Earl Piers De Gaveston CORNWALL ¹

   Another name for Piers was CORNWALL Earl.

   Ancestral File Number: GJ52-9W. User ID: 9871574.

   General Notes:

Earl of CORNWALL 1307-1312.

Executed 1312 KQGB.

BOOKS
The English A Social History 1066-1945, Christopher Hibbert, 1987, Norton, p50:
"But bythe end of the thirteenth century those friars who still adhered to the strict rules of conduct laid down by the founders of their orders were few and far between. With munificent bequests from royal and noble patrons, all the main orders had acquired riches and had been enabled to begin the constuction of buildings of great splendor, often on the sites of much poorer houses where their former indigence and good intentions had once aroused the admiration of laity and clergy alike. Henry III, Edward I and Edward II were particularly generous to the Dominicans whose property in London, where their first community had been found in Chancery Lane in 1221, had spread down to the river and by 1278 included those tow huge Thameside strongholds, Baynards Castle and Montfichet Tower. Henry III's brother, the Earl of Cornwall, as well as Henry III himself, Edward I and John of Gaunt had helped the Carmelites to develop an equally large area upon which a splendid priory appeard. Margaret, second queen of Edward I, Queen Isabella and Queen Philippa were all benefactors of the Franciscans whose Greyfriars Monastery was to be one of the finest in London with a large library built at the expense of Richard Whittington. There were similar magnificent friaries and friary churches throughout England, notably at Coventry where the Carmelites' church was as impressive as any cathedral and at Kings Langley where the Dominicans prayed for the soul of Edward II'sbeloved Piers Gaveston..."

Kings and Queens of Great Britain, Genealogical Chart, Anne Taute and Romilly Squire, Taute, 1990: "Margaret De Clare, Mar =1 Piers Gaveston Earl of Cornwall, Executed 1312."

A History of the Plantagenets, Vol III,The Three Edwards, Thomas B Costain, 1958, Doubleday & Co
p108: "...There was another reason: The companionship they found in the knights and cadets of Gascony who had the minstrel strainin them but were nonetheless longheaded, shrewd, and gallant.
"One of these old retrainers of Edward's, a certain Arnold de Gaveston, put in an appearance in London in a destitute condition, having escaped from a French prison. He was accompanied by a son called Piers or Perrot. In striving to provide for this unfortunate old comrade-in-arms Edward took the boy into his household as a squire. The boy behaved himself so well that the king decided he would be a suitable companion for his own son. It seemed to the king that the handsome and accomplished Gascon youth would introduce a better note into the oafish household at King's Langley...So Piers de Gavescon was sent to live there as a comrade for the prince; and this was the second of the two grave errors of which the king was guilty...
"There were two serious flaws in his character which began to show as soon as he was certain of his hold on the heir to the throne of England. He was greedy for wealth and honors, and his pride was like tinder. Nothingwas too much for him to ask. At the least hint of opposition he would flare up into tempers, even at the expense of the most important men in the realm..."
p134: "In London the new king [Edward II] piled mistake on mistake. Here his lostfriend awaited him, Brother Perrot in a coat of rich material from the East and a plume in his hat, and his mind filled with all the latest quips and anecdotes. The reunion was most affectionate and the king conferred on Gaveston the earldom ofCornwall; a most injudicious act, for this title had always been reserved for members of the royal family and it carried with it, moreover, an interest in the tin mines of Cornwall, those great stannaries from which came the close packed bundles conveyed everyday down the tin trail to the markets of Europe. Then he betrothed the gay jackanapes from Gascony to a member of the royal family, his niece, Margaret of Gloucester. Margaret was the daughter of his giddy and willful sister, Joanna of Acre. At first the girl seemed willing enough, for Master Perrot was handsome and high of spirits. Later the marriage would become a source of much trouble."
p152: "The stage was now set for tragedy. The violent Earl of Warwick, still smoldering from the favorite's impudence to him, came to Deddington with a number of other magnates. That so many of the baronial leaders were in the party makes it clear that this was not a matter of chance, that Warwick and his friends had been waiting for just such an opportunity as this. Learning where Gaveston was being held, they roused him out of his bed and took him forcibly from the town...
"The feeling against Gaveston was so violent that the barons could not waitto have him tried by a proper court; and yet it was not so much because of of his interference in state matters as it was resentment over smaller things: his wealth, his insolence, his desregard of their rights and privileges, the names he hadcoined for each of them. What followed the forcible removal of the Gascon is not very clear. One version has it that he was taken to Warwick Castle and that Lancaster and several other noblemen arrived soon after. A consultation was held and it was decided to put him to death without more ado. He was taken to Blacklow Hill the next night and beheaded there. According to another version, the judging occurred on the hillside at Blacklow and the evidence against the prisoner was discussed at some length. He was charged with having an evil influence over the king, and it was even claimed that he had practiced sorcery to gain it. In support of this charge it was advanced that he was the son of a witch who had been burned at the stake in Guienne for sorcery. This, unfortunately for Gaveston, was true.
"There is no evidence to prove either version right, but it seems certain that all of the barons who had taken part in the decision were present at his death. There was clearly a desire for anonymity in everything they did; in their choice of so late an hour and so isolated a spot as Blacklow Hill, in their reliance on the moon and the stars for light. There was surreptitiousness in the manner in which they sat closely together on the damp sod, knee to knee, hats drawn down low..."
p196: "It was soon realized by all that the younger Despenser had taken the place of Gaveston, and the feeling against him ran high...

