Edward III: March 1337

Parliament Rolls of Medieval England. Originally published by Boydell, Woodbridge, 2005.

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'Edward III: March 1337', in Parliament Rolls of Medieval England, (Woodbridge, 2005) pp. . British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/parliament-rolls-medieval/march-1337 [accessed 24 March 2024]

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1337 March

Introduction March 1337

Westminster

3 March - 20 March (writs de expensis ); the parliament possibly ended on 16 March.

For the writs of summons see RDP , iv, 464-73; CCR 1337-39 , 113-14; Tout, Chapters , iii, 62, n.1.

(There is no surviving roll for this parliament.)

The cancellation of the crusade by the pope in March 1336 was a major disappointment to Philip VI of France. At the same time it deprived Edward III of a valuable bargaining counter in his relations with France. However the decision also left Philip VI free to redeploy the resources in shipping and manpower he had been gathering for the crusade. Philip VI met representatives of David II of Scotland at Lyon at Easter 1336. They told him that the truces in Scotland would expire in five weeks and reminded Philip of his previous promises to help the Scots. Philip now repeated them and made elaborate plans for an invasion force to land on the east coast of Scotland to replace David II on his throne. If carried through, 'it would have been the largest amphibious operation since the assault on the Nile Delta by the fifth crusade in 1218.' The complexity and the cost of the proposed enterprise already militated against its success, but in the summer of 1336 Edward III made a sudden invasion of Scotland, during which he seized the harbours on the east coast which were most suitable for a French landing and made one all but impossible. Edward left for Newcastle on 11 June with a small force, marched through hostile territory to Stirling and then to Perth. On 12 July he left Perth, burning and wasting the land as he went. (fn. f1337mint-1)

Several assemblies of different kinds were held between the Westminster parliament of March 1336 and the Westminster parliament of March 1337. On 25 June a great council was held at Northampton. In the absence of the king, it was presided over by the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of Lincoln, and the king's brother John of Eltham earl of Cornwall. The threat from France was the major item of business. It was agreed that a fresh embassy should be sent to France to discover the real nature of Philip VI's intentions; the embassy was also to be authorised to negotiate directly with David II of Scotland. In order to relieve some of the pressure on Edward III's finances by manipulating the sale of wool, 106 nominated merchants from nineteen towns were ordered on 1 June to appear before the Council at Northampton on 28 June. (fn. f1337mint-2) After the council the earl of Cornwall went to the north to gather troops; in late July he entered Scotland with several thousand men and continued the work of devastation already begun by his brother the king. In the meantime the bishops of Durham and Winchester had been appointed to lead the embassy to France, where they arrived in late July. They quickly learned that Philip VI had brought a fleet of galleys from the Mediterranean to join those already in the ports of Brittany and Normandy. The English envoys met Philip VI several times during August. On 20 August Philip VI gave his 'final answer'. He rejected all the ambassadors' proposals, stated that he intended to assist the Scots, and that he intended to invade both England and Scotland immediately. The news was sent to England in haste and reached the archbishop of Canterbury and other royal councillors at Northampton on 24 August. The messenger was immediately sent to Scotland to advise Edward III that he should return to England urgently. On the same day, and without waiting for the king's approval, the councillors summoned a great council to meet at Nottingham on 23 September. The bland language of the writs, that the council was to discuss the making of peace between England and France, the arrangements for the King's going on crusade and the making of peace between England and Scotland, concealed a critical situation. (fn. f1337mint-3)

