Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent

Edward I of England had a great number of children with his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, but only one son who survived into adulthood – the future Edward II (born 1284). After Eleanor died, the king married Margaret of France, with whom he had two children who survived to adulthood: Thomas (born 1300) and, when the king was sixty-two, Edmund. Edmund was born at Woodstock in Oxfordshire on 5 August 1301, and was therefore referred to as Edmund of Woodstock. Son of the English king, he was also, through his mother, grandson of Philip III of France. Though not resident in the two boys' household, Edward I had taken great interest in the princes' upbringing and well-being. Before he died, the king had promised to provide Edmund with substantial grants of land. In August 1306, Edward I signed a charter promising Edmund land worth 7000 marks a year, and in May 1307, 1000 marks were added to this. He probably intended to give the earldom of Norfolk to Thomas, while Edmund would receive the earldom of Cornwall, which had been left vacant after Edward I's cousin Edmund died without children in 1300. According to the chronicle Vita Edwardi Secundi, this act was a grave insult to the king's younger brothers. Edward II, nevertheless, took steps to provide his half-brother with an income; grants made in 1315 and 1319 secured Edmund 2000 marks a year. Edward II's close relationship with Gaveston had been a source of conflict at court, and Gaveston's execution by a group of rebellious barons in 1312 had brought the country to the brink of civil war. As Edmund came of age, he became an important member of the circle around his brother. In 1318, the Treaty of Leake was drafted as an effort to reconcile the opposing parties, and Edmund – as his first public act – was among the witnesses to sign this treaty. Further official appointments followed. In the spring of 1320 he took part in an embassy to Pope John XXII in Avignon, where the mission was to absolve the king of his oath to uphold the Ordinances, a set of restrictions imposed on royal authority by the baronage. In October 1320, Edmund attended his first parliament. ==Civil war==

As the political conflict escalated into full-scale rebellion in 1321–22, Edmund played an important role in its suppression. The opposition stemmed from resentment against the king's new favourites, Hugh Despenser the Younger and Hugh Despenser the Elder. When Bartholomew Badlesmere, steward of the royal household, defected to the opposition, Edward made his youngest brother Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in place of Badlesmere on 16 June. Once confronted with the royal army, Mortimer surrendered without a fight, and attention turned to the leader of the baronial opposition, Thomas of Lancaster. Edmund, who had taken part in the Marcher campaign, was now ordered, with the Earl of Surrey, to take Lancaster's castle of Pontefract. On 17 March 1322, Lancaster was captured after his defeat at the Battle of Boroughbridge and brought to Pontefract. Here, Edmund was on the jury that condemned him to death for treason. Even with Lancaster defeated, the battle against the rebels was not over. Edmund was charged with overtaking Wallingford Castle from Maurice de Berkeley in January 1323, a task which he fulfilled with great success. ==Scotland and France==

With domestic opposition largely neutralised, the king turned his attention to Scotland. A major campaign was organised in August, but the effort ended in total failure when the English were routed by the Scots, led by Robert the Bruce, at the Battle of Old Byland on 14 October 1322. Edward II himself had to flee the battlefield to avoid capture, and Edmund was with him as the royal army retreated to York. The king's inability to handle the Scottish situation was becoming apparent. Andrew Harclay, who had defeated Lancaster at Boroughbridge, and for this had been created Earl of Carlisle and appointed Warden of the Marches to Scotland, signed a peace treaty with the Scots without royal sanction in January 1323. When the king found out, he ordered Harclay's arrest. Edmund was one of the judges who passed judgement on Harclay, who was hanged, drawn and quartered for treason. In April 1324, Edmund and Alexander de Bicknor, Archbishop of Dublin, were sent to France on a diplomatic mission. While some historians have criticised Edmund for his failure to reach a diplomatic settlement, others have pointed to the difficult circumstances he faced, and how others had fared little better. In the short war that followed, the English lands were quickly overrun by the French, and Edmund was besieged at La Réole. Here he held out until 22 September, at which point he was forced to surrender and agree to a six-month truce. ==Deposition of Edward II==

Edward II's refusal to pay homage to the French king was based on concern for his royal sovereignty, but also on fear of a potential resurgence of domestic resistance. For this reason, he sent his wife Isabella to negotiate with King Charles, who was her brother. The Queen departed for France on 9 March 1325, and in September she was joined by her son, the heir to the throne, Prince Edward. Isabella's negotiations were successful, and it was agreed that the young Prince Edward would perform homage in the king's place, which he did on 24 September. Though he still distrusted Mortimer, his hatred for the Despensers seems to have been even greater at this point. When Edmund, along with the others, ignored the king's order to return to England, his lands were confiscated in March 1326. The invasion won the support of a great part of the English nobility, including Edmund's brother Thomas, and Henry, Earl of Lancaster, Thomas of Lancaster's brother. Edmund took part in the trials of the two Despensers, and in the council transferring power to Prince Edward, who was crowned King Edward III. It did not take long for Edmund to grow disenchanted with the new regime; one source of contention was the dominant position at the court of Mortimer, who has been described as Isabella's lover. In the autumn of 1328, Edmund and his brother Thomas joined Henry of Lancaster in a conspiracy against Isabella and Mortimer. The conspiracy was a product of shared interest, however, rather than strong personal ties. Once it became clear that it would fail, the two brothers abandoned the venture. ==Death and aftermath==

After participating in the planned rebellion, Edmund became less popular at court. He was still allowed to accompany the king's wife Philippa to her coronation in February 1330, but his appearances at court became less frequent. It later emerged that Roger Mortimer himself was responsible for leading Edmund into this belief, in a form of entrapment. The plot was revealed, and in the parliament of March 1330 Edmund was indicted and condemned to death as a traitor. eventually beheaded Edmund in exchange for a pardon. The execution of a royal prince was a great provocation to the seventeen-year-old Edward III, who had not been involved in the decision, and it probably contributed to the king's decision to rise up against his protector. In October 1330, Edward III carried out a coup installing himself in personal control of the government, and Mortimer was executed. Among the charges against Mortimer was that of procuring Edmund's death, and the charges against the late Earl of Kent were annulled. In late 1325, Edmund had married Margaret Wake, sister of Thomas Wake, Baron Wake of Liddell, and the couple had several children. Edmund was not particularly popular while he was alive, nor did he enjoy a good reputation after his death. His unreliability in political issues, and repeated shifts in allegiance, might have contributed to this. His household was also said to behave in a way that caused popular resentment, taking provisions as they passed through the countryside while offering little compensation. Children == Fictional portrayals ==

Edmund is a supporting character in Maurice Druon's The Accursed Kings (Les Rois maudits in French) novels. He is portrayed as being reluctantly being drawn into the conspiracy against his brother by his relatives in France, only to regret it later when he is sidelined in the regency council. In this fictionalized version, his extrajudicial murder is a power-play arranged by Roger Mortimer because he believes that young Edward will replace Mortimer with his uncles as soon as he comes of age. In the 1972 television adaptation, Edmund was portrayed by Eric Kruger but he did not appear in the 2005 adaptation. ==Ancestry==