gems, history of gemology, crown jewels, United Kingdom, England, jewelry

Piers Gaveston, the Gascon favorite of Edward II and earl of Cornwall from 1307 until his violent death in 1312 at the hands of disaffected magnates led by Thomas of Lancaster and Guy of Warwick, was the subject of numerous accusations, one of the most prominent being that he had unlawfully seized the royal treasure and transported it to his native Gascony. Contemporary sources like the Annales Londonienses report that upon Gaveston’s return from exile, Edward II entrusted him with the entirety of the royal treasure, including jewels and precious stones. Other chronicles suggest that this event coincided with the fall of Walter Langton, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, who had previously served as Edward I’s treasurer. The Annales Paulini even claim that Gaveston persuaded Edward to surrender to him the wedding gifts received from Philip the Fair of France. Allegedly, Gaveston sent much of this wealth abroad, leaving both king and Crown impoverished. While such charges were widely accepted by fourteenth-century chroniclers and the authors of the Ordinances of 1311 without the need for proof, modern historians demand more substantial evidence than these narrative accounts can provide, turning instead to documentary records to better understand Gaveston’s dealings with the royal treasure.