The Greatest Traitor Read online

  Some measure of how cruel the land was, and the bloodiness of daily life, even to the point of brothers attacking and killing each other, can be gleaned from the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, the principal chronicle of the native Irish, written in Gaelic.21 Almost every entry relates to some small band of warriors attacking another: Irish attacking Irish, Irish attacking English, and English attacking Irish in a swirling mass of Gaelic and Anglo-Norman names and fire, destruction and bloodshed. The English perspective, given in a series of annals written in Latin in a Dublin monastery, is equally horrific.22 Every year there are multiple references to villages being burnt, and the English defeating – or being defeated by – gangs of Irish warriors. Thus whichever point of view you take, the country to which Roger and Joan had come was a bloody one. By implication, the position which Edward had conferred on Gaveston was no sinecure. The land most closely resembled the Marcher lordships of the twelfth century, with the wars between Gaelic-speaking clans and Englishmen, with groups of men murdering wayfarers, burning villages, killing their enemies’ cattle, ambushing messengers. For men like Roger and Gaveston, with everything to prove and eager for military experience, this meant Ireland was not a place to avoid but a land of opportunity.

  Trim, at the heart of the de Geneville estates, was the first place to which Roger and Joan went, to meet Lord Geoffrey de Geneville, now aged eighty-two. Having resided at Trim Castle since 1254, he could remember most of the history of the English in Ireland: who were his most loyal retainers, which English family had married into which Irish tribe, and who had killed whom and burnt what. For three years in the 1270s he had governed Ireland, holding the position of Justiciar. As for the castle, it had stood like a bastion of English rule throughout. It was the largest and probably the strongest castle in Ireland, with its colossal Norman keep and high stone curtain walls, further defended on the north side by the River Boyne. But once it had been at the centre of a peaceful palatinate; now it was a frontier castle again.

  We do not know a great deal about the role played by Gaveston in Ireland, and even less about that played by Roger. Clearly the most marked aspect of their stay was military activity and, unfortunately, soldiers in the field very rarely leave written evidence of their deeds. We cannot even be sure that Roger and Gaveston were acting together. However, there is some evidence that they were. They were in the same small part of Ireland at the same time, and their previous close alliance in England has already been noted. A further strong indicator is the number of friends they had in common in Ireland. One of the men who had sailed with Gaveston was John de Charlton, a yeoman of Gaveston’s household and a friend of both the king and Roger.23 Another man present was Walter de Thornbury, Roger’s guardian, who was appointed Chancellor of Ireland on Gaveston’s recommendation.24 A third common companion – and probably the closest to both men – was John de Hothum, who, having left Ireland at the time Gaveston arrived, returned early in 1309 and was, with Gaveston’s help, made Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, a post previously held by Walter de Thornbury.25 A fourth close mutual companion was John de Sapy, who served in both Roger’s household and Gaveston’s.26 Thus, with at least four of Roger’s closest associates being among Gaveston’s closest associates, one may safely say that the companionship hinted at by Roger’s defection from the royal army with Gaveston in October 1306 had not weakened, and may well have grown stronger.

  Roger and Gaveston were certainly both together in Dublin in April 1309,27 and in the light of this fact there is every reason to suppose Roger assisted Gaveston in his spring campaign. This took the form of an expedition through Leinster, defeating the rebel Irish and Anglo-Irish, and once more securing the region under English control. The Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin, centred on Castle Kevin, were exactly where Geoffrey de Geneville had been defeated by the native Irish forty years earlier. Roger may have learnt from his grandfather-in-law, or men then in his employment, how difficult it was to fight a traditional pitched battle with mounted knights in those parts. One had to use guerrilla tactics, as used in the mountains of Wales, and to centralise forces on a strong, defendable castle: in this case Castle Kevin. These were the tactics employed now by Gaveston. Whether or not there was any direct link between de Geneville’s experiences in the 1270s and Gaveston’s strategy is of course entirely conjectural; either way, it was probably in this part of Ireland, under Gaveston’s command, that Roger had his first experiences of helping to form military strategy.

