Edward II

Edward II, also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, he became heir when his elder brother Alphonso died, accompanied his father on campaigns in Scotland and succeeded to the throne in 1307. In 1308 he married Isabella, daughter of Philip IV of France, in an effort to ease tension between the English and French crowns. His closeness to Piers Gaveston and later to the Despenser family provoked baronial opposition, which produced the reforming Ordinances of 1311, the seizure and execution of Gaveston in 1312 and a long armed confrontation led by Thomas of Lancaster. Defeat by Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314 damaged his standing further. In 1326 Isabella and Roger Mortimer invaded England, his regime collapsed, and in January 1327 he was forced to give up the crown to his son Edward III. He died at Berkeley Castle that September, probably murdered on the orders of the new regime. Historians still debate whether he was an incompetent king or a reluctant and unsuccessful one.