queen, and to give her for herself and her whole court an allowance of twenty shillings a day, and to remove her own servants and particular friends from her; so far that the wife of the said Hugh was assigned to the queen as a chaperone, and carried her seal, nor could she write a letter to anyone without the espionage of Lady Despenser; whereupon the lady queen was greatly enraged, and for securing revenge or satisfaction wished to visit her brother, the King of France." "

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While the attempt on the part of Hugh to secure a divorce, and the removal of her servants and friends, and the espionage upon whatever she wrote might seem to point equally to some kind of clandestine correspondence, with Mortimer possibly, yet the confiscation of her lands and castles, and the substitution of the king's men for those of the queen's as garrisons point more directly to suspected treasonable dealings with France as the best explanation of the facts. At any rate, Isabella seized the occasion that was furnished by the negotiations for peace between her husband and her brother, and guided probably by the craft of the Bishop of Hereford she offered herself as an emissary, and by her blandishments persuaded the king to send her to France. Once there she delayed the conclusion of a final peace, and then sent word to the king that she was not coming back at all so long as the Despensers were in power, for she was afraid of the harm which Hugh Despencer would do her if she remained in England.

When this news reached Edward he was taken completely by surprise. The queen had dissembled so well her hatred for Despenser and her fear of the king that he had seen evidence of nothing but love and peace. No one told him what was going on, and he did not have the penetration to discern it for himself. With characteristic want of dignity, and in absolute simplicity, the king took his domestic troubles before Parliament. He was conscious apparently only that his wife had left him, and quite guiltless of any suspicion that it might have offended her to have had her lands taken away, and to have been threatened with divorce. Ignorant likewise that she had been terrified by his furious outbursts of passion, he finds the whole affair an impenetrable mystery, and asks Parliament to aid him in getting his wife to come back. After some

Chron. de Lanercost, p. 254.

discussion, the bishops were directed to write to her in the hope that they might persuade her to return. The letter which she writes in reply to the Archbishop of Canterbury, explaining her prolonged absence and her refusal to return, contains the definite and very significant statement that the reason she does not return is that she is in fear of her life from the king."

At the time, no one thought that she was in danger of her life from Hugh Despenser. Such charge is absent from the articles of indictment in his death warrant" and it would certainly have been among them if there had been any general belief in its existence inasmuch as all the other charges against him are definitely listed in that instrument. Yet it is safe to say that few people at court were ignorant of the ill-will which Despenser bore the queen. With the king already exasperated against her, Isabella might well fear that Despenser, having the king's confidence, might easily incite against her Edward's notorious violence.

Thus while the queen had good cause to hate and to distrust Despenser, she had no reason to fear that her life was in danger from him, but she used that distrust in her letters to cover her real fear of her husband. The king in his letters to her, however, roughly brushed aside what he considered this fabrication in regard to Hugh, although he admitted that there might have been

12" Reverend Father in God, we have diligently examined your letters, in which you require us that we return to the company of our very dear and very sweet lord and friend, and you signify that Sir Hugh Despenser is not hostile to us, but wishes us well, just as you say. At this we marvel as much as we can, for you as well as anyone ought not to believe that we left the company of our said lord without very great and justifiable cause, and that was, to escape the peril of our body, and the doubt which we had of the said Hugh, who had control of our lord and his entire kingdom, and, that he wished to dishonor us by means of his powers, we have been certain and have so well proved, that we have dissimulated a long time to escape the danger. And certainly we desire above everything else after God and the salvation of our soul to be in the company of our said lord and to die with him. So we pray you as much as we may, that you take for an excuse that we cannot do as you require us in the matter you ask, for in no manner can we return to the company of our lord without putting ourselves in peril of death, through which we are in greater trouble than we may write." Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury from Queen Isabella. Twysden's Decem Scriptores, 2766. (French.)

"Chron. Edw. I & II, pp. 87-89, Vol. II. Bridlington, Auctor.

cause for offense in his own conduct, and peremptorily ordered her to come home."

Besides the letter from the king to Isabella, there are two others touching upon the same point. One is from Edward to the King of France." The other is from Edward to the Pope." In different ways they bear out the same idea.

It may be altogether reasonable to suppose that Isabella misrepresented the whole thing, as it is generally thought she did, and

龄“ "Madame, many times we have commanded you, as well before the homage as since, for the great desire which we have that you should be with us, and the great distress because of your very long absence, understanding also that during it you have been in great mischief, that you should come to us with all haste, laying aside all excuses. Before the homage you excused yourself, indeed, because of the progress of the business, and now by your letters and through the Bishop of Winchester you send us word that you are not coming at all on account of the fear and doubt which you have of Hugh Despenser. At which I marvel as much as possible, the more as you in past time conducted yourself toward him and he toward you in our presence in such a friendly fashion, and then upon your departure by special promises, looks, and other evidences of friendly regard, and lastly by your very especial letters sent to him at a late date, which he showed to us.

