|
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (5 August 1301 – 19 March 1330) was the son of Edward I of England, and a younger half-brother of Edward II. Edward I had intended to make substantial grants of land to Edmund, but when the king died in 1307, Edward II failed to follow through on his father's intentions, much due to his favouritism towards Piers Gaveston. Edmund still remained loyal to his brother, and in 1321 he was created Earl of Kent. He played an important part in Edward's administration, acting both as diplomat and military commander, and in 1321–22 helped suppress a rebellion against the king. Discontent against the king grew, however, and eventually affected also Edmund. The antagonism was largely caused by Edward's preference for his new favourites, Hugh Despenser the Younger and his father. In 1326, Edmund joined a rebellion led by Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer, whereby Edward II was deposed. Edmund failed to get along with the new administration, and in 1330 he was caught planning a new rebellion, and executed. Once the new king, Edward III, came of age and assumed personal control of government, he annulled the charges against his uncle. The title and estates of the Earl of Kent descended on Edmund's son, also called Edmund. When this Edmund died, in 1331, his brother John became earl. Though he was officially exonerated, Edmund did not enjoy a great reputation during his life and afterwards, due to his unreliable political dealings. ==Family background and early years== Edward I of England had a great number of children with his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, but only one son who survived into adulthood – the future Edward II (b. 1284). After Eleanor died, the king married Margaret of France, with whom he had two children: Thomas (b. 1300) and, when the king was sixty-two, Edmund.〔Marshall (2006), p. 190.〕 Edmund was born at Woodstock in Oxfordshire on 5 August 1301, and was therefore referred to as Edmund of Woodstock.〔Waugh (2004).〕 Son of the English king, he was also, through his mother, grandson of Philip III of France.〔 On 7 July 1307, before Edmund had turned six, King Edward I died, leaving Edmund's half-brother Edward to succeed as King Edward II.〔Prestwich (1997), pp. 556–7.〕 Though not resident in the two boys' household, Edward I had taken great interest in the princes' upbringing and well-being.〔Marshall (2006), p. 197.〕 Before he died, the king had promised to provide Edmund with substantial grants of land. In August 1306, Edward I signed a charter promising Edmund land worth 7000 marks a year, and in May 1307, 1000 marks was added to this.〔Lawne (2010), p. 28.〕 He probably intended to give the earldom of Norfolk to Thomas, while Edmund would receive the earldom of Cornwall, which had been left vacant after Edward I's cousin Edmund died without children in 1300.〔 When Edward II came to the throne, however, he went against his father's wishes by granting the earldom of Cornwall to his favourite Piers Gaveston.〔McKisack (1959), p. 3.〕 According to the chronicle ''Vita Edwardi Secundi'', this act was a grave insult to the king's younger brothers.〔Lawne (2010), p. 29.〕 Edward II nevertheless took steps to provide his half-brother with an income; grants made in 1315 and 1319 secured Edmund 2000 marks a year.〔 In May 1321, Edmund received the strategically important Gloucester Castle, and further grants followed his creation as Earl of Kent on 28 July 1321.〔Lawne (2010), p. 31.〕 Edward II's close relationship to Gaveston had been a source of conflict at court, and Gaveston's execution by a group of rebellious barons in 1312 had brought the country to the brink of civil war.〔Prestwich (2007), pp. 188–9.〕 As Edmund came of age, he became an important member of the circle around his brother. In 1318, the Treaty of Leake was drafted as an effort to reconcile the opposing parties, and Edmund – as his first public act – was among the witnesses to sign this treaty.〔Lawne (2010), p. 30.〕 Further official appointments followed. In the spring of 1320 he took part in an embassy to Pope John XXII in Avignon, where the mission was to absolve the king of his oath to uphold the Ordinances, a set of restrictions imposed on royal authority by the baronage.〔 Later that year, he joined his brother the king in Amiens, where Edward was paying homage to the French king.〔Phillips (1972), p. 192.〕 In October 1320, Edmund attended his first parliament.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|