Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick

Family background Seal of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, as appended to the Barons' Letter, 1301. The arms shown are those of Newburgh, the family of his predecessors the Beaumont Earls of Warwick. The Beauchamps frequently quartered their own arms with those of Newburgh, on occasion placing the latter in the 1st & 4th quarters, positions of greatest honour. Arms of Newburgh Earls of Warwick, adopted c. 1200 at start of age of heraldry: Checky azure and or a chevron ermine Guy de Beauchamp was the first son and heir of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick (c. 1238 – 1298). His mother was Maud FitzJohn, daughter of John Fitzgeoffrey, who was Justiciar of Ireland and a member of the council of fifteen that imposed the Provisions of Oxford on King Henry III. William was the nephew of William Maudit, 8th Earl of Warwick, and when his uncle died without issue in 1268, he became the first Beauchamp earl of Warwick. In 1271 or 1272 his first son was born, and in reference to the new family title, William named his son after the legendary hero Guy of Warwick. William de Beauchamp was a capable military commander, who played an important part in the Welsh and Scottish wars of King Edward I. By this time Guy had already succeeded as Earl of Warwick, after his father's death in 1298.

By his wife, Alice, Guy had two daughters and two sons—Thomas, his heir and successor, and John de Beauchamp, Lord Beauchamp KG (1315 – 2 December 1360), who carried the royal standard at the Battle of Crécy. Maud de Beauchamp (died 1366), married before Easter term 1332 Geoffrey de Say, 2nd Lord Say, by whom she had issue. The Barons Saye and Sele are their descendants. Elizabeth de Beauchamp (c. 1316 – 1359), married before Easter term 1332 Thomas Astley, 3rd Lord Astley, by whom she had two sons, William Astley, 4th Lord Astley, and Sir Thomas Astley, ancestor of the Astleys of Patshull and of Everley.

By an unknown mistress (or mistresses), Earl Guy also had three daughters: Isabel de Beauchamp; married John de Clinton. Emma de Beauchamp; married Roland de Oddingseles. Lucia de Beauchamp (also known as Lucy); married Robert de Napton, Knt., the son of Sir Adam Napton. Lucia and Sir Robert had a son Adam Napton, who married Margaret Helier.

Service to Edward I Edward I knighted Guy de Beauchamp at Easter 1296. Warwick's career of public service started with the Falkirk campaign in 1298. At this point his father was already dead, but it was not until 5 September that Guy did homage to the king for his lands, and became Earl of Warwick The next year he was a signatory to a letter to the Pope, rejecting Rome's authority over the Scottish question, and also participated in negotiations with the French over the release of the Scottish king John Balliol. He was present at the Siege of Stirling in 1304, serving under Edward, the Prince of Wales. Together with Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, he carried the ceremonial swords at the coronation of King Edward II on 25 February 1308. The new king, however, not only recalled his favourite, but soon also gave him the title of earl of Cornwall. Warwick was the only one of the leading earls who did not seal the charter, and from the start took on an antagonistic attitude to Edward II. He gave mocking nicknames to the leading men of the realm, and called Warwick the "Black Dog of Arden".

Warwick was in constant opposition to King Edward II. Great seal of Edward II. Gaveston was once more forced into exile, but Edward recalled him in less than a year. The king had spent the intervening time gathering support, and at the time, the only one to resist the return of Gaveston was Warwick. With time, however, opposition to the king grew. Another source of contention was Edward abandoning his father's Scottish campaigns, a policy that opened the Border region up to devastating raids from the Scots. This affected Warwick greatly, with his extensive landed interest in the north. Tensions grew to the point where the king in 1310 had to ban Warwick and others from arriving at parliament in arms. Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, was the most experienced of the earls, and took on a modifying role in the group. Thomas of Lancaster, who was Lincoln's son-in-law and heir, was the king's cousin and the wealthiest nobleman in the realm, but at this point he took a less active part in the reform movement. Warwick is described by some sources as the leader of the Ordainers; he was certainly the most aggressive.

Gaveston's death Gaveston's third and final exile was of even shorter duration, and after two months, he was reunited with King Edward II in England. Archbishop Winchelsey responded by excommunicating Gaveston, as the Ordinances had stipulated. Lancaster, who had by this time succeeded his father-in-law Lincoln, had taken over leadership of the baronial opposition. While the King departed for York, a number of the barons set out in pursuit of Gaveston. Gaveston ensconced himself at Scarborough Castle, and on 19 May 1312, agreed on a surrender to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, as long as his security would be guaranteed.

Pembroke lodged his prisoner in Deddington in Oxfordshire. On 10 June, while Pembroke was away, Warwick forcibly carried away Gaveston to Warwick Castle. Here, in the presence of Warwick, Lancaster and other magnates, Gaveston was sentenced to death at an improvised court. On 19 June he was taken to a place called Blacklow Hill—on Lancaster's lands—and decapitated. According to the Annales Londonienses chronicle, four shoemakers brought the corpse back to Warwick, but he refused to accept it, and ordered them to take it back to where they found it. Gaveston's body was eventually taken to Oxford by some Dominican friars, and in 1315, King Edward finally had it buried at Kings Langley. Pembroke was particularly offended, as he had been made to break his promise of safety to Gaveston, and his chivalric honour had been damaged. From this point on Pembroke sided firmly with King Edward in the political conflict. The king himself swore vengeance on his enemies, but found himself unable to move against them immediately, partly because they were in possession of a number of highly valuable royal jewels taken from Gaveston. A settlement was reached in October, whereby the rebellious barons and their retainers received a pardon. The king nevertheless emerged strengthened from the events, while Warwick and Lancaster were largely marginalised. This all changed in 1314, when the king decided to stage his first major campaign against the Scots. Warwick and Lancaster refused to participate and the campaign ended in a humiliating English defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn on 24 June. This led to another political reversal and Edward was forced to reconfirm the Ordinances, and submit to the leadership of the rebellious barons.

Death and historical assessment

In mid-July Warwick had to withdraw from government to his estates on account of illness. When he died on 12 August 1315, political leadership was soon left almost entirely to Lancaster. The chronicler Thomas Walsingham reported rumours that the king had had Warwick poisoned. He was buried at Bordesley Abbey in Worcestershire, an establishment to which his family had been benefactors. His lands, though primarily centred on Warwickshire and Worcestershire, were spread over nineteen counties as well as Scotland and the Welsh Marches. In the meanwhile Warwick's possessions went into the hands of the king, who donated Warwick's hunting dogs to the earl of Pembroke. A younger son, named John, also became a peer, as John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp. Like his elder brother, he distinguished himself in the French wars, and was a founding member of the Order of the Garter.

Guy de Beauchamp is probably best remembered for his opposition to King Edward II, and for his part in the death of Gaveston. Chronicles also praised Warwick's wisdom; the Vita Edwardi Secundi says that "Other earls did many things only after taking his opinion: in wisdom and council he had no peer". Later historians have reflected this view; in the 19th century, William Stubbs called Warwick "a discriminating and highly literate man, the wisdom of whom shone forth through the whole kingdom". He was politically and economically well connected by traditional ties of kinship and marriage.

Warwick's death came at an inconvenient time and Thomas of Lancaster proved unequal to the task of governing the nation, so that further years of conflict and instability followed. Nevertheless, the problems of Edward II's reign were deep, and in the words of Michael Hicks: "one must doubt whether even Warwick could have brought unity as one chronicler supposed".