← THIS IS HISTORY — A DYNASTY TO DIE FOR
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Dan Jones
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Producer Georgia
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Dan Jones
And hitting Start free at the top of the page, or if you listen To Spotify, visit ThisIsHistoryPod.com to get access. I can't wait for you to join us. Thanks for listening. Fires crackle in the grate of the huge fireplaces in the hall at windsor Castle. It's mid January 1344, and outside there's a damp cold in the air. In here, though, it's wonderful. Christmas only finished a couple of weeks ago, but in Edward III's royal court, the party lives on. The great hall echoes with cheery conversation and peals of laughter. Musicians play and entertainers wander between the tables, performing tricks and drawing gasps and applause. Old friends call greetings to one another and merry toasts are drunk. But there's something unusual about the voices. They're all women's. There are 500 ladies gathered in the great hall noblewomen, royalty and the wives of London's wealthiest merchants. Queen Philippa is presiding, along with her daughter, Princess Isabella, and everyone is having the time of their lives. King Edward has signed off on this shindig. He's given his personal attention to the seating plan, and he spared no expense on the food and wine. So where are all the men? Well, they're in slightly less glamorous digs outside the feasting hall. Huge tents have been pitched inside them. There's King Edward, his eldest son, the Black Prince, and hundreds more nobles and knights, many of them the partners of the women inside. They're not put out by this demotion, this is all a romantic, chivalrous game. They all know that when the meal has been cleared away, the men and women will come together for for dancing, drinking and whatever else takes their fancy. As one chronicler puts it, there are precious dishes and abundant delicate drinks to satisfy everyone. Among the lords and ladies, there were dances, embraces and kisses. And this party is just getting started. The program of events just gets more and more exciting. For the three days that follow the feast, Edward has organised a series of jousts in which he and 19 of his closest companions are going to take on all comers. And once that's done, there's another big treat in store, because this is a party with a purpose beyond sheer hedonistic pleasure. On January 19, after nearly a week of banqueting and play fighting, Edward gathers everyone together to explain to the cream of the country why they're all here. After breakfast that day, he summons his guests to join him and the Queen for a church service. And a big announcement. Edward's dressed in exquisite red velvet robes, including a gown lined with ermine harvested from exactly 369 stoats. Thank you for your service, stoats. Oh, and if you want to hear the world's best joke about a stoat, head over to this Is History plus, where I shall be reducing producer Georgia to fits of hysterics. Once the guests have heard Mass, Edward gets up with a copy of the Holy Gospels. He swears on these holy texts that he himself, at a certain time, provided that he had the necessary means, would found a round table in the same manner and condition as Arthur, formerly King of England, namely to the number of 300 knights, and would cherish and maintain it according to his power, always adding to the number of knights. Edward gives instructions that a huge round table building should be built in Windsor as the headquarters for these new Arthurian knights.
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Producer Georgia
It's going to be a bit like.
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Dan Jones
A Shakespearean theatre or a Spanish bullring. A huge arena around a literal round table with a roofed building running round the outside for spectators. Money is to be no object. And if the feasting the guests have just enjoyed is anything to go by, Edward is in the mood for splashing out. He spent so much on this party that he's had to pawn two of his favourite crowns to pay the bills. His tab for the Royal hall alone for a week of partying adds up to £2,000. Today, that would be roughly £1.5 million. The stage is set for a golden age of English chivalry and military glory. A super exclusive club for the new King Arthur and his ultimate squad of super knights to come together and face down the King of France. But almost from the moment it starts, things begin to go horribly wrong. Within a fortnight of the announcement, one of the key players is dead. And as events conspire against Edward, his new castle of Camelot becomes a fathomless money pit. But Edward will not be stopped in his quest to launch the ultimate medieval members club. Has he finally lost the plot? I'm Dan Jones and from Sony Music Entertainment. This is history Season 6 of A Dynasty to Die For Episode 8 the Order of the Garter.
