Edward inherited the kingdom after
Edward (Longshanks) I, one of the ablest
Kings of England, to become the sixth King of England of the
House of Plantagenet.
He however allowed himself to be swayed by unworthy favourites. The
barons of the realm who had respected and feared his father, attempted to control the
country without King or Parliament. Eventually, it would be his wife, Isabella of
France, who would lead a successful rebellion against him.
During the prince's youth, Edward I had banished Edward's
homosexual favourite the Gascon Piers de Gaveston
because of the influence he had on his son. One of Edward's first acts on the death of
his father was to have Gaveston recalled to court. Edward created Piers de Gaveston the
Earl of Cornwall and when the monarch left for
France to marry Isabella of France, the daughter of King Philip IV, Gaveston was
left with custody of the kingdom during the King's absence. Concerned at his growing
influence, the barons requested of the King that Gaveston be banished. On Edward's
refusal, the barons rebelled, catured Gaveston themselves in 1312 and had him murdered.
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During Edward's absence in Scotland, the Earl of Lincoln (his Regent in England) died. He was replaced by his son-in-law Thomas, Earl of Lancaster who became the Earl of Lincoln and Salisbury, already holding the titles of Earl of Leicester and Derby. His vast holdings made Lancaster the most powerful baron of the time and his hatred of Gaveston was to become a major problem for the king.
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Gaveston is reputed to have greeted the King and his new wife Isabella of France decked
in more jewelry than the monarch himself - the greater part of it from Isabella's
dowery.
Edward II, aged twenty-four, married Isabella of France, then only twelve years old and,
although the royal couple had four children (two sons and two daughters),
the King shunned his wife for the company of his
homosexual favourites - first Gaveston, later Dispenser. This was
to lead ultimately to Isabella's successful revolt against the King.
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Edward's father had died in 1307 having assembled a huge host to
invade Scotland and crush the rebellion of Robert Bruce. During the first six years of
Edward's reign he had been too preoccupied by quarrels with his
English barons to turn his attention north of the border with Scotland and Robert
ousted the English from stronghold after stronghold in Scotland until none were left
save for Stirling. Now he sought to rectify the matter and marched into Scotland with
the largest English army to have ever gone into battle. Despite this, the English were
utterly defeated at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and the independance of the Scots
was trully established although the English did not concede the fact until the
treaty of Northampton in 1329, fifteen years later and two years after Edward's death.
Edward's Scottish defeat at Bannockburn was followed by risings in Wales and Ireland - all
to the ire of the barons. Edwrad found a new favourite in Hugh de Despenser and, with
Despenser's help, arrested Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, the leader of the barons, and had
him executed.
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Isabella of France left Edward 1322 to live with her lover, Roger Mortimer, in France. They returned to England 1326 and, with the support of the barons, forced Edward II to abdicate in favour of his son, Edward |
The outbreak of war between England and France in 1324 saw Queen Isabella and prince
Edward despatched to France on a diplomatic mission to negotiate a peace with her brother,
the King. While in France, Isabella met and conspired with Roger Mortimer, one of
Edward II's barons who had been exciled, to overthrow her own husband. Edward II called
her the 'She-Wolf of France '. The conspirators
raised an army and invaded England in 1326 landing in Essex. Such was the unpopularity
of the rule of the Dispensers that Isabella and Mortimer went unopposed forcing
Edward II and the Despensers to flee London. The King was captured and imprisoned in
Bristol Castle (the king had been held for a time at
Corfe Castle
in Dorset) and Hugh de Despenser executed.
Prince Edward succeeded his deposed father as
Edward III
but, being only sixteen years old, his mother
Isabella and Roger Mortimer ruled England in his stead.
From Bristol, Edward was moved by dead of night to Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire
in April of 1327. While it was politically desirable to remove Edward II from the
scene completely, the murder of a King under any circumstances was still the most
serious of acts and his captors attempted to kill him without the use of violence. For
a time the deposed king's goaler, Lord Maltravers, attempted to do him in by holding
him in a waste pit with only putrid food and foul water
but, despite this, he refused to die.
The story took on a new twist in September when Maltravers was joined by a knight named
Gurney. On September 21st, the point was removed from a straight cow horn and this was inserted into
Edward II's anus. Then a red hot iron was pushed through the cow horn and into his body to
burn his entrails while leaving no external mark on the body and giving the appearance of
a death from natural causes. The murder might, as had clearly been intended by the
perpetrators, gone unnoticed save that it was carried out in an outbuilding from whence
Edward II's screams could be heard throughout the village.
