The Dog That Would Be A King-So why was he banished?

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Edward's difficulties were exacerbated by prolonged problems in English agriculture , part of a wider phenomenon in northern Europe known as the Great Famine.

It began with torrential rains in late , followed by a very cold winter and heavy rains the following spring that killed many sheep and cattle. The bad weather continued, almost unabated, into , resulting in a string of bad harvests. Meanwhile, Robert the Bruce exploited his victory at Bannockburn to raid northern England, initially attacking Carlisle and Berwick, and then reaching further south into Lancashire and Yorkshire , even threatening York itself.

The famine and the Scottish policy were felt to be a punishment from God, and complaints about Edward multiplied, one contemporary poem describing the "Evil Times of Edward II".

He had managed to retain some of his previous advisers, despite attempts by the Ordainers to remove them, and divided the extensive de Clare inheritance among two of his new favourites, the former household knights Hugh Audley and Roger Damory , instantly making them extremely rich. The long-threatened civil war finally broke out in England in , [] triggered by the tension between many of the barons and the royal favourites, the Despenser family.

In early , Lancaster mobilised a coalition of the Despensers' enemies across the Marcher territories. Edward began to plan his revenge. In December, Edward led his army across the River Severn and advanced into the Welsh Marches, where the opposition forces had gathered.

Lancaster, outnumbered, retreated without a fight, fleeing north. Edward punished Lancaster's supporters through a system of special courts across the country, with the judges instructed in advance how to sentence the accused, who were not allowed to speak in their own defence. The English campaign against Scotland was planned on a massive scale, with a force of around 23, men.

Plans to resupply the campaign by sea failed, and the large army rapidly ran out of food. Hugh Despenser the Younger lived and ruled in grand style, playing a leading role in Edward's government, and executing policy through a wide network of family retainers. Miracles were reported around the late Earl of Lancaster's tomb, and at the gallows used to execute members of the opposition in Bristol.

Charles mobilised his army and ordered the invasion of Gascony. Edward's forces in Gascony were around 4, strong, but the French army, commanded by Charles of Valois , numbered 7, Isabella, with Edward's envoys, carried out negotiations with the French in late March. Edward now expected Isabella and their son to return to England, but instead she remained in France and showed no intention of making her way back. Finally, Edward had taken away her children and given the custody of them to Hugh Despenser's wife. By February , it was clear that Isabella was involved in a relationship with the exiled Marcher Lord, Roger Mortimer.

Edward's opponents began to gather around Isabella and Mortimer in Paris, and Edward became increasingly anxious about the possibility that Mortimer might invade England. During August and September , Edward mobilised his defences along the coasts of England to protect against the possibility of an invasion either by France or by Roger Mortimer. Roger Mortimer, Isabella, and thirteen-year-old Prince Edward, accompanied by King Edward's half-brother Edmund of Woodstock, landed in Orwell on 24 September with a small force of men and met with no resistance.

The city of London rose against his government, and on 2 October the King left London, taking the Despensers with him. Edward continued west up the Thames Valley , reaching Gloucester between 9 and 12 October; he hoped to reach Wales and from there mobilise an army against the invaders. Proclamations condemned the Despensers' recent regime. Day-by-day they gathered new supporters [] Edward and the younger Despenser crossed over the border and set sail from Chepstow , probably aiming first for Lundy and then for Ireland, where the King hoped to receive refuge and raise a fresh army. Edward retreated to Caerphilly Castle and attempted to rally his remaining forces.

Edward's authority collapsed in England where, in the King's absence, Isabella's faction took over the administration with the support of the Church. Isabella and Mortimer rapidly took revenge on the former regime. Hugh Despenser the Younger was put on trial, declared a traitor and sentenced to be disembowelled, castrated and quartered; he was duly executed on 24 November There was no established procedure for removing an English king. On 12 January the leading barons and clergy agreed that Edward II should be removed and replaced by his son. Shortly after this, a representative delegation of barons, clergy and knights was sent to Kenilworth to speak to the King.

