Statutes & Royal Ordinances, Edward II

This is a work in progress

Edward II

Brief History: Reign 1307 – 1327

Married Isabella, from the French Royal Family. The marriage would soon turn sour to the point that Isabella would plot and bring about Edward’s deposition.

The major conflict of his reign was against the Scots led by Robert Bruce where the English army suffered a series of reversals leading up to a decisive victory by the Scots in 1314.

Edward II was most probably gay. This, some say, is what lead to his falling out with Isabella. However, more importantly this lead to a series of “favorites” in his court, most prominently Piers Graveston, whose ascending power disturbed the feudal balance of powers in the court and became the flashpoint which lead to the far-reaching Ordinances of 1311, and the death of Gravestone. Later on, Hugh the Despenser became extremely powerful (and by some accounts, the de facto ruler of England) which lead to a increasingly conflict ridden end of the reign till the king was deposed in 1327. However, the Despenser period saw a massive shift in the Constitutional balance towards the king from the barons, culminating in the Statute of York in 1322.

There were different ways in which Kings would extricate themselves from the promises made. Edward I, for example, did so through absolution through a Papal Bull. Edward II though took a novel approach, and argued against the 1311 ordinances on the basis of the relationship of the Sovereign to the law. He especially argued that the Ordinances, and the limits the sought to impose on him, were violative his Coronation Oath (given below), especially the first and the fourth precepts. [Anthony Musson, Medieval Law in Context, Mancheter University Press, Manchester, at 239-240.]

CORONATION OATH (1308)

"_Sire, will you grant and keep and by your oath confirm to the people of England the laws and customs given to them by the previous just and god-fearing kings, your ancestors_, and especially the laws, customs, and liberties granted to the clergy and people by the glorious king, the sainted Edward, your predecessor?" "I grant and promise them."

"Sire, will you in all your judgments, so far as in you lies, preserve to God and Holy Church, and to the people and clergy, entire peace and concord before God?" "I will preserve them."

"Sire, will you, so far as in you lies, cause justice to be rendered rightly, impartially, and wisely, in compassion and in truth?" "I will do so."

"_Sire, do you grant to be held and observed the just laws and customs that the community of your realm shall determine, and will you, so far as in you lies, defend and strengthen them to the honour of God_?" "I grant and promise them." [Emphasis Added]

STATUTE OF YORK (1322)

Whereas our lord King Edward, son of King Edward, on March 16, in the third year of his reign, granted to the prelates, earls, and barons of his realm ... ;[1] and whereas the archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and the bishops, earls, and barons chosen for the purpose, drew up certain ordinances that begin as follows ... , which ordinances our said lord the king caused to be rehearsed and examined in his parliament at York three weeks after Easter in the fifteenth year of his reign ...; and whereas, through that examination in the said parliament, it was found that by the ordinances thus decreed the royal power of our said lord the king was wrongfully limited in many respects, to the injury of his royal lordship and contrary to the estate of the crown; and whereas, furthermore, through such ordinances and provisions made by subjects in times past against the royal authority of our lord the king's ancestors, the kingdom has incurred troubles and wars, whereby the land has been imperilled: [therefore] it is agreed and established at the said parliament by our lord the king, by the said prelates, earls, and barons, and by the whole community of the realm assembled in this parliament, that everything ordained by the said Ordainers and contained in the said ordinances shall henceforth and forever cease [to be valid], losing for the future all title, force, virtue, and effect; and that the statutes and establishments duly made by our lord the king and his ancestors prior to the said ordinances shall remain in force. And [it is decreed] that henceforth and forever at all times every kind of ordinance or provision made under any authority or commission whatsoever by subjects of our lord the king or of his heirs against the royal power of our lord the king or of his heirs, or contrary to the estate of the crown, shall be null and shall have no validity or force whatever; but that matters which are to be determined with regard to the estate of our lord the king and of his heirs, or with regard to the estate of the kingdom and of the people, shall be considered, granted, and established in parliament by our lord the king and with the consent of the prelates, earls, and barons, and of the community of the kingdom, as has been accustomed in times past. [Emphasis Added]

The Law and Custom of the Constitution By William Reynell Anson, Arthur Berriedale Keith
The Law and Custom of the Constitution By William Reynell Anson, Arthur Berriedale Keith

The Law and Custom of the Constitution By William Reynell Anson, Arthur Berriedale Keith

The Law and Custom of the Constitution By William Reynell Anson, Arthur Berriedale Keith

The King and the Law

“Sic voluntas hodie vincit rationem. Nam quicquid regi placuerit, quamvis ratione careat, legis habet vigorem” [Thus today will overcome reason. For whatever pleases the king, although lacking reason, has the force of law]. Vita Edwardi Secondi.

The king being the fount of all justice, was also a judicial authority. It seems that Edward II personally did involve himself in the judicial decision making process if the matter had enough at stake for him to be involved. Attachment 2 mentions adjournment for further royal deliberation.

So does Attachment 3.

However, sometime the King would intervene to instruct the courts to act in a way that would be expressly violative of a statute, and that did not go without protest. In Scoland v. Grandison [Attachment 4] the counsel for the defendant, says that his client need not answer to the writ since it was presented in violation of the procedure laid (not on the day provided for) by statute. The judge note that they were under direct order from the King to allow the writ. The interesting (and relevant for our purpose) exchange happens on page 175-76, where to the Counsel’s contention that the statute in question was made by the “common counsel of the Realm”, and therefore should not be overridden by a simple directive of the king. However, the judges responded that the king’s command was at par with “common counsel” What also came up was the fact that such a view is in clear violation of the Ordinances, which were still fresh (the case was sometime in the years 1313-1314)

Similarly, in another case of the question came up whether certain actions were in violation of the Magna Carta. The response of the judges was that since they were acting in King’s stead, the have to give weight to the king’s wishes (which were conveyed through a letter) even if it goes against the principles of Magna Carta. [Attachment 5]