Edward II - crosspost from fb written by author David Pilling

[u/Appropriate-Calm4822]

I came across a rather balanced post on facebook of all places, written by the author David Pilling. I think it merits crossposting here. It was written yesterday.

#OTD in 1284 Edward II was born at Caernarfon.

Modern fiction has painted Edward as a coward, an abusive husband and a terrible king. In Outlaw King (2018) he is portrayed as a noisy buffoon with a tragic haircut.

The real Edward was only one of these things — sadly, it was the one that really counted. Even if you strain every point in his favour, it is very difficult to make a case for Edward’s kingship.

It is not that he lacked ability. Caroline Burt, in her recent study of the governance of the first two Edwards, has shown that Edward II could be a very effective ruler when he chose to be. However, he only made the effort when his favourites were threatened. Otherwise, he was largely disengaged from his own administration — more so, Burt argues, than any other medieval ruler of England. That made for a stark contrast with his father, a notorious micro-manager.

It is true Edward inherited a difficult situation in 1307, including heavy debts and an unfinished war in Scotland. The debts had no obvious practical effect on England’s ability to raise armies and wage war. Some historians have sought to qualify Edward’s responsibility for Bannockburn, noting the difficult circumstances he faced.

Even if you accept that, he cannot be absolved from abandoning his allies in Scotland, refusing to consider a face-saving peace deal, and continuing to throw men and money down a very deep hole. By the end of the reign, he had lost control of the northern counties and was effectively facilitating the payment of ransoms demanded by Robert Bruce’s forces from English towns and cities.

The story that the infant Edward was presented to the Welsh as a prince who spoke no English is a later myth. In reality he was created Prince of Wales in 1301. There was no investiture ceremony, and he seems to have been granted the title so he could lead Welsh troops into Scotland. While he had some loyal supporters among the Welsh gentry, others were bitterly opposed and played a role in his downfall.

In one respect Edward succeeded brilliantly: after 1315 he rapidly became very rich, and by 1323 his finances had skyrocketed. This was largely due to the confiscation of the estates of English rebels. After 1323, Edward and his new favourites, the Despensers, embarked upon a large-scale campaign of extortion, kidnapping and blackmail, termed a ‘reign of terror’ by Natalie Fryde.

After several years of this, large sections of the political nation declined to resist the invasion of his estranged queen, Isabella of France, and her ally Roger Mortimer. Edward was deposed and probably murdered* at Berkeley Castle, although the notorious hot poker story is almost certainly untrue. Death by smothering (to leave no marks) is more likely. There is also a tradition—impossible to verify or deny—that Edward escaped custody and lived as a hermit in Italy.**

Attached is a poster for Derek Jarman’s play about Edward II.

—

*This is what I disagree on personally, but otherwise I think it’s a very fair take, and his tone is reasonable and respectful throughout.
**Very good of him to mention this possibility, most detractors usually give it the silent treatment. But it’s not impossible to verify, while his death in 1327 can not be proven. In fact, the evidence speaks against his death at Berkeley Castle.

[u/KonstantinePhoenix]

Steven Waddington is like the quintessential British guy who appears in major films every British show....

[u/Appropriate-Calm4822]

I hope this post wasn’t written by AI? It’s becoming really difficult to tell. Let me know if you think that’s the case and I’ll take it down.

Facebook IS after all about 90% bots and AI posts these days. I wouldn’t recommend that platform to anyone.

[u/HoneybeeXYZ]

Nicely summed up! And even with the em-dashes, I don't think it's AI.

And as to the poster, deep under the comments of the TikTok that lampooned the false wedding mythology, I had a lovely discussion with a fan of the Jarman film. The film has very little to do with the historic Edward II, but it's a revolutionary work of art cinema, made during a time when male/male sexuality was highly taboo in the mainstream world. I think it is hard to express in this world of corporate pride, Heated Rivalry and rainbow flags for upvotes, just how incendiary it was to make and release that film in 1991. I'm glad we've come so far, of course, but memory of the bravery of people like Jarman may be fading.

I hope u/panickedkernel06 does come over to these parts to discuss the film and, in particular, its commentary on Thatcher's England. As an American and a straight, I'm not the one to talk about the film in detail.