Edward II of England

Edward II, (April 25, 1284 – September 21, 1327), of Caernarvon, was king of England from 1307 until deposed in January, 1327. His tendency to ignore his nobility, in favour of low-born favourites, led to constant political unrest and eventually to his deposition. He is today perhaps best remembered for the brutal method of his alleged murder, which was linked to his homosexuality.

Life in captivity and death

The government of Isabella and Mortimer was so precarious that they dared not leave the deposed king in the hands of their political enemies. On April 3 he was removed from Kenilworth and entrusted to the custody of two dependants of Mortimer. He was imprisoned at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. Contrary to the polemical chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker, record evidence shows that he was well-treated in captivity. Although it was later rumoured that he had been killed by the insertion of a piece of copper into his anus (later a red-hot iron rod, as in the supposed murder of Edmund Ironside), the news of his death was in fact falsified, and the ex-king transferred to Corfe Castle in Dorset, and still later to Ireland, where he remained in custody until Mortimer's fall in 1330. He probably died overseas in 1341.

Related Topics:
April 3 - Berkeley Castle - Gloucestershire - Edmund Ironside

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In late September 1327 it was announced in good faith to those present at the Lincoln parliament that the ex-king had died a natural death. A body said to be his was buried in St Peter's Abbey at Gloucester, now the cathedral. His son Edward III probably interred his actual body here in 1342, but had already erected a magnificent tomb over the place which was supposed to be his father's resting place. The monument became a popular pilgrimage site and the cathedral amassed a huge fortune from the pilgrims. Today the tomb is considered to be one of the finest in England.

Related Topics:
Gloucester - Cathedral

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Following the king's public 'death', the rule of Isabella and Mortimer did not last long. As soon as Edward III came of age, he executed Roger Mortimer, but spared his mother and eventually restored her to favour. In 1330, Isabella retired from public life; she died at Hertford on 23 August 1358.

Related Topics:
1330 - Hertford - 23 August - 1358

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