Edward II: November 1325

1325 November

Introduction November 1325

Westminster

18 November - 5 December

For the writs of summons see PW, II, ii, 334-47

(There is no surviving roll for this parliament.)

The writs of summons were issued at Westminster on 10 October 1325 for a parliament to meet at Westminster on 18 November 1325. The writs say that the king proposes to hold 'parliamentum nostrum' in order to have a 'colloquium' and 'tractatum' with those attending. However a marginal note on the Close Roll does not describe the intended meeting as a parliament and says instead 'de tractatu habendo'. (The chancery clerks must have been thoroughly confused by this stage as to what did and did not constitute a parliament).

Although Edward had agreed to go to France in person, to do homage to Charles IV at Beauvais on 29 August 1325, he was still undecided, even after the parliament of June 1325, and was seeking advice until well into August as to whether or not he should go. He delayed by pleading illness and then asking Charles IV whether his elder son, Edward earl of Chester, might perform homage in his place. Edward II was at Dover preparing to cross to France, when he received letters from Charles IV accepting this proposal but requiring that Edward II should first transfer all his French lands to his son. On 2 September the young Edward received the counties of Ponthieu and Montreuil and on 10 September the duchy of Aquitaine. Accompanied by the bishop of Exeter and Henry de Beaumont, Edward left England on 12 September and performed homage on 24 September at Bois-de-Vincennes near Paris, where his mother Isabella had also been staying. Despite repeated demands from Edward, neither the prince nor his mother returned to England, and by November 1325 Isabella was openly refusing to do so until Hugh Despenser the Younger had been removed from court. The final crisis of the reign of Edward II had now begun. (fn. N1325int-1)

Writs of summons were issued on 10 October 1325 to the two archbishops, seventeen bishops (including the four Welsh bishops), twenty-seven abbots, and four priors; four earls (Norfolk, Arundel, Winchester, and Oxford; Edward earl of Chester, the king's son had gone to France to do homage to the king of France for the duchy of Aquitaine), thirty-nine barons; twenty-three royal judges and clerks; and for the election of representatives of the knights of the shire and burgesses, of the Cinque Ports, and of the lower clergy. (With the exception of the representatives of the Cinque Ports, this is the first parliament since the York parliament of May 1322 to which the archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, knights, burgesses, lower clergy, and royal judges and clerks were all summoned and in the traditional order (the lists of those summoned to the parliaments of February 1324 and June 1325 had placed the earls and barons before the archbishops, bishops and abbots)

The writs of summons issued on 10 October gave the purpose of the parliament as 'great and arduous affairs specially touching the king and the state of the kingdom.'

Apart from the community petitions discussed below, nothing official is known of the proceedings of the November 1325 parliament. The proceedings must however have been dominated by the news that was just reaching England of Isabella's refusal to return from France. Fears were growing as to what she would do next, especially since she in effect had custody of the heir to the throne. There were also growing fears as to what Roger Mortimer of Wigmore, a fugitive from England since 1323 would do, and whether he would receive any assistance from the king of France. The outcome of all these fears and rumours would soon be clear. This was the last time that Edward II would summon and hold a parliament as a free man. (fn. N1325int-2)

There is however an unofficial account of the proceedings in the Vita Edwardi Secundi . 'Then the king having summoned the prelates and magnates of the land to Westminster, began to rehearse what had happened in a short speech. "You know", he said, "all the long-standing disputes and processes between the King of France and us over the land of Gascony, and how prudently, as it then seemed, the queen crossed to France to make peace, being told that when her mission was accomplished she should at once return. And this she promised with a good will. And on her departure she did not seem to anyone to be offended. As she took her leave she saluted all and went away joyfully. But now someone has changed her attitude. Someone has primed her with inventions. For I know that she had not fabricated any affront out of her own head. Yet she says that Hugh Despenser is her adversary and hostile to her." And he added: "It is surprising that she has conceived this dislike of Hugh, for when she departed, towards no one was she more agreeable, myself excepted. For this reason Hugh is much cast down; but he is nevertheless prepared to show his innocence in any way whatsoever. Hence I firmly believe that the queen has been led into this error at the suggestion of someone, and he is in truth wicked and hostile whoever he may be. Now therefore deliberate wisely, that she whom the teaching of evil men incites to guile, may be led back to the due path of unity by your prudent and kindly reproof". Then it was ordained by the king's council that all the bishops should write to the queen, and that they should each address her in the same words, by which they might persuade her as their dearest daughter to return to her husband, putting aside her baseless ill-feeling, and at the same time they would excuse Hugh Despenser. The text common to all these letters was as follows: ........... 'But notwithstanding this letter mother and son refused to return to England.' (fn. N1325int-3)

In the absence of a Parliament Roll for this assembly, it is not known whether formal arrangements were made for the receipt and answering of petitions during the parliament. There are however some surviving petitions for 1325-26, some of which may belong to this parliament. (fn. N1325int-4) There is however a set of community petitions for this parliament, which exists in manuscript form in SC 8/8/392 and also on the Close Roll. The Close Roll version has a heading, which states that the petitions were granted in the parliament of November 1325, with the assent of the prelates, earls, and barons, and others who were present at the parliament. The Close Roll version contains six petitions (compared with only five in SC 8/8/392), the additional petition being one on behalf of the city of London. Four of the petitions proceed from 'voz liges gentz', one from 'les dites gentz pur tote la Commune', and the last from 'les gentz de la Commune'. SC8/8/392, which has the words 'Billa pro tota communitate tocius Regni' written along its foot, was probably the version used when the petitions were considered in parliament. The petitions may have been entered on the Close Roll because of the topical reference of four of them, including that on London. Three of the petitions deal with questions arising out of the recent troubles: imprisonment on false charges of adherence to rebels; freedom to alienate lands held of honours recently taken into royal hands; and with the unwarranted seizure of lands by the crown. Another deals with violations of the Charter of the Forest; another with delays in the answering of petitions; and the last with the restoration of the franchises of London. (fn. N1325int-5)

Appendix November 1325

The following material relating to the parliament of November 1325 is edited in RP , II.

P.430: Petitions in Parliament , 19 Edward II (1325-1326). Petitions conceded in the Parliament summoned to Westminster on the Octave of St. Martin, 19 Edward II: 18 November 1325.

These six petitions, which are in effect all part of a single long petition, are calendared in CCR 1323-1327 , 539-40, where the petition is wrongly identified as SC 8/7/339 (petition of Robert of Clifton to the king and council, 18 Edward II (the text extends over all of RP , ii, 417)). The PRO copy of RP however identifies the petition as SC 8/8/392.

P.430:

• No.1: The king's liegemen to the king. SC 8/8/392: this covers nos. 1-5.
• No.2: The same.
• No.3: The same.
• No.4: The same.
• No.5: The same.
• No.6: The same.