Edward II, (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327?) called Edward of Carnarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. He was the seventh Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II. Interspersed between the strong reigns of his father Edward I and son Edward III, the reign of Edward II was disastrous for England, marked by incompetence, political squabbling, and military defeats. Although large in stature and powerfully built, he was more interested in light entertainment and simple pleasures than in the duties of governing. Widely supposed to be homosexual, he was unable to deny even the most grandiose favours to his male favourites (first a Gascon knight named Piers Gaveston, later a young English lord named Hugh Despenser) which led to constant political unrest and his eventual deposition. Whereas Edward I had conquered all of Wales and the Scottish lowlands, and ruled them with an iron hand, the army of Edward II was devastatingly defeated at Bannockburn, freeing Scotland from English control and allowing Scottish forces to raid unchecked throughout the north of England. In addition to these disasters, Edward II is remembered for his mysterious death in Berkeley Castle, apparently by murder, and more positively for being the first monarch to establish colleges in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Prince of Wales
The fourth son of Edward I by his first wife Eleanor of Castile, Edward II was born at Caernarfon Castle. He was the first English prince to hold the title Prince of Wales, which was formalized by the Parliament of Lincoln of 7 February 1301.
The story that his father presented Edward II as a newborn to the Welsh as their future native prince is unfounded. The Welsh purportedly asked the King to give them a prince who spoke Welsh, and, the story goes, he answered he would give them a prince that spoke no English at all.[1] This story first appeared in the work of 16th century Welsh "antiquary" David Powel.[citation needed]
Edward became heir at just a few months of age, following the death of his elder brother Alphonso. His father, a notable military leader, trained his heir in warfare and statecraft starting in his childhood, yet the young Edward preferred boating and craftwork, activities considered beneath kings at the time.
It has been hypothesized[who?] that Edward's love for "lowbrow" activities developed because of his overbearing, ruthless father. The prince took part in several Scots campaigns, but despite these martial engagements, "all his father's efforts could not prevent his acquiring the habits of extravagance and frivolity which he retained all through his life".[2] The king attributed his son’s preferences to his strong attachment to Piers Gaveston, a Gascon knight, and Edward I exiled Gaveston from court after Prince Edward attempted to bestow on his friend a title reserved for royalty. Ironically, it was the king who had originally chosen Gaveston to be a suitable friend for his son, in 1298 due to his wit, courtesy and abilities. Edward I died on 7 July 1307 en route to another campaign against the Scots, a war that became the hallmark of his reign. Edward had requested that his son "boil his body, extract the bones and carry them with the army until the Scots had been subdued." But his son ignored the request and had his father buried in Westminster Abbey with the epitaph "Here lies Edward I, the Hammer of the Scots".[3] Edward II immediately recalled Gaveston and withdrew from the Scottish campaign that year.
King of England
Edward was as physically impressive as his father, yet he lacked the drive and ambition of his forebear. It was written that Edward II was "the first king after the Conquest who was not a man of business".[2] His main interest was in entertainment, though he also took pleasure in athletics and mechanical crafts. He had been so dominated by his father that he had little confidence in himself, and was often in the hands of a court favourite with a stronger will than his own.
On 25 January 1308, Edward married Isabella of France, the daughter of King Philip IV of France, "Philip the Fair," and sister to three French kings. The marriage was doomed to failure almost from the beginning. Isabella was frequently neglected by her husband, who spent much of his time conspiring with his favourites regarding how to limit the powers of the Peerage in order to consolidate his father's legacy for himself. Nevertheless, their marriage produced two sons, Edward (1312–1377), who would succeed his father on the throne as Edward III, and John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall (1316–1336), and two daughters, Eleanor (1318–1355) and Joanna (1321–1362), wife of David II of Scotland. Edward had also fathered at least one illegitimate son, Adam FitzRoy, who accompanied his father in the Scottish campaigns of 1322 and died shortly afterwards.
War with the Barons
When Edward travelled to the northern French city of Boulogne to marry Isabella, he left his friend and counsellor Piers Gaveston to act as regent. Gaveston also received the earldom of Cornwall and the hand of the king's niece, Margaret of Gloucester; these proved to be costly honours.
