1. homage, violence, and two edwards of vastly different intelligence (early modern europe)

7/18/2019 1. Homage, Violence, And Two Edwards of Vastly Different Intelligence (Early Modern Europe)

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History notes 1

Guyenne (Gascony): an English region of “France”. It's English because: once there was a roan

colony calle! "#uitaine$ while France is soli!ifying as% well% France% the Gascon &eo&le who lie there

(who s&ea Gascon) thin they're not French. he *ing of France taes a &le!ge of Hoage fro

+uchess Elenor of "#uitaine. ,ho isn't arrie!. ,hich aes her ery !esirable. -eeral &eo&le try to

i!na& her to arry her (it's a Geranic thing. "t the tie the church a&&roes). -o she !eci!es to taeanners into her ol! han!s% an! &ro&oses to Henry II of Englan!. hey get hitche!% an! hae i!s (inc.

ichar! the /ionheart an! *ing 0ohn). hus "#uitaine becoes English. aing the English ing one

of the 12 3otables4agnates of France (i.e. one of the 12 ost &owerful en in France) "n! then the

French eat away at it until it's Gascony% which is uch saller. "n! yet% it's still H5GE/6 aluable for

the English% soeties &ro!ucing as uch loot as the rest of Englan! 789I3E+. 8ne of the things

they ae is 7laret% a blen! of wine that was hugely &o&ular in Englan!. "n! not that e&ensie to

boot. "n! Gascony buys all sorts of stuff fro Englan! &ro&er. eeber this &hrase “he ing of

Englan! hol!s Guyenne by the grace of the ing of France”% ;ust lie eerybo!y else who hol!s turf in

France.

his creates soe &robles$ the English an! the French !on't really get along% but the *ing of Englan!

still has to &le!ge hoage for Guyenne

hoage<a feu!al &ractice. " great lor! who nee!s followers% in return for the &le!ge of hoage%

woul! grant a lesser (war)lor! a fief (or feu!atory)% co&lete with the &easants an! buil!ings on it. he

&easants are ital% since they fee! you while you fight for your lor!. he &le!ge was si&le$ the lesser

lor! neels before the greater lor! with clas&e! han!s% an! &roises to sere hi as long as they both

shall lie% then the greater lor! &uts his han!s on the lesser lor!'s han!s an! &roises to &rotect the

lesser lor!. "n! then they iss. 3o shitting. Eery tie a ing !ies% a bunch of &eo&le hae to &le!ge

Hoage to the 3E, ing.

E!war! II 1=>?@12=A +es&enser(hugh)

Isabel (arrie! to E! II) 1=BC@12C>

E!war! III 121=@AA

Dhili& of alois 1=B2@12C

7harles I. *ing of france 1=B?@12=>

E!war! II an! Isabel were arrie! in 0anuary 12> (she was 1=). Isabel ha! = sons: E!war! III

an! 0ohn an! two !aughters: Elenor an! 0obe. E!war! II was a ba! ing% #uite &ossibly one of

Englan!'s worst. "n! also gay. hese two facts are sur&risingly relate!% &artially because he wasn't

&articularly bright: which is to say he ha! little &olitical sense. "n! he wasn't goo! at sol!iering% which

eant he ha! no en! of trouble with the -cots. ,hich is to say he got thu&e! at the battle of



9annocburn. His 9IG screw u&% on the other han!% is that he's a !ic to his nobles. Es&ecially his

Earls (the highest@raning nobility% soeties calle! 9arons for no goo! reason). he Earls e&ecte!

&ers fro the onarchy (both because they thought they !esere! the an! so they can &ass soe of

those !own to HEI goons. Es&ecially their warlor!s)% an! E!war! II !i!n't !elier. hey get

cheese!.

"n! HE3 there's Isabel. -he's a French Drincess (the youngest chil!% an! only !aughter% ofDhilli& the Fair4I% a &retty co&etent ing of France% "*" the guy who rubbe! out the e&lars. 6ou

!ont fuc with this faily)% with all the sense of entitleent that entails. "n! she's feeling gi&&e! as

well$ ost #ueens "/-8 get &ers% an! she's not getting any. ,here's the &ers (castles% titles% etcetera)

going E!war!'s gay loers. +oh. (a #uic note: if he ha! feale I-E--E-% he'! hae ;ust tosse!

the soe 'stuff'% an! that woul!n't hae interfere! with his !uty to his nobles). his is &issing the

nobility the fuc off. "n! Isabel. IF he'! nown better% he'! hae nown to treat the nobles nicely% since

they're the 9IGGE- threat to the onarchy in Euro&e. 9ecause all of the thin they woul! be better

ings% since they're ;ust as noble. -o he was no ichar! the /ionheart (a ery co&etent gay English

ing. ,ho you !i! 38 ess with.). He's a &olitical !un!erhea!% a ba! sol!ier% an! not reotely a

ba!ass.

