Emer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke

Origin

Emer de Valence was the third son ^[4] and fifth child of the seven children of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke , and his wife ^[2] . According to his father, Emer was the grandson of Hugo X de Lusignan , Count de La March , and Isabella of Angouleme . In her first marriage, Isabella was married to King of England John Landless ; thus, Emer was a nephew to King Henry III of England, King of Germany Richard Plantagenet , Queen of Scotland , Holy Roman Empress Isabella Plantagenet and Countess Pembroke and Lester Eleanor Plantagenet . By mother, de Valens was the grandson of Warren II de Munchenzi, Baron of Swanscombe, and Joan Marshall; Joan was the youngest daughter of William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke , who bore the title of Count by the wife of Isabella de Claire, the only daughter and heiress of Richard de Clair, 2nd Earl of Pembroke ^[5] .

There is no data on the place of birth of Valens and the first years of his life. The date of birth of Emer is also not known for certain: presumably, he was born around 1270 ^{[4] [6]} or between 1270 and 1275 ^[7] ; since the boy’s father participated in the Crusade of Prince Edward from 1271 until January 1273, Emer was conceived either before his father went on the campaign, or after he returned home ^[8] .

The issue of inheritance and the first years of service

The eldest of Emer’s brothers, Jean, died before 1277; another brother, William, died in the Battle of Wales in 1282. Thus, Emer became the heir to the lands and count's title ^[8] . In January 1296, Emer’s father William de Valence and his son were sent with the embassy in Cambrai in a failed attempt at negotiations between Edward I and the French king Philip IV ; there William was seriously wounded and died on his return home in May ^[9] . Emer inherited the possession of his father, but the count's title belonged to William by the right of his wife, and Emer received it only after the death of his mother, which occurred after September 20, 1307 ^{[10] [4]} . Emer was a wealthy landowner: he inherited (in addition to the lands of the ^{[k 2]} in Pembrokeshire ) or obtained as a result of marriage possessions scattered throughout England, primarily in the strip from Gloucestershire to East Anglia , as well as in south east of Ireland ( Wexford ) and French lands in the Poitou and Calais region ^[11] .

In 1297, Emer accompanied King Edward I during his campaign in Flanders ^[2] and by this time he was probably already knighted ^[12] . He also commanded part of the troops in occupied Scotland. When the king declared war on Robert Bruce , Emer was appointed guardian of Scotland. ^[2] In 1298, at Blackernside, an alder forest east of in Fife , he was humiliatingly defeated by troops commanded by William Wallace. ^[13] However, Emer was donated land in Scotland near the southern border, where in 1301 he built a castle in Selkerk ^[2] . In subsequent years, Valens, who had ties to the French royal family, became a valuable diplomatic asset of the English king in France ^[14] : in 1302, Emer was sent with the embassy to France, and the following year he helped make peace with King Philip IV ^[2] .

In 1306, at the Emer defeated Robert Bruce ^[13] : Bruce challenged Emer to battle, but he refused to fight that day; however, in the evening he attacked the Scots and defeated them. The people of Walesa captured the wife and daughter of the Scottish king; Emer himself went to Kildrammy Castle hoping to find Bruce himself there. Here he found King brother, sent him to Berik , where he put to death ^[2] . However, a year later, on May 10, 1307, Emer was defeated by Bruce at the ^[13] and was forced to flee to Era Castle. There he and Earl of Gloucester were under siege until the king sent troops to free the castle. ^[2]

Ordinances and Pierce Gaveston

Edward I died in 1307, was replaced by his son Edward II . At first, the young king enjoyed the good location of representatives of the nobility, including Emer ^{[15] [4]} , although the latter lost his post as guardian of Scotland ^[2] . However, a conflict soon arose due to Edward's excessive attachment to the unpopular favorite Pierce Gaveston ^[16] . Emer had a personal dislike for the royal favorite: Gaveston awarded de Valens for his tall stature and pale face with the nickname "Joseph Jew" ^[2] . On December 2, 1307, the king organized a tournament in honor of his favorite at ; at the tournament, Gaveston won, as many believed, dishonestly, which offended several counts ^[17] . The powerful magnates of the kingdom began to unite against Gaveston ^[18] , led by King Cousin Thomas Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Lancaster .

