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| Wyvern's are everywhere in Leicester architecture |
From horned
mythical beings to what look like Greek gods, there really is nothing new about
Leicester’s multi-cultural heritage. But there is one particular symbol that
really stands out above the rest and you can spot it all over the city. Carved
into many Victorian buildings as well as sitting on top of the Town Hall
itself, is the figure of a reptilian beast. You can even find it on top of
Leicester’s iconic Clock Tower and the Corn Exchange building in the form of a
weather vein. In appearance it looks like a two-legged, or sometimes legless,
winged creature similar to a dragon, having a barbed serpent tail and green scaly
skin. It shares its name with a local primary school, a business centre and a
public house, and sits proudly on top of the Arms of the City of Leicester.
It is of
course the wyvern.
But why should
such a creature be associated with Leicester? Surely a fox would be more
appropriate? The wyvern is
here for a reason, a prominent, yet rather unusual symbol that is the key to
identifying one of the most important yet greatly forgotten characters in
English history.
The origin of the word wyvern comes from thirteenth-century word wyver, which is derived from the French wyvere, meaning both "viper" and "life." The earliest
mention of the wyvern is in folkloric tales where it is generally depicted as a
violent predator. In heraldry, the wyvern is said to represent war, envy and
pestilence, but it is also a symbol of power.
Leicester’s wyvern connection originates from 1619 when the Arms of the City of Leicester were
confirmed during a Heraldic Visitation. Originally
consisting of a simple cinquefoil with a battle-scarred wyvern perched on top,
the inspiration for the design came from motifs that were associated with the
city’s historic earls.
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| The Arms of Leicester |
After
contacting Leicester City Council, they stated that the wyvern was the crest of
Thomas Crouchback, more commonly referred to as Thomas of Lancaster, a powerful
earl of five cities including Leicester, living in the early fourteenth
century. This character
was new to me and I was surprised that I had never come across him before. His
symbol is everywhere in the city, but his story has all but disappeared.
So now it’s
time to dust away the cobwebs and tell everybody about a character that is
possibly more influential than the great Simon de Montfort himself.
Born in 1278, Thomas was the eldest son of Edmund Crouchback,
the first earl of Lancaster and previous earl of Leicester. His mother was Blanche of Artois, the niece of French
king Louis IX. After his father’s death, Thomas inherited the earldoms
of Lancaster, Leicester and Derby and through
his marriage to Alice de Lacy, he became the earl of Lincoln and
Salisbury as well as the eleventh Baron of Halton.
So not only was Thomas the most powerful man in
Leicester, he was also one of the most powerful men in England. He was the
country’s most premier earl with an impeccable ancestry. He was the grandson of Henry III, nephew of
Edward I and first cousin of Edward II. Royal
blood flowed through his veins and through inheritance Thomas acquired an
immense amount of wealth and power.
For the first
sixteen months of Edward II's reign, Thomas openly supported his cousin, and he
enjoyed Edward’s favour and company. In the summer of 1308, Edward gave Thomas
a royal grant of the stewardship of England. But their relationship was soon to
change and Thomas began to move into opposition against the king. No single
event can pinpoint the reason why their relationship broke down. It only became
evident when Thomas ceased to witness royal charters and when his favours from
the king began to dry up. It was also shown when Thomas moved northwards away
from the king, to settle within his own territories, amongst his ‘own’ people.
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| King Edward II |
Spontaneously
in the spring of 1309, Thomas led a call for reformation, a direct move against
the king. Due to Thomas’ power and support, the king had to give in to his
cousin’s demands and in February 1310, Edward was forced to appoint lords
ordainers, and ordinances were published the following year. For the rest
of his life, Thomas’ adherence to his new reforms would be his chief principle
of action, to give people a fair and just governing body. His popular programme
was termed ‘a remedy for the poor and oppressed’ and as he was already in
control of a large proportion of the country, it meant that his support was
great.
Thomas also
led the revolt against the king’s closest ‘friend’ and ally, Piers Gaveston,
who is believed to have been Edward’s homosexual lover.
