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The last several years of Edward I's life had been spent campaigning in Scotland, yet as soon as he died, Edward II abandoned the effort to bring Scotland under England's dominion, so that he could return to his court and indulge in entertaining vices. Within a few years Robert the Bruce had won back most of Scotland, and his victories were cemented by a great military disaster for England at the Battle of Bannockburn. This defeat, in which hundreds of English nobility were slain, undermined the king's already diminished authority over the English Barons.
After five years of incompetent rulership, disgust with the king and his favorites was so high
that the Barons forced the king's favorite, Gaveston, into exile, and when he returned, captured and
killed him. This only infuriated Edward, who then formed an alliance with Hugh Despenser,
a relation of Gaveston. By granting favors, Edward promoted enough of his partisans to
stand against the barons, and abrogated all previous agreements with them. By this time his
wife had turned entirely against him, and after gaining custody of Prince Edward, raised
a rebellion in France and invaded England. With the help of her new lover, Roger Mortimer,
and a number of English Barons who joined in the revolt, they deposed Edward II, placed
prince Edward on the throne, and ruled as regents in his name. Rather than put the deposed
king on trial, he was brutally murdered while being kept prisoner in a distant castle.
Birth of Edward II | |
Ascends to the throne on the death of Edward I. | |
Marriage to Isabella of France | |
Withdraws from conflict in Scotland, allowing Bruce to reclaim his throne. | |
Barons insist on banishment of Gaveston | |
Gaveston executed by the Earl of Lancaster | |
Scots defeat England at the Battle of Bannockburn. | |
Revokes previous agreements with Barons and dissolved Parliament. | |
Isabella leaves England and gains control Prince Edward. | |
Isabella and Mortimer invade England, depose Edward II. | |
Edward II imprisoned and murdered. |
Richard's Predecessors in | Richard II by Jacob Abbott |
Battle of Bannockburn in | Stories from English History by Alfred J. Church |
First Two Edwards in | The Story of England by Samuel B. Harding |
Story of the Battle of Bannockburn in | Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall |
Bannockburn in | The Boy's Book of Battles by Eric Wood |
Image Links | ||
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![]() Portrait of Edward the Second in Richard II |
![]() The First Prince of Wales in The Story of the English |
![]() Edward II. and Piers Gaveston in The Story of the English |
Isabella | Wife of Edward II, who ultimately turned against him. Mother of Edward III. |
Roger Mortimer | English noble who allied himself with Isabella too overthrow Edward II. |
Piers Gaveston | Notorious favorite of Edward II. Murdered by disgruntled barons. |
Scottish nobleman who claimed the crown and led resistance to England at Bannockburn. | |
Earl of Lancaster | Enemy of Edward II. Killed Piers Gaveston. |
Hugh Despenser | Unpopular favorite of Edward II after the death of Gaveston. |