Edward II
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Edward II

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 Edward at Bannockburn

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Paul




Number of posts : 30
Age : 52
Location : Boston, USA
Registration date : 2007-10-03

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PostSubject: Edward at Bannockburn   Edward at Bannockburn Icon_minitimeWed Oct 31, 2007 6:53 pm

Was this the only battle Edward took part in? I know the battle was handled horribly but most of the small details I have read state that he fought bravely, I wondered what he actually did? How involved was he in the actual fighting or is the bravery mainly from his reluctance to leave the field when it looked like all was lost?
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Alianore
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Alianore


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PostSubject: Re: Edward at Bannockburn   Edward at Bannockburn Icon_minitimeWed Oct 31, 2007 7:23 pm

He took part in the siege of Caerlaverock in 1300, when he was only 16, but other battles...none that occur to me. Unfortunately (for his military reputation) Wink, he wasn't present at Boroughbridge in 1322.

One chronicle says that Edward 'fought like a lion' at Bannockburn, and had to be dragged off the field by the earl of Pembroke and Sir Giles Argentein before he was captured. He was on his horse, about to lead another charge, when they grabbed his reins and forced him to leave.

Paul, you might be interested in Aryeh Nusbacher's Bannockburn 1314, which covers the lead-up to the engagement and the battle itself in great detail.

I hate it when people accuse Ed of 'running away'. Some novels about Ed II are particularly guilty of this, giving Isabella a reason to despise her cowardly, tail-turning husband. *Fumes* In one, his stepmother Marguerite says about Ed I "if the dead know aught, he is shamed this day!" Yeah, because he did such a great job in Scotland himself...
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Paul




Number of posts : 30
Age : 52
Location : Boston, USA
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PostSubject: Re: Edward at Bannockburn   Edward at Bannockburn Icon_minitimeWed Oct 31, 2007 8:11 pm

Well Edward I had his moments in Scotland. The Hammer of the Scots nickname is a little misplaced though as he didn't achieve too much. Thanks for the book tip though - sounds like you should've avoided a lot of books on your list though!

The "fought like a lion" line sounds like a bit of 14th century spin though. I thought the more important people tended to avoid the real fighting unless you were the bloodthirsty Richard the Lionheart type. Having said that though a lot of nobles were killed at Bannockburn and everyone seemed to have their blood up, Gilbert de Clare charging off to his doom after having been accused of being a coward for one.
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Alianore
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Alianore


Number of posts : 168
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PostSubject: Re: Edward at Bannockburn   Edward at Bannockburn Icon_minitimeWed Oct 31, 2007 8:54 pm

I can't remember offhand which chronicle said that Ed 'fought like a lion', but it was a contemporary one, and none of them were keen to put a positive spin on Ed II or anything he did. (Quite the opposite, usually.) The only chronicler who was pro-Ed II was Geoffrey le Baker, and he was writing decades later.

What cracks me up is when Ed II is accused of 'losing' Scotland. Umm, when was Scotland won, precisely?? Yes, Edward I won some battles there. But he never conquered the country.

Certainly seems from the evidence that Ed II was in the thick of the fighting at Bannockburn - as was Bruce, of course, rather more successfully!
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elflady

elflady


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PostSubject: Re: Edward at Bannockburn   Edward at Bannockburn Icon_minitimeWed Oct 31, 2007 9:09 pm

After the king's escape, the Earl of Pembroke and others stood their ground on the battlefield, Roger Mortimer included. Pembroke lost his horse and fled on foot, and Roger was taken prisoner. Roger was later appointed by Bruce to bring the royal seal back to the king...

Yes, Scotland was never really conquered. One more reason to make the peace for which Roger Mortimer was so much blamed!
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Alianore
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Alianore


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PostSubject: Re: Edward at Bannockburn   Edward at Bannockburn Icon_minitimeWed Oct 31, 2007 9:37 pm

Pembroke left the field, possibly barefoot and horseless, and almost certainly with the king, according to his (Pembroke's) biographer - no doubt they found a spare horse he could ride. Ed II's brother-in-law the earl of Hereford and John Maltravers were two other men taken prisoner, along with many others. One of the men killed, on Ed II's side, was young John Comyn, whose father the Red Comyn had been stabbed to death by Robert Bruce in church in 1306.

Bruce treated the body of the earl of Gloucester with the greatest respect, and personally kept an overnight vigil over it. He and Gloucester were second cousins, and married to sisters.

The peace negotiated by Mortimer and Isabella in 1328, which involved the marriage of Ed II's daughter Joan to Bruce's son David, was called 'the shameful peace' by contemporaries and was deeply unpopular. Very few people wanted peace with Scotland, and of course they didn't have our modern perception that war should be avoided. The main reason that Mortimer and Isabella wanted peace was because they couldn't afford war, having run through most of Ed II's vast cash reserves rewarding themselves and their followers, and not for any principles of 'give peace a chance'.

There's a pretty informative site about Bannockburn here: http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/medieval/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=57
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