Part II: 1275-1278 Family and other Revolts
In early 1275 the Western Empire was still involved in its war with the Hammadid realm and had its first signs of war tiredness, like the revolt of the Southern French Count Eudes of Rouergue.
In April religious tensions in the newly conquered regions were added to the list. The Muslim populace did not take kindly to the new Christian overlords. Edward IV did not belief in compromise in religious matters either. In Tell Atlas where the religious unrests concentrated he ordered swift and harsh reactions. Gatherings of protesting subjects were violently dispersed, their leaders arrested and executed. The revolt collapsed on April 11th, three days later the sheikdom of Kabilia was annexed.
Another two months later the province of Lemdiyya fell under English control making the situation desperate for the Hammadid King Zahir.
June was also the time when Edward IV’s eldest son Aethelred came of age and it was time to give him a bride. He was the only surviving child from Edward’s first marriage and he had been given the name Aethelred in reference of Edward IV’s predecessor Aethelred VII.
The relation between young Aethelred and his father can be described as odd at best as it was always overshadowed by the emperor’s almost irrational love for his second son Baldred.
Baldred was the only son from Edward’s marriage with Gytha Siward. The “Imperial marriage” as it was called by Edward IV himself.
Although all marriages of Edward IV seemed to have been "not unhappy" at last, his second marriage was conceived by him as something special. The two children of Duchess Gytha considered as more worthy as the others. That Aethelred had also a Siward mother did not count as much (Duches Agnes had been the daughter of Eadfrid Siward, Duke of Bedford).
Especially Baldred had been favored by his father in (almost) every way he could. The only thing he dared not to change, was the line of succession. Aethelred remained crown prince.
Oddly enough their father’s behavior had not clouded the friendship between Aethelred and his five years younger brother. Aethelred protected and cared for his younger brother and Baldred adored him in return.
The court was somewhat surprised by the emperor’s choice of Aethelred’s wife. Maud Siward was surely a capable woman and able administrator of her brother’s possessions (Maurice Siward, Duke of Lancaster). The marriage was also a visual political pact between the two Siward branches.
But Maud was also at least twenty years her groom’s senior. So the marriage was not only to forge an alliance with the most English Siward branch (beside the Oxfordian Siwards perhaps) it was also to prevent any (legitimate) offspring from Aethelred.
Edward IV added another humiliation for Aethelred. Traditionally the eldest son was styled Prince of Wales, when he came of age. Edward IV did no such thing. Aethelred received no title nor fief whatsoever. The newlywed couple was instead ordered to take residence at court, where they had to stay under the watchful eye of the emperor.
In July 1275 the war in North Africa flared up somewhat again. Marshall Neville was quite active that month defeating smaller Hammadid armies in Beni Yanni (July 6th) and Al Djazair (July 29th).
In August a desperate attempt of King Zahir to turn the tide was stopped in Auvergne, where the local militia routed a group of Muslim mercenaries on August 24th. After the fall of the Atlas Mount territory a few days before, they had received the command to assassinate the emperor in London.
They had not met him there anyway.
In mid August Edward IV had left London to take care of Count Eudes of Rouergue personally.
They met in two skirmishes in October and November, the emperor obviously superior in numbers and military skill. The revolt of the count ended on November 28th, when he surrendered to Edward IV and renewed his oath of fealty.
The war with Hammadid had ended five days before.
After a small skirmish between Gudrod Neville and Abdul-Malik Ahmed in Figuig, the last Hammadid stronghold in Mzab had surrendered and with the entire realm under English control King Zahir had no other choice but to accept unconditional surrender.
And Edward IV left nothing for the unlucky defeated monarch. The whole realm was annexed. Of the conquered territory Edward IV kept nothing for the Imperial demesne. He distributed it instead among his nobles.
Two new Archbishoprics were erected, Kabylia and Alger. The province of Figuig was added to the Archbishopric of Fes. Biskra was given to Duke Guttorm of Constantine, Ikonion to Count Torbjörn of Dorylaion. Count Torbjörn of Dorylaion was also made Duke of Anatolia.
