Very soon there was another civil war: the queen kept her eldest son Edward, the Prince of Wales, with her, and said she only fought against the king for his sake; and that if she did not, the king would give so much to Spenser that he would leave nothing for the prince.
At last the queen and her friends took the king prisoner. They shut him up in a castle called Berkeley Castle. They gave him bad food to eat, and dirty water to drink and to wash himself with. They never let him go into the open air to see any of his friends. This poor king was very soon murdered. The queen’s favourite, Mortimer, being afraid the people would be sorry for poor Edward, when they heard how ill he had been used, and might perhaps take him out of prison and make him king again, sent some wicked men secretly to Berkeley Castle, and they killed the king in such a cruel way that his cries and shrieks were heard all over the castle.
He had been king twenty years, but had not been happy one single year.
CHAPTER XXVI.
EDWARD III.—1327 to 1377.
How Queen Isabella was put in prison, and her favourite hanged; how Queen Philippa did much good for the people; and how Edward the Third went to war to conquer France.
When poor Edward of Caernarvon was murdered, his son Edward, who had been made king in his place, was only fourteen years old.
Queen Isabella and her wicked friend Mortimer ruled the kingdom, as they said, only for the good of young king Edward. But, in reality, they cared for nothing but their own pleasure and amusement, and behaved so ill to the people, that the young king’s uncles and some other barons joined together against Mortimer. But he was too strong for them, and beheaded one of the king’s uncles.
At last the young king had the spirit to seize Mortimer, and he was hanged for a traitor. Queen Isabella was put in prison: but as she was the king’s mother, he would not have her killed, although she was so wicked, but gave her a good house to live in, instead of a prison, and paid her a visit every year as long as she lived. Thus, the young King Edward the Third, at eighteen years old, took the kingdom into his own hands, and governed it wisely and happily.
In many things he was like his grandfather, Edward the First. He was wise and just to his own subjects. He was fond of war, and sometimes he was cruel.
I must tell you a little about his wife and children, before we speak of his great wars.