King of England Edward II - Long Live the King: the Mysterious Fate of Edward II

LONG LIVE THE KING

LONG LIVE THE KING

THE MYSTERIOUS FATE OF EDWARD II

KATHRYN WARNER

This book is dedicated to John Alan Lamb, in memory of sixteen years.

First published in 2017

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2017

All rights reserved

The Kathryn Warner, 2017

The right of Kathryn Warner to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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EPUB 978 0 7509 8327 3

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I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ian Mortimer, without whom it would not have been possible to write this book. His immense research on Edward IIs survival after 1327 has blazed a trail for the rest of us, and his tireless dedication to uncovering the mysteries of what happened in and after 1327 has long been an inspiration to me.

I also owe a great debt to my friends of the Auramala Project in Italy, who are doing incredible research on the possibility of Edward IIs survival in that country. In particular I wish to thank Ivan Fowler, MariaRosa Gatti, Elena Corbellini, Mario Traxino, Stefano Castagneto, Luciano Maffi, Elena Giacomotti, Simone Bertelegni and Alice Galbiati.

Thank you to my lovely talented friend Craig Robinson for taking superb photographs for me to use in the book, and to everyone at Berkeley Castle, especially Helen Berryman and Joshua Nash, for giving Craig access and for permission to use the photos here.

Thank you to the staff at Gloucester Cathedral, Bristol Cathedral, Cologne Cathedral (especially Christine Di Costanzo), St Marys church in Berkeley, the church of SantEustorgio and the office of cultural heritage in Milan, the cathedral archive of Genoa, the capitulary library in Vercelli, the hermitage of SantAlberto, Oramala Castle, the Archives dpartementales de lHrault, and the DGA Education, Culture, Jeunesse, Sport, Loisirs in Montpellier.

Thank you to the excellent genealogist and researcher Kevin McKenzie, who has helped me and the Auramala Project so much and given so generously of his time and expertise.

Thank you again to my wonderful friends in Italy, especially Gianna Baucero, Claudia Bergamini, Ezio Candellone, Maurizio Tarotti, Gabriela Grandi, Andrea Candellone, Angela Barbero Candellone, Claudia Candellone, Alberto Portalupi, Gaia Portalupi, Lorenzo Tarotti, Gian Luca Marino, Fabrizio Zerbin, Caterina Costanza, Massimo Greppi, Enza Battaglia, Monsignor Sergio Salvini, His Excellency the Archbishop of Vercelli Father Marco Arnolfo, Timoty Leonardi, and Margherita Grillo, with whom I spent a wonderful day exploring historic Milan.

Thank you to the staff at the seminary of Vercelli, the university library of Pavia, Original History Walks and the Chesterton Association, and all the others in Vercelli and Pavia who have been so incredibly generous, kind and welcoming.

Thank you to the Reverend Chris Harrington, Mary Cummins, Lesley Pinchbeck, Pete Banks, Sue Banks, Chris Cullen, Michael Cullen, Marilyn Scholefield and everyone at St Andrews church, Heckington, Lincolnshire, for inviting me to speak there about Edward II and for their kind hospitality. Thank you to all the staff at the English Library Dsseldorf, a resource I have enjoyed for many years, and also for inviting me to speak there.

Thank you to Paul Dryburgh for giving me the opportunity to speak about Edward II at the International Medieval Congress, and to Professor Mark Ormrod of the University of York for moderating our session.

For all their support and help, thank you to my dear friends Laurel Albright, Juliana Brmmer, Rachel Fitzpatrick, Valentino Krani Kovai, Vishnu Nair, Jen Parcell, Sami Parkkonen, Joanne Renaud, Gillian Thomson, Julie Thomson, Sarah Ursell, Masud Vorajee and Kate Wingrove. Thank you to all my history friends on my blog and my social media, especially Bev Newman and Susan Wakefield for helping to suggest the books title. Thank you to all of you who have been so kind to me during recent difficult times. Thank you to all my wonderful students in Dsseldorf.

Thank you always and forever to my mum Elaine, my dad Phil, my stepmum Betty and my father-in-law Alan for your endless love and support.

Without John Lamb, I would not have been able to write this book. Im sorry that you never got to read it, my love.

Last but certainly not least, thank you to my editor Mark Beynon and everyone at The History Press for giving me the opportunity to write a book Ive been desperate to write for years.