Edmund Crouchback
Edmund Crouchback was a member of the royal Plantagenet Dynasty and the founder of the House of Lancaster. He was Earl of Leicester, Lancaster and Derby in England and Count Palatine of Champagne in France.
Named after the 9th-century saint, Edmund was the second surviving son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence and the younger brother of King Edward I of England, to whom he was loyal as a diplomat and warrior. In 1254, the 9-year-old Edmund became involved in the "Sicilian business", in which his father accepted a papal offer granting the Kingdom of Sicily to Edmund, who made preparations to become king. However, Henry III could not provide funds for the operation, prompting the Papacy to withdraw the grant and give it to Edmund's uncle, Charles I of Anjou. The "Sicilian business" outraged the barons led by the Earl of Leicester and Edmund's uncle, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and was cited as one of the reasons for limiting Henry's power. Deterioration of relations between the barons and the king resulted in the Second Barons' War, in which the royal government, supported by Edmund, triumphed over the baronage following the death of Montfort in the Battle of Evesham in 1265.
Edmund received the lands and titles of Montfort and the defeated barons Nicholas Segrave, 1st Baron Segrave, and Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby, and became Earl of Lancaster, Leicester and Derby. Primarily known as the earl of the first county, he eventually became the most powerful baron of England. Later, Edmund accompanied his elder brother Edward on his crusade in the Holy Land, where his epithet "Crouchback" originated from a corruption of 'cross back', referring to him wearing a stitched cross on his garments. Following the death of his first wife, Aveline de Forz, Edmund's aunt and Dowager Queen of France Margaret of Provence arranged his second marriage to Blanche of Artois, the recently widowed Queen Dowager of Navarre and the Countess of Champagne. With his second wife Blanche, Edmund governed Champagne as count palatine in the name of his stepdaughter Joan until she came of age. Edmund was active in supporting his family members, such as assisting Edward in conquering Wales, advocating for the claims of his aunt Margaret against his uncle Charles I of Anjou in his mother and aunt's homeland of Provence and managing Ponthieu on behalf of his sister-in-law, Eleanor of Castile.
When Edmund's stepson-in-law, King Philip IV of France, demanded Edward, who was also his vassal through Gascony, to come to Paris to answer charges of damages caused by English mariners in 1293, Edward sent Edmund to mediate the crisis to avert war. Edmund negotiated an agreement with Philip where France would occupy Gascony for 40 days, and Edward would marry Philip's half-sister, Margaret. When the 40 days were over, Philip tricked Edward and Edmund by refusing to relinquish control over Gascony, calling Edward to again answer for his charges. Edmund and Edward then renounced their homages to Philip and prepared for war against France. Edmund sailed for Gascony with his army and besieged the city of Bordeaux. Unable to pay his troops, Edmund was deserted by his army and retreated to Bayonne, where he died from illness in 1296. Edmund's body was brought back to England, where he was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1301.
Early years, 1245–1265
Birth and childhood
Edmund was born in London to King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence on 16 January 1245. Henry named him after the martyred and canonised 9th-century East Anglian king, whom Henry prayed to for a second son. He was a younger brother of Edward, Margaret and Beatrice, and an elder brother of Catherine. Edmund was baptised by 3 February 1245.Edmund spent most of his childhood at Windsor Castle alongside his siblings. He grew emotionally attached to his father Henry, who rarely spent extended periods apart from his family.
