The Crown’s Ecclesiastical Creditors: Loans from the English Church to Edward II and Edward III, 1307–1377

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the loans made by the English Church to the Crown between 1307 and 1377 to finance the defence of the kingdom. It traces the origins of this policy to the political crisis of 1310–11, highlighting how Edward II approached his subjects for loans in order to circumvent the Ordainers’ restrictions on purveyance. Setting them in the context of the wars with France and Scotland, it considers when and why loans became a common demand on the Church. Clergymen, however, were not substantial royal creditors and lent, at most, £50,000–£60,000 in money and victuals during this period. This article assesses why ecclesiastics agreed or refused to provide loans, and why Edward II and Edward III failed to develop them into important creditors. Essentially, the Crown encountered three groups of ecclesiastical creditors: a few prelates and abbots with close political ties to the king who lent extraordinary sums; a small group who pleaded poverty or lent negligible amounts; and numerous clergymen who were far from enthusiastic, but who lent an acceptable amount either for rewards or to keep the peace with the king. The Crown’s struggles in securing loans of considerable value were partly the result of its excessive taxation demands on the Church. But many clergymen also viewed loans as another attempt by a secular power to interfere with ecclesiastical privileges. Their reluctance to provide loans stemmed from their claims of liberty from secular interference, part of a wider, long-standing and pan-European struggle between the Church and secular powers.