The writs summoning the council at Nottingham on 23 September were sent to the two archbishops, to eighteen bishops (including the four from Wales), twenty-seven abbots, four priors; six earls, thirty-five barons; fifteen royal judges and clerks; and the for the election of representatives of the knights and burgesses. Representatives of the lower clergy were not summoned since, since at the same time the two archbishops were ordered to summon separate convocations of the clergy of their province. The writs of summons for the Nottingham council stated that the king wished to hold a 'colloquium et tractatum' with those present, but did not designate the type of assembly. The only designation is in a marginal note on the Close Roll where the assembly was described as a 'consilium'. In addition, on 1 September 1336 thirty-seven nominated merchants from twenty-three towns and four wool merchants from London were summoned to be at Nottingham on 23 September, when the merchants granted a subsidy on exported wool. The Nottingham council terminated on 27 September 1336. Except for the absence of the lower clergy, the attendance of the merchants, and the smaller than usual number of earls and barons who were in attendance, the Nottingham council was a parliament in all but name. Edward III did not receive the council's urgent message sent from Northampton on 24 August until the second week in September. He immediately returned to England, leaving the bulk of his army behind him, and reached Nottingham on 24 September. The assembly began the following day and was told the news of the failure of the latest embassy to France and of raids in August by French naval forces on Orford and Walton in Suffolk and on the Isle of Wight. Amid fears of an imminent French invasion of the south of England, the assembly authorised the raising of an enormous defensive army in every corner of the realm. 'No one ventured to suggest further negotiations with France. It was the point at which the English political community accepted that war with France was inevitable'. In addition to the levy on wool approved by the merchants, the Nottingham council granted a tenth and a fifteenth, while the clergy also granted a tenth. The king also began to borrow on a large scale from English merchants and foreign bankers. In October 1336 the king also seized the treasure accumulated by the church in aid of the now-abandoned crusade. (fn. f1337mint-4)

After the council Edward III returned to Scotland to continue the war and based himself in the newly repaired castle of Bothwell. The war had now degenerated on both sides into one of sieges, ambushes and general devastation. Philip VI gave up his intention to land an army in Scotland, but the invasion scare in the south of England continued until early November. Writs of summons were issued at Bothwell on 29 November 1336 for a parliament to meet at York on 13 January 1337; on 10 December 1336 further writs were issued at Bothwell, postponing the meeting of the parliament at York until 9 February 1337; on 14 January the parliament was further postponed from Westminster to meet at Westminster on 3 March 1337. The writs stated that the king had ordained the holding of a parliament, and that the king wished to have a 'colloquium et tractatum' with those in attendance. The proposed assembly was described as a parliament both in the writs and in the marginal note on the Close Roll. (fn. f1337mint-5)

Edward III left Scotland in the middle of December 1336 and spent Christmas in Hatfield. On 13 December two assemblies of representatives from coastal towns were summoned for 3 January 1337: those from forty-three towns towards the west from the mouth of the Thames were to assemble at London, and the rest, from twenty-five towns north of the Thames were to meet at Norwich. Those who met in London were addressed by on 5 January four of Edward III's senior councillors, who spoke of the threat of invasion and demanded the services of the king's subjects and their ships for three months without any payment. The proposal was rejected out of hand, but on 10 January a council of magnates approved the issue of writs demanding free service from the ports, with or without the consent of the seamen. (fn. f1337mint-6)

The writs of summons to the Westminster parliament gave the purpose of the parliament as 'various arduous affairs touching the king, and the state of the realm'.

Writs of summons were sent to the two archbishops, eighteen bishops (including the four Welsh bishops), one keeper of spiritualities (Norwich), twenty-eight abbots, four priors; to ten earls (Norfolk, Surrey, Lancaster, Warwick, Arundel, Devon, Hereford, Buchan, Angus (both from Scotland), Oxford), forty-eight barons; fifteen royal judges and clerks; and for the election of representatives of the knights, burgesses, and lower clergy.