The Later Middle Ages 1272-1485, George Holmes, 1962, The Norton History of England, p113: "...[Lancaster] was supplanted in 1318 by a group of men who had acquired the King's confidence since 1314, the Earls of Pembroke and Hereford and the knights, Bartholomew de Badlesmere, Roger d'Armory, Hugh d'Audley, and Hugh Despenser the younger. These men have been called the `Middle Party', and the phrase is just in so far as it emphasizes that they aimed neither at the rule of a single, all-powerful courtier, like Gaveston, nor at destroying the King's independence from outside, like Lancaster..."

The Political History of England 1216-1377, Vol III, T F Tout, AMS Press, 1905,
p238: "...[1307] Conspicuous among the returned exiles was Peter of Gaveston, whom the king welcomed with the warmest affection. He at once invested his `brother Peter' with the rich earldom of Cornwall, which the old king, with the object of conferring it on one of his sons by his second marriage, had kept in his hands since Earl Edmund's death. A little later Edward married the favourite to his niece, Margaret of Clare, the eldest sister of Earl Gilbert of Gloucester..."
p239: "..[1308] Discontent was already simmering at the elevation of the Gascon knight [Peter Gaveston] into their circle...At a tournament given by him at his own castle of Wallingford, to celebrate his marriage with the king's niece, the new-nade earl, with a party of valiant knights, challenged a troop, which included the Earls of Hereford, Warenne, and Arundel, and utterly discomfited his rivals. The victory of the upstart over magnates of such dignity was accounted for by treachery..."
p244: "...[1309] The barons drew up a statement of the `greatperils and dangers' to which England was exposed throught the king's dependence on bad counsellors. `Wherefore, sire,' the petition concludes, `your good folk pray you humbly that, for the salvation of yourself and them and of the the crown,you will assent that these perils shall be avoided and redressed by ordinance of your baronage.' Edward II at once surrendered at discretion, perhaps in vain hope of saving Gaveston. On March 16 he issued a charter, which empowered the barons toelect certain persons to draw up ordinances to reform the realm and the royal household. The powers of the committee were to last until Michaelmas 1311...Four days later the ordainers were appointed, the method of their election being based upon the precedents of 1258...
p249: "...[1312] The ordainers looked upon Gaveston's return as a declaration of war. Winchelsea pronounced him excommunicate, and five of the eight earls who sat among the ordainers, bound themselves by oaths to maintain the ordinances and pursue the favourite to the death. These were Thomas of Lancaster, Aymer of Pembroke, Humphrey of Hereford, Edmund of Arundel, and Guy of Warwick. Gilbert of Gloucester declined to take part in the confederacy, butpromised to accept whatever the five earls might determine. Moreover, John, Earl of Warrene, who had hitherto kept aloof from the ordainers, at last threw in his lot with them..."
p251: "...Lancaster was then at Kenilworth; Hereford, Arundel, and other magnates were also present...On Monday morning, June 19, the three earls rode the few miles from Kenilworth to Warwick, and Earl Guy handed over Peter [Gaveston] to them. They then escorted their captive to a place called Blacklow Hill, about two miles out of Warwick on the Kenilworth road...On reaching Blacklow hill, the three earls withdrew, though remaining near enough to see what was going on. Then two Welshmen in Lancaster's service laid hands upon the victim. Onedrove his sword through his body, the other cut off his head. The corpse remained where it had fallen, but the head was brought to the earls as a sign that the deed was done. After this the earls rode back to Kenilworth..."
p253: "...At last, on December 22, [1312], terms of peace were agreed upon. The earls and barons concerned in Gaveston's death were to appear before the king in Westminster Hall, and humbly beg his pardon and good-will. In return for this the king agreed toremit all rancour caused by the death of the favourite. Finally, in October, 1313, Lancaster, Hereford, and Warwick made their public submission in Westminster Hall. Pardons were at once issued to them and to over four hundred minor offenders.Feasts of reconciliation were held..."

The New Columbia Encyclopedia 1975 p323 Bohun Humphrey VIII De 4th Earl of Here- ford 3rd Earl of Essex: "1276-1322, English nobleman, son of Humphrey VII de Bohun. One of the lords ordainers who attempted to curb the powers of Edward II in 1310, he took part in the execution (1312) of the hated Piers Gaveston..."

INTERNET
Draper Gedcom
http://www.my-ged.com/db/page/draper/02582
Died 19 Jun 1312.

FAMILY SEARCH ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File v4.19 GJ52-9W.

   Marriage Information:

Piers married Margaret De CLARE, daughter of Earl Gilbert De Clare GLOUCESTER and Duchess Joan Acre GLOUCESTER, about 1307 in Castle, Tunbridge, Kent, England. (Margaret De CLARE was born about 1290 in Castle, Tunbridge, Kent, England, christened about 1292 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England and died on 9 Apr 1342 in , , France.)