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A seventeenth-century historian discovered papers which showed that Berkeley had indeed
stayed at Bradley Court but not until a week after the murder of Edward II.
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The murder of the deposed king was investigated and Thomas Berkeley claimed that illness
at the time of the deed caused him to stay at Bradley Court, Wotton Under Edge five miles
away and he was acquitted.
In the event, no-one was ever brought to answer for the murder of the king.
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The woollen industry was brought to its prominent position in the English economy by King Edward II (1307-1327) who encouraged Flemmish weavers, dyers and fullers to improve the quality of the product.
Edward was born in 1284, in Caernarfon, Wales, the son of Edward (Longshanks )
and Eleanor of Castille, his three brothers died before their father.
As part of his attempt to make Wales and Scotland
part of his dominion,
Edward I had murdered
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last Welsh Prince of Wales and conferred the title upon
the seventeen-year-old prince Edward (he was also the Earl of Hereford and the Duke of
Lancaster) - the first English heir-apparent to bear the title. In an attempt by
his father to secure the throne of Scotland by marriage, Edward II was betrothed at a
very early age to Maragret, the six-year-old heiress to
Alexander III of Scotland and,
thus, to the Scottish throne, but she died in a
shipwreck while travelling to the wedding.
Unlike his strong father,
the young Edward preferred the company of his favourites by
whom he was easily swayed and so worried was
Edward I at the influence that the
homosexual Piers Gaveston wrought on his son that he banished him.
On his father's death
in 1207, Edward II recalled Gaveston to court.
| 1157 | | Birth of the future king Richard I, the Lion-Heart to king Henry II (1154-1189)
| | BAAAGCSC BAAAGBVF | | 1307 | | Death of Edward I Longshanks. His son succeeds him as Edward II, king of England | | BAAAGBWV | | 1308.Jan.25 | | Marriage of Edward II | | | | 1308.Jun | | Banishment of Piers Gaveston | | | | 1310.Sep | | Edawrd II campaigns in Scotland | | BAAAGEKC | | 1311 | | Lancaster pays homage | | | | 1311 | | Rise of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster | | | | 1311 | | Edward II returns to England | | | | 1311.Sep.27 | | Proclamation of the Ordinances | | | | 1311.Nov.03 | | Departure of Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall | | | | 1312 | | Rebel magnates capture and kill the Kings favourite Piers de Gaveston | | | | 1312 | | Birth of the future Edward III to king Edward II (1307-1327) by Isabella of France | | BAAAGBXC | | 1312 | | Edward II looks to Scotland for help
1st quarter | | BAAAGEKC | | 1312.May | | Surrender of Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall | | | | 1312.Jun.19 | | Beheading of the favourite of Edward II, Piers gaveston, Earl of Cornwall (c.1284-) by the barons | | BAAAGBTK BAAAGCQH | | 1313 | | Bristol rebels against taxation | | BAAAGEDZ | | 1314 | | The
English deafeated by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn thus ensuring
Scotlands freedom (England did not concede the defeat until the Treaty of
Northampton in 1329) | | BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ BAAAGEKC | | 1314 | | Burial of Piers gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, beheaded on June 19th, 1312 | | | | 1315 | | Bad weather causes total failure of the harvest in Cornwall | | BAAAGCEK BAAAGBAV BAAAGBHZ | | 1316 | | Bristol falls to Royalist forces | | BAAAGEDZ | | 1319 | | Edward\'s army defeated by Robert the Bruce of Scotland | | BAAAGEKC | | 1324 | | Outbreak of war between England and France | | BAAAGBKY | | by 1324 | | De Praerogativa Regis (Royal Prerogative) provided for management of estates of incapacitated tenants to ensure their maintenance, with profits going to the crown | | BAAAGBWS BAAAGBTJ BAAAGBXC | | 1326 | | Isabella of
France (Edward IIs wife) and
Roger Mortimer landed in Essex and were unopposed; Edward II captured | | BAAAGBKY | | 1327 | | Murder of King Edward II, his 14-year-old son Edward III becomes King of England | | BAAAGBXC BAAAGEGA | | 1358.Jan.25 | | Death of Isabella of France, wife of King Edward II (1307-1327) of England | | |
Kidwelly and the lost treasure of Edward II by David Sutton
re: Edward II's escape from London and capture
The Earls Warenne (a chronology)
Kings & Queens of England
Recommend a Book for this Page
ALIEN PRIORIES
Edward I seized the alien priories in England on the outbreak of war with France as Edward I had done in 1285. This was again repeated by Edward III.
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