In 1309, Emer joined the other Lords in Parliament, convened in Stamford, who sent a letter to Clement V , expressing his disapproval of usurping the papal throne. The following year, de Valence became one of the lords who was forbidden to enter parliament in armor. Emer ignored the ban and, being surrounded by guards, along with other dissenters, demanded the appointment of a reform council. The first step in forming this council was the selection of two counts by the bishops (and de Valens became one of them); further, these two counts were to elect nineteen orderiners. When the king, together with Gaveston, went to war in Scotland, the lords of the warrants refused to speak with him, but they sent several people who kept the council informed about what was happening ^[18] . In 1311, a council decision was formulated, known as the , consisting of the 41st enforceable clause and severely restricting royal power ^[16] . One of the most important points of the Ordinances of 1311 was the 20th paragraph, which ordered the king to permanently expel from the country of Gaveston for his "bad advice" - a measure once taken by Edward I ^{[k 3] [20]} .

When Gaveston voluntarily returned from exile later that year, the Baron Council, led by Lancaster, instructed Pembroke and the Earl of Surrey to take the rebellious favorite into custody. ^[21] May 19, 1312 Pembroke and Surrey did the will of the barons, capturing Gaveston in Scarborough Castle ; the besieged Gaveston surrendered to Emer in exchange for a promise to save his life. De Valence transported the captive to Oxfordshire , where he left him in parish ^[18] . In the absence of Emer, Thomas Lancaster, acting together with the Earls of Warwick , Hereford and Arundel , captured Gaveston, transferred him to Warwick, where he put him to death on June 19, 1312 ^[22] . This criminal act made an indelible impression on the supporters of the king, split the baronial opposition and isolated the rebellious counts ^[23] . The capture and execution of a prisoner under the protection of Emer de Valens became a violation of the foundations of the Knights Code and a grave insult to Pembroke himself. Therefore, what happened was a key reason for the return of de Valence to the side of the king ^[24] . Around the same time, Emer, along with released Lady Clifford from captivity, captured by the constable of Barnard Castle ^[18] .

Return to the King's side

After the murder of Gaveston, Emer went over to the side of the king and remained in this position until the end of his life. He went to France to ask for help for Edward II, and after returning he negotiated between him and the barons. On September 20, 1312, Valens attended a meeting of Londoners at the and demanded that the city be obeyed by the king, but a riot broke out almost costing the life of Emer himself and his companions. During this period, Emer probably took the position of head of the party opposed the Earl of Lancaster, whom he could not forgive for the murder of Gaveston entrusted to him, and not supporters of the king’s policy. For his service, Earl of Pembroke received New Temple and other Templar possessions in London ^[18] .

After long negotiations, in which Pembroke acted as one of the royal commissars, peace was concluded with the supporters of the Earl of Lancaster ^[18] . Then, in 1314 ^[8] , Scottish affairs demanded immediate attention, and the king appointed Emer lieutenant of the kingdom and sent him to ensure the safety of the royal army in the Northern Marks ^[18] . Valence was present at the catastrophic defeat of the British at the Battle of Bannockburn , where he helped King Edward II leave the battlefield ^[25] . In 1315, Emar, along with Badlsmer, was sent to the border with Scotland to ensure the transfer of troops. He also participated in the suppression of the uprising in Bristol ^[18] .

In 1316, Emer went with the embassy to the pope ^[18] ; in 1317, during his return to his homeland, Valens was captured by the Burgundian Jean de Lamoule ^[26] , who declared that the English king owed him service. Lamuli took the captive to Germany and kept him there until a ransom was paid ^{[18] [26]} . A ransom of £ 10,400 caused significant financial problems for Pembroke, which lasted until the end of his life ^[27] .

In the aftermath of the defeat at Bannockburn, Thomas Lancaster, who was ostracized by the murder of Gaveston, gained actual control of the royal government ^[28] . However, he proved himself an incapable ruler, however, like the king, and soon became very unpopular ^[29] . Emer was one of the tycoons who tried to prevent a civil war between supporters of King Edward and Thomas Lancaster between : for example, in September 1317, Valence persuaded the king not to provoke Lancaster, and on November 24, Pembroke entered into an agreement with and Butlsmer, thus forming a third party in the conflict of the king with Lancaster. The Pemruk party quickly came to power ^[18] , and thanks to Emer, the Lick Treaty was signed on August 9, 1318, formally returning power to Edward II ^[8] . Lancaster and his supporters were forgiven; a new royal council was created, in which Emer de Valence occupied an important place ^[18] . Thus, direct conflict was temporarily averted ^[30] .

