Biography of Robert de Baldock -1327

In 1314 Robert de Baldock was appointed Archdeacon of Middlesex.

In 1320 Robert de Baldock was appointed Keeper of the Privy Seal.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. In the year 1322, upon the death of Philip [3rd January], son of Philip, King of the French, his brother Charles, having attained the crown of the fraternal kingdom, sent to England Lord Andrew of Florence¹ and another knight to summon the King [of England] to present himself before the new King of the French and to do homage for the Duchy of Aquitaine and his other lands held within the kingdom of the said French king. And although Hugh Despenser and Robert de Baldock,² by their influence and persuasion, had sufficiently instructed the minds of the aforementioned envoys, as they thought, that they should not notify the King of the true cause of their coming, nevertheless, upon their departure, they advised him, as if in counsel, that he should present himself to the new king to do homage. Upon this warning or summons, the said Lord Andrew of Florence, who was notary to Charles, secretly and without the knowledge of the council of the King of England, made a public instrument. By virtue of this document, the King of France, proceeding legally against the King [of England], had several lands from the Duchy of Gascony and the County of Ponthieu seized for his own use, the King of England believing, as he had been informed, that the said summons was not legally valid. This seizure on behalf of the reigning Charles was carried out by his uncle, Charles of Valois, a man who held a deep hatred for the English. With a great army, under the pretence of an assigned legation and claiming disobedience and failure of homage by the King of England as Duke of Aquitaine, he seized the County of Ponthieu and all of Agenais for the benefit of his nephew, the French king. Finally, advancing to the town of Réole, he found it defended by Edmund of Woodstock, the King of England's brother and Earl of Kent. A truce was eventually agreed upon between them,³ to last for as long as peace negotiations could be conducted between the kings. The town was surrendered, and both parties returned to their own territories.

Anno MCCCXXIJ, Philippo filio Philippi, rege Francorum, universe carnis viam ingresso, germanus suus Karolus, regni fraterni adeptus I diadema, misit in Angliam dominum Andream de Florencia et alium quemdam militem ad citandum regem ut se presentaret novo regi Gallorum et faceret homagium pro ducatu Aquitannie et aliis suis terris in predicti regis regno, et, licet Hugo de Spenser et Robertus de Baldok precibus et meritis predictorum nunciorum mentes informassent suffi cienter, ut ipsi putabant, quod causam sui adventus non notificarent regi, tamen in suo recessu monuerunt ipsum, quasi consulendo, quod homagium facturus tunc regi se presentaret. Super qua monicione seu citacione dictus dominus Andreas de Florencia, qui Karolo fuit notarius, concilio regis Anglorum hoc ignorante, fecit pupplicum instrumentum, cuius virtute rex Francie, contra regem facto processu, terras nonnullas de ducatu Vasconie et comitatum Pontivie in suas utilitates fecerat seysiri, rege Anglie putante, sicut fuit informatus, predictam citacionem non valuisse de iure. Prefatam seisinam ex parte Karoli regnantis cepit eius patruus Karolus de Valoys, vir habens Anglicos maxime odiosos, qui cum magno exercitu, fungens affectata legacione, pretensis regis Anglie, ut ducis Aquitannie, inobediencia et homagio non facto, comitatum Pontivie et totam Agennam in utile dominium regis nepotis sui seisivit. Tandem progrediens ad villam de Regula, invenit eam defensam per Edmundum de Wodestoke, germanum regis Anglie et comitem Cancie; inter quos finaliter initis treugis, duraturis per tempus quo posset de pace inter reges tractari, reddita quoque villa, utraque pars ad propria remeavit.

Note 1. Andrieu de Florence, dean of Furnes. Murimuth 39.

Note 2. Robert Baldock became archdeacon of Middlesex in 1314, keeper of the privy seal in 1320, and chancellor 20th August 1323. He died 28th May 1327.

Note 3. 22nd September 1324.

