| Title | Prestwich, Michael, Edward I (Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1988. ) | |
| Short Title | Prestwich, Michael (1988) | |
| Repository | Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University | |
| _BIBL | Prestwich, Michael. Edward I. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1988. . | |
| _SUBQ | Prestwich, Michael, Edward I | |
| Source ID | S253 | |
| Text | pp. 131-32 "Edward appears to have been remarkably faithful to his queens. The only breath of scandal contained in contemporary narrative is the suggestion that he became too friendly with the countess of Gloucester in the late 1260s, but there is no evidence to support the charge. The later tale give by the Italian chronicler Villani, that Edward fell in love with a lady sent by his mother to help him escape from Dover castle during the Barons' War, has little plausibility. Then there is the curious inclusion of John Botentourt in a genealogical table in Hailes Abbey chronice. His name appears to be writeen over an erasure, and thre is nothing in Botentourt's career to suggest that he was illegitimate son of the king. He first appeared in royal service as a falconer, but rose to high rank, became a banneret in 1298. He was of East Anglian gentry origin, and became lord of mendlesham through marriage. It is possible that the scribe intended to put the name of Edward's daughter Elizabeth's husband where Botentourt's now features. [N. Denholm-Young, HISTORY AND HERALDY (Oxford, 1965), 38-9; BL Cottonians MS Clop. D.III, f.51; Prestwich, WAR, POLITICS AND FINANCE UNDER EDWARD I, 57-8; C47/4/1. f. 15v; HANDBOOK OF BRITISH CHRONOLOGY, ed. Fryde, Greenway, Porter and Roy, 39. In general terms, the Hailes chronicle is a reliable source, but in the absence of any corroborative evidence, it is difficult to credit the evidence of this genealogical table. It is worth noting that Edward II's bstard son was duly acknowledged as such in a royal record, there is no such evidence in the case of John Botetourt] This evidence places no more than a question mark against Edward's fidelity. Edward's grandfather John and his great grandfather Henry II ahd not been faithful husbands, but attitudes and expectations changed in the thirteenth century. Henry III's reputation had been impeccable, as of course had that of Louis IX. It would have been suprising had Edward not followed the precedent set by two kings whom he greatly admired." Nevertheless, I do not find the foregoing thoroughtly convincing. | |
| Linked to | Edward I (Longshanks) PLANTAGENET, King of England | |
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