He was born on 15th August at Eltham palace in Kent. Edward II had given Eltham to his queen, as a gift and she stayed there often. Edward II himself was not personally under pressure; as he had been when his eldest son was born. The St Albans Chronicler reported how happy the king was, with the birth of his new son. When a daughter, Eleanor of Woodstock, was born in , all three children were housed together at Wallingford Castle, near Oxford.
At the age of 6, in August , John was given the Lancastrian castle of Tutbury. With the defeat of the rebels, Edward was able to lavish power on his favourite Hugh le Despenser the Younger. In and Isabella spent a lot of time in London, seeing a great deal of her children, including John. With the heir in her custody Isabella and her ally, Roger Mortimer, planned their return to England.
The mob broke into the Tower of London, intending to set up 9-year-old John of Eltham as ruler of the city. Edward II was probably murdered at Berkeley castle in September , although some historians now argue he escaped and lived on the Continent as a hermit, under papal protection. Although Edward was now king, Roger Mortimer was de facto ruler of England. John was a natural ally to his brother against the growing oppression of Mortimer.
When Mortimer demanded he receive the Earldom of March at the forthcoming Salisbury Parliament, Edward countered by insisting his brother be given a rich earldom. And in October , on the last day of parliament, John was created Earl of Cornwall. In the lead up to the coup John must have been with his brother almost constantly; he witnessed 66 charters between January and October , 10 more than Mortimer himself. Edward was very fond of his brother. A writ in March , for clothing for the court, has John sharing the costs of pearls used to decorate seven hoods; while Edward footed the bill for two of the hoods, John financed five of them.
However, the marriage never took place. When Edward turned his attentions to Scotland, John was with him. Hand-to-hand combat followed a terrifying onslaught of arrows, and the Scots were routed. In June John joined the muster at Newcastle. The war was without compromise: the army undertook a campaign of looting, raping, killing and burning.