Four knights, who had excelled during the campaign, received some fiefs (only partly spoils of this particular war). Sir Gagik became count of the long besieged Pelusia, Sir Tryggve became count of Safed, Prusa went to Sir Aimeric and Attaleia was given to Sir Adalberto.
It gave Edward IV great credit, that he had not only refused to keep anything of the conquered land to himself but had also added some part of his own demesne to the given fiefs.
From a strategic point of view the victory over Hammadid had closed the breach between the western and central African possessions of the Western Empire. From now on the territory from Gibraltar to the Gulf of Gabes was part of the empire.
In December Edward IV further improved his reputation, when he publicly promised to remove some titles from his official nomenclature (the titles were already held by some of his vassals and it had led to some irritations when the claims had been publicly voiced on some occasions).
The first months of 1276 went surprisingly uneventful but in late May one of the traditional uprisings of Duke Moenach of the Isles started.
Prince Aethelred - bored by the enforced idleness - appealed to his father to be allowed to lead the campaign to the north, but his wish was denied (so Edward IV’s wish to see his second son on the throne was not strong enough to seek the possibility of the death of his eldest in combat).
Perhaps it would have been better to allow the prince to leave the court. It might have saved the court some stress during the following months in which Aethelred attempted to gain some form of occupation besides hunting.
It did not help the situation that his wife Princess Maud had meanwhile been given a place among the emperor’s councilors – a position consequently denied to Prince Aethelred. For some time he tried to replace the emperor’s mistress of the robes, but Edward IV made it very clear that one of the last places he wanted his son was at the center of gathering information.
The greatest part of the year was filled with annoying intrigues between Edward IV and Aethelred, Aethelred and his wife, Aethelred and various councilors, councilors among themselves and various courtiers.
It could have been a peaceful time to enjoy… but it was not.
Despite (or because of) the strained climate at court Edward IV had organized adequate places for his younger children abroad. In November Prince Oswiu left for Frankfurt to live at the court of Otto IV and Prince Alfwold was given into the care of Pope Clement III.
Shortly after Prince Alfwold had left for Rome, where he was to meet with the Pope, Duke Moenach was again brought to heel and peace was returned to the empire.
In January 1277 Edward IV’s youngest son – also named Edward – followed his brothers into the world of international diplomacy. The mission of the seven years old was slightly more difficult than Oswiu’s and Alfwold’s. Both were sent to courts with currently positive relations towards the Western Empire and its ruler. Edward was sent to Poland.
During the reign of Aethelred VII Imperial-Polish relations had suffered a strong blow, when the Western Empire opposed the attempts of Lambert of Poland to conquer Hungary. Now with Aethelred VII and Lambert dead, Edward IV and Lambert’s successor Mszczuj III tried to rebuild some kind of positive relations.
Mszczuj III was busy re-stabilizing the desolate realm his father had left him, Edward IV interested in a stable situation outside his direct sphere of influence.
Edward IV’s interest in stabilizing Europe went so far in 1277, that he invited (what he considered) the most important rulers to an “international conference”. (The words “nation” and “conference” were of course not used.)
The conference took form in an Imperial feast in March 1277 in Venice.
On the invitation of Edward IV Emperor Otto IV, Mszczuj III of Poland and Karol of Hungary gathered in the Lagoon City.
During the following banquets, jousts and other festivities the monarchs and their accompanying counselors tried to settle at least some of the troubles and disagreements their respective realms had haunted in the past.
Of course not all problems were solved, but for some time peace reigned in Central Europe.
Sadly King Karol of Hungary attracted some kind of fever on his way back home and he died a few weeks later, but his successor Spytihnev II honored the agreements King Karol had made with Mszczuj III of Poland.
Edward IV returned to London, where he repeated in June his relinquishing of internal claims like in 1275.