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Producer Georgia
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Dan Jones
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Producer Georgia
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Dan Jones
I know what some of you might be thinking. We ended last episode in the thick of the misery of the Black Death, and now it's a big party without a whiff of social distancing or a hint of oozing black boils. Well, that's because we've jumped back in time more than we usually do on this podcast. I mean, to January 1344. Now, that's four years before the Black Death and two years before Edward's astonishing victory at Crecy. We're jumping back because this party is the start of something big. A major part of Edward's reign which takes us all the way through to the Black Death and right up to the present day. It's one of Edward's strangest legacies. But to start with, as I said, it's a horrible, horrible mess. The first thing to go wrong is right at the beginning, during those Round table parties of 1344, in the fighting that accompanies the fun and feasting, William Montague, Edward's best friend, his right hand man ever since the Nottingham Castle raid, is hurt. Badly hurt. Exactly what happens isn't clear, but he's in a terrible state. And though he makes it through the rest of the partying, by the end of the month, Montague is dead. This is a tragedy for Edward and not a great start to his grand plan. If anything, it's a giant buzzkill. The whole court goes into mourning. Ahead of the Earl's funeral, the first planned meeting of the Roundtable, which Edward has pencilled for the spring, is called off. Then events in France start moving so fast that Edward has neither the time nor the money to devote to building a gigantic Soho house for people who like swinging swords rather than drinking dirty martinis. In 1345, he's on manoeuvres in Brittany. In 1346, it's Crecy. In 1347, it's Calais. By that time, the Windsor Round Table House is a white elephant. Building has begun, but has ground to a halt for lack of funds and political will. Then in 1348, the Black Death strikes and all anyone can think about is how to stay alive. But actually, it's in lockdown, with nothing to do and no wars to fight, that Edward comes up with the idea of a reboot. His idea for the Round Table has failed. He needs a fresh brand identity. So he comes up with a new concept, what we now call the company, or the Order of the Garter. Now, why Edward chooses the image and the name of the Garter is a slight mystery, because frankly, the original sources are a jumbled mess. The tale that gets spun later in the Tudor times tells of a moment at a dance when King Edward is dancing with William Montagu's wife, Catherine, Countess of Salisbury.
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Producer Georgia
Scandal and gossip are flying around that.
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Dan Jones
Edward has been repeatedly trying it on with Catherine. Mid dance, Hogata falls off her leg. Edward scoops it up, stops the music and ties it to his own leg. He proclaims that he's starting an order.
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Producer Georgia
For the most chivalrous knights around.
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Dan Jones
That is him, that is. He's not a sleaze. Its motto is going to be Honi soit qui mal yame on him who thinks ill of it. Now, this has some of the makings of a compelling origin story. The problem is, it almost certainly never happened. For one thing, garters were actually a male accessory at the time, so it makes no sense that the Countess would have dropped hers. It seems that Edwards just always liked garters.
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Producer Georgia
In 1347, he had flags decorated with.
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Dan Jones
Garters flying from his ships as they.
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Producer Georgia
Brought troops back from the Siege of Calais.
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Dan Jones
By May 1348, just before the Black Death arrives in England, Edward turns up to a tournament in Eltham wearing robes stitched with the image of garters. So one way or another, he chooses this for his club symbol. And then he has plenty of time during the Black Death when he has to scale back major court and government activity and retreat to his country estates to get the cigarette pack out and start sketching exactly how a garter bonded club might look by the end of the year. He's worked it out. It's going to be a veterans club, a super tight knit group of his best knights who fought together in France. There are going to be just 24 spots on the team, plus him and the Black Prince. New members can only be added when an existing member dies. The club will still have a base at Windsor, but it'll be a church refounded in the castle grounds, dedicated to St. George. The money sink of the Round Table building will be torn down. The less said about that, the better. They're going to meet in the church in windsor Castle on St George's Day every year, starting on 23 April 1349. It'll be one of the highlights of the year in the royal calendar and everyone who's a member has to be there. No excuses. And so it comes to pass. The Black Death is just starting to tail off. In April 1349. When the first knights invited to join the Company of the Garter arrive at Windsor Castle to hold their first ceremony, little do they know they're beginning a tradition that will still be going nearly six, 700 years later and which will help make Windsor Castle one of the most famous landmarks in the entire world.
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Producer Georgia
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Dan Jones
I've been trying it out and it's.
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Producer Georgia
A super simple interface. You can add multiple email addresses and it's got more data than I will ever use.
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Dan Jones
Your data is yours. Keep it that way.
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Producer Georgia
With ProtonMail's Privacy first email service, go to Proton Me ThisIsHistory or simply click the link in the description to get started and receive a 38% discount.
