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VALENCE. 335
of his latter
they themselves affirmed, " to take compassion thereof, and to pray for
" the soule of him that was then departing the world." There is something'
very touching in the awful account which Stowe gives
days, " guarded by a rabble of hell hounds," under the command of such
monsters of iniquity as Barkeley and Maltravers. It would shock your
eyes and wring your hearts if I were to repeat his terrible details.
Once again are the Psalmist's words illustrated: "Thy loving correction
shall make me great
"
; and the fickle, sensual, trivial Edward becomes
indeed a King, as he toils along the road to Bristowe Castle crowned with
hay, mocked by the soldiers crying " "
Avaunt, Sir !
King His patient
endurance elicits our sympathy and admiration ; and we read, with
reverence, the chronicler's testimony concerning him "
: This man being
by nature strong to suffer pains, and patient, through God's grace, to abide
all griefs, he endured all the devices of his enemies."
"Edwardum occidere nolite timere bonum est," was the sophistical
advice to the infamous Isabel, from Adam de Orleton, the Bishop of
Hereford. If the comma be placed after "nolite," the translation is
"Do not consent to kill Edward, it is right to fear to do so." If the
comma be placed after "timere," it would read thus: "Do not yield to
"fear to kill Edward, it is right to do so." Isabel chose the latter interpretation,
and in so doing stained her hands with the murder of her
husband ;
but delivered him from the hands of his persecutors, and
ushered him into the presence of that Saviour where the weary
at rest.
are at
Aymer de Valence, however, continued in the royal favour after the
defeat of Bannockburn, and the following year gth of Edward II. was
sent on a mission to the Pontiff; and on his return was taken prisoner
by a Burgundian called John de Moiller, who sent him captive to the
Emperor, by whom he was detained in custody in spite of all King
Edward's threats and entreaties, until the sum of ,20,000 in silver was
paid, said to be due to Moiller from the King for wages in his service.
However, the King recouped him for his losses on his return by making
him governor of Rockingham Castle, and (in payment for sitting in
judgment on Thomas of Lancaster, at Pontefract, four years after)
he gave
him several manors.
In 1323 he accompanied Queen
Isabella to France to endeavour to
adjust the differences between Edward II. and her brother, Charles the
Fair, and lost his life at a tournament given by him to celebrate his
nuptials with his third wife, Mary, daughter of Guy
de Chastillon Count
of St. Paul's. Some say he was murdered, others that he died of apoplexy;
at any rate it was looked upon as a divine judgment
for his
participation in the death of Thomas of Lancaster, or, as Dugdale says,
" by reason he had a hand in that affair."