There is no record of the proceedings of the Westminster parliament of March 1337, but it was certainly dominated by the crisis in relations with France. There was also ominous news from Scotland where much of Edward III's work had been undone. The Scots were again in control of all of Scotland north of the Forth, and had invaded the Lowlands and Galloway. But the real threat was from France: this was why the parliament's meeting place had been changed from York to Westminster. The assembly was told of the events in Scotland, of the gathering of French and Scottish ships in the Channel, and of the growing French threat to intervene in or to confiscate Gascony. The French demand in December 1336 for the extradition from England of the political refugee, Robert of Artois, added yet another cause of tension. Edward III proposed the recruitment of two armies, one of which would be sent immediately to Gascony while the other would go to Scotland. An embassy was to be sent to France, bearing a draft treaty, which would in effect be an ultimatum to Philip VI. The magnates approved all these proposals. The archbishop of Canterbury was later to claim that this parliament approved Edward III's determination to lay claim to the French throne by war and also his policy of seeking German and other continental alliances. Whatever the truth of this, open war was now imminent: at the end of April Philip VI refused to accept any further ambassadors from England; a general mobilisation was called for 30 April; and in May the king of England's duchy of Aquitaine was declared forfeit because of Edward III's alleged failure to observe the obligations of a vassal. (fn. f1337mint-7)

Edward III also used the occasion to reward in a very public way the past services of some of his closest and most loyal friends and followers and, by implication, the future services that would soon be required. William Montagu, William Clinton, and Robert Ufford, who had all taken part in the arrest of Roger Mortimer in 1330, were given the earldoms of Salisbury, Huntingdon and Suffolk. Henry of Lancaster, the son of Henry earl of Lancaster, was made earl of Derby; William de Bohun, the brother of the earl of Hereford, became earl of Northampton; and Hugh Audley, the husband of one of the heiresses to the earldom of Gloucester since 1317, was finally made earl. Edward made his own son, Edward, the future Black Prince, duke of Cornwall. This was the first dukedom to be created in England, but was also a way of marking the death in Scotland in September 1336 of Edward III's brother, John of Eltham earl of Cornwall. Edward personally knighted twenty other men. Splendid ceremonies were held at court after the parliament ended to mark the new creations. (fn. f1337mint-8)

The parliament was also the occasion on which Thomas Berkeley was exonerated from any responsibility, other than negligence, for the murder of Edward II in 1327. This was an issue that had been pending since Berkeley was judicially examined during the parliament of November 1330. (fn. f1337mint-9)

A statute was approved during the parliament to prohibit the export of wool, while seeking to encourage the manufacture of cloth in England and also clothworkers, regardless of origin. No one was to use foreign made cloth, except the king, queen, and their children. The purpose of the legislation was probably more diplomatic than economic. It seems unlikely that it was the result of any commune petitions lodged during the parliament. (fn. f1337mint-10)

So ended a parliament whose decisions were far-reaching. Yet not everyone agreed with the decisions taken. Sir Thomas Gray, the experienced soldier and author of the Scalacronica , thought that Edward III would have been better advised to spend his money on recruiting and equipping an army than on gifts of land to newly created earls and knights. According to the Historia Roffensis , the bishop of Rochester thought the whole session was a waste of time and after spending a whole day with eight other bishops 'looking at the walls', he left in disgust for one of his manor houses. (fn. f1337mint-11)

There is no record of any commune petitions being lodged at this parliament. It is however possible that some individual petitions were submitted. See PROME , Appendix of Unedited Petitions, 1307 - 1337 , Petitions in Parliament, 11 Edward III (1337-38) , Transcripts of four petitions taken from W. Ryley , Placita Parlamentaria , 657-8, and elsewhere in the Appendix, using the search engine.

Between the end of the Westminster parliament of March 1337 and the parliament (or great council) of 26 September 1337 several other assemblies were held. On 23 April at Westminster writs were issued for the holding of a 'consilium' at Stamford on 30 May. Like those issued for the Nottingham council of September 1336, the writs of summons for the Stamford council stated that the king wished to hold a 'colloquium et tractatum' with those present, but did not designate the type of assembly. The only designation is in a marginal note on the Close Roll where the assembly was described as a 'consilium'. The writs stated that the king had ordained the holding of the council to consider 'arduous and urgent affairs touching the king, and the state of the realm and of his other lands'. Writs of summons were sent to the two archbishops, eight bishops (including one from Wales); ten earls, and twenty-three barons; and to eight royal judges and clerks. No representatives of the knights, burgesses or lower clergy were summoned on this occasion. The terminating date of the council is not known. RDP , iv, 473-4. One of the decisions of the council was the issue of a summons on 1 June 1337 to twenty nominated merchants to appear before the king's council at Stamford on 16 June. Agreement was concluded at this meeting for the foundation of a company with a monopoly of the English wool trade. (fn. f1337mint-12)