"n! then he DI--E+ 8FF Isabel. he ,83G woan to &iss off. -he is ,"6 sarter% ore

&olitical% an! ore !angerous than hi. eanwhile% the +es&enser faily is &laying E!war! II. Hugh

+es&enser (who was aybe not een gay) was a nasty o&&ortunist who was E!war! II's “loer” an!

ile! hi for all he's worth. "n! got really hostile to Isabel. Eentually he starte! trash@taling an!

threatening her% which E!war! II !i! nothing about% which gets aroun! to the &oint where the D8DE

an! France (the ost &owerful country in Euro&e at) tol! E!war! to tell +es&enser to bac off.

France's letter is rather threatening. -o Isabel ee&s a low &rofile an! starts &lotting (arguably% of her

an! her three brothers% she was the ost lie their father. i.e. she &laye! for ee&s).

8h% an! one little !etail: E!war! II hasn't &le!ge! hoage for Gascony yet. He's reluctant to !o

it% both because it's huiliating an! because he sus&ects that if he leaes Englan! he'll return to fin! he

is no longer ing (because eerybo!y hates hi). "n!% as we sai!% “he ing of Englan! hol!s

Guyenne by the grace of the ing of France”. -o% if he falls fro grace... 8f course% the *ing of France

(7harles I) of France has to be careful% otherwise the other 1= agnates of France will get u&&ity

about 7harles stri&&ing a agnate of their stuff arbitrarily% which eans ery ba! things (reeber

that bit about nobility an! threats to the onarchy). -o 7harles has to be circus&ect. 9ut he has

re&eate!ly re#ueste! that E!war! &le!ge hoage$ he een offere! to eet soewhere closer to E!war!

than Daris once (E!war! agree!% but then !i!n't show. +ub !ub !ub.). 7harles is lie “enough of

this cra&% Gascony's ine” on 0uly 12=?% then offere! E!war! II another shot to &le!ge% which he again

!i!n't show u& for. "t the oent% 7harles was being nice because E!war! is arrie! to Isabel. ,ho

has now s&otte! her chance for reenge.

-o Isabel goes to E!war! II an! says to hi “you shoul! sen! e to France to negotiate with

y brother oer Guyenne4Gascony (sae &lace% !ifferent naes).” E!war! II tals to Hugh +es&enser

the 6ounger (his loer) an! they agree to sen! her to France to try to wor out a way to get bac

Guyenne for the English. It's the Bth of arch% 12=C% an! Isabel is bac in France. -he arries in



7harles I (her brother)'s court where she runs into soe eile! English nobles (self@eile! an!

otherwise) who hae serious beef with E!war! II. Dowerful nobles. -o% HE6 try to conince her to

basically tae oer the throne% on behalf on her son E!war! III (who woul! then be ing. Hes not

E!war! III yet because hes not ing% but I gonna call hi that for the sae of coneniences). "n!

they hint that the nobles I3 Englan! woul! "/-8 lie that... 8ne of these nobleen% oger ortier%

the Earl of arch (&robably: as in I not sure what the &rof sai!% so hes D89"9/6 the Earl of

arch)% has an affair with her (it wasn't that secret either). "n! then she gets to taling with 7harles I.

Here's the !eal: 7harles I agrees to acce&t a &le!ge of hoage fro E!war! III instea! of fro

E!war! II% an! Englan! gets bac Guyenne. -he sen!s a essenger across the 7hannel telling E!war!

II to sen! their son to Daris. 9oth E!war! II an! Englan! are ha&&y to hear this% an! now the aerage

countryan is saying uch less nasty things about her behin! her bac (because she's French% you

now). he !eal goes as &lanne!% (E!war! III is 1? at the tie% btw)% E!war! III &le!ges hoage an!

