An awkward inheritance
Edward II was born in 1284 and became king in July 1307, on the death of Edward I. He inherited an unfinished war in Scotland, large debts and a body of nobles who had put up with a demanding father. He was not necessarily doomed from the start, but he took over at a hard moment, and several of his own choices made it harder.
Historians have long debated how much blame he deserves. Chroniclers who wrote about him were often hostile, and some wrote after he was deposed, which shapes how the evidence reads. A careful account therefore focuses on what is well documented: whom the king trusted, whom he angered, and how those quarrels played out.
The politics of favorites
Medieval kings were expected to take advice from their great lords. A king who instead promoted a small circle of personal companions could be accused of ignoring that duty, whether or not those companions were incompetent.
Edward’s first favorite was Piers Gaveston, a Gascon knight who had been in his household while he was prince. Edward I had sent him abroad, but Edward II recalled him at once and gave him the earldom of Cornwall, a title that had been used for royal family members. The grant offended the leading nobles. Contemporaries also complained about Gaveston’s manner and his nicknames for the earls. Whether the relationship between the two men was romantic is uncertain; the sources do not say so plainly, and historians are divided. What is clear is that Gaveston was close to the king and that his rise looked like a monopoly of royal favor, which was a political grievance.
Ordinances and civil conflict
In 1311, a group of barons and clergy imposed a set of reforms called the Ordinances. They aimed to limit the king’s household spending, bring appointments under the control of the magnates and parliament, and exile Gaveston. This is a good example of baronial opposition using reform language to restrain a king who would not accept advice.
Gaveston returned anyway. In 1312 a group of earls seized him and had him executed near Warwick, an act that broke the law and made lasting enemies on both sides. The leading figure among the barons was the king’s cousin Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who held several earldoms and had real noble power. Edward did not forgive the killers, and for some years the court and the baronial party stayed in an uneasy standoff.
Scotland and Bannockburn
While this was going on, the Scottish war was going badly. Robert the Bruce had been recovering castles and territory. In 1314 Edward led a large army north to relieve Stirling Castle, and in June the English were defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn. Edward left the field, and the loss was a heavy blow to his standing.
It did not end the war, but it handed his opponents a stronger case. Lancaster gained influence in the aftermath, and the king’s dependence on baronial support grew. Scottish raids into northern England continued for years, and attempts at a settlement did not succeed in the king’s lifetime.
Hard years
The years after Bannockburn were also hard for reasons outside politics. Repeated harvest failure and animal disease in about 1315-17 brought famine across northern Europe, and England was affected. Prices rose, and the government had little room to act. This did not cause the political conflicts, but it made rule harder at the moment the king needed credit.
The Despensers and the crisis of 1321-22
From about 1318 the king relied on a new group of advisers, among them Hugh Despenser the elder and his son, Hugh the younger, who became the king’s chamberlain. The younger Despenser acquired lands, especially in Wales and the Marches, in ways many lords saw as grasping. In 1321 several marcher lords attacked Despenser lands, and parliament ordered the Despensers exiled.
Edward then moved against his opponents. In 1322 his forces defeated the baronial coalition at Boroughbridge, and Lancaster was captured and executed. For some years afterward the king was stronger than at any earlier point. The Despensers ran much of the government, the Ordinances were revoked, and the regime was effective but widely resented because of its harshness and its use of confiscation. A king who seemed to have won against the nobility in fact had fewer friends than before.
Why the reign was unstable
Three problems recur. First, Edward was reluctant to share power with the great lords who expected a voice in royal councils. Second, he found it hard to reward supporters without creating new enemies. Third, he lacked a military success to offset the loss in Scotland. His queen, Isabella of France, whom he had married in 1308, eventually became one of his opponents, and that part of the story belongs to the fall of the king rather than the reign as such. Isabella’s invasion in 1326 and the events of 1327 would pass the crown to their son, who ruled as Edward III. Edward III’s reign was a very different one, built partly on the lessons his father’s had taught.