Edward II: Abdication and Murder

When trouble threatened with the new king of France (Charles IV, brother of Edward's queen, Isabella), the queen went as envoy to France in 1325, taking her son (later Edward III). Having been alienated by Edward's neglect, she refused to return home while the Despensers ruled. Isabella, with her son and Roger de Mortimer, 1st earl of March, gathered a force and in 1326 invaded England. Edward II found no one to support him and fled westward. The Despensers were executed and Edward himself was captured and forced to abdicate (1327). He was imprisoned in Berkeley Castle and almost certainly murdered there.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Abdication and Murder
• Lancaster and the Despensers
• The Influence of Gaveston
• Bibliography

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