"And surely, Madame, we know of a truth and you know also, that he showed toward you every honor that he could, nor has there been shown to you at any time any villainy, since you entered our company, by any aid or abetting, unless possibly once, on your own account, if you will remember, we did address to you some words of reproof, privately enough, as you say, without other harshness. . . . . Wherefore we command and charge you to the utmost of our power, that ceasing all these reasons and made-up excuses, and leaving everything else, you come to us with all speed. . . . . Rymer's Foedera, Vol. IV, p. 615. (French.)

In a letter to the king of France, written March 18, 1326, Edward says: ". . . . but truly, dear brother, we perceive well enough and you can as well, and all men can, that she does not love us at all as she ought to love her husband, and that the reason which she alleges concerning our said nephew (Hugh Despenser) is made up and not at all the real reason why she left us; . . . ." Rymer's Foedera, Vol. IV, p. 622. (French.)

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66

In the letter to the Pope, April 15, 1326, the king says: ... in France it was openly said that we had to banish our wife and son from the realm of England, and that they had asked for that reason that we should send certain envoys to the land of France to make a treaty for the safety there of our wife, as she could not remain with us in England without danger of bodily harm; . . . . Rymer's Foedera, Vol. IV, p. 625.

(French.)

that she was perfectly safe in England. It is quite allowable to believe that it was only her desire to be even with Hugh Despenser and his wife, as well as to join Mortimer in France, that made her leave Edward. Such motives did undoubtedly exist, and must be given consideration, but they do not weaken in any way the conclusion that because of his malady, which expressed itself at times in outbursts of violence, Isabella did not feel safe, and could not live with her husband, and that so long as he was under the control of Despenser, the king's ungovernable passion might at any time be aroused against her. This view, which seems to harmonize best with the known facts, has a remarkable confirmation in the defense which Adam Orleton, Bishop of Hereford, makes in Parliament against the charges with which he was later confronted on account of the part which he took in the deposition of the king.

The third of the formal charges made against him is thus quoted by Adam: "That by my false and treacherous words and assertions made at Wallingford to the Lady Queen, married to our Lord the King, such fear was aroused that she did not dare to go to the king, her husband, upon which account (cujus occasione) a lawful impediment to marriage as well as to procreation existed in the covenant and in the sacrament." "I declare, indeed," says he, "that when the said Isabella was staying at Wallingford with the present king, her son, she heard certain gossip as to why she did not personally go to her husband; . . . . Upon me, because I was then at Hereford, it was enjoined that I should publicly set forth, for preserving her good name and for defending her against gossip of this kind, certain causes, among which the savageness of the king, which had often been exhibited, could, and ought to be feared. . . . . Afterwards, when I was out of the kingdom, on account of the things that were being said as before, the queen had assembled the prelates, earls, barons and nobles of the realm in great numbers; where after diligent consideration of this habit (hoc habitum) it was unanimously decided and advice given the queen that they would in no way permit her to go to the king.

.. All these things are to that degree public and notorious in the realm of England that no ground exists for fabrication. . . . Besides this the said lady the queen for a long time before the said charge while she was in France, had a well justified fear of the savageness (saevitia) of her husband. Nor did the cause for fear

cease with the death of Hugh Despenser, whom the king loved with an immoderate and inordinate love, and on account of it rather was the savageness of the king increased for avenging his death."

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Some additional light is thrown on Edward's condition by the attitude which the queen assumes toward him on one or two other occasions. While the king was still in prison, according to Walsingham," The queen, indeed, sent him soft garments and caressing letters, yet would not see him, pretending that the community of the realm would not permit it. And he had his expenses provided to the extent of 100 marks a month."" Again Walsingham says: "When, moreover, it was announced to the queen that her son had been elected king and her husband deposed, full of grief, as it seemed to outside appearances, the queen almost lost her mind. Edward, also, her son, moved by his mother's grief, swore that he never would accept the crown so long as his father was unwilling." And further, "On February 2, Edward was crowned at Westminster by the archbishop; the queen, so far as one could judge from her countenance manifesting great grief."" Even if the king's malady made it impossible for Isabella to return to him, and in spite of her well attested intimacy with Mortimer, she could still pity Edward's misfortune and even the degradation which she had been partly responsible for bringing upon him. To her he was still her husband, and an object of compassion.

YALE UNIVERSITY, New Haven, Conn.

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Adam Orleton's Defense. Twysden's Decem Scriptores, 2766. "Walsingham's Hist. Angl., Vol. I, p. 185.

40 Same, p. 188.