  By the summer of 1309 Gaveston had gained a reputation as a sound military administrator in Ireland. Not only had the English forces under his orders achieved the destruction of Dermot O’Dempsey, a rebellious Irish lord, he had secured Leinster, defeated the equally rebellious O’Byrne clan, and refortified key strongholds such as Newcastle McKynegan and Castle Kevin. He had built a road leading through the mountains from Castle Kevin to Glendalough to secure these achievements. All this work strengthened the capital, Dublin, and provided a firm base for the English to rule more effectively. If the way was cleared for him to return to England, he could hold his head high.

  Back in England, ever since Gaveston’s departure King Edward had been doing all in his power to pave the way for his beloved’s return. In order to gain the approval of the earls he offered each of them grants of land and persuaded them, one by one, to return to the fold of loyalty. Once he had convinced the most sympathetic lords, he despatched them to Avignon to consult the Pope, and subsequently presented the pontiff with jewellery. He bribed the Pope also by making grants of lands to his family in Gascony. In addition he persuaded the King of France to drop his opposition by making large grants to Isabella for her maintenance. By the spring of 1309 he was ready to demand that Gaveston be allowed to return.

  Edward had shown himself to be a shrewd manipulator in his dealings over Gaveston. Exactly how shrewd was shown even more clearly over the next two months. At the Westminster parliament in late April and early May, Edward had requested that he be granted leave to levy a tax and that Gaveston be allowed back into England. He was granted the tax on certain conditions, but Gaveston’s return was flatly refused. Edward’s next move was cunning: he offered to accept all the conditions attached to the tax in return for Gaveston’s return. In this he was eventually successful, playing off the earls against each other. Although not formally summoned, Gaveston left Ireland on or just before 23 June,28 returning to England surreptitiously, by way of Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, and appearing openly beside the king at the parliament held at Stamford in late July.

  Roger returned to England at about the same time. Given his Arthurian interests, from his ancestry and his later chivalric displays, it is tempting to speculate that he was with Gaveston at Tintagel Castle, and saw the low ruins of the legendary birthplace of the ancient British king. One might also speculate that the reason why Gaveston was able to travel across England without arousing suspicion was that he was travelling in Roger’s company. By 20 July Roger had reached the court, as on that day the king favoured him by issuing a mandate to the Justiciar of Ireland to restore to him rights formerly enjoyed by his predecessors in Trim. It is thus possible that Gaveston was secretly with Edward from this point onwards. Roger subsequently attended the Stamford parliament at which Gaveston made a surprise public appearance, and at which Edward renewed his grant of the earldom of Cornwall on his favourite. The days of Roger’s closeness with Gaveston were, however, numbered.

  The problem was, once again, Gaveston’s lack of respect for the earls. He was unable to contain his spitefulness towards those who had forced his exile. He gave them all nicknames, which he used openly at court. He called the Earl of Warwick ‘the Black Hound of Arden’, and the Earl of Lancaster ‘the Fiddler’. Most importantly, he alienated the moderate Earl of Pembroke, whom he called ‘Joseph the Jew’. He regarded his enemies’ failure to keep him in exile as a sign of their weakness, and mocked them accordingly. He finally pushed his luck too far when he demanded the king dismi
ss one of the Earl of Lancaster’s retainers, which of course Edward did. The earl swore to destroy Gaveston, and there were many who would have gladly offered assistance.

  Roger remained with the court for the remainder of 1309. In all probability he spent Christmas with the king and Gaveston. The gravity of the situation regarding Gaveston could not be ignored, however, and in February 1310 matters came to a head. The Earls of Lancaster, Hereford, Warwick, Oxford and Arundel demanded that he be banished for a second time. As a precaution, the king did as he had done in 1308: he appointed his faithful retainers to positions in charge of vital castles. Roger, for example, received the constableship of Builth Castle. But it was slight protection for the king against the combined wrath of the key military earls and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Only three of the earls remained loyal, and one of them, Surrey, was of dubious worth, having declared his everlasting hatred of Gaveston. As a safeguard, Gaveston was sent north. Edward was forced to accept the appointment of a committee of twenty-one Lords Ordainers drawn from the earls, barons and bishops, who would draw up a series of articles limiting royal power.