On 20th August 1323 Robert de Baldock was appointed Lord Chancellor.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. In the year of our Lord 1326, in the eleventh year of the pontificate of Pope John XXII, and the twentieth and final year of the reign of King Edward of England, a civil war, customary to the English, was renewed by the army that had been assembled. Yet it could not last long, since the king and the earls, whom the treacherous armed force sought to capture, judged themselves too weak to resist and, effectively advising flight, attempted in vain to take refuge in fortifications suitable for defence. The king, realizing through his scouts that nearly the whole community of the realm had sided with his wife, terrified by false rumours, crossed into Wales¹ with the two aforementioned earls and Robert de Baldock, along with a few others of his private household, having left the Earl of Winchester behind to defend the town and castle of Bristol.

Anno Domini MCCCXXVJ, pontificatus domini Iohannis pape XXIJ anno XJ regis vero Anglie Edwardi XX et ultimo, guerra intestina Anglicos consueta exercitare per exercitum descriptum renovatur, que proinde non poterat diu durare, quod rex et comites, quos expetivit manus armatorum prodiciosa, invalidos ad resistendum se putantes, municionibus aptis defensioni, quasi fugam consulentes, se commisisse frustra sunt conati. Rex nempe, percipiens per suos exploratores quod uxori sue tota pene regni communitas falsis territa rumouribus adhesit, cum duobus sepedictis comitibus et Roberto de Baldok, paucis quoque aliis de sua secreta familia, ad partes Wallicas se transmisit, dimisso comite Wintonie ad tuicionem ville et castri Bristollie.

Note 1. Edward abandoned London on the 2nd October 1326; he was at Gloucester on the 10th and 11th, at Westbury on the 12th, at Tintern on the 14th, at Chepstow on the 16th-21st, at Cardiff on the 27th, at Caerphilly on the 28th-30th. Parliamentary Writs, 2 (Chronicle abstr.) 451 sq.; Rymer's Fœdera 2.645, 646.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. The king,¹ by the authority of the Bishop of Hereford, was entrusted to the custody of the Earl of Leicester, and brought to Kenilworth Castle,² where he remained throughout the winter, in fairly honourable company and treated as a captive king ought to be.

Captis igitur rege, Hugone predicto comite Gloucestrie, magistro Roberto de Baldok, et Simone de Redynge, aliis sine cura fuge dimissis, custodie comitis Leicestrie rex autoritate concilii episcopi Herefordensis commendatus, ad castrum de Kenelworthe est adductus, ubi per totam hyemem in satis honesta mansit comitiva, nec aliter quam oportuit regem captivum custoditus.

Note 1. Edward was taken on the 16th November 1326. Annales Paulini 319: "And on the same day, Lord King Edward, while fleeing into Wales, was captured by the Welsh and taken to the castle of Llantrisant near Neath in Wales. Lord .

Scriptores 10.2766: Orleton in his apology, answering the charge that his sermon at Oxford had caused the people to seize and imprison the king, declares that it is notorious that Edward, on the capture of the younger Despenser, gave himself up to the earl of Lancaster: "It is manifestly false and maliciously alleged; for it is public and well known that the said lord king, after the capture of the said Hugh Despenser, who had held the king in captivity, came of his own free will to the lord Earl of Lancaster, his cousin, who received him honourably and accompanied him to his castle of Kenilworth. There, in the company of the said earl, during my departure from England on my way to the Roman Curia on behalf of the present lord king and the affairs of his kingdom, the said lord king, his father, was known to have remained safe and unharmed."

Note 2. Murimuth 49: "Thus, with the help of the Welsh, on whom the king and his followers had placed their trust, they captured the king, Lord Hugh Despenser the Younger (age 40), Robert de Baldock, and Simon de Reading, not without the intervention of money, and showed no concern for the other members of the king's household. They handed the king over to the custody of the Earl of Lancaster, his cousin, who led him through Monmouth, Ledbury, and other places to his own castle at Kenilworth, where the king remained throughout the winter. Lord .

