Boulogne agreement - 1308
Edward II 1307-1327 - The Barons' Letter of 1301 The Botetourt Story - Edward I 1307
8 Oct 2026 - Access seen in server logs - this was interesting as I was looking at Gestingthorpe and Thomas Fitz-Otto of Gestingthorpe
Also The Honour of Boulogne needs to be expanded - so far the search returns to me.
Quotes
The Boulogne agreement was a document signed by a group of English magnates in 1308, concerning the government of Edward II. After the death of Edward I in 1307, discontent soon developed against the new king. This was partly due to lingering problems from the previous reign, but also related to issues with Edward II himself. Particularly his abandonment of the Scottish Wars and his patronage of the unpopular Piers Gaveston caused discontent. Drawn up in Boulogne-sur-Mer during the king's nuptials, the document vaguely asserted the signatories' duty to guard the rights of the Crown. Three months later, the agreement was the basis for another document, justifying opposition to the king. This latter document, the so-called Declaration of 1308, is notable for its use of the "doctrine of capacities": the distinction between the person of the King and the institution of the Crown.
The document today exists only in a 17th-century transcript by the antiquarian William Dugdale. The Boulogne agreement was largely unknown to modern historians up until the 1960s, but it is now considered significant because it is the first documented expression of the conflict between king and nobility, which was to dominate so much of the reign of Edward II.[1] Though historians agree on the document's importance, there is still disagreement over its interpretation, particularly whether the signatories should be seen as oppositional or loyal to the king.
Boulogne agreement - Declaration of 1308
When researching the significance of "held in -- of the honour of Boulogne of the king and of the king in chief of the honour of Boulogne" I came across the Wikipedia page for this agreement.
The references to Boulogne came from my research on Thomas Fitz-Otho. The Honour of Boulogne was bestowed on Thomas Fitz-Otho by King Henry II.
This is something to do with controlling Edward II's powers
"
The Boulogne agreement was a document signed by a group of English magnates in 1308, concerning the
government of Edward II.
After the death of Edward I in 1307, discontent soon developed against the new king.
"
The "Honour of Boulogne" may have some significance here???
Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324
Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, b 1270 d. 1324. Was Earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324.
Since the publication in 1914 of T. F. Tout’s Place of the Reign of Edward II and in 1918 of J. C. Davies’s Baronial Opposition to Edward II the reign of Edward IT has suffered from comparative neglect. Their work was of very great importance at the time and has deeply influenced all subsequent work on the period, in particular by the assumption that there was a consistent baronial opposition to the monarchy based on the constitutional doctrine of baronial control over the King’s government. It will, however, be argued in the course of this book that this is an extremely misleading view because it oversimplifies the very complex nature of political life during the reign and does not allow sufficiently for the personal element in the activities and attitudes of individual magnates.
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Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford
Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, was a Lord Ordainer along with Sir John Botetourt and Aymer de Valence.
Update April 2024
Much more inforation relating the to the heritage of Sir John de Botetourt and why there is a chantry
chapel in the parish church of Belchamp Walter has been analyzed.
The Wikipedia page (after more careful reading) indicated the Sir John de Botetourt was a signatory
on the agreement but I had not followed it up. Along with the Ordinances of 1311, the Boulogne Agreement
of 1308 seems to involve the same group of "magnates". This group incliuded Sir John de Botetourt,
Aymer de Valence (Pembrooke) and Humphrey de Bohun (Hereford).