In October 1326 the town of Bristol was the scene of several dramatic episodes in the chain of events that would lead eventually to Edward II’s deposition. Edward II fled from London upon Queen Isabella’s arrival in England in September 1326 with a group of supporters including Roger Mortimer and Prince Edward; he made his way west, accompanied by the Despensers, his leading advisers. Unsure of London’s loyalties at this critical juncture, he may have thought that he would find some support in south-west England and southern Wales, where the Despensers had constructed a major landed power base. According to at least one chronicle, Edward made his way straight to Bristol on hearing of the queen’s advance upon London. The town itself was one of the Despenser possessions, having been awarded to Hugh Despenser the younger in October 1320 along with Bristol Castle and the neighbouring royal manor of Barton for a yearly rent of £210. Before departing with the younger Despenser for the Bristol Channel, Edward made arrangements for the defence of Bristol, entrusting the elder Despenser with the custody of the castle and town. Feeling abandoned by the Londoners, the king clearly did not want to lose another major town to his pursuers, particularly one which at this time was, in Froissart’s words, ‘large and prosperous and strongly fortified’, and a potential source, therefore, of both financial and military aid.

The queen and her forces continued to move west in pursuit, and were joined by a number of magnates at Gloucester, before arriving at Bristol towards the end of October to besiege the town and castle. Isabella had strong personal reasons for wanting to capture Bristol from the elder Despenser, since in March 1318 Edward II had granted her the profits of the town as part of the settlement of her dower before subsequently using the town’s revenues as a form of patronage to reward the younger Despenser. The queen expected the younger Despenser to render his account for the annual farm at the queen’s exchequer, only keeping whatever profit he made in addition to the sum due, but this was not how he interpreted the king’s grant.