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Dan Jones
The first blows of sword on wooden shield echo around the courtyard in London. Wins a castle. The knight who dealt the blow grunts as he delivers it. From the stands where the lords and ladies of the court are watching. There comes a gasp. The knights retreat, size each other up, wheel and go again. It's April 1349, and for many people at Windsor Castle, this is the first time they've ventured out in a long time. The plague has seen them scatter to the winds. But Edward has insisted that at some point normal life has to prevail. And so it is that a tournament is in full swing. And just was the case in 1344 when Edward launched his ill fated round table fraternity. Everyone knows that there's a bigger story at play. The knights, they continue to batter and thrust and parry and roar as they clatter one another around the lists. But the point of the meeting isn't to smash each other silly. This is the storm before the calm. And the calm is the inaugural service for the 24 Knights of the Order of the Garter when they'll reflect on their shared achievements on the real life battlefield and remember those whom they've lost. The 24 knights who make up the first intake of the Garter Society are a fascinating group. Top of the list, not Included in the 24 are King Edward and the Black Prince. Then there are some names who are long standing friends of the King. There's Henry Grosmont, Earl of Lancaster, Edward's cousin and his most senior military commander in Gascony. There's Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who was marshal of the army on the Crecy campaign. Almost all the others are also veterans of Crecy and Calais. Although they're not necessarily the top brass, a significant number are pals of the Black Prince, so a generation younger than Edward iii. Those young bucks include men like William Montagu, the younger son of the beloved earl who died after Edward Round table party in 1344. This William was knighted on the beaches of Normandy alongside the Black Prince when they were both teenagers. He's part of a squad of knights, old and young, who are closely associated with the young Prince. Some are tough fighting men, others are party animals. A guy called Neil Loring is well known for his outrageous costumes. At fancy dress parties. He turned up to one with a giant flower pot on his head. Interestingly, there are some big names who are missing from the first intake of Garter Knights. Three of them are part of Edward's Old Nottingham Castle gang. They include William de Boone, Earl of Northampton, who was also constable of the army at Crecy. Robert Ufford and Earl of Suffolk also misses out. So does William Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon. This isn't a direct snub to these guys. It's more a case of Edward being extremely strict about the terms of membership. When the Garter Club is formed, De Boone is away on foreign diplomatic business, so he can't be at the party. Wrong place, wrong time. Clinton was also in the wrong place at the wrong time. But back in 1346-7, he'd fallen ill during the Crecy campaign and had to be evacuated from the march. He only made it to the Siege of Calais right at the end. He's still a good mate of the King, but he isn't going to be able to sit around the fireside telling stories of the days when they all stuck it to Philip vi. So while de Boon has to wait for his place, he gets into the club in 1350. As soon as a member dies and a spot opens up, Clinton never gets in. That may sound harsh, but it's a sign of how serious Edward is about what the Order of the Garter means. So what do these Garter Knights do?
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Producer Georgia
Their chief duty is to show up.
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Dan Jones
Once a year to attend a church service on April 23. In the new church, Edward has Built in Windsor from 1350. They wear distinctive robes, including a blue tasseled gown stitched with an image of Agarta and the Cross of St. George. They have to have a very, very good excuse to miss the service. If they don't show up, they get publicly shamed the next year. If they miss two years in a row, there's a big fine which has to be paid in jewels and is doubled every year they don't show up afterwards. The flip side of this is that knights who do make it into the order get what you might call huge spiritual air miles. When they die, they get hundreds, even thousands of Masses said for their souls. Each Mass that's said knocks some time off their souls torments in purgatory. So this is a very valuable benefit for guys who probably are crazy. Quite a lot of sin in the course of fighting wars. Beyond that, the knights get a lot of soft benefits. They're expected to play a prominent leadership role in future wars. Their rulebook says that the King will make first call on them before all others in knightly actions. They also get preferential treatment from the King when it comes to arranging marriages. Edward's in the business of knitting together a giant extended knightly family who are bonded by blood and kingship as well as by comradeship. We don't know if they have secret handshakes, but I wouldn't be surprised. In short, like many exclusive clubs, this is a network as well as a friendship group. And over the course of Edward's reign, Garter Knights will play a prominent role in in both his military endeavours and his work to keep peace among England's noble families. After all, his father's reign, with all the bloodshed that that brought between great lords, is not so very long ago. Edward might not fully realize it as the first Garter party breaks up in 1349, but in the Order, he's created something special. It's been a winding path to get here, but he's found a way to combine partying, propaganda and practical politics. In fact, the Order of the Garter is so successful that it endures to this day. Although Windsor Castle and The Chapel of St. George there has been remodeled heavily since Edward III's time, Garter Day is still a big deal for the British Crown. Costumes, not too far removed, are still worn for a big parade and church service. And the membership of 24 Knights is still strictly observed, although there are now supernumerary members who don't count towards the total. For some people, this whole thing is ludicrously out of date in the 21st century, but for others, it's a tantalizing reminder of the transformations Edward III brought about during his reign. The late Prince Philip, husband of Elizabeth ii, summed it up pretty well when he it's a nice piece of pageantry, which I think a lot of people enjoy. Rationally, it's lunatic, but in practice, everyone enjoys it. In 1349, though, all that lies in the future. Because once Edward has finished gadding about with his new Garter Powells, the real business of warfare is calling once more. As 1350 dawns, another great showdown for Edward and the Black Prince is looming. And this time they're going back to sea. Find out what happens next time on this Is History.