  By this time, the king had become adept at elusive political manoeuvring. He decided to answer those of his critics who had complained about his neglect of Scotland by announcing a campaign, and his intention to shift the whole government to York. On 18 June a writ was issued summoning Roger to appear with the other lords and their retinues to march against the Scots, mustering at Berwick on 8 September. At the same time a second writ requested Roger to allow one hundred men to be raised from his lordship of Ewyas, held jointly with his kinsman, Theobald de Verdon, and a third writ requested that two hundred men be raised from three of his Welsh lordships.29 Roger himself, however, had obtained permission from the king to go to Ireland just two days earlier, and this remained steadfastly his intent.30 He returned to Wigmore to organise the despatch of the men from his Welsh lands to assist the king, and set out for Ireland through Wales.31 On 2 August a desperate last-minute call from the king was sent to Roger ‘earnestly requesting’ him to attend the muster at Berwick. It was in vain. Shortly after the appointed date of 8 September, Roger landed in Ireland.32

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  Lords with extensive land holdings, when travelling abroad, appointed lawyers to represent them in their absence. From the official enrolment of such appointments we know that among the English knights in Ireland with Roger in October 1310 were William de Adforton, John de Stratfield, Hugh de Croft, Hugh de Kynardsleigh, William de Thornbury, William de Cleobury and Hugh de Turpington. Of these, the last named would stand by Roger to his dying day. The others all came from Mortimer heart-lands, most of them from Mortimer-held manors within a few miles of Wigmore. Also with Roger was one Master John le Keu de la Rook, who, holding a degree and yet being of sufficient status to need to appoint attorneys in England, was possibly Roger’s chaplain and secretary. And last but by no means least of those who accompanied Roger on his expedition of 1310 was his wife, Joan.33

  It might seem surprising that a military commander heading to a war zone and expecting to do battle should take his wife with him, but he had good reasons. Joan was herself an Irish heiress, and there may have been some legal technicality requiring her to go in person, to take possession of lands, for example, or to answer a case in court. More probably, travelling with Roger was simply her practice. Judging from the number of children they produced, Roger wanted his wife to be with him in Ireland (as in England) as a sexual companion, especially as he would be there for months if not years. But there is also the fact that the lady of a household was second in command after her lord. If anything should happen to Roger, Joan was the ideal person to hold the lines of feudal duty together and to take command, she being the heiress of Meath in her own right.

  Upon landing Roger and Joan found that Meath, like most of Ireland, was in turmoil. The previous year John FitzThomas had gone to war with Roger’s vassals, the brothers Hugh and Walter de Lacy, and Roger had obtained pardons for manslaughters committed by those of his men who had resisted the attack.34 There is also evidence that the native Irish had attacked deep into West Meath in 1310, and had been repulsed. The Annals of Clonmacnoise record that in 1310 ‘Geoffrey O’Farell, with the forces of the Annaly, came to Donover, in Kyneleagh, to take the spoils and prey of that country, but the natives and inhabitants defended their country so well that they killed Donnell MacHugh Oge O’Farell, Hugh MacMoylissa and Geoffrey MacMortagh’.35 This ‘Donover’ probably relates to Donore in the barony of Moycashel, close to Roger’s lands. These enemies may have been politically unimportant in England, and had too few retainers to make a major impact upon Ireland as a whole, but it did not take many men to terrorise a neighbourhood, or to burn a granary, or to steal a few dozen head of cattle. Such acts could destroy a community, a manor, and accordingly destroy the income of the lord. The lands of absentee lords like Roger were especially at risk.

