08 May 2026

The Dictum of Kenilworth, Part 2

Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, was originally on the side of the rebels during the Second Barons' War. He changed over to the royalist side when Simon de Montfort made an alliance with the Welsh Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Gwynedd (considered an enemy of the English).

During the drafting of the Dictum of Kenilworth, Gloucester had forced a change in the details. Originally the landowners who wanted their land back had to pay a fine before getting their lands back. Gloucester (helping out his friends and former conspirators) arranged it so that the men could get their land back first and then would be able to generate the income needed to pay the fines to the king.

The Dictum was publicly announced on 31 October 1266. The rebels in Kenilworth Castle held out until December when their supplies ran out. Gloucester still felt sympathetic to those who had been disinherited and had to repay the king. He decided that he would become the champion of the oppressed (although they'd brought it on themselves), and in April 1267 he changed loyalty again from King Henry to himself.

He brought an army to London and occupied it, as a prelude to acting as king. Prince Edward and the papal legate Ottobuono de' Fieschi (later Pope Adrian V) entered into negotiations and resolved by June that Gloucester should stay in his lane.

Gloucester was so reviled by some for his shifting alliances that in the Douce Apocalypse (see illustration), an illuminated manuscript made before 1275, Gloucester's arms are seen supporting the forces of Satan.

The Second Barons' War was concluded after a few more small events. Prince Edward rounded up the last of the rebels who were at the Isle of Ely. The barons got some of their wishes after all when Parliament met in November 1267 and produced the Statute of Marlborough in which (among other things) several of the Provisions of Oxford were implemented. This seemed to satisfy all sides; the remainder of King Henry III's reign was free of civil dissent.

There was one more casualty of the Second Barons' War—at least that is the story—which I will share with you tomorrow.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.