The burdensome inheritance left by the king who had just died fell into hands too feeble to support it. Edward II. was twenty-three years of age when he succeeded his father; the latter had had six sons, of whom three only survived him; the young king had already shown signs of frivolity and obstinacy which augured the misfortunes of his reign. Brought up from childhood with a young Aquitanian, Piers Gaveston, he had conceived for this companion so strong an affection, that the king, his father, had been alarmed thereat, and had on several occasions banished the young favorite. At the death of Edward I. Gaveston was in exile; but at the news of the accession of his young master, he hastened to him, and the first act of the king was to confer upon him the Earldom of Cornwall, which had previously been deemed a position sufficiently conspicuous for princes of the royal blood. Edward did not content himself with this; while he was pretending to carry on a campaign in Scotland, the great officers of the crown were changed; the Lord Treasurer, the Bishop of Lichfield, was even deprived of his property and cast into prison. In spite of the oath which the old king had exacted from his son, the latter had returned to London to inter his father, leaving Bruce free to pursue his successes. Gaveston, who had lately married Margaret, a niece of the king, was nominated regent of the kingdom in the month of January, 1308, by the king, who went over to France to marry the Princess Isabel, according to Froissart, one of the most beautiful women in the world.
King Philip the Fair had just caused the dissolution of the order of Templars in France, an iniquitous proceeding, inspired rather by the prince's greed than by the offences of the order. Philip thereby obtained for the King of England the dowry promised to the latter, and persuaded him, without great difficulty, to withhold his protection from the Templars established in England. A short time afterwards they were prosecuted. Edward set sail on the 7th of February to return to England; he was accompanied by a numerous suite of French noblemen, at the head of whom were two uncles of the Queen. Gaveston came to meet the king, and as soon as Edward perceived him, forgetting his young wife and his noble followers, he threw himself into the arms of the favorite, embracing him and calling him brother, to the great indignation of Isabel and all the beholders. Their indignation was increased when they saw Gaveston decked out with all the jewels which the King of France had recently given Edward. The discontent reached its height, when, at the ceremony of the coronation, which took place with great splendor on the 14th of February, Piers Gaveston, as the people persisted in calling him, in spite of his elevation to the Earldom of Cornwall, was entrusted with the task of carrying before the king the crown of St. Edward, to the exclusion of the highest noblemen of the kingdom, who were all anxious for this honor.
Isabel had already begun to complain to her father of her husband and the favorite, when the barons came to the king four days after his coronation. "Sire," they said, "send back this stranger who has no business here." The king promised to give his reply on the assembling of Parliament after Easter: meanwhile, he endeavored to lessen the resentment of the noblemen towards his friend. But Piers was most imprudent, frivolous and vain; he loved to make a show of his talent for chivalrous exercises, and threw successively from their horses in several tournaments the Earls of Lancaster, Hereford, Pembroke, and Warren, whose wounded pride was added to the many serious causes of resentment against him. On the assembling of Parliament, the annoyance of the barons was so great, that the king was constrained to give way and to banish Gaveston; he loaded him with presents on his departure, giving him all the jewels which he had received from Queen Isabel, and accompanied him as far as Bristol to bid him farewell. Gaveston was believed to be in Aquitaine, when news came that the king had appointed him governor of Ireland, and that he had just established himself there with a degree of splendor almost regal.
The king longed to recall his favorite; he lavished favors upon the great lords in order to win them over, and, when he had been relieved by the Pope of the oath which he had sworn never to recall Gaveston to England, he sent for his friend, and went as far as Chester to meet him, publicly announcing that the Earl of Cornwall had been unjustly banished, and that justice demanded a fresh examination of his conduct. On the other hand, the barons declared that the king had violated his oath and would not scruple to break all those which he had sworn for the maintenance of the public liberties. The discontent was increasing; the queen complained of the desertion of her husband; the Countess of Cornwall was representing to her brother, the Earl of Gloucester, Gaveston's unworthy conduct towards her. The king and his favorite did not heed the storm which was about to burst; feasts, dances, and tournaments succeeded each other without intermission at the court. The king's funds meanwhile had run low, and, in the month of August, 1311, he found himself compelled to convene Parliament at Westminster.
The barons came, discontented but resolute; old Archbishop Winchelsea had exhorted them to deliver the kingdom from the power of the favorite; the Earl of Lincoln, when dying, had sent for his son-in-law, the Earl of Lancaster. "Do not abandon England to the king and the Pope," he said; "do as the ancient barons did, and stand firmly by your privileges." Scarcely had the barons arrived at Westminster, when they renewed the stipulations of the "Mad Parliament" of Oxford; they demanded the formation of a temporal council entrusted with the task of providing for the government of the kingdom; one of the new concessions forced from the king was that he should convoke Parliament at least once a year.
The barons had brought with them their men-at-arms. Edward II. signed all that they demanded, and Gaveston was once more obliged to leave the country. The king then proceeded to the North, and was busy raising an army, when his favorite suddenly appeared at his side. Such daring was beyond endurance. The Earl of Lancaster, the king's cousin, came unexpectedly upon Edward; the king only had time to escape with Gaveston, leaving the queen in the hands of the barons, who treated her with great respect. The king and his friend had set out in a little bark; they landed at Scarborough, and Piers shut himself up in the fortress there, while the king proceeded to York in the hope of joining his army. But the barons had already set out for Scarborough. Being besieged in the castle, Gaveston surrendered, on the 17th of May, to the Earl of Pembroke and Lord Henry Percy, who promised to spare his life, and then undertook to take him to his castle of Wallingford. The little band started on their journey; but when they arrived at Dedington, the Earl of Pembroke left his prisoner to go and see his wife, who was in the neighborhood. On the morning of the 19th, Gaveston received orders to dress himself at once; he descended into the courtyard, and found that his guards had been changed; the Earl of Warwick, the "black dog of the Ardennes," as the favorite called him when jesting with the king, had arrived during the night; the prisoner was tied on the back of a mule and led to Warwick Castle. The Earl of Lancaster was there. Piers was accustomed to call this nobleman the "old boar," but he now threw himself at his feet, begging for mercy. The judges were inflexible; he was hastily tried, and being condemned, the unlucky Piers was conducted to Blacklow Hill, between Warwick and Coventry, where a scaffold had been erected; the executioners hesitated for a moment to accomplish so horrible a deed. "You have caught the fox; if you let him go, you will have to give chase to him again," cried a voice from among the crowd, and the favorite's head fell; he was only thirty-three years of age.
While Edward II. was mourning for his murdered friend, Robert Bruce was slowly conquering Scotland; twice had the king of England attempted an expedition in support of the power which was slipping from his hands, and twice he had returned without result; the authority of Bruce was being established everywhere in his country; the castles of Perth, Jedburgh, Dunbar, Edinburgh were in his hands; he was besieging the fortress of Stirling, when the governor, Sir Philip Mowbray, contrived to make his appeals for succor reach the king; Edward aroused himself for a moment from his natural indolence and raised a large army to march against Scotland; he started from Berwick on the 11th of June, 1313.