The period between 1326 and 1330 had many important implications for fourteenth-century history, not the least of which was its impact upon the pattern of noble landholding in the realm. Due to the run of events in these years, substantial amounts of land were in - or had returned to - the king's possession upon Edward III's assumption of independent power in late October 1330.1 These properties can be divided into two main groups.Firstly, there were those connected with the events surrounding the downfall of Edward II in 1327. These lands were brought in during late 1326 and early 1327, resulting primarily from the summary execution of Hugh Despenser the elder at Bristol and of Hugh the younger at Hereford - who had themselves amassed considerable estates after the defeat of the ‘Contrariants’ at Borough- bridge in 1322.2 Such properties had two fates under the minority regime: either they were re-granted by Mortimer and Isabelle, under the aegis of the young Edward III, to themselves, their friends and supporters;3 or, somewhat less often, they were kept under the control of the crown - in effect being placed in a ‘temporary royal demesne'.4 Secondly, there were the estates returned into the king's hands resulting from the coup at Nottingham Castle in October 1330.Of the central players in the minority regime of 1327-30, Roger Mortimer, the earl of March, was executed and declared forfeit, and Queen Isabelle pardoned - though forced to give up many of the lands she held.5 With their demise came in not only large portions of the above-mentioned

Despenser estates but also lands which they held of their own right, either the result of inheritance or independent acquisition - whether through purchase or other means. These properties, as well as those of the supporters of the minority regime such as Simon Bereford and John Maltravers, were to play a crucial role in Edward III's re-assertion of monarchical position and power with respect to the nobility in the decade after the Nottingham coup, culminating in the earldom creations of 1337.

For the first couple of months after the coup, Edward III was relatively cautious in the way in which he dealt with these estates. When he did re- grant these lands,6 he tended to distribute them piecemeal to less contro- versial members of the established nobility.