Plantagenet Kings

Edward II 

King Edward II was born April 25th, 1284. He was the son of King Edward I and Eleanor of Castille. Being born at Caernarfon Castle in Wales, he was given the title Lord of Caernarfon. Moreover, he had 3 elder brothers, so it was very unlikely that he would ever become king.

King Edward II (1284-1327; reigned 1307-1327)

However, all of his brothers had died by the time Edward reached adulthood. In 1301, young Edward accompanied his father in a campaign in Scotland. In 1307, Edward I ''Longshanks'' passed away after a long reign of 35 years. Before his death, Edward I exiled Piers Gaveston, his son's best friend, whose influence on Edward II had become problematic. The decision was an emotional blow for the young prince. Despite resembling his father's physical appearances, King Edward II had a different personality. He liked neither waging wars nor jousting, and he preferred the company of jesters and commoners instead of nobles. 

Piers Gaveston (1284-1312), 1st Earl of Cornwall; he was Edward's friend since childhood, and it was rumoured that the 2 were in a homosexual relationship, but it has never been proved

His first major action as King would infuriate the great Earls. A month after his coronation, Edward II gave the Earldom of Cornwall to Piers Gaveston. In 1308, Edward got married. His wife was Isabella of France, daughter of King Philip IV of France, who had been promised to him since 1303. In 1312, their first son, future King Edward III, was born.

Isabella of France (1295-1358). She was the daughter of King Philip IV of France

King Philip IV of France (1268-1314; reigned 1285-1314). After the Anglo-French War (1294-1303), Philip IV and Edward I signed the Treaty of Paris (1303) in which it was agreed that Edward II would marry Isabella when they would both come of age.

Over the next years, the influence of Gaveston increased significantly, as both the Earls and the Queen plotted to remove him from the Royal Court. Eventually, in the face of a growing opposition, Edward II accepted to sent Gaveston into exile in Aquitaine in 1308, but he then changed his mind, and instead he sent Gaveston to Ireland, as Lord Lieutenant. In 1309, he managed to convince the Earls to let Gaveston return home to England. Meanwhile in Scotland, King Robert the Bruce expelled the English from his realms and the Northern lords asked for a punitive expedition. In 1310, Edward led an army into Scotland, but he achieved little success and he returned back to England the next year. In England, the Lords Ordainers, a council of 21 Lords, signed the Ordinances of 1311, a series of reforms whose main aim was limiting the King's authority to go to war or to grant lands without Parliament's approval, but the Ordinances exiled Gaveston once more. Edward reluctantly agreed the document but the tensions remained, and as a result, the King decided to revoke the Ordinances and called Gaveston back in early 1312. The Earls were furious, so they decided to act. They found out that Gaveston was at Scarborough Castle and they surrounded the settlement. After the a brief siege, Gaveston surrendered and he was taken into custody by the Earl of Lancaster and Earl of Warwick. Even though he was granted a fair trial, Gaveston was thrown in jail and then beheaded. 

Gaveston's head shown to the Earl of Lancaster

King Edward was furious and sought to avenge the death of his favourite. In order to avoid an execution, the Earls who were involved in the murder of Gaveston agreed to provide financial support for another English military expedition in Scotland in 1314. At the Battle of Bannockburn, the Scots won a decisive victory against the English. To make the matter worse, the harsh winters and wet summers affected a great portion of the arable land of England, thus causing the Great Famine of 1315-1317. 

Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn (1314)

A new favourite:

Hugh Despenser ''the Younger'', was the husband of Eleanor de Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare and Joan of Acre, sister of Edward II. 

Hugh Despenser (1287-1326)

Like his father, he became Chamberlain and a close advisor of King Edward II in 1318, and he started accumulating more lands in the Welsh Marches and in England. His growing influence at the Court angered the nobles and Queen Isabella, so they once again allied to remove him. In 1321, Hugh and his father went into exile. King Edward II was furious and the civil war known as the Despenser War broke out.

Roger Mortimer (1287-1330), 1st Earl of the March. He was, along with Queen Isabella, the leading figure of the baronial opposition against Hugh Despenser. Later, he and Isabella became lovers.

In 1322, the Royalist won a decisive victory at the Battle of Boroughbridge. As a result, Hugh Despenser was called back to England, while Roger Mortimer was imprisoned in the Tower of London. In 1323, Mortimer escaped captivity and fled to France. Queen Isabella joined him two years later, during her journey to France to pay homage to Charles IV, her brother. Isabella refused to return to England and he and Mortimer started to raise an army. Charles IV didn't provide any financial support, so the lovers travelled to the Holy Roman Empire. In the end, William I, Count of Hainaut, accepted to help them on the condition that the young Prince Edward would marry his daughter Philippa.

William I, Count of Hainaut (1286-1337)

In the autumn of 1326, Isabella and Mortimer landed in England, and they were quickly joined by their English allies. Seeing that he was in a vulnerable position, Edward abandoned London. He was captured a month later in South Wales, and imprisoned. He finally died on September 21st, 1327, at Berkeley Castle probably assassinated by the orders of his wife Isabella and Roger Mortimer. His son followed him as King Edward III. As for his favourites, the Despensers, they were sentenced to death.