Our common ancestors - English Royal family - Contents
Edward II
Edward II's tomb at Gloucester Cathedral.
See full size.
From here. Used with permission.
Edward II (see here and here), born 1284,
reigned 1307-27,
born Caernarvon Castle, Wales, 1284 (on one of his father's campaigns against the Welsh),
cr first Prince of Wales 1301,
succ 1307,
mar 1308 to Isabella of France [born 1292, see here],
his gay lover Gaveston was murdered 1312,
he lost Scotland at Bannockburn to Robert I the Bruce 1314,
he neglected Isabella for his male favourites, and she returned to France 1325, and became his enemy,
she began an affair with Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March in 1325 at the French court,
Edward's gay lover Hugh le Despencer was murdered 1326,
he was deposed 1327 by Isabella and her lover Mortimer,
he was murdered at Berkeley Castle (seat of Mortimer's son-in-law) 1327, age 43 yrs,
bur Gloucester cathedral.
Isabella died 1358, bur Christ Church Greyfriars, Newgate, London (destroyed in WW2, now a ruin and garden),
had issue:
- Edward III, born 1312, reigned 1327-77.
Edward II's tomb at Gloucester Cathedral.
From edwardthesecond.com (and blog and facebook).
Edward II's tomb at Gloucester Cathedral.
See full size.
From here.
Edward II's tomb at Gloucester Cathedral.
See full size.
From Peter Forster.
Used with permission.
Edward II's tomb at Gloucester Cathedral.
From here.
See terms of use.
Edward II's tomb at Gloucester Cathedral.
From here.
From Shirley's Royal Ancestors site.
Used with permission.
Drawing of the above effigy of Edward II at Gloucester Cathedral.
From A Student's History of England
by Samuel Rawson Gardiner (1916).
See here.
Originally from Stothard's Monumental Effigies.
- The play Edward II (1591) by Marlowe portrays Edward II and Gaveston as lovers.
- The movie Edward II (1991).
- Because Edward II was gay/bisexual,
there has been speculation by some that he wasn't the father of Isabella's children.
- For example, the fiction that Isabella and William Wallace were lovers (dramatic licence in a film).
- Note that even if Edward II isn't the father of Isabella's children, it only removes a single person from our ancestry, namely Edward II, since we also descend from his full siblings.
- There is no real evidence to support this though.
Even if Edward II was homosexual, it seems certain he fathered his own heirs.
Edward II blog makes the point:
- Edward and Isabella's children (and more) points out that 9 months before Edward III's birth, in early 1312, Edward and Isabella were together at a happy celebration in York.
- Isabella did have an affair, but not until years later, things had gone sour, they had separated and she was away in France in 1325. Back in 1312, there is no realistic prospect of an affair. In 1312, Isabella was with Edward.
- Homosexuality in history (and here)
