Zhukov—The Greatest Commanders of World History, ed-
ited by James Lucas. (London: Bloomsbury Publishing,
1988), 37.
Edward II (1284–1327) English king
Edward II was born at Caernarfon Castle, Wales, on 25
April 1284, the fourth son of edWard i and Eleanor
of Castile and heir to the English throne since three
older brothers had died in infancy. His father was often
away fighting the Welsh or the Scottish, and his mother
was frequently absent in Europe. He was the first to be
named Prince of Wales, a title still given to the eldest son
of the ruling monarch. Following his father’s death on
7 July 1307, Edward, then just 23 years old, succeeded
to the throne; he was crowned in Westminster Abbey
in London on 24 April 1308, and married Isabella, the
daughter of King Philip IV of France that same year.
Even before his marriage, Edward had showed
signs that he was a homosexual. When he left for France
to marry Isabella, he left behind his “favorite,” Piers
Gaveston. From the start of Edward’s reign, the barons,
who controlled the army, did not trust him because they
feared Gaveston’s influence. Therefore they used their
power to check Edward at every turn and force Gaveston
into exile. In 1309, Edward recalled Gaveston and again
took up a relationship with him. The barons, upset,
demanded Gaveston’s exile. Parliaments held in 1310
and 1311 formed a Committee of Lords Ordainers to
control Edward and placed his cousin Thomas, earl of
Lancaster, in the role of regent to corule. In 1311, Ed-
ward was again forced to exile Gaveston, who returned
in 1312. This time, the barons kidnapped Gaveston and
killed him.
Because of this conflict between the Crown and
the barons, the Scottish under robert the bruce
reasserted control over their homeland. In 1314, Ed-
ward formed an army to put an end to Robert’s reign.
However, at Bannockburn, near Stirling, his incompe-
tence was demonstrated to a horrific degree on 23 June,
when Robert the Bruce stood with some 40,000 troops
to Edward’s 60,000. As historian George Bruce writes,
“Bruce’s position was partly covered by a marsh, and
further strengthened by pitfalls, in which the English
cavalry were entrapped.” Clever traps laid by the Scots
forced the English cavalry to stumble, rendering them
helpless as Scottish arrows laid into them. When the
battle was over, some 10,000 English troops lay dead in
the turning point of the English-Scottish wars. Edward
I’s dream of a united nation lay in ruins because of his
son Edward II. It would not be until 1603, when James
VI of Scotland became James I of England, that England
and Scotland would put aside their differences.
By 1314, Lancaster, Edward’s coregent, was openly
in defiance of the king; he and three other earls defied
a king’s summons for military duty to serve against
the Scots. With Gaveston gone, Edward had taken up
with Sir Hugh Despenser as well as his son, also named
Hugh. This affair set off more opposition to Edward’s
rule, and Lancaster demanded that the Despensers be
exiled, which was done in 1321.
By 1322, the barons were in full rebellion against
Edward, who had recalled the Despensers. Seeking to
put down the insurrection, he formed an army. At Bor-
oughbridge on 16 March 1322, Sir Andrew Harclay de-
feated Lancaster, dragged him from a church where he
had sought sanctuary, and had him beheaded in York.
Fearing for her life, Edward’s wife Isabella fled to France
in 1325 with her son by Edward, but she returned a year
later with her lover Roger Mortimer, a baron who op-
posed Edward. On 24 September 1326, they landed at
Suffolk, where barons and others who opposed Edward’s
rule met Isabella. They joined her cause, captured and
hanged the Despensers, and proclaimed her son, “Keeper
of the Realm.” Edward fled but was captured and forced
to abdicate the throne on 25 January 1327 in favor of
his son, who was crowned as edWard iii. Edward II was
placed in protective custody by his enemies.
Edward died at Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire,
on 21 September 1327, age 43; historians believe he was
murdered by having a red hot poker thrust into his bow-
els. He was buried in St. Peter’s Abbey, now Gloucester
Cathedral in Gloucester.References: Hilliam, David, “Edward II,” in Kings,
Queens, Bones and Bastards: Who’s Who in the English
Monarchy from Egbert to Elizabeth II (Thrupp, Stroud,
Gloucestershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998), 47–48;
Bruce, George, “Bannockburn,” in Collins Dictionary
of Wars (Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers,
1995), 29; Fryde, Natalie, The Tyranny and Fall of Edward
II (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1979);
Haskins, George L., “A Chronicle of the Civil Wars of Ed-
ward II,” Speculum: A Journal of Mediaeval Studies 14, no.
1 (January 1939): 73–75; Baker, Sir Richard, A Chronicle
of the Kings of England from the Time of the Roman Govern-eDwARD ii