Sicilian business
In 1254, Henry accepted a papal offer from Pope Innocent IV to make Edmund the next king of Sicily. Sicily had been ruled by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was a rival to Innocent for many years; the papacy hoped for a friendlier ruler to succeed Frederick following his death in 1250. For Henry, Sicily was a valuable prize for his son and would also provide a base to launch his planned crusades in the east. Innocent tasked Henry with sending Edmund and an army to reclaim Sicily from Frederick's son, Manfred, King of Sicily, and to cover expenses and debts up to a total of £135,000, for which the papacy would provide assistance in funding.The nine-year-old Edmund made preparations to become king, sailing to Gascony with his mother, Eleanor, in May 1254. In Bordeaux, on 3 October, Edmund granted his granduncle Count Thomas of Flanders the Principality of Capua before returning home in December of that year. On 18 October 1255, Edmund received a ceremonial investiture in Sicily, where his father Henry styled him as king and presented him with a ring. In April 1256, a marriage to Plaisance of Antioch, queen of Cyprus, was proposed. In April 1257, Henry paraded Edmund in Parliament dressed in Italian clothing to appeal for funds. He also suggested marrying Edmund to a daughter of Manfred to resolve the "Sicilian business" in the summer of that year.
Prospects turned grim when Pope Alexander IV succeeded Innocent and faced military pressure from the Holy Roman Empire. Alexander could no longer finance Henry's expenses and instead demanded that Henry pay £90,000 in debts to the Papacy as compensation for the war. This was an enormous sum, and Henry found himself desperate for funds. He sought assistance from Parliament, but his request was denied. Despite further attempts, Parliament only granted to Henry. Growing impatient, Alexander sent an envoy to Henry in 1258, threatening him with excommunication unless he paid his debts and sent an army to Sicily. Failing to convince Parliament further, Henry resorted to extorting money from the senior clergy, raising approximately £40,000. Subsequently, at some point between 1258 and 1263—either under Alexander or Pope Urban IV—the papacy revoked the grant of the Kingdom of Sicily to Edmund and instead bestowed the title upon Edmund's uncle, Charles I of Anjou.
Second Barons' War
The barons, led by Edmund's uncle, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, cited the 'Sicilian business' as one of their grievances against Edmund's father, King Henry III of England. This led to Henry's signing of the Provisions of Oxford in 1258, which curtailed his power as well as that of the major barons. However, Edmund collaborated with Henry and his brother Edward to overturn the Provisions in midsummer of 1262. Power in England swung back and forth between Henry and the barons, culminating in the Treaty of Kingston, under which disputes were to be resolved by Edmund's uncles, Richard of Cornwall and King Louis IX of France.Despite the treaty, an open civil war erupted between the royal government and the radical barons led by Simon in the summer of 1263, prompting Edmund to flee from the Tower of London to Dover Castle. On 10 July, Henry wrote to Edmund and Robert de Glaston, the constable of Dover Castle, urging them to surrender the castle to the Bishop of London, Henry of Sandwich, who represented the barons, in preparation for peace negotiations. However, in a letter dated 28 July, Edmund and Robert refused to comply, arguing that surrendering the castle would go against their duties until peace was established. As a result, Henry had to personally command them to relinquish the castle.
When Simon's coalition of barons showed signs of fragmentation, Henry appealed to Louis for arbitration in the dispute, as stipulated in the Treaty of Kingston. Initially resistant to this, Simon eventually agreed to French arbitration, and representatives of Henry and Simon traveled to Paris. On 23 January 1264, Louis declared in the Mise of Amiens that Henry had the right to rule over the barons, thereby annulling the Provisions of Oxford. However, the French decision was unpopular; upon Henry's return to England unrest brewed and violence became imminent.
The Second Barons' War finally erupted in April 1264 when Henry's army occupied Simon's territories in the Midlands and advanced to reoccupy a route to France in the southeast. Accompanied by his mother, Eleanor, Edmund went to France, where he helped to raise a mercenary army, with financial assistance from his uncle Louis, to support his father. Despite Simon's capture of Henry, Richard and Edward in the Baronial victory at Lewes on 14 May, he failed to consolidate his control over England and Edward managed to escape captivity. Following the Baronial defeat at Evesham on 4 August 1265, Simon was killed and dismembered by the royal army, and his lands and title as Earl of Leicester were forfeited.
Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, 1265–1293
Becoming earl
On 26 October 1265, Edmund became the Earl of Leicester when his father, King Henry III of England, granted him the title and associated lands, following the re-creation of the earldom. Additionally, he received all the lands that had belonged to Nicholas Segrave, 1st Baron Segrave, a rebel baron. Once the king's victory over the barons was assured, Edmund returned to England on 30 October 1265. As a political refugee, he harboured a desire for revenge against the barons. Alongside his brother Edward, Edmund focused on suppressing the rebel barons known as the "disinherited", whose lands had been confiscated by the royal government. On 6 December of the same year, Edmund gained control of the castles of Cardigan and Carmarthen, and on 8 January 1266, he acquired the demesnes of Dilwyn, Lugwardine, Marden, Minsterworth and Rodley.File:Kenilworth Castle keep 2016.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The Great Keep of Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire. Edmund received Kenilworth Castle following the Dictum of Kenilworth, which was signed to break the six-month siege of the castle by Edmund, his brother Edward, and his father King Henry III of England.On 28 June of the same year, Edmund acquired the forfeited estates of Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby, whose family had held a significant feudatory since the time of Stephen, King of England. During the Second Barons' War, Robert was seen as an unreliable and violent ally to the barons, as he failed to appear promptly at the Battle of Lewes. Moreover, Robert had engaged in indiscriminate raids on lands belonging to his rival, Edward. As a result, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, imprisoned him, fearing his excessive power. After receiving a pardon from Henry, Robert rebelled once again and was captured following his defeat at the Battle of Chesterfield on 15 May of that year. Edmund compelled Robert to agree that he would regain his estates upon payment of an exceedingly hefty sum, fully aware that Robert would be unable to afford such a penalty. This allowed Edmund to retain control of Robert's estates. When Edward ascended to the throne, he granted Robert's former domain of Chartley Castle to Edmund on 26 July 1276 and absolved Edmund from the debts owed by Robert and his ancestors on 5 May 1277.During the summer of 1266, Edmund led an army in Warwick to counter the raids carried out by the rebels occupying Kenilworth Castle. The Kenilworth garrison attempted to attack Warwick, but Edmund's forces successfully repelled them back to the castle. Subsequently, the royal army besieged Kenilworth Castle, with Edmund commanding one of the four divisions alongside Henry and Edward. The siege concluded on 13 December with the implementation of the Dictum of Kenilworth, which brought peace between the king and the baronial forces by 31 October. Either in the same month or the following year, Edmund acquired Kenilworth Castle.
Since Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of the Welsh Kingdom of Gwynedd was an ally of the barons, Henry dispatched Edmund, along with his Justiciar, Robert Walerand, on a diplomatic mission to negotiate peace with the prince on 21 February 1267. However, Llywelyn refused to make peace with the English until September, when Henry threatened to invade Gwynedd. Edmund continued his diplomatic activities by attending the knighting ceremony of his cousin Philip, conducted by his uncle King Louis IX of France, in Paris on 4 June. During his visit, he received the hospitality of Robert II, Count of Artois, and Robert's sister Blanche of Artois.
File:GrosmontCastle4.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Grosmont Castle in Monmouthshire in Wales, one of the Three Castles, which Edmund received from his brother Edward.
On 30 June 1267, Edmund became the Earl of Lancaster following the title's creation by Henry, and he was granted the royal demesne lands in Lancashire, along with the lordships of Lancaster, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Pickering. Edmund was also earl of Leicester and later Derby, though he is mostly associated with the earldom of Lancaster. On the same day, Edward granted Edmund the Three Castles and Monmouth Castle in Wales. The following year, Henry appointed Edmund as the Constable of Leicester Castle, a royal possession held in the king's name. The conclusion of the Second Barons' War marked a significant turning point in Edmund's life. Although he had been disappointed by losing the Sicilian crown to his uncle Charles I of Anjou, he had now received a powerful earldom that established the Lancastrian branch of the Plantagenet dynasty. By this time, Edmund had gained a reputation as a ruthless and formidable warrior. With these acquisitions, he became the most influential peer in England. Even upon becoming king, Edward was not worried about Edmund's powerful position or the affairs of most of the baronage because of Edmund's unwavering loyalty to him.