June 19th - death of Piers Gaveston

'But I am certain the king grieved for Piers.......for the greater the love, the greater the sorrow.  In the lament of David upon Jonathan, love is depicted which is said to have surpassed the love of women'.

The above quote is from the chronicle, Vita Edwardi Secundi.   Whatever the relationship between Edward II and Piers Gaveston, there was genuine love between them.  Jealousy from the nobles led to hatred, and having been snatched from Deddington  Priory by the Earl of Warwick, Piers was given a farce of a trial.   Warwick refused to try him as an Earl in an act of spite and malice.  He was joined at Warwick Castle by Thomas of Lancaster, and the Earls of Arundel and Hereford.  In the great hall at Warwick, which still stands, Piers was 'tried' and given no right to speak in his own defence.   He must have known the verdict before the trial even started.  But did he hope the sentence of death would be revoked?  Cowering in his castle, Warwick handed Piers over to Lancaster to march him 2 miles from the castle to Blacklow Hill, land belonging to Lancaster, and there Piers was handed over to two Welshmen.  One ran him through with a sword, whilst the other then cut off his head to show Lancaster the bloody deed had been done.  Hardly an execution, more of a murder.  Not one of the Earls would take responsibility for the body of Piers, Warwick even refusing to admit it when it was returned by local shoemakers.  He stayed hidden in his castle, awaiting the terrible wrath of the King Edward, which would surely follow.

The wood surrounding Blacklow Hill.

The monument marking the site of the 'execution' of Piers Gaveston.

June 9th 1312 disaster strikes!

Having surrendered to the Earl of Pembroke, Amyer de Valence, on very favourable terms, Piers Gaveston must have felt pretty confident that once again his luck would hold.  Although one of the Ordainers, who had banished Piers from England, Amyer de Valence was a chivalrous man.  He had accepted Gaveston's surrender at Scarborough Castle, with the promise that if no solution could be reached between Edward II, Piers would be allowed back to Scarborough with provisions to prepare for a siege.  

Amyer de Valence intended to keep custody of Piers and take him to his castle at Wallingford.  Stopping at Deddington, Oxford, for the night, Amyer had no cause for concern in entrusting Piers to a light, armed guard, while he headed to Bampton to visit his wife, Beatrice.  If only he'd taken Piers with him!   Maybe he had found Piers a tiresome prisoner, or maybe that well-known arrogance had begun to seriously grate on him, or more likely he just wanted some privacy with his wife.  Neither he nor Piers could have known that Guy, Earl of Warwick, had been keeping a careful eye on events, and with a thirst for revenge, and no doubt expecting Piers to wriggle out of any punishment that might be meted out to him, Warwick seized his chance and arrived at Deddington  while Amyer was away.  The horror Piers must have felt when he realised he was now in the custody of a very different jailer can only be imagined at.  And yet, did he think that Amyer de Valence's oath would ensure his survival?   How wrong he was!  Piers was taken to Warwick castle - where another deadly enemy awaited him, Thomas of Lancaster.

The imposing entrance to Warwick Castle.

The dungeon at Warwick Castle - it seems likely that Warwick would have kept Piers here rather than in some better chamber.