The following month he intervened in an armed conflict between the Duke of Ulster and his eldest son Count Aengus of Tir Eoghain.
Edward IV sent Fedelmid O’Neill - a cousin of Aengus, who lived at court - to mediate between the two conflict parties but Fedelmid O’Neill was attacked by Aengus with armed forces in December during a visit in Tir Eoghain, which was repelled by his accompanying men. The conflict was finally resolved by the Duke (with the support of the slightly enraged Fedelmid O’Neill), when he took his son’s castle, overwhelmed him, revoked his title and put him under house arrest for some time (April 1278).
The conflict had widened slightly by that time, as Count Aengus had been successful in gaining the support of Count GillaIsu of Ulaid against the emperor (February 5th, 1278).
The Irish family conflict was only a spark in comparison to the other conflicts which had arisen in the meantime.
In August Pope Clement III had renewed the appeal to liberate Antiocheia from Muslim occupation.
He was somewhat disappointed, when Edward IV despite having no other obligations considered it inappropriate at the given moment to engage himself in a crusade.
He claimed that the empire had still not fully recovered from the war with Hammadid and he did not dare provoking the freshly strengthened Seljuk Turks, who were allied to the sheiks of Alexandretta (Antiocheia was part of the minor Muslim realm of Alexandretta).
September made 1277 to an “anno horribile” for Edward IV.
Friends and counselors of his younger sons tried to force a decision upon the emperor to change the succession laws and to divide the Western Empire among all sons after his death. It is not exactly clear if the sons of Edward IV where directly involved with this group. Alfwold, Oswiu and Edward were still considered children and abroad during the incident. Baldred was reaching adulthood but he was also abroad and loved his elder brother. Aethelred had nothing to gain from the group and was clearly opposed to their intentions.
The “New Witan” as this group called itself proposed, that Prince Baldred should gain the British Isles, Normandy and Flandre. Prince Alfwold should have been made King of remaining France and should gain Aragon in compensation for Normandy and Flandre. The rest of Iberia should be given to Prince Oswiu and Northern Africa as Mauretania to Prince Edward. The remaining provinces in Italy, Greece, Anatolia, the Holy Land and Egypt should remain with Prince Aethelred, who should also wear the Imperial crown as a kind of overlord over the Western Empire.
Edward IV was enraged by the proposal, which he outright refused. But he also refused Prince Aethelred’s appeal to install him as Prince of Wales to squelch further attempts in this direction. For a short time Aethelred was even put under house arrest until he agreed to sign the “(House) Treaty of Shame” his father forced upon him.
In this treaty Edward IV recognizes Aethelred as his rightful successor but still denies him the title Prince of Wales (or any other title beside crown prince). Aethelred had also to abstain from intercourse with his wife (some of the few things the prince seemed to have enjoyed). He had to stay unwed should his wife before him as long as Prince Baldred lived and he had to recognize his younger brother Baldred and his (male) offspring as his rightful heirs.
The incident of the “New Witan” sheds a new light on the rule of Edward IV.
His successes in war and diplomacy seemed to have covered up his lack of internal administration. The ongoing reduction of the Imperial demesne had additionally weakened his position. At least his inability to keep (some of) his magnates at bay in the succession question did not lead to a similar loss of power like during the early reign of Eadbert IV.
His handling of the “New Witan Crisis” further alienated his eldest son and the “Treaty of Shame” not only made him look ridiculous to the outside world, it was only thanks to the excellent relations between the two brothers that the elder did not everything in his power to get rid of this odd obstacle to a “normal life”.
It is clear that the “Treaty of Shame” was not intended to go public (and it was certainly not Prince Aethelred, who published it as it showed him in a very disadvantageous position). It was probably Princess Maud - robbed of a virile lover by this treaty – who played the treaty into the hands of Pope Clement III.
His Holiness was not amused and reprimanded the emperor for his unchristian position towards marriage.
