Biography of King Edward II of England 1284-1327

On 1st November 1254 [his father] King Edward I of England (age 15) and [his mother] Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England (age 13) were married at Abbey of Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas [Map]. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Ferdinand III King Castile III King Leon and [his grandmother] Joan Dammartin Queen Consort Castile and Leon (age 34). He the son of [his grandfather] King Henry III of England (age 47) and [his grandmother] Eleanor of Provence Queen Consort England (age 31). They were second cousin once removed. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.

On 28th November 1290 [his mother] Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England (age 49) died at Harby Manor. Her viscera were buried at Lincoln Cathedral [Map].

On 8th January 1297 John Gerulfing I Count Holland (age 13) and [his sister] Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Countess Essex, Hereford and Holland (age 14) were married at Ipswich, Suffolk [Map]. She by marriage Countess Holland. The wedding was attended by her sister [his sister] Margaret Plantagenet Duchess Brabant (age 21), her father [his father] King Edward I (age 57), her brother Edward (age 12) and her future second husband Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex (age 21). She the daughter of King Edward I of England and [his mother] Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England. He the son of Floris Gerulfing V Count Holland and Beatrix Dampierre. They were half third cousin twice removed. He a great x 4 grandson of King Stephen I England.

On 10th September 1299 [his father] King Edward I of England (age 60) and [his step-mother] Margaret of France Queen Consort England (age 20) were married at Canterbury Cathedral [Map]. She by marriage Queen Consort England. The difference in their ages was 39 years. She the daughter of King Philip III of France and Maria of Brabant Queen Consort France (age 43). He the son of [his grandfather] King Henry III of England and [his grandmother] Eleanor of Provence Queen Consort England. They were first cousin once removed. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.

Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl Warwick (age 27) was present.

On 7th February 1301 King Edward II of England (age 16) was created Prince of Wales by his father [his father] King Edward I of England (age 61); the first English heir to receive the title. He was created 1st Earl Chester the same day.

John of Fordun's Chronicle. 111. Stirling Castle [Map] besieged by the King of England

Just after Easter, in the year 1304, that same king besieged Strivelyn [Map] Castle for three months without a break. For this siege, he commanded all the lead of the refectory of Saint Andrews [Map] to be pulled down, and had it taken away for the use of his engines. At last, the aforesaid castle was surrendered [20th July 1304] and delivered unto him on certain conditions, drawn up in writing, and sealed with his seal. But when he had got the castle, the [his father] king (age 64) belied his troth, and broke through the conditions: for William Oliphant, the warden thereof, he threw bound into prison in London, and kept him a long time in thrall. The same year, when both great and small in the kingdom of Scotland (except William Wallace alone) had made their submission unto him; when the surrendered castles and fortified towns, which had formerly been broken down and knocked to pieces, had been all rebuilt, and he had appointed wardens of his own therein; and after all and sundry of Scottish birth had tendered him homage, the king, with the Prince of Wales (age 19), and his whole army, returned to England. He left, however, the chief warden as his lieutenant, to amend and control the lawlessness of all the rest, both Scots and English. He did not show his face in Scotland after this.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. After this, at the Feast of Pentecost [22nd May 1306], the king adorned his firstborn son, Edward of Caernarfon (age 22), with the military belt,¹ and at Westminster, he ordained a hundred other knights along with him. He also endowed his aforementioned son with the Duchy of Aquitaine.

Exinde, ad festum Pentecosten, rex filium suum primogenitum, Edwardum de Carnarvan, cingulo militari decoravit, et cum ipso alios centum milites ordinavit, apud Westmonasterium; filium quoque suum predictum ducatu Aquitannie dotavit.

Note 1. See the curious account of the ceremony as given by Matthew of Westminster 454-5 and Paris, Flowers of History, 132. Compare Edward's instructions in this last sentence with the dying charge which Froissart 53 says he gave to his son. The duchy of Aquitaine was conferred upon the prince, 7th April 1306. Rymer's Fœdera 1.983.

On 26th February 1307 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall (age 23) exiled by [his father] King Edward I of England (age 67) for being his son Edward's (age 22) favourite.

On 7th July 1307 [his father] King Edward I of England (age 68) died at Burgh by Sands [Map] whilst on his way north to Scotland. His son Edward (age 23) succeeded II King of England. Earl Chester merged with the Crown.

Edward had gathered around him Thomas Plantagenet 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl Lancaster, Earl of Salisbury and Lincoln (age 29), Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl Warwick (age 35), Aymer de Valence 2nd Earl Pembroke (age 32) and Robert Clifford 1st Baron Clifford (age 33) and charged them with looking after his son in particular ensuring Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall (age 23) didn't return from exile.

On 6th August 1307 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall (age 23) was created 1st Earl Cornwall by King Edward II of England (age 23); Earl Cornwall usually reserved for the heir. The earldom gave Gaveston substantial landholdings over great parts of England, to the value of £4,000 a year. These possessions consisted of most of Cornwall, as well as parts of Devonshire in the south-west, land in Berkshire and Oxfordshire centred on the honour of Wallingford, most of the eastern part of Lincolnshire, and the honour of Knaresborough in Yorkshire, with the territories that belonged to it.

