01 December, 2017

Edward II's Sense of Humour

I've posted here before, and written in my biography of Edward II, some lovely details which reveal that the king's sense of humour ran very much towards the slapstick. In the summer of 1326, he gave a pound to his cook Moris for falling off his horse and making him laugh, and the same year gave two and a half pounds to his painter Jack of St Albans for dancing on a table and also making him laugh (the money was said to be to help Jack support his wife and children). In early 1325, two of Edward's chamber squires, Giles of Spain and Burgeys Till, accidentally burned themselves quite badly while performing some kind of show with fire for the king's entertainment at his Westminster cottage of Burgundy, and around the same time Edward paid a man for putting on a performance for him inside the Tower of London, outdoors, in what his account calls "the area in front of the long stable." In the summer of 1312, an Italian minstrel was paid for "making his minstrelsy with snakes before the king," and Edward also enjoyed watching conjurors.

I've just found another lovely entry in one of Edward II's chamber accounts - all of the details in this post are from his chamber accounts - revealing that just before Easter 1325, the king played some kind of prank or practical joke on Hugh Despenser the Younger while they were just outside Southampton on the way to Beaulieu Abbey. Edward's clerk wrote that "the king frightened Sir Hugh." Sadly there are no more details, but Edward was a very playful person who loved to laugh and have fun (though I'm not entirely sure if Hugh Despenser appreciated it!). In May 1326 at the wedding of Hugh Despenser's niece Margaret Hastings, Edward gave a pound to a servant of Hugh's sister Lady Hastings who spent time with him "and made him laugh very greatly." I've also found numerous entries revealing how the king played dice and cross and pile with members of his retinue; on Christmas Eve 1324 at Nottingham, he spent the evening playing dice with his chamber squires Burgeys Till, Giles of Spain and Garsy de Pomit. He also played unspecified ball games in the parks of various castles with some of his household knights. One of Edward II's friends, or at least an acquaintance, was a Thames fisherman called Colle Herron, and the king often chatted to fishermen while sailing up and down the Thames and invited a group of shipwrights to come and stay with him in April 1326. In October 1315 he went on a swimming and rowing holiday with "a great company of common people." What strikes me very strongly from the evidence of Edward II's chamber accounts is that he comes across as a boon companion, a person you can imagine meeting and having a good laugh with, a man who didn't stand on his royal dignity but could get on well with absolutely anyone. There aren't many medieval kings you can say that about.

9 comments:

Undine said...

The funny thing is, I get the feeling that if Edward was around today, he'd be wildly popular--"The People's King!" He'd be seen as a heartthrob/jolly good bloke/effective constitutional figurehead.

Perhaps the poor guy's problem was being born a bunch of centuries too soon.

Kathryn Warner said...

Undine, I absolutely agree that Edward was born a few centuries too early! He'd be the popular egalitarian king with the common touch nowadays, and, given his love of the outdoors and physical exercise, he'd be seen as a great role model for an increasingly sedentary and overweight nation!

Anerje said...

I can only agree with what's been said - Edward was a man born out of his time.

Anonymous said...

I agree that Edward would be wildly popular today. I don't think monarchs are required to be successful military commanders, so that would be another factor in his favor.

Esther

J.L.Fernández Blanco said...

I never cease to amaze at how complex Edward was. Definitely, not a king for that time. If he were reigning now, he would be beloved by everyone. What a disgrace.

sami parkkonen said...

Edward was not a good medieval king, simply because his behavior at that time was not what the nobility expected from a king. He liked life and laughter and yes, today he would be extremely popular king.

Just imagine; tall, physically strong, good looking king who shares jokes with truck drivers and plays football with his mates at the Kensington Park just like anyone else, who invites fishermen to Buckingham Palace, shows up at a hiking trail in the Lake District and is at ease with other hikers, and last but not least, hangs around with actors and loves stand up comics. He would deal with paparazzis with ease, make them butt of his jokes, would have gone trough the military service in the SAS, and would make the prime minister mad with his funny comments on tv-news and papers.

Unfortunately, he lived 700 years too early. Those qualities which would make him easily the most popular monarch of our times, made him one of the most hated in his own life time.

One thing is certain; we need a movie Edward II which shows him in more realistic way that has been done previously. Yes, he loved Piers but he also loved Isabella for a long long time, even rescued her from a burning building in France butt naked (just imagine that scene in a movie!), so that movie would and could be something to see.

Carolyn Grace said...

A movie wouldn't do it justice. Netflix should take this on! 😊

sami parkkonen said...

Edward II The Story, ten episodes, special advisory expert Kathryn Warner. Hear hear!

Kathryn Warner said...

Loving the sound of this! :-)