John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall
by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2022 John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall was born on August 15, 1316, at Eltham Palace in Eltham, southeast London, England. During the reign of the House of…
Unofficial Royalty
by Susan Flantzer

© Unofficial Royalty 2022

John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall was born on August 15, 1316, at Eltham Palace in Eltham, southeast London, England. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so John was called “of Eltham”. He was the second of the four children and the second of the two sons of King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. John’s paternal grandparents were King Edward I of England and his first wife Eleanor of Castile. His maternal grandparents were King Philippe IV of France and Joan I, Queen of Navarre in her own right.

John had three siblings:

King Edward III of England (1312 – 1377), married Philippa of Hainault, had fourteen children

Eleanor of Woodstock (1318 – 1355), married Reinoud II of Guelders, had two children

Joan of The Tower (1321 – 1362), married King David II of Scotland, no children

John and his siblings had a difficult childhood. His father Edward II was a weak king and his relationship with his favorites Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despenser the Younger, whether they were friends, lovers, or sworn brothers, was problematic and caused discontent both among the nobles and the royal family. Opposition to the regime grew, and when Edward II’s wife Isabella was sent to France to negotiate a peace treaty in 1325, she turned against Edward II and refused to return. Isabella allied herself with the exiled Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, and invaded England with a small army in 1326. Edward II’s regime collapsed and he fled to Wales, where he was captured in November 1326. Edward II was forced to give up his crown in January 1327 in favor of his son 14-year-old son King Edward III, with Isabella and Mortimer acting as regents. King Edward II died in Berkeley Castle on September 21, 1327, probably murdered on the orders of Isabella and Mortimer.

John was the heir to the English throne until 1330, when his nephew Edward, Prince of Wales, the first child of King Edward III, was born. Edward III was theoretically King of England, but the true ruler was Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. After the birth of Edward III’s first son, Mortimer realized that his situation had deteriorated. Many nobles were jealous and angry because of Mortimer’s abuse of power. In March 1330, Mortimer ordered the execution of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, the half-brother of Edward II. After this execution, the nobles begged the young King Edward III to assert his independence, which he did shortly before his 18th birthday. In October 1330, a Parliament was summoned to Nottingham Castle, and Mortimer and Isabella were seized by Edward III and the nobles. Isabella begged for mercy for Mortimer, but he was accused of assuming royal power and of various other crimes and was condemned without a trial and hanged. Isabella was initially held at Berkhamsted Castle and then held under house arrest at Windsor Castle until 1332, when she moved back to her own home Castle Rising Castle in Norfolk where she died on August 22, 1358.

King Edward III began marriage negotiations for his brother several times – in 1328 with María Díaz de Haro, heiress of the Lordship of Biscay, in 1334 with Marie de la Cerda, a descendant of King Alfonso X of Castile, and in 1335 with Jeanne de Penthièvre, the niece and heiress of Jean III, Duke of Brittany. However, none of the negotiations led to a betrothal.

John participated in the Second Scottish War of Independence. He was one of the commanders at the 1333 Battle of Halidon Hill, a great victory for the English. In January 1335, John defeated the Scots when they raided Redesdale in Northumberland, England. King Edward III was impressed by his brother’s bravery in battle, and in 1335, he appointed John the Warden of the Scottish Marches – Scottish Marches was the term used for the Anglo-Scottish border.

John’s brilliant military career was similar to the later career of his nephew Edward, Prince of Wales, known as The Black Prince, who predeceased his father, and ended just as suddenly. John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall died on September 13, 1336, in Perth, Scotland at the age of 20. The cause of his death is uncertain. There are references to John dying from a fever and dying in a skirmish with the Scots.

King Edward III was devastated by his brother’s death and ordered 900 masses to be said for John’s soul. John was given a magnificent funeral at Westminster Abbey in London. He was buried in St. Edmund’s Chapel at Westminster Abbey in a white alabaster tomb with a recumbent effigy wearing armor with a sword and a shield with John’s coat of arms carved on it. King Edward III is buried just to the north of John’s tomb, in the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor.

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