  Worryingly for the absentee Irish lords, these attacks were not isolated incidents. Throughout English-held Ireland incursions were being made into English rights. What was happening was more than just a rebellion: the entire existence of the English in Ireland was under threat from a move to reintroduce Gaelic law and customs to Ireland, to Gaelicise the country. English lords saw opportunities this way; they could become petty princes by marrying Irish heiresses and switching between Irish and English allegiances as they found fit. Indeed, some had done this from the mid-thirteenth century and spoke Irish as naturally as French, the language of the English aristocracy. Just as worrying for the English lords was the fact that the Irish Exchequer revenues had collapsed, and there was pitifully little money for raising troops now: between a third and a half of the revenue available in the reign of Edward I.36 And then there was the succession question. Certain lords, especially those who were part-Irish, from mixed marriages, held that Irish inheritance laws applied to their lordships. These varied from tribe to tribe, but in some cases women were altogether debarred from inheriting. If such laws were taken into account, Roger and Joan should not have inherited Meath through Joan’s grandmother, Maud de Lacy, and Roger should not have inherited his grandmother’s estate at Dunamase. It is thus important to see Roger’s ambitions in Ireland in this light: he had to fight to retain his lordships, and to retain the loyalty of his tenant lords, otherwise he would lose his lordships in Ireland altogether.

  We know little of what direct action Roger took in Ireland over the course of the next year. In April and September 1311 he was firmly stationed at his great fortress of Trim, probably protecting his inheritance through force of arms and negotiation. Ironically, the most important thing about this period of his life is what he was not doing. He had so far supported Gaveston and the king completely. Now his powerful and respected kinsman, the Earl of Pembroke, had broken with the king and sided with the other earls. This altered things. Gaveston was clearly hell-bent on antagonising Lancaster and Warwick, and he would drag down with him many who supported him. Perhaps Pembroke warned Roger to keep clear of Gaveston. Roger’s Irish campaign was undertaken for military reasons, but it helped remove him from the company of Gaveston, and thus protected him from later events. Never again did Roger put himself in a position of risk for the sake of helping the king’s favourite.

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  While Roger was facing the turmoil of Ireland, Edward was struggling in Scotland. The campaign started badly when, of the ten earls besides Gaveston, only Gloucester and Surrey accompanied him on the expedition. In October they reached Linlithgow, but failed to meet Bruce in battle. Bruce was far too wise to risk venturing an attack on a better equipped army which would sooner or later retire to England, as it always did. Instead he hid battalions of men ready in defence. On one occasion, a number of Scotsmen hidden in a cave above a narrow valley road saw an opportunity too good to miss, and took advantage of the higher ground, massacring the English footsoldiers below them. By the time the English knights were on the scene, and able to rally the me
n and to order a systematic advance on the position, the Scots had disappeared, leaving three hundred dead and many wounded.37 Thus the English campaign failed in all its objectives, including its main one: to distract the English earls from the impeachment of Gaveston.

  It was the summer of 1311 by the time Edward came south. He ordered Gaveston to remain in the safety of Bamburgh Castle, and summoned a parliament for 8 August. Roger was also summoned, but, in all probability, ignored the writ, as he habitually did when in Ireland. The rest of the lords came with a purpose: to present Edward with the Ordinances, and to force him to accept them all.

  There were forty-one Ordinances. These included six which had been issued directly on the appointment of the Lords Ordainers the previous year, which included general statements about the rights of the Church, the keeping of the king’s peace throughout the realm, and the keeping of Magna Carta. The thirty-five new Ordinances touched upon such subjects as the king’s right to declare war without the consent of his lords (as Edward had recently done with regard to Scotland), and the removal of royal officials especially close to Gaveston, among them John de Charlton, John de Hothum and John de Sapy. Interestingly, the sixteenth Ordinance stressed that the lands of Ireland, Gascony and Scotland were at risk of being lost unless capable and efficient ministers could be appointed as their keepers. But Edward cared only about one Ordinance: the twentieth. This stated that Gaveston had to leave the realm by 1 November, for the crime of having misled and poorly advised the king. In case of any doubt, the lords stressed that by ‘the realm’ they meant England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and all the other dominions of King Edward. There would be no new appointments for Gaveston.