This Day in History: 1330-11-26

On 26th November 1330, Parliament opened and Lord Berkeley was tried for his role in Edward II’s murder with Roger Mortimer (Dowager Queen Isabella’s lover) indicted too. Although Edward III wanted Mortimer hanged without trial, Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, lord of Pontefract, insisted on due legal process and (a literally gagged) Mortimer’s trial started on 28th of the month. On the 29th, he was hanged (gagged again and in a plain tunic as a commoner not an earl) at Tyburn.