Various barons grew resentful of Gaveston, and insisted on his banishment through the Ordinances of 1311. Edward recalled his friend, but in 1312, Gaveston was executed by the Earl of Lancaster and his allies, who claimed that Gaveston led the king to folly. The earl of Warwick, whom Gaveston had earlier insulted, captured him and then handed him over to two Welshmen. They took him to Blacklow Hill and executed him; one ran him through the heart with his sword and the other beheaded him. A monument called Gaveston's Cross still stands today on Blacklow Hill, which is just outside the small village of Leek Wootton. Edward's grief over the death of Gaveston was profound. He kept the remains of his body close to him for a number of weeks before the Church forcibly arranged a burial.
Immediately following this, Edward focused on the destruction of those who had betrayed him, while the barons themselves lost impetus (with Gaveston dead, they saw little need to continue). By mid-July, Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke was advising the king to make war on the barons who, unwilling to risk their lives, entered negotiations in September 1312. In October, the Earls of Lancaster, Warwick, Arundel and Hereford begged Edward's pardon.
Conflict with Scotland
During this period, Robert the Bruce was steadily reconquering Scotland. Each campaign begun by Edward, from 1307 to 1314, ended in Robert's clawing back more of the land that Edward I had taken during his long reign. Robert's military successes against Edward II were due to a number of factors, not the least of which was the Scottish King's strategy. He used small forces to trap an invading English army, took castles by stealth to preserve his troops and he used the land as a weapon against Edward by attacking quickly and then disappearing into the hills instead of facing the superior numbers of the English. Bruce united Scotland against its common enemy and is quoted as saying that he feared more the dead Edward I than the living Edward II.[citation needed] By June 1314, only Stirling Castle and Berwick remained under English control.
On 23 June 1314, Edward and his army of 20 000 foot soldiers and 3 000 cavalry faced Robert and his army of foot soldiers and farmers wielding 14-foot-long pikes. Edward knew he had to keep the critical stronghold of Stirling Castle if there was to be any chance for English military success. The castle, however, was under a constant state of siege, and the English commander, Sir Phillip de Mowbray, had advised Edward that he would surrender the castle to the Scots unless Edward arrived by 24 June 1314, to relieve the siege. Edward could not afford to lose his last forward castle in Scotland. He decided therefore to gamble his entire army to break the siege and force the Scots to a final battle by putting its army into the field.
However, Edward had made a serious mistake in thinking his vastly superior numbers alone would provide enough of a strategic advantage to defeat the Scots. Robert not only had the advantage of prior warning, as he knew the actual day that Edward would come north and fight, he also had the time to choose the field of battle most advantageous to the Scots and their style of combat. As Edward moved forward on the main road to Stirling, Robert placed his army on either side of the road north, one in the dense woods and the other placed on a bend on the river, a spot hard for the invading army to see. Robert also ordered his men to dig potholes and cover them with bracken in order to help break any cavalry charge.
By contrast, Edward did not issue his writs of service, calling upon 21,540 men, until 27 May 1314. Worse, his army was ill-disciplined and had seen little success in eight years of campaigns. On the eve of battle, he decided to move his entire army at night and placed it in a marshy area, with its cavalry laid out in nine squadrons in front of the foot soldiers. The following battle, the Battle of Bannockburn, is considered by contemporary scholars to be the worst defeat sustained by the English since the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Tactics similar to Robert's were employed by victorious English armies against the French in later centuries, partly as a direct result of the enduring decisiveness of the Scots' victory. A young Henry V of England would use exactly this tactic against French cavalry in a key battle on the fields of Agincourt in 1415, winning the day against France.
Edward and Piers Gaveston
Several contemporary sources criticised his infatuation with Piers Gaveston, to the extent that Edward ignored and humiliated his wife. Chroniclers called the relationship excessive, immoderate, beyond measure and reason and criticised his desire for wicked and forbidden sex[4]. The Westminster chronicler says that Gaveston led Edward to reject the sweet embraces of his wife. The Meaux Chronicle (written decades later) complained that, Edward took too much delight in sodomy. This does not, however, prove that Edward and Gaveston were lovers; only that some contemporaries and later writers thought this might be the case.
Gaveston was considered to be athletic and handsome; was a few years older than Edward and had seen military service in Flanders before becoming Edward's close companion. Gaveston was known to have a quick, biting wit, and his fortunes continued to ascend as Edward obtained more and more honours for him, including the Earldom of Cornwall. Earlier, Edward I had attempted to control the situation by exiling Gaveston from England. However, upon the king's death in 1307, Edward II immediately recalled him.