The coronation took place at Westminster Abbey on 2 February Those opposed to the new government began to make plans to free Edward, and Roger Mortimer decided to move Edward to the more secure location of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire , where the former King arrived around 5 April Concerns continued to be raised over fresh plots to liberate Edward, some involving the Dominican order and former household knights, and one such attempt got at least as far as breaking into the prison within the castle.

The rule of Isabella and Mortimer did not last long after the announcement of Edward's death. They made peace with the Scots in the Treaty of Northampton , but this move was highly unpopular. Edward's body was embalmed at Berkeley Castle, where it was viewed by local leaders from Bristol and Gloucester.

A temporary wooden effigy with a copper crown was made for the funeral; this is the first known use of a funeral effigy in England, and was probably necessary because of the condition of the King's body, which had been dead for three months. The King's tomb rapidly became a popular site for visitors, probably encouraged by the local monks, who lacked an existing pilgrimage attraction. Controversy rapidly surrounded Edward's death.

Accounts that he had been killed by the insertion of a red-hot iron or poker into his anus slowly began to circulate, possibly as a result of deliberate propaganda; chroniclers in the mids and s spread this account further, supported in later years by Geoffrey le Baker 's colourful account of the killing. Another set of theories surround the possibility that Edward did not really die in These theories typically involve the " Fieschi Letter ", sent to Edward III by an Italian priest called Manuel Fieschi, who claimed that Edward escaped Berkeley Castle in with the help of a servant and ultimately retired to become a hermit in the Holy Roman Empire.

Paul Doherty questions the veracity of the letter and the identity of William the Welshman, but nonetheless has suspicions that Edward may have survived his imprisonment. Edward was ultimately a failure as a king; the historian Michael Prestwich observes that he "was lazy and incompetent, liable to outbursts of temper over unimportant issues, yet indecisive when it came to major issues", echoed by Roy Haines' description of Edward as "incompetent and vicious", and as "no man of business". Edward was responsible for implementing royal justice through his network of judges and officials.

Under Edward's rule, parliament's importance grew as a means of making political decisions and answering petitions, although as the historian Claire Valente notes, the gatherings were "still as much an event as an institution". Edward's royal court was itinerant, travelling around the country with the King. Music and minstrels were very popular at Edward's court, but hunting appears to have been a much less important activity, and there was little emphasis on chivalric events.

Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick

Edward's approach to religion was normal for the period, and the historian Michael Prestwich describes him as "a man of wholly conventional religious attitudes". Edward enjoyed a good relationship with Pope Clement V , despite the King's repeated intervention in the operation of the English Church, including punishing bishops with whom he disagreed. Pope John XXII , elected in , sought Edward's support for a new crusade, and was also inclined to support him politically.

No chronicler for this period is entirely trustworthy or unbiased, often because their accounts were written to support a particular cause, but it is clear that most contemporary chroniclers were highly critical of Edward. By the start of the 20th century, English schools were being advised by the government to avoid overt discussion of Edward's personal relationships in history lessons. By the end of the 19th century, more administrative records from the period had become available to historians such as William Stubbs , Thomas Tout and J.

Davies, who focused on the development of the English constitutional and governmental system during his reign. Several plays have shaped Edward's contemporary image. The filmmaker Derek Jarman adapted the Marlowe play into a film in , creating a postmodern pastiche of the original, depicting Edward as a strong, explicitly homosexual leader, ultimately overcome by powerful enemies. Edward's life has also been used in a wide variety of other media.

In the Victorian era, the painting Edward II and Piers Gaveston by Marcus Stone strongly hinted at a homosexual relationship between the pair, while avoiding making this aspect explicit. It was initially shown at the Royal Academy in , but was marginalised in later decades as the issue of homosexuality became more sensitive.

