The Demon's Brood by Desmond Seward Page B

the country and surrender his earldom, arriving in Londonfor the parliament of spring 1308 with armed retainers. Their spokesman was Lincoln, who had tried to make Piers behave sensibly but had been rebuffed. Complaining that the favourite was squandering the Crown’s revenues, he insisted on his banishment. Edward dared not refuse. Giving up his earldom, Piers went to Ireland as lieutenant. Archbishop Winchelsey, who had returned to England more pugnacious than ever, announced he would excommunicate him should he dare to come back.
    Even so, Edward secured Gaveston’s return next year, by promising parliament to satisfy grievances such as failure to hear petitions and to improve the currency, disarming Lincoln, Hereford and Warwick with flattery. Philip IV, who had paid two of the earls to plot against Piers after complaints from Queen Isabella, withdrew his opposition when she was given the county of Ponthieu, while in exchange for more rigorous persecution of the Templars, the pope blocked Winchelsey’s threat of excommunication. In July 1309 Gaveston rejoined the king, who met him when he landed at Chester, regranting his earldom and estates.
    He made himself more disliked than ever, giving his fellow earls nicknames that circulated widely. Lancaster was the ‘Churl’, the ‘Rangy Pig’ or the ‘Fiddler’, Warwick the ‘Black Dog of Arden’ (from foaming at the mouth when in a rage), Pembroke ‘Joseph the Jew’ and Lincoln ‘Burst Belly’, while Gloucester, the only one who tolerated him, was ‘Whoreson’ – an unkind allusion to the dowager countess’s hasty second marriage. Nobody saw Edward without Gaveston’s approval and he had a stranglehold on patronage. People suspected he was a warlock – there were rumours of his mother having been burned as a witch.
    In the autumn he had a Lancaster retainer sacked from the royal household. ‘Watch out, Piers’, warns the
Vita
. ‘The earl of Lancaster will pay you back.’ 14 At Christmas the earls refused to come to court if he was present, telling Edward that while Piers was in the royal chamber they did not feel safe. They attended parliament in March 1310 on condition he stayedaway. When it met, they declared the realm had fallen into a perilous condition since the late king’s death and could only be saved by an elected council. The king reluctantly agreed to the election of ‘Ordainers’, who included Archbishop Winchelsey and Lancaster with some of Edward I’s old ministers. Then, on Gaveston’s advice, Edward tried to distract them with a campaign in Scotland.
    In September 1311 the Ordainers demanded that the king ‘live of his own’ and observe the charters, and that royal gifts and appointments to high office should be controlled by a twice yearly parliament. His household was purged of unpopular officials, while foreign merchants collecting the customs were arrested – a measure aimed at the royal banker, Amerigo de Frescobaldi, who was ruined. What hurt Edward most was the ordinance against Gaveston, accused of estranging the king from his natural advisers, unlawfully accepting estates and protecting criminals. He was exiled as a public enemy.
The end of Gaveston
    In November Gaveston left for Flanders, but the Ordainers went too far by insisting that his friends and hangers-on leave court as well. Defiantly, Edward recalled him, and he was back in January with his lands restored. In response, the earls made Lancaster their leader and entrusted Pembroke with catching Piers, while Winchelsey prepared another excommunication. Unaware of this, Edward spent most of April with Gaveston in Newcastle until they learned Lancaster was coming with an army. Leaving Piers, who had fallen ill, at Scarborough Castle, the king went off to find troops.
    Pembroke besieged the castle and on 19 May, without a proper garrison or provisions, Piers