Isabella's marriage to Edward took place in January, 1308. Almost immediately, she wrote to her father, Philip the Fair of France, complaining of Edward's behavior with Gaveston. Although the relationship that developed between the two young men was certainly very close, its exact nature is impossible to determine. Some modern assumptions are that their relationship was definitely sexual. The evidence for this, however, is far from clear. While some of the chroniclers' remarks can be interpreted simply as homosexuality or bisexuality, too many of them are either much later in date or the product of hostility. Both Edward and Gaveston married early in the reign. There were children from both marriages - Edward also had an illegitimate son, Adam, aside from those with Isabella. It has also been plausibly, though not conclusively, argued that the two men entered into a bond of adoptive brotherhood.[5]
The relationship was later explored in a play by the dramatist Christopher Marlowe. This is unusual in making explicit reference to a sexual relationship between king and favourite. More frequently the nature of the relationship between the two is only hinted at, or is cited as a dreadful example of the fate that may befall kings who allow themselves to be influenced by favourites, and so become estranged from their subjects.[6]
Reign of the Despensers
Following Gaveston's death, the king increased favour to his nephew-by-marriage (who was also Gaveston's brother-in-law), Hugh Despenser the Younger. But, as with Gaveston, the barons were indignant at the privileges Edward lavished upon the Despenser father and son, especially when the younger Despenser began in 1318 to strive to procure for himself the earldom of Gloucester and the lands associated with it.
By 1320, the situation in England was again becoming dangerously unstable. Edward ignored the law in favour of Despenser: when Lord de Braose of Gower sold his title to his son-in-law, an action entirely lawful in the Welsh Marches, Despenser demanded the king grant Gower to him instead. The king, against all laws, then confiscated Gower from the purchaser and offered it to Despenser; in so doing, he provoked the fury of most of the barons. In 1321, the Earl of Hereford, along with the Earl of Lancaster and others, took up arms against the Despenser family, and the King was forced into an agreement with the barons. On 14 August at Westminster Hall, accompanied by the Earls of Pembroke and Richmond, the king declared the Despenser father and son both banished.
The victory of the barons proved their undoing. With the removal of the Despensers, many nobles, regardless of previous affiliation, now attempted to move into the vacuum left by the two. Hoping to win Edward's favour, these nobles were willing to aid the king in his revenge against the barons and thus increase their own wealth and power. In following campaigns, many of the king's opponents were murdered, the Earl of Lancaster being beheaded in the presence of Edward himself.
With all opposition crushed, the king and the Despensers were left the unquestioned masters of England. At the York Parliament of 1322, Edward issued a statute which revoked all previous ordinances designed to limit his power and to prevent any further encroachment upon it. The king would no longer be subject to the will of Parliament, and the Lords, Prelates, and Commons were to suffer his will in silence.
Isabella leaves England
A dispute between France and England broke out over Edward's refusal to pay homage to the French king for the territory of Gascony. After several bungled attempts to regain the territory, Edward sent his wife, Isabella, to negotiate peace terms. Overjoyed, Isabella arrived in France in March 1325. She was now able to visit her family and native land as well as escape the Despensers and the king, all of whom she now detested.
On 31 May 1325, Isabella agreed to a peace treaty, favouring France and requiring Edward to pay homage in France to Charles; but Edward decided instead to send his son to pay homage. This proved a gross tactical error, and helped to bring about the ruin of both Edward and the Despensers, as Isabella, now that she had her son with her, declared that she would not return to England until Despenser was removed.
Invasion by Isabella and Mortimer
When Isabella's retinue - loyal to Edward, and ordered back to England by Isabella - returned to the English Court on 23 December, they brought further shocking news for the king: Isabella had formed a liaison with Roger Mortimer in Paris and they were now plotting an invasion of England.
Edward prepared for the invasion but was betrayed by those close to him: his son refused to leave his mother - claiming he wanted to remain with her during her unease and unhappiness. Edward's half-brother, the Earl of Kent, married Mortimer's cousin, Margaret Wake; other nobles, such as John de Cromwell and the Earl of Richmond, also chose to remain with Mortimer.