7harles I gies Guyenne bac.

-o% E!war! II is all lie “therell be a great welcoe for you an! E!war! III when you get

bac” an! she res&on!s “we're not 78I3G bac until you eile the +es&ensers.” E!war! II is

screwe! an! gets &isse!. HE sen!s a bunch of essengers% which she sen!s bac saying% again% that

she's not coing bac until her ters are et. Eentually% E!war! II !ean!s to 7harles I that his

wife be returne! to Englan!. 7harles res&on!s “he #ueen has coe of her own will an! ay freely

return if she wishes% but if she chooses to reain here% she is y sister an! I refuse to e&el her.” In

&riate% 7harles tells Isabel that he won't hae her haing an affair in his court% an! that he nows about

her &lot% which he also won't hae in his court (because he !oesn't want to be seen as a &arty to that)% so

she nee!s to leae his court. 3ote: a!ulterous #ueens norally get ille!. "n! the fact that she's

banging ortier gets aroun! in Englan! (which woul! usually !oo her su&&ort). 9ut she still

anages to ee& su&&ort% which shows 05- how uch eeryone was fe! u& with E!war!. 7harles

suggests Isabel isit the count of Hainault an! his wife (their cousin)% since (being a count% not a ing)he won't care about her &lotting against Englan!. -o she goes to he /ow 7ountries (aa the

3etherlan!s). -o she hea!s off to Hainault% an! cuts a !eal with the count: she offers hi to let his

!aughter arry E!war! III% an!% in echange% the 7ount &roises A ercenaries an! > shi&s% which

she &lans to use to con#uer Englan!% nowing that as -883 as she arries in Englan! the lea!ing

3obles will si!e with her. -he'll lan! with a sall ary an! within ?> hours she'll hae the largest ary

in the history of Englan!.

=? -e&teber% 12=: Isabel lan!s in -uffol. Dreiously% E!war! II was DI--E+: He &ut a &rice

on Isabel an! ortier's hea!% an! carrie! aroun! a !agger to ill her with. 5&on lan!fall% -HE &laces

a HEF6 &rice on the +es&ensers' hea!s. "lie. E!war! II waffles for a bit before fleeing for ,ales.-he sen!s chasers who bag E!war!% with or!ers to bring hi intact (because he's the father of her

chil!ren an! she nee!s hi to ab!icate in faor of E!war! III). he +es&ensers% on the other han!% she

has hange!% !rawn% an! #uartere!. Isabel has a ysterious &riate conersation with E!war! II% after

which he ab!icate!% an! was &lace! un!er house (rea!: castle) arrest.

83 February 1% 12=A% E!war! III becae titular ing of Englan! (3ow he actually I- E!war!

III). itular ing because he's not ol! enough to be ing% so he nee!s one or ore regents to run the

ing!o for hi. In this case% it's Isabel an! ortier. For ost &eo&le in Englan! it sees lie



ortier is the &ower behin! the throne. /ater in 12=A% E!war! II is assassinate! (soehow% &robably

by getting a re!@hot &oer rae! u& his ass by seeral assassins% since it woul!n't leae a ar for

hi lying in state)% ;ust on the off chance he tries to ae a coebac. E!war! III% who #uite loe! his

father% !eci!es that he's going to fin! those res&onsible an! ill the. "n! he inherite! his other's

ean strea$ he was not to be trifle! with. ,hen the tie coes% eerybo!y !ies. ore s&ecifically% he

shows u& HI-E/F to ill eeryone. ,ith an ae. 5ntil that tie coes% it's the &riary thing on his

in!. Historians still argue about whether or not Isabel was inole! in E!war! II's assassination. he

&rof says the ost i&ortant thing is to watch E!war! III's res&onse. he fact that he !i!n't ill her

says she &robably wasn't. "n!% besi!es% she was &robably &olitic enough to now that it was ba! for

to ill an e@ing. ortier% thoughJ well% lets ;ust say he gets the ae.