Unsurprisingly,
Gaveston also proved unpopular with Edward’s wife, Isabella, and her
husband’s preference for the company of Gaveston led to early discord in their
marriage. Thomas constantly mocked him as “the
fiddler” and when Gaveston demanded that the king dismiss one of Thomas’ men,
he swore revenge. There were many official attempts to remove Gaveston from
England and although successful, the king would defy Thomas and the ordainers
by welcoming him back. When he returned in 1312, Gaveston was restored to full
power and consequently, was faced with great hostility.
Thomas demanded his exile once again but when Edward
ignored his pleas, Thomas raised an army and on the May 4 attacked the king’s
men at Newcastle. The king and Gaveston retreated to nearby Scarborough Castle.
From there Edward headed south to raise more men, leaving Gaveston alone and
vulnerable. Not to miss an opportunity, the opposition headed to Scarborough
and Gaveston was captured by Guy de Beauchamp, tenth earl of Warwick. Together
with Lancaster, the two earls judged the despicable Gaveston, proclaiming
“while he lives, there will be no safe place in the realm of England.”
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| The seal of Thomas of Lancaster |
On
June 19, 1312, Thomas of Lancaster was responsible for the murder of Piers
Gaveston, destroyed any chance of a reconciliation with the king. As well as
alienating Edward, the murderous act of Thomas also split the ordainers and the
country came close to civil war. But if the king didn’t have enough problems
already, the prospect of civil war paved the way for the Scots to challenge the
king for independence in 1314. Under the influence of Robert the Bruce, the
Scots besieged England’s Stirling Castle, to bate the English to come out and
fight.
Edward II and
his army hurriedly marched northwards to counter the insurgence and reclaim the
castle. But before they arrived, the king was stopped at Bannockburn and from
June 23-24, 1314, the most famous Anglo-Scottish war in history took place –
The Battle of Bannockburn. It is here you should note that Lancaster, as well
as the earl’s of Warwick, Arundel and Warenne, all refused to serve the king in
battle, arguing that the summons of armies had not passed through parliament as
the ordinances decreed. This greatly limited the king’s army and was one of the
main reasons why Edward suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the
Scots.
The unexpected
defeat at Bannockburn had dire consequences for the English king and he was now
at the mercy of the leader of the opposition, Thomas of Lancaster, whom he
submitted to and made him his chief councillor. Lancaster’s new powers made him
the leader of the government, and effectively leader of England. The defeat by
the Scots highlighted the importance of the ordinances, as going to battle
without the consent of parliament led to the greatest English military disaster
of the Middle Ages. But some
historian’s now believe that before the Battle of Bannockburn, Thomas had an
allegiance with none other than Robert the Bruce.
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| Battle of Bannockburn |
Implications
invoke that our earl played a dirty game to get to where he wanted to be and in
fourteenth century England he committed the most treacherous act possible, he
sided with the Scots. With Lancaster
leading the opposition within the country and Bruce from outside, they fought
the English king together for mutual gain, opening the door for Lancaster to
take England, and for Bruce to take Scotland. But leadership
was always going to be an uphill struggle for Thomas as the country was in a
dire state. The Scots continued to push into northern England, the English
famine of 1315-17 had lingering effects and the people had no faith in their
king and country. Lancaster’s remedy, of course, was the full enforcement of
the ordinances, which the king reluctantly agreed to. But Edward would not go
away easily and was unwilling to enforce the new parliamentary procedures. The
two cousins clashed violently and a catalogue of unfortunate events helped
Edward to manoeuvre Thomas into political isolation.
The other
English earls swore their allegiance to the king leaving Lancaster to become a
one-man opposition and his political power lay almost entirely with his wealth
and following. The Scots continued to ravage northern England and when they had
reached as far south as Yorkshire, the king and his barons realised they needed
Lancaster’s help. He still held lands that stretched the length and breadth of
the country and had a strong, loyal army in his own right. But bringing Edward
and Thomas together would be an almost impossible task, but like they say,
money talks, and on this occasion it certainly did. The king had to make
payments in return for a united country. But this did not mend their shattered
relationship and quarrels continued and escalated to yet more conflict between
the two, including the accusation that Thomas was in collusion with the Scots. It
must have caused suspicion when Lancaster’s lands were spared by Bruce’s men,
but Thomas would never have admitted to playing any part in England’s most
humiliating defeat, as it would mean certain death.