On 2nd November 1307 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall (age 23) and Margaret Clare Countess Gloucester were married. Arranged by King Edward II of England (age 23). Margaret Clare Countess Gloucester grand-daughter of Edward I through his daughter [his sister] Joan and, as such, significantly higher than Gaveston in the nobility. She the daughter of Gilbert "Red Earl" Clare 7th Earl Gloucester 6th Earl Hertford and Joan of Acre Countess Gloucester and Hertford.

On 2nd December 1307 King Edward II of England (age 23) held a tournament to celebrate Piers Gaveston's (age 23) recent wedding. Gaveston took the opportunity to humiliate the older nobility including John Warenne 7th Earl of Surrey (age 21), Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex (age 31) and Edmund Fitzalan 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel (age 22) further increasing his unpopularity.

On 28th January 1308 King Edward II of England (age 23) and Isabella of France Queen Consort England (age 13) were married at Boulogne sur Mer [Map]. She the daughter of King Philip IV of France (age 39) and Joan Blois I Queen Navarre. He the son of King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England. They were second cousin once removed. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.

Adam Murimuth Continuation. 25th January 1308. In the year of our Lord one thousand three hundred and seven, in the second year of Pope Clement V, beginning from the feast of Saint Michael, Edward aforementioned of Carnarvon (age 23), in the first year of his reign, took [his future wife] Isabella (age 13), the daughter of [his future father-in-law] King Philip of France (age 39), as his wife at Bologna by the sea [Map] on the twenty-second day, on Sunday in Quinquagesima, namely the twenty-fifth day of February,

Anno Domini millesimo CCC^moVII^to, pape Clementis v^ti. anno secundo, inchoando a festo sancti Michaelis, Edwardus prædictus de Carnervan, anno regni sui Primo, duxit lsabellam, filiam regis Philippi Franciæ, in uxorem apud Bononiam supra mare XXIJ^oum, die Dominica in Quinquagesima, scilicet XXV^o. die Februarii,....

On 31st January 1308 King Edward II of England (age 23) and a group of England's leading nobles signed the Boulogne Agreement that attempted to curtail King Edward's rule. The signatories included Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham and Patriarch of Jerusalem (age 63), John Warenne 7th Earl of Surrey (age 21), Aymer de Valence 2nd Earl Pembroke (age 33), Henry Lacy 4th Earl Lincoln, Earl Salisbury (age 57) and Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl Warwick (age 36).

Fine Rolls. On 7th February 1308 King Edward II of England (age 23) and [his wife] Isabella of France Queen Consort England (age 13) returned from their wedding in Boulogne sur Mer [Map] to Dover, Kent [Map].

7th February 1308. Be it remembered that on Wednesday after the Purification, Edward II, the king, returning from beyond seas, to wit, from Boulogne sur Mer [Map], where he took to wife Isabel, daughter of the [his father-in-law] king of France (age 39), touched at Dover, Kent [Map] in his barge about the ninth hour [1500], Hugh le Despenser (age 46) and the lord of Castellione of Gascony being in his company, and the Queen a little afterward touched there with certain ladies accompanying her, and because the great seal which had been taken with him beyond seas then remained in the keeping of the keeper of the wardrobe who could not arrive on that day, no writ was sealed from the hour of the king's coming until Friday following on which day the bishop of Chichester, chancellor, about the ninth hour [1500] delivered to the king in his chamber in Dover castle [Map] the seal used in England during the king's absence, and the king, receiving the same, delivered it to William de Melton (age 33), controller of the wardrobe, and forthwith delivered with his own hand to the chancellor the great seal under the seal of J. de Benstede, keeper of the wardrobe, and Master John Painter Fraunceis, in the presence of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster (age 30), Peter, Earl of Cornwall (age 24), and Hugh le Despenser, William Martyn and William Inge, knights, and Adam de Osgodby, clerk; and the chancellor on that day after lunch in his room (hospicio) in God's House, Dover, sealed writs with the great seal.

On 29th September 1308 (possibly 30th) in a Siblings Marriage de Clare siblings married de Burgh siblings at Waltham Abbey, Essex [Map] in the presence of King Edward II of England (age 24).

John Burgh (age 22) and Elizabeth Clare Lady Verdun (age 13) were married. She the daughter of Gilbert "Red Earl" Clare 7th Earl Gloucester 6th Earl Hertford and [his sister] Joan of Acre Countess Gloucester and Hertford. He the son of Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster (age 49) and Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster. They were sixth cousins. She a granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

Gilbert de Clare 8th Earl Gloucester 7th Earl Hertford (age 17) and Matilda Burgh Countess Gloucester and Hertford (age 20) were married. She by marriage Countess Gloucester, Countess Hertford. She the daughter of Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster and Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster. He the son of Gilbert "Red Earl" Clare 7th Earl Gloucester 6th Earl Hertford and Joan of Acre Countess Gloucester and Hertford. They were sixth cousins. He a grandson of King Edward I of England.

