Queen Isabella (c. 1295/1358) and the Greyfriars: An Example of Royal Patronage Based on Her Accounts for 1357/1358

Queen Isabella (c.1295/1358) and the Greyfriars: An example of royal patronage based on her accounts for 1357/1358 Queen Isabella, the controversial widow of Edward II (1307-27), exemplifies royal patronage of the Greyfriars or Franciscans, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Raised at the French court in which friars were active as preachers and confessors, she imbibed her mother’s devotion towards the order and its members. She enjoyed good relations with the friars throughout her life and she was a significant benefactor, supporting the order with her alms and her influence. She was assisted by a series of friars as confessors, preachers and advisers. Dying on August 22, 1358, she was interred at the London Greyfriars, within the shadow of St Paul’s cathedral. Her son, Edward III (1327-1377) observed her anniversary and arranged for Masses to be celebrated at the London Greyfriars. This study examines the evidence yielded by the compotus or account book kept by John of Newbury , the queen’s treasurer, for the last year of her life. The first entry is  Dr. Jens Röhrkasten, lecturer in the Department of Medieval History at the University of Birmingham, and John A. Watt, emeritus professor of Medieval History at the University of Newcastle, graciously read an early draft of this paper and made helpful comments. Any remaining errors are mine. Abbreviations: AFH = Archivum Franciscanum Historicum; BF = Bullarium Franciscanum , ed. C. Eubel, vols. 5 and 6 (Rome, 1898 and 1902); BL = British Library in London ;BSFS=BritishSocietyofFranciscanStudies,London;CPR=CalendarofPatent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office (London, 1901-1986); FS = Franciscan Studies, ns; LAO = Lincolnshire Archives Office, Lincoln; NMT = Nelson Medieval Texts; OMT = Oxford Medieval Texts; RS = Rolls Series; TNA: PRO = The National Archives, formerly known as the Public Record Office at Kew Gardens, London.  For more recent studies on Queen Isabella see P. Doherty, Isabella and the strange death of Edward II (London, 2003) and A. Weir, Isabella: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England (London, 2005) and I. Mortimer, The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, ruler of England 1327-1330 (London: Thomas Dunne Books, 2004). 325 Franciscan Studies 65 (2007) 14.Robson.indd 325 12/5/07 21:04:23 Michael Robson 326 for September 30, 1357 and the last for early 1359, when the estate of the recently deceased queen was closed. This primary source, British Library, Cotton, MS.Galba, E.xiv, was badly damaged in the fire of 1731 in the British Museum. Some parts of the text fed the flames, while others survived in varying degrees of legibility. For example, the entry for the payment of alms, recorded on folios one verso and two recto, is badly mutilated. The 59 folios were pasted into a volume whose contents have been described by E.A.Bond. The compotus is supplemented by information from E 101/393/4 in London’s National Archives, another account book for the year including details of the dispositions of the late queen’s property and personal effects, including gifts to the friars. A memorandum of October 26, 1358 contains details of the queen’s chapel and household and confirms that certain of her goods had already been delivered to the treasury. These documents are accompanied by rolls in the same archive which deal with suffrages for the queen during her son’s reign. These texts provide valuable information on aspects of the order’s diverse ministry, furnishing facts about the lives and activities of friars, some of whom are not known from other external sources. I. Isabella’s family and the Franciscan order The canonisation of St. Francis on July 16, 1228 was attended by one monarch, Jean de Brienne, king of Jerusalem, who donated an altar frontal of embroidered Sicilian silk for the solemn translation to the basilica of San Francesco, Assisi, on May 25, 1230. Thomas of Celano triumphantly announced that the king and queen of France and the other great people in the land venerated the pillow used by il poverello during his illness. As they spread throughout the western Church the disciples of St. Francis of Assisi appealed to all sectors of medieval society. Their spiritual ministration...