All of the old
divisions were re-opened and the reformations that Thomas had fought for, all
of which were for the benefit of the people, had effectively died a death and
the political system of England went backwards instead of forwards.
This is where
we meet Hugh le Despenser, 1st earl of Winchester and his son Hugh the Younger Despenser, who by 1319,
had gained control of the courts, controlled access to the king and directed
the royal household. This power gave the ambitious Despenser’s the chance to
take land in England and Wales, by force if necessary, which upset many of the
lords. They did not have the power to counter the Despenser’s and had to yet
again plead to Lancaster for help. The country was again on the brink of civil
war and Lancaster had to discuss a formal alliance with old friend Robert the
Bruce, to remove the king and the Despenser’s. But Lancaster was out of time.
King Edward had already sent his armies northwards and he was captured on the
River Aire at Boroughbridge on March 16, 1322. During trial Thomas was not
allowed to speak in his own defence, nor was he allowed to have anybody speak
for him. Because of their kinship and Thomas’ royal blood, the king reduced the
sentence to mere beheading (as opposed to being drawn, quartered, and beheaded)
and on March 22, 1322, Thomas of Lancaster was convicted for treason and
executed near Pontefract Castle.
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| Thomas's execution |
Also executed was John de Mowbray, owner of the lands of
Melton Mowbray and strong supporter of Lancaster. If you don't include Piers Gaveston, who
technically wasn't earl of Cornwall at the time of his death, having been stripped
of his title, Thomas of Lancaster was the first English earl to be executed
since Waltheof in 1076. This
is the reason that the Wyvern on the Leicester Coat of Arms has a wounded
appearance with blood pouring from its wings, to commemorate Leicester’s
executed earl.
Like Simon de
Montfort whose lands he inherited and whose career superficially resembles his
own, Thomas of Lancaster was revered as a ‘political saint,’ dying for a cause
as opposition to a ruling regime. Only six weeks after his death miracles were reported
from his tomb at Pontefract and an armed guard was sent by the king to close
the church where his body lay.
In 1323 there were riots as crowds of people tried to gain access to his
place of execution, to pray and make offerings. They became the cult of ‘saint’ Thomas and his tomb
at Pontefract Priory became a shrine. Hagiographies were written about him, and Edward III wrote three times to the Pope requesting his canonisation,
but was sadly denied.
For many years the earl’s hat and belt were preserved at Pontefract and
were considered magical, being respective remedies for headaches and the
dangers of childbirth.
In the early fourteenth century the people of Leicestershire supported
Lancaster in all of his beliefs and actions. His life followed a complex
sequence of twists and turns but he was always consistent with his aim in life,
to reform the country. The earl had many negative traits, he was a bad husband,
had bigoted views and committed treason to name but a few, but he sincerely
wanted a better life for the common man, to make the country a fairer and more
just place. His life is a reflection of his predecessor Simon de Montfort, both
earls playing important roles in the fight for English democracy, yet one has
failed to gain the same recognition.
Whether it was
a nice decoration from the Arms of Leicester, or whether they remembered
Lancaster with fondness, the Victorians have put his mark all over the city. The
wyvern celebrates Leicestershire’s ‘political saint,’ once the most powerful
man in the country. He may have openly showed defiance to the king of England,
but he was always true to his word.He did everything he could to transform the
country but the hurdles were just too high. He lived for the people and paved
the way for a new system of government; he laid the foundations of democracy.
- Learn more about Thomas of Lancaster in a publication by the University of Leicester’s Dr J. S. Bothwell. “Falling From Grace: Reversal of Fortune and the English Nobility 1075-1455” will be available in 2008 (Manchester University Press).
A fascinating tale!
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