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EDWARD II, KING OF ENGLAND

HUSBAND:
EDWARD II. King of England. Chart A1.
Born 25 APR 1284 at Caernarvon, Wales; son of Edward I [24665168], King of England, and Eleanor of CASTILE [24665169].
He was as tall, strong, golden-haired and good looking as his father.

Edward ascended to the throne in 1307. However, he was not a good king. He cared nothing for the duties of the kingdom. He made no effort to rule or to impress his subjects. His only desire was to use the advantages of his position to enrich his friends and to amuse himself. He had no taste for jousting or other martial pursuits of the time. Instead, he preferred to test his strength in digging or rowing, or to learn and practice the manual crafts of his subjects; like thatching or farming. At the time he was severely handled by his contemporaries for such unkingly behavior.

He married Isabella of France [12332585] in 1308 He traveled to Boulogne to bring her home. She was treated shabbily by Edward, as he showed no deference for her. However, they produced four children.

Outraged by his undignified behavior, the aristocracy rose against him. They were led principally by his cousin, Thomas of Lancaster. By 1311 Lancaster had gained considerable power, with five earldoms in his possession and an immense private army at his command. His defiance of the Crown came out into the open in 1314 when he and three other earls refused to accept the King's summons to military service against Scotland, on the grounds that the expedition had not been approved by Parliament.

On Midsummer Day 1314, after a display of incredible incompetence by both the king and his military advisors, the English were totally defeated at the battle of Bannockburn by Robert Bruce and a Scottish army only one third their strength.

At first the battle was going severly against Robert Bruce. When a reserve force of Templar Knights arrived, that battle turned against the English. (S2).

After the disaster of Bannockburn, Edward gave up even the pretense of ruling, and became a mere puppet in the hands of Lancaster. But as the royal power collapsed, Lancaster did little to replace it. The Scots ravaged the north of England, levying ransoms from the towns, while private warfare broke out in many other parts of the kingdom. Providing a grim background to this situation of chaos was the worst famine in European history.

In 1318 some semblance of normality returned as a measure of reconciliation between Edward and Lancaster was engineered by the Earl of Pembroke, the most honorable and competent of the earls. Edward still remained a king in name only, his every act to be controlled by a standing council. He did remain in the position of playing them off against each other. And new favorites arose at court. The two Despensers, father and son were as greedy and ambitious as Gaveston, but their ability and sense of political responsibility was far greater.

Supported by the Despensers, the king cast off the control of the magnates and in return for their support, they were rewarded with a flow of estates and hard cash.

He died 21 SEP 1327 near Gloucester, England.

WIFE:
[F12332585]. ISABELLA of France.
Daughter of PHILIP IV, The Fair, King of FRANCE and Jeanne (or Joanna), Queen of NAVARRE. (S4).
Daughter of (William (Guillaume I) [24665170] and Jeanne of VALOIS [24665171]). (S?) She married EDWARD II [12332584], King of England on 25 JAN 1308 at Bologne, France. Isabella took a lover (Roger de Mortimer) and at least acquiesced in the plot to murder her husband, Edward II. Her son, Edward III, sent her to Castle Rising in East Anglia following the execution of her lover, Mortimer. She lived there 28 years in semi-seclusion. She died NOV 1357. She is buried at Grey Friars Church at Newgate, London, as she requested.

CHILDREN of Edward II, King of England [F12332584] and Isabella of France [F12332585]:


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