In September 1326, Mortimer and Isabella invaded England. Edward was amazed by their small numbers of soldiers, and immediately attempted to levy an immense army to crush them. However, a large number of men refused to fight Mortimer and the Queen; Henry of Lancaster, for example, was not even summoned by the king, and he showed his loyalties by raising an army, seizing a cache of Despenser treasure from Leicester Abbey, and marching south to join Mortimer.
The invasion swiftly had too much force and support to be stemmed. As a result, the army the king had ordered failed to emerge and both Edward and the Despensers were left isolated. They abandoned London on 2 October, leaving the city to fall into disorder. On the 15 October, a London mob seized and beheaded without trial John le Marshal (a Londoner accused of being a spy for the Despensers) and Edward II's Treasurer, Walter Stapeldon Bishop of Exeter, together with two of the bishop's squires.[7] The king first took refuge in Gloucester (where he arrived on 9 October) and then fled to South Wales in order to make a defence in Despenser's lands.[8] However, Edward was unable to rally an army, and on 31 October, he was abandoned by his servants, leaving him with only the younger Despenser and a few retainers.
On 27 October, the elder Despenser was accused of encouraging the illegal government of his son, enriching himself at the expense of others, despoiling the Church, and taking part in the illegal execution of the Earl of Lancaster. He was hanged and beheaded at the Bristol Gallows. Henry of Lancaster was then sent to Wales in order to fetch the King and the younger Despenser; on 16 November he caught Edward, Despenser and their soldiers in the open country near Tonyrefail, where a plaque now commemorates the event. The soldiers were released and Despenser was sent to Isabella at Hereford whilst the king was taken by Lancaster himself to Kenilworth.
End of the Despensers
Reprisals against Edward's allies began immediately thereafter. The Earl of Arundel, Sir Edmund Fitz Alan, an old enemy of Roger Mortimer, was beheaded on 17 November, together with two of the earl's retainers, John Daniel and Thomas de Micheldever. This was followed by the trial and execution of Despenser on 24 November.[9] [10]
Hugh Despenser the younger was brutally executed and a huge crowd gathered in anticipation at seeing him die—a public spectacle for public entertainment. They dragged him from his horse, stripped him, and scrawled Biblical verses against corruption and arrogance on his skin. They then dragged him into the city, presenting him (in the market square) to Queen Isabella, Roger Mortimer, and the Lancastrians. He was then condemned to hang as a thief, be castrated, and then to be drawn and quartered as a traitor, his quarters to be dispersed throughout England. Despenser's vassal Simon of Reading was also hanged next to him, on charges of insulting Queen Isabella.[11]
Edward II's Chancellor, Robert Baldock, was placed under house arrest in London, but a London mob broke into the house, severely beat him, and threw him into Newgate Prison, where he was murdered by some of the inmates.[12]
Abdication
With the King imprisoned, Mortimer and the Queen faced the problem of what to do with him. The simplest solution would be execution: his titles would then pass to Edward of Windsor, whom Isabella could control, while it would also prevent the possibility of his being restored. Execution would require the King to be tried and convicted of treason: and while most Lords agreed that Edward had failed to show due attention to his country, several Prelates argued that, appointed by God, the King could not be legally deposed or executed; if this happened, they said, God would punish the country. Thus, at first, it was decided to have Edward imprisoned for life instead.
However, the fact remained that the legality of power still lay with the King. Isabella had been given the Great Seal, and was using it to rule in the names of the King, herself, and their son as appropriate; nonetheless, these actions were illegal, and could at any moment be challenged.
In these circumstances, Parliament chose to act as an authority above the King. Representatives of the House of Commons were summoned, and debates began. The Archbishop of York and others declared themselves fearful of the London mob, loyal to Roger Mortimer. Others wanted the King to speak in Parliament and openly abdicate, rather than be deposed by the Queen and her General. Mortimer responded by commanding the Mayor of London, Richard de Bethune, to write to Parliament, asking them to go to the Guildhall to swear an oath to protect the Queen and Prince Edward, and to depose the King. Mortimer then called the great lords to a secret meeting that night, at which they gave their unanimous support to the deposition of the King.
Eventually Parliament agreed to remove the King. However, for all that Parliament had agreed that the King should no longer rule, they had not deposed him. Rather, their decision made, Edward was asked to accept it.
