How Edward II's Private Life Nearly Cost The Throne | Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty | Chronicle

[Music] out of the chaos darkness and violence of the middle ages one family rose to seize control of england generation after generation they ruled the country for more than 300 years ruthlessly crushing all competition to become the greatest english dynasty of all time the plantations what i love about the plantagenet story is that it's more shocking more brutal and more astonishing than anything you'll find in fiction i want to show you the plantagenese as i see real living breathing people driven by ambition jealousy hatred and revenge these kings murdered betrayed and tyrannized their way to spectacular success for better and for worse the plantagenets forged england as a nation this time edward ii was the king most famous for the story of his agonizing death but the story of his life is even more extraordinary one of obsession bloodlust political savagery and above all revenge so [Music] [Music] july the 11th 1307 prince edward the 20 year old heir to the throne is near london as word of his father's death races south to meet him [Music] this is the news that prince edward's been waiting for all his life so the very first thing you'd expect him to do is to saddle up ride north claim his birthright and save his country but he doesn't in fact the first thing he does is to issue orders for the recall of the most divisive man in the kingdom [Music] [Music] here's gaviston edward's best friend and one of the finest knights around but he's been banished to france by the old king for being a bad influence on the prince gaviston's insufferable arrogance and his hold over edward mean he's hated by every noble in the land gavison doesn't have much time for them either he's famous for making up rude nicknames for them he calls one [ __ ] son another burst belly and a third the black dog of course that just makes them hate him even more gavison's return will clearly be nothing but trouble but edward can't see it all he cares about is getting his mate back edward is the sort of guy who can only see one step ahead he wants what he wants now no matter what the cost he's utterly incapable of seeing that all his actions have consequences most of them bad ones this blindness will ultimately lead both edward and his kingdom to ruin and disaster looms right from the [Music] start edward marries 12 year old isabella daughter of the king of france a match designed to shore up relations with the kingdom's biggest enemy their joint coronation should be a moment of triumph and unity but it isn't this is the great hall at the palace of westminster where edward and isabella's coronation feast takes place there's lavish decorations fountains flowing with wine but there's one problem this looks less like a coronation feast for edward and his queen and more like a party for edward and gaveston edward and isabella's coats of arms should be on the walls instead it's edward and gavistan's worse gaviston swans around an imperial purple a color only kings should wear worse still the king and his friend talk to no one but each other throughout isabella is stoic but the rest of the french nobles are so incensed they storm out with them goes all the good will the marriage was designed to create the english nobles are hacked off too not least edward's cousin thomas of lancaster the most powerful earl in england lancaster hates gaviston and to him the whole event is an outrage it's proof edward can't see past his obsession with his friend to the far more important job of being king and if edward can't see it then lancaster is going to make him see it just three months later at edward's first parliament lancaster and a group of other leading nobles turn up armed their message to edward is simple gaviston must go edward responds by accusing them of treachery he gets a chilling reply [Music] officer it's an explicit threat if you don't get rid of him we'll get rid of you but whatever lancaster threatens him with on gaviston edward won't budge and lancaster can't make him yet but the battle lines have been drawn the bitter hatred between edward and his cousin and this fight over gaveston will define the whole future of the kingdom and bloody murder will now stalk england for the rest of edward's reign [Music] [Music] with gaviston's help edward has very quickly run the country into the ground the finances security and political stability have all gone to the dogs by 1310 lancaster's patience is exhausted he comes up with a plan to tear edward and gaviston apart lancaster has been conducting a whispering campaign against the king using popular hatred of gaviston to help sell his case he claims that gavison's been lining his pockets at the king's expense now annoying as gavison is that's probably one of the few things he hasn't been doing but the mud sticks and by february 1310 lancaster has a committed group of nobles ready to stand up to the king and that allows him to do something extraordinary and the evidence exists here in the national archives he's going to crush edward and destroy gaviston at the same time these are the ordinances 41 articles which lancaster claims will bring stability and reform to the kingdom sounds great but taken as a whole they actually do something very different they strip edward of pretty much all his powers as king it's an unprecedented attack the ordinances take away the king's right to impose taxation