewells were doubtless said at Brielle on the twenty-first, Isabella taking her leave of the Count and Countess, kissing them, and thanking them “deeply, humbly and graciously for their kind and noble hospitality.”227

  Although Froissart states that Sir John of Hainault then escorted Isabella’s party to Mons, which is about fifteen miles from Valenciennes, he in fact took them to Dordrecht, where the invasion force had assembled. The Queen was attended by the Countess of Garonne and the other noble ladies who were to accompany her to England. At the port, men, baggage, horses, and provisions were being loaded onto the ninety-five waiting ships.228

  Various figures are quoted for the size of the Queen’s army, which was comprised mostly of Flemish, German, and Bohemian mercenaries: Walsingham says it numbered 2,757 men; Lanercost, 1,500; Froissart, 700; and the Chronicle of Meaux, 500. The Brut just says that the invasion force was very small: clearly, Isabella and Mortimer anticipated a substantial level of support once they arrived in England. The Hainaulters, 700 in number according to most estimates, were under the command of Sir John; Mortimer was in charge of the rest, who included the Queen’s men-at-arms, the other mercenaries, and the English exiles, among them Kent, Richmond, and Henry de Beaumont.229

  On 22 September, “when they had a fair wind,” the invaders “entrusted themselves to Our Lord,” weighed anchor, and sailed from Dordrecht into the North Sea.230

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Welcome, in God’s Name, Madam and Your Son

  They sailed with a good wind, meeting no resistance from English ships, for Edward’s sailors were either elsewhere or had mutinied and refused to fight “because of the great wrath they had towards Sir Hugh le Despenser.”1 Then their fleet ran into a storm “that sent them off their course, so that for two days they did not know where they were. And in this, God was merciful and helped them: He altered their course by a miracle. So it happened that, at the end of two days, the storm was over, and the sailors sighted land in England. They made for it gladly, and landed on the sands on the open seashore,”2 just before noon on 24 September 1326. Contemporary accounts state that the landing was made at either Orwell or Harwich, but it is more likely to have been on the Suffolk side of the River Orwell,3 given that the invaders went to nearby Walton for the night.4

  “The Queen being got safely ashore, her knights and attendants made her a house with four carpets, open in the front, where they kindled her a great fire.”5 At first, “they did not know what part of England they were in, nor whether they were in the power of their friends or their enemies,”6 but local inquiries established, to their relief, that they were in the territory of Thomas of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk. During the three hours that it took for men, horses, and provisions to be unloaded,7 the Queen wrote letters to the citizens of London, and to other cities and towns, stating that she had come to avenge the murder of Lancaster and to rid the realm of the Despensers and Robert Baldock, the enemies of the kingdom, and asking for their assistance in this enterprise.8

  The reference to Lancaster was probably made at the behest of Isabella’s uncle, Leicester, whose support had been offered as a means not only of overthrowing a hateful regime but also of avenging his brother’s death. He was an important ally, one the Queen could not afford to lose, and from the first, his influence was paramount. Isabella might have withdrawn her support from Thomas of Lancaster, but she had been shocked by the manner of his trial and execution—he was, after all, her uncle, and a prince of the blood royal—and she was well aware that he was now revered in England as a virtual saint and martyr. The political value of her cause’s being associated with such a powerful legend was immense and was another reason why the invaders identified themselves so closely with the Lancastrian cause.

  Once the unloading had been completed, the invasion fleet sailed back to Hainault.9 In the afternoon, Norfolk arrived to escort Isabella to his seaside castle at Walton-on-the-Naze,10 where she spent t
he night. Here, she was joined by many barons, knights, and gentlemen of East Anglia and by secret supporters of the contrariants.11

  Thomas of Brotherton had done his work well: in the three days after the invading forces landed, only fifty-five men rallied to the King in Norfolk.12 It was a foretaste of what was to come and the beginning of one of the most dramatic episodes in English history.

  The next morning, still clad in her widow’s weeds, “as if on a pilgrimage,” the Queen marched her forces, “with banners displayed,” to Bury Saint Edmunds, thirty miles away. In “the next country town” she came to, which could have been Ipswich, “she found all the houses amply and well-furnished with provisions, but all the people fled.”13 In Bury, she was given lodgings in the Dominican abbey, where she discovered 800 marks that had been deposited there by Hervey de Staunton, one of the King’s justices, of which she immediately took possession.14

  Meanwhile, the Queen’s “advance guard had spread themselves all over the country, and seized all the cattle and food they could get; and the owners followed them, crying bitterly, into the presence of the Queen, who asked them what was the fair value of the goods. And when they named the price, she paid them all liberally in ready money. The people were so pleased with this conduct that they supplied her well with provisions.”15 This was just one of many examples of Isabella’s skill at public relations, a skill she was to bring into play many times during the coming weeks.

  News of the invasion spread rapidly, provoking different responses. “Some declared that [the Queen] was the betrayer of the King and the kingdom, others that she was acting for peace and the common welfare of the kingdom.”16 It was not long, however, before popular opinion polarized in her favor.

  After visiting the shrine of Saint Edmund, and allowing her soldiers time to rest, the Queen moved another thirty miles west to Cambridge. Wherever she went, she “found favour with all,” and the common people flocked to her banner.17 The news of her arrival had rapidly “spread over the country until it reached those who had communicated with the Queen and invited her back. And they immediately prepared to come and see her, and her son, whom they wanted as their sovereign.”18