On 20 January 1327, Edward II was informed at Kenilworth Castle of the charges brought against him. The King was guilty of incompetence; allowing others to govern him to the detriment of the people and Church; not listening to good advice and pursuing occupations unbecoming to a monarch; having lost Scotland and lands in Gascony and Ireland through failure of effective governance; damaging the Church, and imprisoning its representatives; allowing nobles to be killed, disinherited, imprisoned and exiled; failing to ensure fair justice, instead governing for profit and allowing others to do likewise; and of fleeing in the company of a notorious enemy of the realm, leaving it without government, and thereby losing the faith and trust of his people. Edward, profoundly shocked by this judgment, wept while listening. He was then offered a choice: he might abdicate in favour of his son; or he might resist, and relinquish the throne to one not of royal blood, but experienced in government—this, presumably, being Roger Mortimer. The King, lamenting that his people had so hated his rule, agreed that if the people would accept his son, he would abdicate in his favour. The lords, through the person of Sir William Trussel, then renounced their homage to him, and the reign of Edward II ended.
The abdication was announced and recorded in London on 24 January, and the following day was proclaimed the first of the reign of Edward III—who, at 14, was still controlled by Isabella and Mortimer. The former King Edward remained imprisoned.
Death or Survival: Mystery and Propaganda
Edward II's tomb at Gloucester Cathedral
The regency government of Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer was so precarious they dared not leave the deposed King Edward in the hands of their political enemies. In April 1327, Edward was removed from Kenilworth Castle and placed in custody of Mortimer's subordinates. Thereafter, knowledge of Edward's daily life and whereabouts were deliberately shrouded by his keepers' efforts to keep the 'old' king secluded and incommunicado. He was interned at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, the seat of Thomas de Berkeley, Mortimer's son-in-law. There, according to various scripts of chroniclers and others, Edward died—it was rumoured about that he was murdered, by agents of Isabella and Roger Mortimer.
Contrarily, recent research by professional historian Dr Ian Mortimer (first, his 2003 biography Roger Mortimer, The Greatest Traitor; then his 2006 biography Edward III; and in a 2005 paper in The English Historical Review, his authoritative analysis of the specific question about Edward II's fate) provides definitive evidence that refutes previous reports and tales of Edward's 'early' death. Disclosing facts that refer back to 'first-hand' sources, historian Mortimer presents convincing evidence and interpretation that Edward lived, reclusively, for at least 14 years after he was deposed in 1327. According to Mortimer, instead of being murdered in the year 1327, Edward survived, and ultimately fled England and died a recluse, if not a monk, many years later in Italy.
In 2008, Dr Mortimer published his 2005 formal paper in an abridged version: "A Note on the Deaths of Edward II", linked here and below. This section reports several key points of Mortimer's lengthy 2008 essay, referring to it as source several times—specifically identifying five contemporary survival reports with 'first-hand' sources. (By 'first-hand' source is meant a contemporary person or thing whose reputed action is referenced, or backed-up, by authenticated underlying information; that is, by information researched and adjudged authentic by a competent historian/scholar.)
Incommunicado and escape
After January 1327 under aegis of parliament, Edward was being kept incommunicado at Berkeley Castle, imprisoned as it were, for his own 'safekeeping'. Soon, however, the exigencies of power politics began to play out. In late September 1327, came the news the old king had died, of "grief-induced illness". This 'death' report, from Lord Berkeley himself, was announced by two letters (one to co-regent Queen Isabella, the other to her son, the young king, Edward III, age 14), both delivered at Lincoln, where both royals were in residence at the time. After hearing the report, on the very next day (that is, 24 September 1327) the young king began spreading the news among the many important persons in and around Lincoln at the time—most of whom were present for the sitting of parliament there, which had just concluded.
Historian Mortimer's 2008 work, the "...Deaths of Edward..." essay, establishes that Lord Berkeley's announcement is the only source reporting the death of Edward that now is authenticated. At the same time, Mortimer's essay also reports information that repudiates, as false, the actual content of Berkeley's report (i.e., information that proves Lord Berkeley's death message was given "in bad faith"; see below).
As contemporary events evolved after 1327, it became apparent to a few observant people that the old king must still be alive and that Lord Berkeley's report (that King Edward had died) was "issued in bad faith"; and, therefore, it must have been a ruse. To be sure, it became a very successful ruse in that a shrouded dead body (or, by turns, a carved wooden effigy) was presented in several public venues for public mourning over a suitable period of time; and a proper funeral for a king was conducted by high church and government officials acting in good faith, as historical records authenticate. But, it was a ruse nonetheless, because, in due time the old king Edward was seen alive, after his supposed death and funeral, by people who knew him by sight.
