biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1284–1327)
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| biography:
| King of England from 1307, the fourth son of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, born in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, NW Wales, UK. In 1301 he was created Prince of Wales, the first English heir-apparent to bear that title, and in 1308 married Isabella, the daughter of Philip IV of France. Throughout his reign, Edward mismanaged the barons, who sought to rid the country of royal favourites (such as Piers de Gaveston) and restore their rightful place in government. The Ordinances of 1311 restricted the royal prerogative in matters such as appointments to the king's household. Edward was humiliated by reverses in Scotland, where he was decisively defeated by Robert Bruce in the Battle of Bannockburn (1314). The Ordinances were formally annulled (1322), but the king's new favourites, the Despensers, were acquisitive and unpopular, and earned the particular enmity of Queen Isabella. With her lover, Roger Mortimer Earl of March (c.1287–1330), she toppled the Despensers (1326) and imprisoned Edward in Kenilworth Castle. He renounced the throne in favour of his eldest son (1327), who succeeded as Edward III, and was then murdered in Berkeley Castle, near Gloucester. |
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