tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post6298628339012687430..comments2024-03-14T05:56:44.390+00:00Comments on Edward II: On 27 September 1326, at the Tower of London...Kathryn Warnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-267604248797465452016-09-30T15:15:23.280+01:002016-09-30T15:15:23.280+01:00Or if he had, he didn't give a hoot about thei...Or if he had, he didn't give a hoot about their advice when he got something in his mind. One might think this dude was somewhat stubborn and lived In the moment, as some say.sami parkkonennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-10577018041043305712016-09-29T09:04:24.409+01:002016-09-29T09:04:24.409+01:00I suspect Isabella would have been fairly safe dur...I suspect Isabella would have been fairly safe during the crossing from Rotterdam. According to Ian Mortimer (The Greatest Traitor), the invaders had a fleet of 95 ships of varying sizes which would have sailed as a convoy. The fact that the army landed roughly in the same location at Orwell suggests that the crossing was not disrupted by storms. Individual ships would then turn back to the Low Countries once their soldiers had landed, and that is probably when the ship that carried Isabella was captured.<br /><br />The retreat to Wales may well have been planned. The Despensers were not fools, and would have remembered how communities across England had erupted against them during the early part of the Marcher rebellion. Glanmorgan, and particularly Caerphilly castle, were Despenser strongholds and the Welsh lords had supported them during the Marcher rebellion, although that may have been more down to the Welsh hating the Mortimers. The lack of support from the Welsh appears surprising, but given that the whole rebellion was over in only six weeks, they may not have had time to mobilise. Gathering men from the scattered communities of Powys and Gwynedd in probably foul November weather would not have been easy. Or they may have already been bribed to do nothing by Isabella's agents, or they too may have fallen out with the Despensers - just like everyone else. I do not know of any sort of record that reveals the inner thoughts of the Welsh lords at that time, so this is all supposition again.<br /><br />The biggest mystery for me about Edward's downfall is why he and the younger Despenser ever left the safety of Caerphilly. But then I cannot understand so many of Edward's action throughout his reign. Too often he appears to have acted on impulse rather than reason, to have done something because "it seemed like a good idea at the time", and he just did not have enough wiser elder statesmen around him to persuade him otherwise. Jerry Bennettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-52396172763065432042016-09-28T10:52:55.261+01:002016-09-28T10:52:55.261+01:00I think it was just Eddie being Eddie.
- Sire, yo...I think it was just Eddie being Eddie. <br />- Sire, you wife the Queen has invaded your realm! What are You going to do, sire?<br />- I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to get me some fish and chips. Anybody else? Boys, fish and chips anyone?<br /><br />I think Edward believed two things would happen: <br />one. Isabella was just having a fit and would calm down, there would be a tearful reconciliation and he would give Mortimer a good decent spanking. <br />two. his subjects would not join in the invasion.<br /><br />But him being Eddie, he was absolutely wrong. sami parkkonennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-19895436824703916822016-09-27T18:30:37.025+01:002016-09-27T18:30:37.025+01:00Edward was a tad too slow to act on this occasion ...Edward was a tad too slow to act on this occasion wasn't he? Perhaps he thought it would all calm down and the citizens would support him. Then, realising it was flight, panicked and fled. Who knows what the Despensers were whispering and advising him; but they got it wrong long term. It is telling that Isabella and her retinue didn't meet much force: the end was nigh for Edward. AmandaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-28294196089547322892016-09-27T17:04:09.754+01:002016-09-27T17:04:09.754+01:00He probably thought it would be too difficult long...He probably thought it would be too difficult long-term to hold the Tower in a hostile city, and he'd been trapped in London before, when the Marchers put their armies by all the gates in 1321.Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-54450614696412156162016-09-27T16:56:02.372+01:002016-09-27T16:56:02.372+01:00I know London was hostile - but surely the Tower w...I know London was hostile - but surely the Tower was the safest place? There's so many 'with hindsight ' with Edward. Anerjehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16305237339979790391noreply@blogger.com