Edward was at Hereford on the 20th November, when he gave up the great seal, at Ledbury for some days at the end of November and beginning of December, and at Kenilworth on the 5th December. Rymer's Fœdera 2.646, 647; Parliamentary Writs 2.350.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. Master Robert de Baldock,¹ after enduring many humiliations, was handed over to the bishop of Hereford's prison, where he lived a most miserable life until the next feast of the Purification. At that time, the Bishop of Hereford, architect of all this evil, had him brought to London. Once there, the Londoners, with the bishop's tacit approval, seized him and threw him into Newgate prison [Map], seeking cause to accuse him of treason, that they might have him drawn, hanged, and numbered among the dead. But after many investigations, they found no stain of treason or other felony in him. Nevertheless, they treated him so inhumanely that he died from torment not long after Easter [28th May 1327] of the same year.²

Set magister Robertus de Baldok, post multas contumelias, carceri episcopi Herefordensis fuit mancipatus, ubi nimis dolorosam egit vitam usque ad proximum sequens festum Purificacionis. Tunc siquidem episcopus Herefordensis, omnis huius mali architector, fecit ipsum ad se Londonias adduci; quo deductum Londonienses, non sine dissimulante consensu episcopi, rapuerunt et apud Neugate incarceraverunt, querentes occasionem contra ipsum, tamquam proditorem, ut possent distractum suspensumque mortuis adnumerare; set tandem, post multas inquisiciones in ipso non invenientes maculam prodicionis nec alius felonie, ita inhumaniter ipsum tractaverunt, quod eodem anno cito post Pasca obiit in tormentis.

Note 1. Annales Paulini 334.

Scriptores 10.2763: Among the charges which were brought against Orleton in 1334, he states the first to be: "That I ordered and sacrilegiously dared to lay rash and violent hands upon Master Robert de Baldock, and caused him to be seized against his will in the month of November, in the year of our Lord 1326, in the city of Hereford." His answer is: "I state and affirm that Lord Robert de Baldock, in the month of November, as a public enemy of the king and the realm, and guilty of the crime of lèse-majesté, was captured together with the late Lord Hugh Despenser by the peers of the realm, and was brought to Hereford. There, before a secular judge, together with the said Hugh, he was convicted by the peers of the realm according to law. I, then Bishop of Hereford, claimed him as an ecclesiastical person under the liberties of the Church, and according to custom he was handed over to me and committed to ecclesiastical custody, where he remained until the provincial council held in London in the month of January. At that council, convened by order of the lord king and his mother, the queen, and especially at the urging and initiative of the venerable father Lord John, then Bishop of Winchester and Treasurer of England, now elected Archbishop of Canterbury, along with many of the leading nobles of the land, I caused the aforesaid Robert to be brought up and, in good faith and without deceit, received him into my episcopal residence and kept him under diligent guard, until he might be conveniently presented before the said council, to receive, by its sentence and judgment, what he had deserved for his misdeeds, so public and notorious that they could not be concealed by any evasion. And although it was not credible that, with the king, prelates, earls, and other great men of the realm then gathered and present in London for the administration of justice in Parliament, within whose sacred company no one could or should rightly fear harm, anyone should suffer violence or coercion, yet through the power of certain armed men, and against the will of the guards I had assigned him, the said Robert was seized by the citizens of London and kept imprisoned until death, lest, as they claimed, being regarded as a public enemy of the realm, he might be freed through the intervention of certain of his friends and household then present in the city of London, by plea, or bribery, or gifts and promises of reward."

Note 2. The Annales Paulini 320 St Mary Mounthaw or Mounthaut was a parish church originally built as a chapel for the house of the Norfolk Mounthaunt family, from Norfolk in Old Fish Street Hill in Queenhithe Ward of the City of London. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt. In around 1234 the house and the patronage of the church were bought by Ralph de Maydenstone, Bishop of Hereford after which it remained in the ownership of the Hereford See.

