The Return of Gaveston
By the summer of 1309 Edward II had managed to cajole most of his earls into allowing Piers Gaveston to return to England, although the most powerful earl, Lancaster, was implacably opposed. On 27 June 1309 Gaveston, restored to the Earldom of Cornwall, returned to England and soon proved as obnoxious as before, calling Lancaster "Churl" and Warwick "Black Cur". Henry Percy would have been preoccupied with the purchase of Alnwick at that time and generally tried to stay out of the trouble with Gaveston. At the parliament of February and March 1310 the King was forced to accept the election of twenty one Lords Ordainers to govern the country. In June the king began a campaign in Scotland in which Percy fought, although many barons senior to Percy declined to take part. Robert Bruce continued to fight a guerilla war, refusing to give battle, so little was achieved, while relations between the king and his earls further deteriorated. In May 1311 Gaveston ordered Percy to hold Perth for the summer with two hundred knights and no infantry, a dangerous task at a time when the king's army was withdrawing to England. Surviving this Percy was back in London in October. The barons now forced the king to send Gaveseston into exile in Flanders, but he was soon recalled and was in York with his heavily pregnant wife in January 1312, with his lands restored. Percy was ordered out of Scarborough Castle and Gaveston took it over. Violence was now inevitable. In April the king and Gaveston were chased out of Newcastle by the sudden arrival of an army under Lancaster, Percy and Clifford, fleeing to Scarborough. In their haste they left behind Gaveston's wife and baby daughter and a great hoard of treasure, which it took Lancaster, Percy and Clifford four days to catalogue. Lancaster held onto this for future bargaining with the king. Gaveston was soon besieged at Scarborough Castle by Percy, Clifford, and the earls of Warenne and Pembroke, surrendering after a month. Percy remained in York when Gaveston was taken south to Warwick and then executed.
Read more about this topic: Henry De Percy, 1st Baron Percy
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