Person:Edward II of England (1)

Facts and Events
Name Edward II _____, of England
Alt Name Edward _____, of Caernarfon
Gender Male
Birth[9] 25 Apr 1284 Caernarfon Castle, Caernarfon, Caernarvonshire, WalesHouse of Plantagenet
Occupation? From 1306 to 1325 4th Plantagenet Duke of Aquitaine
Occupation? From 1307 to 1327 6th Plantagenet King of England
Marriage 25 Jan 1308 Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, Franceto Isabella _____, of France
Marriage Cohabitation?
to Unknown
Death[9] 21 Sep 1327 Berkeley Castle, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England
Burial? 20 Dec 1327 Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
Reference Number? Q5236?


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to the throne following the death of his elder brother Alphonso. Beginning in 1300, Edward accompanied his father on campaigns to pacify Scotland. In 1306, he was knighted in a grand ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Following his father's death, Edward succeeded to the throne in 1307. He married Isabella, the daughter of the powerful King Philip IV of France, in 1308, as part of a long-running effort to resolve tensions between the English and French crowns.

Edward had a close and controversial relationship with Piers Gaveston, who had joined his household in 1300. The precise nature of their relationship is uncertain; they may have been friends, lovers, or sworn brothers. Edward's relationship with Gaveston inspired Christopher Marlowe's 1592 play Edward II, along with other plays, films, novels and media. Gaveston's power as Edward's favourite provoked discontent among both the French royal family and the barons, and Edward was forced to exile him. On Gaveston's return, the barons pressured the king into agreeing to wide-ranging reforms, called the Ordinances of 1311.

The newly empowered barons banished Gaveston, to which Edward responded by revoking the reforms and recalling his favourite. Led by Edward's cousin Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, a group of the barons seized and executed Gaveston in 1312, beginning several years of armed confrontation. English forces were pushed back in Scotland, where Edward was decisively defeated by Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Widespread famine followed, and criticism of the king's reign mounted.

The Despenser family, in particular Hugh Despenser the Younger, became close friends and advisers to Edward, but Lancaster and many of the barons seized the Despensers' lands in 1321, and forced the king to exile them. In response, Edward led a short military campaign, capturing and executing Lancaster. Edward and the Despensers strengthened their grip on power, formally revoking the 1311 reforms, executing their enemies and confiscating estates. Unable to make progress in Scotland, Edward finally signed a truce with Bruce.

Opposition to the regime grew, and when Isabella was sent to France to negotiate a peace treaty in 1325, she turned against Edward and refused to return. Instead, she allied herself with the exiled Roger Mortimer, and invaded England with a small army in 1326. Edward's regime collapsed and he fled to Wales, where he was captured in November. The king was forced to relinquish his crown in January 1327 in favour of his 14-year-old son, Edward III, and he died in Berkeley Castle on 21 September, probably murdered on the orders of the new regime.

Edward's contemporaries criticised his performance as king, noting his failures in Scotland and the oppressive regime of his later years, although 19th-century academics later argued that the growth of parliamentary institutions during his reign was a positive development for England over the longer term.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Edward II of England. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
References
  1.   Edward II of England, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
  2.   The Royal Dau. of Eng., Eng. 120, tab. II, pt. 1, p. 62, 222-23.
  3.   Dict. of Nat'l Biog., Eng. Pub. A, v. 17, p. 38-48, v. 29, p. 64-67.
  4.   Tableaux Genealogiques des Souverains, France 22, pt. 1, tab. 7, pt. 1, p. 98-99.
  5.   Richardson, Douglas. Plantagenet ancestry : a study in colonial and medieval families. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co Inc, c2004)
    21.
  6.   Edward II, King of England, in Lundy, Darryl. The Peerage: A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe.
  7.   King Edward II, in Find A Grave.
  8.   Cokayne, George Edward, and Vicary Gibbs; et al. The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant [2nd ed.]. (London: St. Catherine Press, 1910-59)
    Volume 3 page 171.
  9. 9.0 9.1 EDWARD II King of England, in Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families.
Succession of Monarchs of the United Kingdom
Henry III of England

1216-1272
his grandfather

Edward I

1272-1307
his father

King of England and Lord of Ireland

1307-1328

Edward III of England

1328-1377
his son

Richard II

1377-1399
his great-grandson