On 28th May 1327 Robert de Baldock died in Newgate Prison, London [Map]; see Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker, Annales Paulini, 334

Annales Paulini. And on the same day, Lord King Edward, while fleeing into Wales, was captured by the Welsh and taken to the castle of Llantrisant [Map] near Neath in Wales. Lord Hugh Despenser the Younger was captured nearby in a certain wood, along with Master Robert de Baldock, the king's chancellor; Lord Thomas Wyther; John de Beck, knight; John le Blunt; John le Smale; Richard Holdene; Simon de Reading; and many others. All of them were taken to Hereford.

Et eodem die dominus rex Edwardus, fugiens in Walliam, a Walensibus fuit captus et ductus ad castellum Lantrosin prope Neiz in Wallia. Dominus Hugo Despenser filius de The younger prope in quodam bosco captus fuit, et and the magister Robertus de Baldock cancellarius domini regis, dominus Thomas Wyther, J. de Beck, milites; J. le Blunt, J. le Smale, R. Holdene, Simon de Redyng, et plures alii capti fuerunt et ducti apud Herfordiam.

Lanercost Chronicle. But the queen had a secret motive for desiring to cross over to France; for Hugh Despenser the younger, the King's agent in all matters of business, was exerting himself at the Pope's court to procure divorce between the King of England and the queen, and in furtherance of this business there went to the court a certain man of religion, acting irreligiously, by name Thomas de Dunheved, with an appointed colleague, and a certain secular priest named Master Robert de Baldock. These men had even instigated the king to resume possession of the lands and rents which he had formerly bestowed upon the queen, and they allowed her only twenty shillings a day for herself and her whole court, and they took away from her her officers and body servants, so that the wife of the said Sir Hugh was appointed, as it were, guardian to the queen, and carried her seal; nor could the queen write to anybody without her knowledge; whereat my lady the queen was equally indignant and distressed, and therefore wished to visit her brother in France to seek for a remedy.

Life of Edward II by a Monk of Malmesbury. Robert de Baldock was a supporter in the execution of the nobles. It is no wonder, then, if he is hated by their families—of whom many remain in England, yet some hold power in France, and others, though exiled, are influential. All, however, await the time of vengeance. But whatever might be alleged against the others, the blame falls above all on Hugh Despenser, both father and son.

Robertus de Baldoke fautor erat in nece procerum. Nimirum si exosus habeatur! parentibus eorum, quorum licet multi sunt in Anglia, quidam tamen eorum dominantur in Francia, et quidam valentes exulant, omnes autem et singuli tempus ultionis exspectant. Sed quicquid in aliis arguitur, Hugoni Despenser tam patri quam filio pra ceteris imputatur.

Adam Murimuth Continuation. Thus, with the help of the Welsh—on whom the king and his followers had placed their trust—they captured the king, Lord Hugh Despenser the Younger, Robert de Baldock, and Simon de Reading, not without the intervention of money, and showed no concern for the other members of the king's household. They handed the king over to the custody of the Earl of Lancaster, his cousin, who led him through Monmouth, Ledbury, and other places to his own castle at Kenilworth, where the king remained throughout the winter. Lord Hugh Despenser the Younger, Robert de Baldock, and Simon de Reading were taken to the queen, who was then at Hereford.