On March 24, 1319, Valence, together with the Earl Marshal, sat in the main house of St. Paul , where he resolved disputes among the inhabitants of London. In the same year, he accompanied the king on his unsuccessful expedition against Berik . On Christmas Day 1319, Emer was able to agree with the Scots on a two-year truce. ^[18]

The opinions of historians about the actions of Emer vary. , one of the first historians who conducted a thorough scientific research of this period in 1914, considered Pembroke “one of the favorable exceptions in the era of petty and mediocre leaders” ^[31] . Taut wrote of the “middle party,” led by Emer, as a party representing a moderate position between the extremes of Edward and Lancaster. This "middle party" allegedly took control of the royal government in the framework of the Lick Treaty in 1318 ^[32] . However, in 1972, in his research, rejected this view: despite concerns about the royal favorites, Valence was always loyal to Edward; the agreement reached in 1318 did not transfer power to the “middle party”, but only returned it to the king, which did not benefit the state ^[33] .

Recent years and death

The world did not last long: the king got a new favorite - Hugh le Dispenser, Jr. , who ascended as high as Pierce Gaveston once ^[34] . Although Emer was at least in secret alliance with Roger Mortimer ^[4] and the other lords who ravaged the possessions of the Dispensers in 1321, Valens assumed the role of mediator between the king and the barons who wanted to expel the Dispensers, in the hope of preserving peace. Thomas Lancaster claimed that Pembroke was treacherous and advised disgruntled lords to have nothing to do with him ^[18] . All further attempts by Pembroke to save the world came to nothing, and in 1321 an armed conflict broke out between the barons and the Dispensers ^[35] . When the king himself took up arms, Emer tried again to become a mediator, but his overly active support of Edward II made all his efforts useless ^[18] . In 1322, Lancaster was defeated at the Battle of Borobridge and sentenced to death. Emer de Valence was among those who advocated the execution of the rebellious count ^{[35] [4]} . After the execution of Lancaster, Pembroke received his possessions in Northamptonshire ^{[18] [4]} .

After Borobridge, Valens found himself in a difficult situation: the opponents of Hugh Dispenser and his father lost all faith in him, but at the same time he was isolated at court, where Dispenser power grew more and more ^[8] . All this was accompanied by financial problems of Emer ^[36] . In 1321, Valence accompanied the king on an expedition against Scotland, and on May 30, 1323, concluded a thirty-year truce with her ^[18] .

On 24 (according to other sources - 23 ^[4] ) June 1324, during an embassy in France, Emer, while in Picardy, suddenly died ^[36] . Despite several marriages, Valence did not leave a legal heir; Emer’s opponents considered such a death a well-deserved punishment for participating in the trial of Lancaster ^[18] . The body of Emer de Walesa was brought to England and on 1 August 1324 was buried in Westminster Abbey near the tomb of Edmund Gorbaty ; his grave, preserved to this day, experts recognize as a magnificent example of late Gothic architecture ^{[37] [38]} .

In 1291, after the death of her third husband, the eldest of the Walesa sisters, , rented one of the oldest mansions in , Essex ; after Agnes died in 1309, Emer occupied the house. From the moment of residence in the Valens estate, the house began to bear their name and still bears it; in the 20th century, the estate became a museum of ^[39] .

In 1322, Emer founded the leper colony at Gravesend ^[40] .

Emer owed the most important legacy to his last wife, who had already founded widowhood college in Cambridge in 1347, named after her late husband Pembroke College ^[4] . Elements of the coat of arms of Count Pembroke are still depicted on the coat of arms of the college.

According to various sources, Emer de Valence was married twice ^[41] or three times ^[4] ; in the latter case, there is no data on one of the wives ^[18] . His first or second wife was Beatrice de Clermont, the daughter of Raoul de Clermont , the connable of France ^[41] ; Beatrice died in 1320, leaving Emer a childless widower. ^[18]

A year after the death of his first wife, Emer married , daughter of Count de Saint-Paul Guy III ^[42] , who was younger than her husband by more than a quarter century; this marriage also remained childless ^[18] , and Mary herself survived Walesa for about 53 years and never married again ^[43] .

Emer did not have legal children, but there was an illegitimate son, Henry de Valence, about whose mother there is no data ^[8] . The title of Earl of Pembroke was revived for the grand-nephew of Valens, , the grandson of Emer's second sister, Isabella de Valens.

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