| Edward II - (1284 - 1327)
Plantagenet king of England
(1307-1327). Disappointing son of Edward I and father of Edward III.
He was disposed in January of 1327
an murdered on September 21, 1327.
He was tortured and murdered with a
red hot poker in the dungeon of Berkeley Castle. His distorted remains were placed on view
for the citizens of Bristol. |
Edward was born on April 25, 1284, at Caernarvon, Wales.
He was the fourth son of of King Edward I and his first wife, Eleanor of Castle. The
deaths of his older brothers made the infant prince heir to the throne. In 1301 he was
proclaimed prince of Wales, the first heir apparent in English history to bear that title.
He was tall and handsome like his father, but he was idle, frivolous, and a coward in
battle. In spite of his father's careful training he had no aptitude for government.
The prince's closest friend was Piers Gaveston, a Gascon knight. His father thought him to
be a bad influence on the prince, and Edward I banished Gaveston from the kingdom. When
Edward I died, Edward II recalled Piers Gaveston. Gaveston incurred the opposition of the
powerful English barony. Edward II went to France in 1308 to marry Isabella, daughter of
King Philip IV. During his absence Edward II made Gaveston regent. The nobles were
especially angered by this move. In 1311 the barons, led by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster,
forced the king to appoint from among them a committee of 21 nobles and prelates, called
the lords ordainers. They proclaimed a series of ordinances that transferred the ruling
power to themselves and excluded the commons and lower clergy from Parliament. After they
had twice forced the king to banish Gaveston, and the king had each time recalled him, the
barons finally had Piers Gaveston kidnapped and executed. The king then found two new
royal favorites: the baron Hugh le Despenser, and his son, also Hugh le Despenser.
In 1325 Edward II's wife, Queen Isabella, accompanied the prince of Wales to France,
where, in accordance with feudal custom, he did homage to king Charles IV for the fief of
Aquitaine. Isabella allied herself with some barons who had been exiled by Edward. In
1326, with their leader, Roger de Mortimer, Isabella raised an army and invaded England.
Edward II and his favorites fled, but his wife's army pursued and executed the le
Despensers and imprisoned Edward II. In January 1327 Parliament declared him deposed and
set in his place his 15 year old son, the prince of Wales king as Edward III. On September
21 of that year Edward II was was brutally murdered by his captors at Berkeley Castle,
Gloucestershire.
Sources: | Comptons Pictured Encyclopedia |
Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) |