Unde ipsi, adjutorio Wallensium, de quibus rex et sui confidebant, ipsum regem et dominium Hugonem le Despenser filium et Robertum de Baldok et Simonem de Redynges ceperunt, non sine pecuniæ interventu, de aliis regis familiaribus non curantes; et regem comitis Lancastriæ, consanguinei sui, custodiæ liberarunt, qui duxit regem per Monemoutham et Ledebury et alia loca usque ad castrum suum de Kenelworth, ubi per hiemem totam mansit. Dominum vero Hugonem Dispenser filium, Robertum de Baldok, et Simonem de Redynges ad reginam, quæ fuit Herefordiæ, conduxerunt.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. These matters concluded, the queen turned her attention to the Marches and remained at Hereford for a month. There, she divided her army and sent part of it with Henry, Earl of Leicester, and Master Rhys ap Howell,¹ a Welsh cleric, to capture the king and those with him. The aforementioned earl was the brother and heir of the oft-mentioned Earl Thomas of Lancaster, and the said Rhys, who was sent with him, had once been imprisoned by royal justice in the Tower of London, but had been restored to liberty through the queen's power. Both the said earl and Rhys held estates and wide dominions near the place where the king was hiding; moreover, Rhys was very well known throughout the entire region. At last, the said earl and the cleric, through the corruption of the Welsh with a large sum of money, found the king in the monastery of Neath, along with Hugh Despenser the Younger, who had been left behind, seeking safety in flight. They were discovered by Welsh spies. Thus the king was captured, along with the said Hugh, the Earl of Gloucester, Master Robert de Baldock, and Simon de Reading; the others were left behind without pursuit.

Hiis ita confectis, ad partes marchie regina conversa, apud Herefordiam per mensem commorata, exercitum dividit, et cum eius una parte misit Henricum comitem Laicestrie et magistrum Resum ap Howel clericum, nacione Wallicum, comprehendere regem et sibi aderentes. Predictus comes erat germanus sepenominati et heres comitis Thome Lancastrie; et iste Resus, secum missus, quondam iusticia regali in turri Londoniarum incarceratus erat, set per regine potenciam sue libertati restitutus. Tam comes predictus quam iste Resus habuerunt possessiones et ampla dominia iuxta locum in quo rex latitabat; fuitque preterea Reso tota patria valde nota. Predicti finaliter comes et clericus, non sine magne pecunie interventu Wallicis corruptis, regem in monasterio de Neth, Hugonem Dispenser filium, desertum pro fuge presidio capescentem, per exploratores Wallicos invenerunt.

Note 1. Rhys ap Howell was implicated in the rebellion of 1322 but surrendered to the king. He was sent prisoner to Dover. Murimuth 35.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. The king¹ then proceeded to Chepstow with the Earl of Gloucester and Master Robert de Baldock, and with very few others, boarded a ship intending to sail to the island of Lundy. Lundy is an island in the Severn estuary, about two miles long in every direction, rich in pasture and oats. It produces rabbits in abundance and has many doves, even ostriches, whom Alexander Neckam calls 'Ganymede's birds'², nesting there. It also supplies its inhabitants with fresh water from natural springs, despite being entirely surrounded by the saltiest of seas. The island has only a single point of access, where barely two men can walk side by side, and is otherwise protected by towering and fearsome cliffs, making assault nearly impossible. This island, though naturally well-supplied, had also been stocked with an abundance of wine, oil, honey, wheat, barley, fish, salted meat, and coal. Yet a contrary wind³ completely prevented the king from reaching it. Barely escaping the fury of the sea, he landed in Glamorgan and took refuge in the abbey and castle of Neath,⁴ trusting far too much in the false promises⁵ of the Welsh, who claimed they were ready to share life and death with him.