On 21 June at Stamford writs were issued for the holding of a 'consilium' at Westminster on 21 July. Like those issued for the Nottingham council of September 1336, and the Stamford council of June 1337, the writs of summons for the Westminster council stated that the king wished to hold a 'colloquium et tractatum' with those present, but did not designate the type of assembly. The only designation is in a marginal note on the Close Roll where the assembly was described as a 'consilium'. The writs gave the purpose of the council as the consideration of 'certain arduous and most urgent business intimated to the king by envoys he had sent overseas, and touching intimately the king, the state of the realm and the rights of his crown'. Writs of summons were sent to the archbishop of Canterbury, fifteen bishops (including the four from Wales), twenty-five abbots, four priors; eleven earls (including one Scottish), thirty-three barons; and six royal judges & clerks. No representatives of the knights and burgesses or of the lower clergy were summoned on this occasion. Like the Nottingham council of September 1336 and the Westminster council/parliament of September 1337, the Westminster council of July 1337 was a parliament in all but name. During the council it was decided that Edward III should proceed with his planned expedition to France and should collect a subsidy from the laity and clergy, in the event that the parliament which was to be summoned for 26 September refused to grant the king a fifteenth and a tenth or any other form of subsidy sufficient for his needs. The subsidy was cancelled when, at the 26 September parliament, the laity granted three fifteenths and tenths to be paid over three years. Prior to the meeting of the Westminster council, thirty-five nominated merchants and two wool merchants from each of the six southern counties were summoned on 24 June to appear before the king's council at Westminster on 9 July. Eighty-one nominated merchants and representatives of additional towns were likewise summoned on 13 July for 25 July. A company with a monopoly of the English wool trade was formally created on 26 July 1337. The terminating date of the Westminster council is not known but was presumably on or close to 26 July. (fn. f1337mint-13)

Footnotes

  • f1337mint-1. Sumption, The Hundred Years' War , I, 155-61.
  • f1337mint-2. Sumption, The Hundred Years' War , I, 161-2; Haines, Archbishop John Stratford , 243; RDP , iv, 458-60.
  • f1337mint-3. Sumption, The Hundred Years' War , I, 162-4; Haines, Archbishop John Stratford , 243; RDP , iv, 458-60; RDP , iv, 460-4; CCR 1333-37 , 707. The writs were nominally issued from Perth but in reality from Northampton.
  • f1337mint-4. Sumption, The Hundred Years' War , I, 164-6; Haines, Archbishop John Stratford , 244; RDP , iv, 458-64; CCR 1333-37 , 707; CCR 1337-9 , 97.
  • f1337mint-5. RDP , iv, 464-73; CCR 1337-39 , 113-14; Tout, Chapters , iii, 62, n.1.
  • f1337mint-6. Sumption, The Hundred Years' War , I, 178; RDP , IV, 469-70.
  • f1337mint-7. Sumption, The Hundred Years' War , I, 168-73, 179-80
  • f1337mint-8. Sumption, The Hundred Years' War , I, 183-4; Haines, Archbishop John Stratford , 247.
  • f1337mint-9. Haines, Archbishop John Stratford , 247. See the Parliament of November 1330.
  • f1337mint-10. Haines, Archbishop John Stratford , 247. The statute is recorded in SR , I, 280-1.
  • f1337mint-11. Sumption, The Hundred Years' War , I, 184; Haines, Archbishop John Stratford , 246.
  • f1337mint-12. RDP , iv, 474; H. Wharton, ed., Anglia Sacra , i (1691), 30.
  • f1337mint-13. Lay Taxes , 40-1; . RDP , iv, 475-79; CCR 1337-39 , 148-50.