He knew himself to be The Divine Victim, the incarnate God, and that sooner or later his life might be demanded of him. Piers Gaveston, the Earl of Lancaster, the younger dispenser, might all die in his stead, but the call for sacrifice came to him in the end. Nothing else will account for his behaviour.
- Margaret Murray, The Divine King in England.

Additional Information on
Edward II (b.1284 r.1307-1327)

The unfortunate Edward II was neither wise nor popular. He had no military successes in Scotland or France and his favouritism to the handsome Frenchman Piers Gaveston infuriated the nobles. Edward was more interested in sports and gardening, in the company of Gaveston, than he was in governing his country. Although Edward did marry Isabella (Princess of France) who bore him four children, theirs was not a happy marriage and his neglect of her and of the nobles and barons in favour of his friends led to many a revolt against the king. Edward's ineptitude as a soldier was revealed at Bannockburn in 1314, when Robert the Bruce's army destroyed the English forces with humiliating competence. This victory assured Scottish independence and from this point on Bruce and his armies attacked Northern England. Edward was eventually deposed and murdered on his wife's orders in 1327, supposedly with a red hot poker.

QUOTATIONS

He is one of the best medieval examples of the brutal and brainless athlete established on the throne. He was not exceptionally vicious or depraved. He was just incompetent, idle, frivolous and incurious.
- T.F. Tout, The Captivity and the Death of Edward of Caernarvon.

Every president of the US has somehow been found to descend from Edward II.
- Gore Vidal, quoted in The Observer, 1981.