February 1% 12=>: 7harles I is !ying. He has no (legitiate) chil!ren% but the #ueen% 0eanne

!'Ereu% is A onths &regnant. 8n his !eathbe!% 7harles I says to those gathere! aroun! hi “if the

#ueen bears a son% he shall be ing. 9ut% if she bears a !aughter% the crown goes to Dhilli& of alois”

Dhilli&% of course% being 7harles' cousin. hen he !ies. Eactly = onths later ("&ril 1)% 0eanne

!'Ereu gies birth to a girl% an! the crown goes to Dhilli&% en!ing the longest@reigning !ynasty in the

history of France. his !ynasty change has conse#uences: after all% there's one other chil! of Dhilli& I

left: Isabel. -he has a !irect bloo!line clai% 95 France has neer &ut a woan on the throne. hat%

of course% is not going to sto& her. Dhilli& assebles nobles an! clergy an! has the !eclare hi ing

of France. Isabel sen!s a !elegation claiing the crown for herself% on the basis that she has a ore

!irect bloo!line clai than Dhilli&. he assebly !enies her the crown% because seual i!entity K

bloo!line clai (it's a French thing). Dhilli& of alois becoes Dhilli& I.

" note on French +ynasties: 7harles was the last of the 7a&et +ynasty% who buil! o!ern

France (ostly through arriage). hey &ro!uce! ale heirs for ?= years% which is statistically

i&ossible.

"nother note: E!war! III's clai to the throne is "/-8 stronger than Dhilli& of alois. Isabel's

re&resentaties argue that her clai su&erse!es Dhilli&'s. Initially% the counter@arguent is that% by

tra!ition% no woan ha! eer been ruler of France. Isabel counters that there is no &rece!ent that woul!

&reent E!war! III fro taing the throne. Her !etractors argue against that% but it's wrong (as an

ea&le ichar! the /ionheart inherite! "#uataine through his other). "n! so Isabel an! E!war! are

!enie! the throne. 9ut they still hae a !irect bloo!line clai% which a lot of &eo&le% any of the

French% recogniLe....

9ac in Englan!% 8ctober 122. E!war! III is about to turn 1> (3oeber 12th is his birth!ay).

Darliaent is eeting in 3ottingha in the north of Englan!% with E!war!% Isabel% an! ortier inatten!ance. E!war! III is getting rea!y to get rea!y with ortier. 83 the 1Bth% in the Mueen's

7habers% ortier an! E!war! III get in an arguent% ortier insults E!war! III% an! E!war! III's

frien!s &o& their !aggers. Isabel interenes% an! E!war! an! his frien!s (wo !oLen frine!s% all but

one% ,illia ontague% un!er 2) leae. E!war! III is fe! u& with ortier% an! has !eci!e! to +8

soething about hi. he 7astellan of 3ottingha is sy&athetic to E!war!% an! shows hi a secret

entrance to the Inner 9ailey of the castle. -o% E!war! an! his frien!s snea in. hey a&&roach the

Mueen's 7haber an! are sto&&e! by the guar!. E!war! or!ers the Guar! to stan! !own% they !on't%



there's a fight% E!war! III wins. E!war! cho&s !own the !oor with a battleae. hey grab ortier an!

!rag hi off to /on!on. -eeral other !oors are ice! in% an! ortier's followers are roun!e! u&.

ortier is charge! with treason an! ur!er before Darliaent% an! &ro&tly hung at the gallows of

yburn (he's the first &erson hung there% in fact.) E!war! III becoes &ro&erly ing of Englan!% an!

tells his other that she's about to retire% gie bac all the oney she an! ortier hoar!e!% an! s&en!

her retireent in a castle at where she can &lay with her gran!chil!ren.

9efore that% howeer% Dhilli& I sent a French bisho& to Englan! to re#uire that E!war! III

&le!ge hoage to hi. Isabel (E!war! III was in his inority at the oent) res&on!e! that her son

was the son of a *ing an! Dhilli& was the son of a count% an! that her son woul! not &le!ge hoage to

hi. 3either Dhili& nor the English Darliaent lie! this. Darliaent tol! E!war! that his clai on the

French throne was unsustainable% an! tale! hi into &le!ging hoage anyway (they sai! it was his

!uty).

Dart of the reason Darliaent sai! E!war!'s !uty was to &le!ge Hoage was because nobo!y

wante! to fight France. France ha! ? the &o&ulation of Englan!% an! their nights were renowne! all

oer Euro&e. 9ut% at the sae tie% the oentu of French history suggest that% no atter whatE!war! III !oes% he's going to hae trouble hol!ing on to Gascony. "fter all% the 7a&ets ha! a!e it

their goal to consoli!ate all of France un!er rule fro Daris since the 1=th century. "n!% in all o!!s%

Dhilli& I was not only liely to follow the sae goal% but to be &roocatie in an atte&t to fin! a

goo! reason to tae Gascony fro Englan!. "n! so% Dhilli& !eci!es to taunt the English. "fter all% they

can ;ust thu& the English if it gets too heate!