And there was one person whom the young king Edward spoke to at the time of the funeral, the woman embalmer, who knew the dead man she embalmed was not the old king Edward. And there was at least one contemporary chronicler who reported the state funeral with words of suspicion (see below). The "...Deaths of Edward..."essay reports a minimum of three (3) independent survival reports by the year 1330, of Edward still in England, from first-hand sources; and a fourth, referenced by the Fieschi Letter, which documents that Edward escaped England to live anonymously in Italy, and perhaps other venues in Europe. In her biography of the king's wife Isabella, Alison Weir also supports the theory, based on the Fieschi Letter, that Edward escaped imprisonment and lived the rest of his life in exile.
Sources, chroniclers' reports, and mystery
Most critically, a different line (of facts) refers to another critical first-hand source, this one disclosing a very likely witness (not necessarily an eye witness) to Edward's survival who was Roger Mortimer himself, to wit: in March 1330 (some two years after Edward's reported death and state funeral) the record shows that Edmund, Earl of Kent, (half-brother to Edward; son of king Edward I), was charged, brought before parliament, and convicted of conspiring to rescue Edward from imprisonment, with intent to "help him" be "king again". And, as a matter of record, Kent was executed for this conspiracy.
The instigator for prosecuting and executing a man who learned that Edward was still alive was Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, co-regent and chief of government. The obvious implication of Roger Mortimer's prosecution of Kent is that he (Kent) had discovered what Mortimer knew: that Edward was still alive, and, therefore, for Roger Mortimer, in the year 1330, Kent was a threat who, with his friends, might maneuver to rescue and restore Edward to the throne.
These five survival reports, all based on first-hand sources, plus others documented in the "...Deaths of Edward.." essay, specifically belie the singular death report published by Lord Berkeley in late 1327. There has not been found a contemporary chronicler who reported directly after Edward was deposed what happened to him, and for good reason: the old king was a prisoner held incommmunicado (i.e., no visitors, no letters or reports, and no public knowledge of his exact whereabouts were permitted).
The contemporary sources reporting Edward's 'deaths' are accounted for; they are all documented in the "...Deaths of Edward.." essay, where Dr Mortimer reports: "All the chronicles ... were dependent on Lord Berkeley's announcement of the death", which message, we now know, was "sent in bad faith". These facts impeach all the multivarious "information stream", i.e., the chronicles and the rumours, that flow from the Berkeley announcement. Thus, none of these (chronicle) sources are authenticatable.
The "...Deaths of Edward..." essay prominently mentions the contemporary chronicler closest to the scene, Adam Murimuth (his career as clerk and chronicler flourished during the 1320s until his death in 1347) and Murimuth clerked for Edward II for a time. It is a telling point: only as "common rumour", did Murimuth report a cause for Edward's death (i.e., "suffocation") and that some five years after the supposed event. Further, the essay reports: "Murimuth is the only chronicler who refers to the ex-king's lying-in-state, and he mentions that his body was seen only superficially by the people of Bristol and Gloucestershire". The Lichfield chronicle, equally reflecting local opinion, stated only that he had been "possibly strangled".
Fact: Edward II's actual death is still, today, a mystery—details pertaining to his death, especially when and where, are yet to be discovered, analysed, interpreted and published for peer review by a competent historian and scholar.
"This account is uncorroborated..."
After Lord Berkley's report in late 1327, depicting a benign death for Edward, came infusions of rumour describing Edward's 'deaths' by violent means, of several variations. Most of these tales apparently originated as political propaganda against the regents Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabella; and they continued after Roger Mortimer was executed in November 1330. The extant stories were copied by chroniclers and others; there are no first-hand sources for any of these tales of Edward's various 'deaths'.