In April 1311 Parliament exiled Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall (age 27). Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by King Edward II of England (age 26) who immediately started to plot for his return.

On 13th January 1312 King Edward II of England (age 27) and Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall (age 28) were reunited at Knaresborough Castle [Map] (probably).

On 4th May 1312 King Edward II of England (age 28) and Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall (age 28) were at Newcastle upon Tyne Castle where they barely escaped a force led by Thomas Plantagenet 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl Lancaster, Earl of Salisbury and Lincoln (age 34), Henry Percy 9th and 1st Baron Percy (age 39) and Robert Clifford 1st Baron Clifford (age 38). Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall escaped to Scarborough, North Yorkshire [Map], King Edward II of England to York [Map].

On 2nd January 1315 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall was buried at King's Langley Priory, Hertfordshire [Map] some two and a half years after his murder. The ceremony was attended by King Edward II of England (age 30) and his wife [his wife] Isabella of France Queen Consort England (age 20) as well as Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex (age 39), Aymer de Valence 2nd Earl Pembroke (age 40), [his half-brother] Thomas of Brotherton 1st Earl Norfolk (age 14), Bartholomew Badlesmere 1st Baron Badlesmere (age 39), Hugh Despencer 1st Baron Despencer (age 7) and his son Hugh "Younger" Despencer 1st Baron Despencer (age 29).

In October 1321 [his wife] Isabella of France Queen Consort England (age 26) was returning from Canterbury, Kent [Map] to London. She sought accommodation at Leeds Castle, Kent [Map] which was under the protection of Margaret Clare Baroness Badlesmere (age 34) the wife of Bartholomew Badlesmere 1st Baron Badlesmere (age 46). Margaret Clare Baroness Badlesmere refused entry to the Queen killing around six of her retinue when they tried to force entry. King Edward II of England (age 37) commenced the Siege of Leeds Castle. Once King Edward II of England gained possession of the castle, he had the garrison hanged from the battlements. His wife Margaret Clare Baroness Badlesmere, her five children (Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley (age 13), Maud Badlesmere Countess of Oxford (age 13), Elizabeth Badlesmere Countess Northampton (age 8), Giles Badlesmere 2nd Baron Badlesmere (age 6) and Margaret Badlesmere Baroness Tibetot (age 6)), and her nephew Bartholomew "The Elder" Burghesh 1st Baron Burghesh (age 34), were imprisoned in the Tower of London [Map].

On 3rd January 1322 [his brother-in-law] Philip V King France I King Navarre (age 29) died. His brother [his brother-in-law] Charles (age 27) succeeded IV King France: Capet, I King Navarre although his niece was by right successor to the Kingdom of Navarre.

In or before May 1322 John Giffard 2nd Baron Giffard Brimpsfield (age 34) was executed by King Edward II of England (age 38). Baron Giffard Brimpsfield forfeit.

On 25th January 1327 King Edward II of England (age 42) abdicated King of England. His son [his son] Edward (age 14) succeeded III King of England.

On 3rd April 1327 Thomas Berkeley 8th and 3rd Baron Berkeley (age 31) and John Maltravers 1st Baron Maltravers (age 37) were made keepers of King Edward II of England (age 42).

On 21st September 1327 King Edward II of England (age 43) was murdered at Berkeley Castle [Map]. There is speculation as to the manner of his death, and as to whether he died at all. Some believe he may have lived the rest of his life in Europe.

Archaeologia Volume 50 1887. XIII. Documents relating to the death and burial of King Edward II. By Stuart Archibald Moore, F.S.A. Read April 8, 1886.

On 24th January 1328 [his son] King Edward III of England (age 15) and [his daughter-in-law] Philippa of Hainault (age 13) were married at York Minster [Map]. She by marriage Queen Consort England. She was crowned the same day. She the daughter of William Hainault I Count Hainault III Count Avesnes III Count Holland II Count Zeeland (age 42) and Joan Valois Countess Zeeland Holland Avesnes and Hainault (age 34). He the son of King Edward II of England and [his former wife] Isabella of France Queen Consort England (age 33). They were second cousins. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Stephen I England.

The marriage was the quid pro quo for her father William Hainault I Count Hainault III Count Avesnes III Count Holland II Count Zeeland having supported his mother Isabella of France Queen Consort England and Roger Mortimer 1st Earl March (age 40) returning to England to usurp the throne of Edward's father King Edward II of England.

On 22nd August 1358 [his former wife] Isabella of France Queen Consort England (age 63) died at Hertford Castle [Map]; see Archaeologia Vol. 35 XXXIII. She was buried in Christ Church, Greyfriars [Map].

The funeral was performed by Archbishop Simon Islip. She was buried in the mantle she had worn at her wedding and at her request, Edward's heart, placed into a casket thirty years before, was interred with her.