,hat the French (an! the rest of the continent) !on't un!erstan! is the ilitary situation of the

9ritish Isles. "fter all% they'e neer fought the -cots. Englan! has (they'e also fought the ,elsh). -8

the continent thins Englan! is a &ushoer% thining “8h% Englan! can't een consistently beat the

-cots”% not realiLing how 35- the -cots are in a fight. English en@at@ars hae !eelo&e! a tastefor battle that France lacs% thans to generations of fighting. -8 they now a lot about how to fight%

an! how not to fight. "n! the French !on't now that. he fact is% eeryone on the 9ritish Isles are

really goo! fighters an! really bloo!y@in!e!. Hec% the French haen't seen enough of the longbow to

get it. hey won't get it when it's all !one% but they'll hae seen a lot ore.

9,% the English actually want 8E Gascony$ the French hae taen a lot away fro it oer

the years. -o% Dhilli& I offers the English ore Gascony to get the to tal (he's lying)% so he can

&rooe the ore.

9, =% Dhilli& the I is in! of stu&i!. he sart one is 0oan the /ae% his wife.

-o% Dhilli& I !eci!es that E!war! III nee!s to &le!ge liege hoage. ,hich is to say% E!war!

III has to acce&t Dhilli& I as his /iege /or! (lie regular Hoage)% "3+ recogniLe that Dhilli& I is a

better noble than hi in all ways. E!war! III "3+ Darliaent are both lie “HE// 38N” Instea!%

Darliaent &asses a 141th an! 141Cth ta on Englan! to fun! a war chest for E!war! III. -oe sa&le

French taunts: in the i!!le of a seron% the archbisho& of ulon announces that the ing of France is

thining about sen!ing en to -cotlan!% as an atte&t to &rooe Englan! ia her s&ies. French

re&resentatie of Dhilli& the I announces to E!war! III that all further conersations between France



an! Englan! ust tae into consi!eration the consi!erations of -cotlan! (which is co&letely

unreasonable% btw. /ie “"ll further conersations between the 5- an! Gerany ust tae into

consi!eration the consi!erations of eico” unreasonable).

"n! here coes the last bric in the wall: obert of "rtois was Dhilli& I's brother@in@law. "t

one tie% he an! Dhilli& ha! been goo! bu!!ies. Howeer% obert re&eate!ly trie! to gain control of the

7ounty of "rtois% which ha! &asse! by right of inheritance to obert's aunt (ironic). First he &resents a &arcel of forge! !ocuents to &roe his clai. hen his aunt !ies abru&tly in 12=B. "lost lie she

was &oisone! or soething. -o obert gets &ut on trial% an! conicte!. hans to his bu!!y@ness%

Dhili& eiles hi instea! of eecuting hi. HE goes into the /ow 7ountries% Flan!ers to be s&ecific.

hen obert threatens% fro Flan!ers% to ill Dhilli&'s i!s ia sorcery (this ay soun! funny to us

38,% but reeber% this is Early o!ern Euro&e. Een though were not yet in “shes a witch% burn

herN” territory% threats of sorcery arent eaningless). Dhilli& is lie “I will ill anyone who s&eas to

this guyN”. obert flees to Englan!% where he is acce&te! with o&en ars. E!war! III gies hi three

castles% a &ension% an! aes hi !ue (I thin) of ichon! (!oing soe &roocation of his own). It's

122.

In 122A% Dhilli& I !eclares that Guyenne has been forfeite! by E!war! III “because of the

any rebellious% !isobe!ient acts coitte! against our royal a;esty” inclu!ing “harboring of the

sorcerer obert of "rtois”. E!war! III res&on!s. he letter is a!!resse! to “Dhilli& of alois% who calls

hiself *ing of France.” "n! E!war! III lays clai to the French throne in his letter. "n! so the 1

(actually 11A) 6ears ,ar begins.

1. homage, violence, and two edwards of vastly different intelligence (early modern europe)

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