Loving and courteous language

An oddly neglected Close Roll entry from 17 May 1297. This is a lengthy instruction from Edward I to his commissioners of array in Wales, detailing how they are to go about raising Welsh troops for the king's war in Flanders.

Interestingly, the language of the instruction is couched in terms of a request. The king's officers are to lay his arguments for war before the leaders of Welsh communities, and persuade them that the war is to the 'common profit' of the realm. The officers are to mind their language and persuade the Welsh with 'the most loving and courteous manner that they are able'.

From a Welsh perspective, the only 'common profit' of a war in Flanders was the prospect of wages and plunder. So much is admitted in the instruction, whereby Edward offers to pay wages in advance. To further sweeten the deal, open letters sealed with the great seal are to be carried into Wales and shown to the Welsh as proof of the king's good faith.

The offer of money did the trick: in August John de Havering, justice of North Wales, reported that the North Welsh were coming into the muster 'of good will'. The same positive response was repeated elsewhere. In effect, the Welsh chose to fight in Flanders and get the king out of a tight spot, since he could raise very few men in England. The entry is thus another example of the ambiguous conditions in postconquest Wales.