Rex vero, deinde ad Chepstowe progressus cum comite Gloucestrie et magistro Roberto de Baldok aliis quoque valde paucis, se commisit navigio, intendens ad insulam de Londay proficisci. Lunday est insula in flumine Sabrina, duorum miliarium undequaque longa, habundans pascuis et avenis, cuniculos producit copiose, columbis, eciam strucionibus, quos vocat Alexander Necham Ganimedis aves,² nidos habet pregnantes, aquas insuper recentes de fontibus scaturientes incolis ministrat, ipsa licet ab omni parte aquis amarissimis fuerit circumcincta. Unum dumtaxat aditum habet iste locus, quo vix duo viri poterunt coniunctim pedites incedere; ex omni alia parte rupis horrende alta proeminencia proibens aggressum. Hanc insulam victualibus, ut dictum est, naturaliter habundantem, tamen ex habundanti vino, oleo, melle, frumento, braseo, piscibus, salsis carnibus, et terestri carbone instuffatam, regem volentem adnavigare ventus contrarius proibuit omnino; unde, sevas tempestates maris vix declinans, applicuit in Clammorgan, et se transtulit ad abbathiam et castrum de Neth, ubi Wallencium, qui se promittebant secum velle vitam et mortem communicare, falsa promissione nimium confisus latitavit.

Note 1. Stow Annales 346.

Note 2. The birds of Palamedes are thus described by Neckam, De Naturis Rerum (ed. Wright, Rolls Series), 1863, cap. xlvi: "Cranes in flight seem to trace a letter in the air, and from this, it is said, the name of the grammatical term congruum (agreement) arises. Thus Martial writes:

'You'll ruin the verse, and the whole letter won't fly,

If you lose but one of Palamedes' birds.'

He calls the crane a 'bird of Palamedes' because Palamedes is said to have invented letters in the Greek language and greatly advanced grammar in many ways. Therefore, since cranes appear to form an orderly figure in flight, they are called the birds of Palamedes."

Note 3. Le Bel, whom Froissart copies, creates a miracle out of this adverse wind. According to him the king and the younger Despenser take boat from Bristol to seek safety, Les Vrayes Chroniques de Messire Jehan Le Bel 1.23.

Note 4. Edward was at Neath as early as the 5th and as late as the 10th November. Parliamentary Writs 2.763; Rymer's Fœdera 2.647.

Note 5. Compare the words of advice put by Froissart Ms. de Rome, 1.12, into the mouths of Edward's friends: "Sire, send messengers to all places and issue a command that all people are to come without delay, under penalty of losing both life and property and especially send word to Wales: the Welsh will not fail you."

Annales Paulini. The queen proceeded with her supporters toward St Edmund's as though on pilgrimage. There, in the said abbey, she found 800 marks sterling, which Lord Hervey de Stanton, the king's justice, had placed there for safekeeping. The lady queen borrowed this money, Lord Hervey being absent, to pay the wages of her household. From that place, she came to Cambridge and stayed for several days at the priory of Barnwell. From there, she set out for Baldock, where Thomas Catel, brother of Master Robert de Baldock, then the king's chancellor, was captured; all his goods were destroyed, and he was taken to a certain castle. From there, the queen went to Dunstable and continued changing her route from place to place, pursuing the lord king toward Hereford. However, she harmed no one nor committed any wrongdoing, only the manors and goods of Lord Hugh Despenser the Elder, Hugh Despenser the Younger, and Master Robert de Baldock were laid waste.

Movebat se regina cum suis adhærentibus versus Sanctum Edmundum quasi peregrinando; invenit in dicta abathia VIII.c. marcarum sterlingorum, quas dominus Herveus de Stantone, justitiarius domini regis, ibidem apposuerat ad custodiendum. Quod quidem argentum domina regina mutuavit ad solvendum pro stipendiis familiæ suæ, ipso Herveo absente. De illo loco venit ad Grantebrigge, et ad prioratum de Bernewelle per aliquot dies perhendinavit; et ab illo loco apud Baldock iter arripuit; et Thomas Catel, frater magistri Roberti de Baldock tunc cancellarii domini regis, ibidem fuit captus, et omnia ejus bona destructa, et ductus ad quoddam castellum; et ab illo loco perrexit apud Dunstaple, et sic mutavit dietas suas de loco ad locum, dominum regem sequendo versus Herfordiam, neminem tamen lmdendo vel malum faciendo, sed tantummodo maneria et bona dominorum Hugonum Despenser patris et filii et magistri Roberti de Baldock devastavit.