Edward II had four children with Isabella: Edward also fathered the illegitimate Adam FitzRoy c. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other uses, see Edward II disambiguation. Effigy in Gloucester Cathedral. Gloucester Cathedral , Gloucestershire, England. Isabella of France m. Great Famine of — Invasion of England Cultural depictions of Edward II of England.

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Ancestors of Edward II of England [] 8. John of England 4. Henry III of England 9. Edward I of England Eleanor of Provence Pages 28, Lines They sing about how such punishment will arise from such a little thing, the spreading of a thin layer of dust over the body of Polyneices. The chorus then declares that there is no escape from imminent disaster. Creon claims that Haemon is blinded by love and must see that the law is more powerful. Creon then states that he is going to take Antigone to a cave and bury her alive so she can starve.

Haemon then states the he is not going to be around Antigone when she is killed and runs off.

How love conquers all battles and how it prevails over everything. Then they weep over the fate of Antigone and how she will never be the bride of Haemon. Creon then states that he has no mercy, and leads her to her doom. They then reflect upon how her brothers too, were of noble blood and how their deaths were so miserable. He tells Creon that his punishment for not giving a proper burial will be the life of his son.

Creon believes that the prophet is mocking him and disregards his warning. Such as Creon, he should wisely listen to the blind prophet because he has never been wrong before. Creon is devastated and returns to the kingdom only to learn that his wife has also killed herself because of the loss of her son. The state that wisdom is a very powerful tool and should be used wisely otherwise the gods will punish you for your actions.

Pages 60, Lines Sophocles, Antigone. A major theme evident within this tragedy is pride. As a result, it led to both of their self-destructions, as they killed each other in a battle for power.

As a result, she goes against the very strict law that Creon placed within Thebes. By the time Creon finally realized that it was the gods who held the highest power, it was too late. Creon also states that his son is like a slave to Antigone and mocks his son for not respecting his power. This causes Haemon to rush off, dejected, and later causes him to commit suicide. It is only after Creon is humbled, that he realizes the grave mistakes he has made. By this time, however, it is too late to fix anything and he has lost everything. He continued in the king's service in Scotland and elsewhere.

In he was present at the king's wedding to Margaret of France at Canterbury, and in he took part in the Siege of Caerlaverock.

Before his death, the old king had exiled Prince Edward's favourite Piers Gaveston , and Warwick was among those charged with preventing Gaveston's return. Warwick was the only one of the leading earls who did not seal the charter, and from the start took on an antagonistic attitude to Edward II.

Gaveston was once more forced into exile, but Edward recalled him in less than a year. The king had spent the intervening time gathering support, and at the time, the only one to resist the return of Gaveston was Warwick. Another source of contention was Edward abandoning his father's Scottish campaigns, a policy that opened the Border region up to devastating raids from the Scots.

The leaders of these so-called Lords Ordainers were Robert Winchelsey , Archbishop of Canterbury , on the side of the clergy, and Warwick, Lincoln and Lancaster among the earls. Gaveston's third and final exile was of even shorter duration, and after two months, he was reunited with King Edward II in England. Gaveston ensconced himself at Scarborough Castle , and on 19 May , agreed on a surrender to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke , as long as his security would be guaranteed.

Pembroke lodged his prisoner in Deddington in Oxfordshire. According to the Annales Londonienses chronicle, four shoemakers brought the corpse back to Warwick, but he refused to accept it, and ordered them to take it back to where they found it.

The brutality and questionable legality of the earls' actions helped win political sympathy for the king. From this point on Pembroke sided firmly with King Edward in the political conflict. Warwick and Lancaster refused to participate and the campaign ended in a humiliating English defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn on 24 June. This led to another political reversal and Edward was forced to reconfirm the Ordinances, and submit to the leadership of the rebellious barons. In mid-July Warwick had to withdraw from government to his estates on account of illness.

The chronicler Thomas Walsingham reported rumours that the king had had Warwick poisoned. Like his elder brother, he distinguished himself in the French wars , and was a founding member of the Order of the Garter.

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