To make a bad autumn worse it was in late November 1277, when the Hospitaliter Order – with the blessing of the Patriarch of Jerusalem – formed an independent state.
It was intended as beach head for the crusaders invading Antiocheia. Edward IV strongly voiced his disagreement with the decision to cede a part of the Western Empire and for a short time tried to reverse the decision.
That he not only did not support the crusade but actively undermined the efforts of those actually participating put strong pressure on the initially good relations with the Holy See. After a visit of high ranking delegates from the papacy Edward IV aborted his attempt to reincorporate the order state. But his standing with the other Christian monarchs and even among his subjects had already suffered.
For some months Edward IV attempted to the diplomatic damages of autumn 1277, which was complicated by a religious uprising in the Nile Delta. The inhabitants of that region had misinterpreted (or had been misinformed) the emperor’s position regarding the actual crusade and his conflict with the Holy See as acts of tolerance or even sympathy for the Muslim Faith.
Edward IV destroyed these hopes when he ordered military actions against the protesters which led to violent and armed skirmishes throughout the province. The violence continued until May, when the uprising collapsed due to insufficient stocks. Edward IV then showed some mercy and supported the beaten peasants with food to avert a famine.
Edward IV arrived in Rome in the first days of June.
He immediately met with Clement III and after a short meeting the emperor did public repentance for his last actions. Although he did not renounce the Treaty of Shame or swore an active participation he agreed to pay an enormous sum to contribute to the holy cause.
After celebrating mass together Pope and Emperor went their respective ways again.
On his voyage home again Edward IV was informed about the outbreak of an armed conflict between the Archbishop of Sevilla and his vassal Count Knud of Cadiz.
Edward IV decided to intervene in the conflict and sent armed envoys to Cadiz (June 27th).
The emperor himself continued his journey home. When he arrived in Rouen, he was informed, that the revolt in Ulster had finally ended and that Count GillaIsu of Ulaid was an imperial vassal again.
Back in London Edward IV ordered a great tourney to be held to celebrate his reconciliation with the church.
The tourney started in early September but it did not stand under a good sign.
Duke Maurice of Lancaster, the brother in law of the crown prince still felt highly humiliated by the Treaty of Shame and insulted the emperor when he publicly asked him if he personally controlled the chastity of his son and daughter in law by sleeping between them every night or how he made sure that they never escape his (or his spies) sight.
The mood was similar aggressive between some of the other participants of the tourney. The tension between the Count of Nevers and Count Gilchrist of Trent went so far, that the Count of Trent declared war on Nevers. This declaration drew Nevers’ father the Duke of Burgundy into the conflict. He joined the war to protect his vassal (and son). Edward IV was informed of the situation and jumped the opportunity to strengthen the imperial position in Northern Italy. He also joined his vassals in their fight against Trent.
To their luck Trent had a few months earlier taken a “vacation” from the Middle Empire, while Otto IV had been busy intervening in Poland. Otto IV had since then taken no measures to regain the province, he was much too busy in the North and East of his realm.
Imperial forces under the command of Marshal Gudrod Neville invaded Trent in November.
On November 23rd the invaders met with the provinces military. Count Gilchrist was personally leading his troops into the ensuing battle, which was fought fierce and without mercy.
At the end of the day the English could claim victory and the subjects of Trent had also to mourn the loss of their count. Gilchrist Crovan, Count of Trent was to be found among the dead. His successor Ruadri was still an infant and so the comital counselors agreed to a peace proposal Gudrod Neville made them: if they became vassals of the Western Empire all hostilities against them would end immediately.
While the ink on the peace treaty dried another (small) zone of unrest appeared. This time Earl Svend of Gloucester rebelled against his liege the Archbishop of Salisbury.
Edward IV decided that this was too close to the capital to be ignored (and perhaps the recent events had persuaded him to stay away from court for some time) and decided to intervene in person.
- To be continued with Part III: 1279-1280 The Sword of the Caliph –