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Person Page 27902

Piers Galveston Earl of Cornwall^{1     19th great grandfather and husband #1 of  19th great grandmother in  another line}
b. circa 1284, d. June 1312, #27902
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		A Need to READ This article presents the argument that Piers might actually have been the son of Edward I by Claramonde de Marsan and therefore Edward II and Piers were half brothers. Interesting.
		The Prince (Edward II) also declared that he loved Gaveston 'like a brother.' Gaveston was also a close friend of Roger Mortimer of Wigmore, Gaveston being awarded the wardship of Mortimer's property after the death of Roger's father – this was a great honour for Gaveston, since the wardship of such an estate would normally be awarded to a nobleman, and is thus an indication of the regard both the King and his son held for Gaveston. Edward I , popularly known as Longshanks, the English Justinian, and the Hammer of the Scots , was a House of Plantagenet King of England who achieved historical fame by conquering large parts of Wales and almost succeeding in doing the same to Scotland... It seems he liked Gaveston, but he strongly disapproved of the close relationship between the knight and the Prince, which was felt to be inappropriate due to Gaveston's rank. He became especially enraged with Gaveston when he, along with twenty-one other knights (including Sir Roger Mortimer), deserted the English army in Scotland after the 1306 campaign and went to a tournament in France. Furious, the King declared the estates of all the deserters forfeit, issued orders for them to be arrested, and declared them traitors. Gaveston and his companions therefore asked Prince Edward to intercede with the King on their behalf; the Prince accordingly enlisted the support of his stepmother, Queen Margaret Marguerite of France, who pleaded with the King to forgive the young men. Most, including Mortimer, were forgiven in January of 1307 and returned their estates. Gaveston, however, remained disfavoured: the King had learned that Piers and the Prince were sworn brothers-in-arms, who had promised to fight together, protect each other, and share all of their possessions. To the King, this was unthinkable: not only was it monstrous for a future King to be shackled by oath to a commoner, unable to be adequately secure against potential plots; but the oath threatened to share the government of England itself with Gaveston, and that was simply intolerable. His displeasure with Gaveston and the young man's friendship with Prince Edward only continued to increase.
Birth	circa 1284	Piers was born circa 1284. His last name was spelt Gavaston, Gavastun, Gavastone, Gavastoun, Gavastoune, Gaveieston, even Kavaston, Causton, etc, but never 'Gaveston'. The family took its name from the village of Gabaston in Béarn, near Pau in the modern Pyrénées-Atlantiques département, in the foothills of the Pyrenees.2 There has been a lengthly discussion on Gen-Medieval concerning the possibility that Piers MIGHT have been the natural son of Edward I by Claramonde,  Conceieved during his visit to that area of France when Edward was returning from a crusade.
		Very little is known about Piers’ early life. He was born in the early 1280’s, and was the son of Arnaud de Gabaston and Claramonde de Marsan. His mother died either in 1287 or 1288, when Piers was very young. In the 1280’s and 90’s, his father was busy in the service of Edward 1st . Thus Piers had a common link with Edward II – his childhood must have been very lonely, having lost his mother and his father frequently absent. There is no evidence to say what happened to Piers at this stage in his life – where he lived, and who looked after him.
		The first evidence of Piers in the service of Edward 1st is in 1297. His father had been held by the King of France, and managed to escape to England, bringing the young Piers with him. Piers was probably in his early teens. He seems to have taken part in Edward 1’s campaign in Flanders. His status is given as a yeoman. Edward 1’s son, Edward of Carnarvon, did not accompany his father on this campaign, so Piers was still unknown to him. As a yeoman, Piers was paid 12d. a day. Another piece of information from the Flanders campaign is that Piers owned a horse valued at 12 marks. After the Flemish campaign, Piers’ father returned to Gascony – but Piers did not. He returned to England, still in the service of Edward 1st. From household accounts, we know that he and his horse were listed in a possible campaign for Scotland, and both he and his father served Edward 1st in the Scottish campaign of 1300. Piers’ brothers, the illegitimate Guillaume-Arnaude de Gabaston and Arnaud-Guillaume de Marsan, accompanied their father as his squires. However, Piers did not – for he had risen in status. Edward 1st must have been very pleased with the young Gascon – so pleased, that he believed him to be a suitable role model for his own son, Edward of Carnarvon. Piers transferred to the Prince of Wales’ household in 1300. A contemporary chronicle says that Piers was chosen because he came from ‘the region of fine manners and was courteous’. Edward 1st knew of his military skills from Flanders and the Scottish campaign, and this was probably a factor in transferring him to the Prince’s household.3
	1304	He was Likely at least 21 by 1304 [b. ca. 1284-5], when granted the lands, marriage and wardship of Mortimer [who would become lover of Edward II Queen, that is Isabella]. He was presumably not much older, as he was claimed by one chronicle to be the same age was Edward II, though agile, quick witted and handsome. Some feel that he was a bit older than Edward II.4
	1307	He became the Earl of Cornwall about 1307. The Earldom had been vacant since the death of Edmond de Monfort in 1300. Edward II made Piers the Earl soon after he became the King.
Marriage	1 Nov 1307	Piers Galveston Earl of Cornwall married Margaret de Clare, who was 15 years old, daughter of Gilbert de Clare "The Red", 3rd Earl of Gloucester, 7th Earl Hertford and Princess Joan of Acre, 1 November 1307. Hamilton accepts the date 1 Nov. 1307 for Piers' marriage to Margaret de Clare, and in fact notes from the vivid Clare heraldic illuminations on the royal charter creating Piers earl of Cornwall, three months earlier, that the couple may already have been betrothed by then. Hamilton then also notes that during the 4 and 1/2 years of their marriage, Piers and Margaret were often separated; she evidently did not accompany him when he went to Ireland between June 1308 and June 1309, nor did she go with him on his last period of exile to the Continent in 1311-12. This would have obvious effects on the chronology of her childbearing (p. 178).1,5
	1308	Piers Gaveston briefly acted as Regent while Edward was in France about 1308.6
	1310	Piers went on campaign to Scotland with Edward II  in August 1310, and stayed at Roxburgh with his wife Margaret (Edward and Isabella were at Berwick) for the next few months. In January and February 1311, he paid £464 for provisions for his household, including 12,000 stockfish at £7 10s per 1000, 1000 cod, 12 'lasts' of red herring at £5 per last, 30 casks of wine at £5 6s and 8p per cask, and 12 casks of flour.7
Death	June 1312	Piers was killed by barons in June 1312. He was murdered by barons that felt that he was too good a friend to the King, King Edward II of England and that he was a bad influence on the King. Deserted by the king he surrendered to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke (d. 1324), at Scarborough in May 1312, and was taken to Deddington in Oxfordshire, where he was seized by Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick (d. 1315). Conveyed to Warwick castle he was beheaded on Blacklow Hill near Warwick on the 9th of June 1312. Gaveston, whose body was buried in 1315 at King's Langley.8
		Click on thumbnail to read the inscription.

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