In the mid-1330s, almost a decade after the alleged horrors depicted, was first reported the most exaggeratedly violent rumour of them all, that is, the pornoviolent account of Edward's murder-by-hot-metal-rod-driven-up-his-anus. This story was apparently written by Lancastrian polemicists with intent to paint Roger Mortimer and his partisans as salacious regicides (see the longer "Brut" chronicle, ed. F. W. D. Brie; "...Deaths of Edward.." essay). This lurid and ghoulish tale proved very popular with the public and gained wide circulation; it also gained timeless legs; i.e., to be told and re-told into the future, for entertainment value rather than for truth, as the tale was never authenticated. Obviously a construct of political propaganda, it became infamous as a fable and invaluable as a tourist attraction, thriving yet today (see Berkeley Castle). "This account is uncorroborated by any contemporary source"; or by any first-hand source researched by modern scholarship standards.
Following the public announcement of the king's death, the regency rule of Isabella and Mortimer did not last long. They made peace with the Scots by the Treaty of Northampton, but this move was highly unpopular. When young Edward III came (essentially) of age, in October 1330, he moved to have Roger Mortimer seized. Without benefit of trial, he executed Mortimer on fourteen charges of treason, including for murder of Edward II, presumably removing any doubt (among the public) about the old king's death and the young king's proper succession. Edward III spared his mother, but ensured that she retired from public life for several years. She died at Hertford in 1358.
Ancestors of Edward II of England
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Arms
As King, Edward's arms were those of the kingdom. Prior to this, as heir-apparent, his arms were differenced from those of the kingdom by a label azure of three points.[13]
Cultural depictions
Christopher Marlowe's play Edward II (c. 1592) depicts Edward's reign as a single narrative, and does not include Bannockburn. Bertolt Brecht's adaptation of Marlowe's play, The Life of Edward II of England, was written in 1923. Marlowe's play was made into a film of the same name by Derek Jarman in 1991. The English composer John McCabe's ballet, Edward II (1994), is also based on the Marlowe play.
Edward II appears in Maurice Druon's series of historical novels The Accursed Kings. Actor Christopher Buchholz played him in the 2005 French TV series adaptation of the novels.
Mel Gibson's film Braveheart features Peter Hanly as a slightly built, and cruel Prince Edward, whose putative lover, "Philip" is murdered by Edward Longshanks (Edward I). There is also a bastardization of the story concerning Isabella's betrayal, with Mortimer's role replaced by the presence of William Wallace.
Edward II appears in Ken Follet's World Without End as the underlying conspiracy plot.
See also
References
- ^ Crofton, Ian (2007). "Edward I". The Kings and Queens of England. 21 Bloomsbury Square, London: Quercus. pp. 84. ISBN 1847240658. http://books.google.com/books?id=GdMzXfsKioAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Kings+and+Queens+of+England&sig=w8EE1-yEaj12vl785WPCeDpLj6Y#PPA84,M1. Retrieved on 2008-06-23.
- ^ a b "King Edward II". NNDB. http://www.nndb.com/people/710/000093431/. Retrieved on 2008-06-23.
- ^ Hudson, M.E.; Mary Clark (1978). Crown of a Thousand Years. Crown Publishers, Inc.. pp. 48. ISBN 0-517-534525.
- ^ Flores Historiarum
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University, 2004
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University, 2004
- ^ Ian Mortimer The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327-1330 (London, 2004) pp. 155-156
- ^ Ian Mortimer The Greatest Traitor' p.154'
- ^ The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215; Adams and Weis; pg 111
- ^ Ian Mortimer The Greatest Traitor'pp. 160-162 '
- ^ Ian Mortimer The Greatest Traitor pp. 159-162.
- ^ Ian Mortimer The Greatest Traitor p. 162.
- ^ "Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family". http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/cadency.htm.
- Blackley, F.D. Adam, the Bastard Son of Edward II, 1964.
- Doherty, Paul. Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II. Constable and Robinson, 2003. ISBN 1841193011
- Fryde, Natalie. The Tyranny and Fall of Edward II: 1321-1326
- Mortimer, Ian. The Greatest Traitor: the Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England 1327-1330. Thomas Dunne Books, 2003. ISBN 0-312-34941-6
- Mortimer, Ian. The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III Father of the English Nation. Jonathan Cape, 2006. ISBN 9780224073011 Appendix 2: The fake death of Edward II; Appendix 3: A note on the later life of Edward II
- Mortimer, Ian.'Note on the deaths of Edward II' (2008)
- Weir, Alison, 'Isabella, She-Wolf of France', Jonathan Cape, 2005, ISBN 0224063200
External links
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
.svg){kind=small}