raise armies dispense justice and make law all these rights will now rest with the nobles and lancaster will be far more powerful than the king but even that's not enough for lancaster because this is personal and there's a clause here that proves it it's not to do with rights or laws it's to do with galveston this is it clause 20. it's even got gavison's name beside it [Music] it says he has malmeney misled and malconsis ill-counseled senu our lord the king it orders his immediate exile also says that if gaviston returns he is to be treated as a traitor and the penalty for traitors is death so what does edward do he should fight lancaster to protect his basic rights as king but he doesn't he seems perfectly happy to let his enemies strip away his right to make peace or war to dispense justice to collect taxation so long as they drop clause 20 leave his mate alone but lancaster has edward over a barrel if he doesn't agree to all the ordinances then lancaster and his new allies will go to war against him the king has no choice he turns his back on his friend he accepts the ordinances and gaviston is banished forever on pain of death it beggars belief that edward would be willing to give up all his power just to save his friend that's led people to suspect that edward and gaviston were more than just friends that they were lovers and that edward's desire for gaviston outweighed everything else so is it true well possibly i don't think we'll ever really know what went on behind the closed doors of the royal bedchamber but frankly it didn't really matter to the people of the time edward could have been bedding his priest his page boy and his horse so long as he was governing the kingdom properly to the noble's gaviston stopped edward from doing that and that's why gavaston had to go [Music] lancaster may think he's finally got the king under control but he hasn't because when it comes to gaviston edward is literally a law unto himself just three months later defying lancaster and all sense edward calls gaviston back again and if that wasn't crazy enough what edward does next is utter insanity the king sends letters out across the country announcing gaviston's return and adding that he's overturning the ordinances all of them when edward's letters read out in town squares like this it does two things first it brings england to the brink of civil war and second it paints a pretty big target on gaviston's back so you'd be forgiven for thinking this is just the start of some much bigger plan but you'd be wrong because actually this is the plan edward's just going to overturn the ordinances and see what happens and that's edward all over he's so fixated on what he wants today he simply can't see what's obviously going to happen next lancaster's response is no surprise to anyone except the king gaviston is hunted down and brought here to warwick castle home of one of lancaster's allies [Music] the next day he's hauled up in front of a court organized by lancaster it's composed entirely of nobles who detest him gaveston isn't even allowed to speak in his defense it's a kangaroo court pure and simple [Music] make no mistake lancaster is crossing a line here he's trying gavison under article 20 of the ordinances which make it very clear if gavison comes back to england he dies problem is edward's overturned the ordinances so this court held here at warwick castle has about as much authority as a lynch mob piers gaviston best friend and trusted adviser to the king of england is convicted of treason and sentenced to death but however they want to dress it up this isn't justice it's political murder [Music] on the 19th of june 1312 lancaster's men marched piers gaviston out of warwick castle all the way to blacklow hill for execution [Music] this monument marks the lonely spot where gavison was killed [Music] he's brought here because unlike warwick castle this land belongs to lancaster and he wants to send the king a message he wants him to know who's doing this to him this is personal [Music] [Music] when edward hears about gaviston's death he goes half crazy with grief first he blames gaviston for getting caught then more reasonably he blames lancaster interestingly the only person he doesn't blame is himself that he's the one who brought gavison back again and again despite being warned very clearly what would happen if he did he's the one who put his friend in danger he might not want to admit it but the buck stops with him [Music] edward swears revenge on lancaster but with the ordinances reissued and everyone against him the king is in no position to revenge himself on anyone and things are about to get even worse [Music] edward's been neglecting the never-ending war with scotland by 1314 it's reached crisis point he has to march an army north immediately or the war will be lost now for edward this is actually an opportunity winning in scotland could really help turn things around for him but as ever disaster is about to strike and as ever edward can't see it coming [Music] in the crucial battle that decides the war edward's army is massacred and it's all lancaster's fault [Applause] when edward led his troops to scotland lancaster was legally obliged to bring his forces to support him the last thing lancaster wants is to see edward succeed so when the time came to march north lancaster and his cronies simply didn't turn up the king suffers a historic defeat most of his army are slaughtered edward is lucky to escape with his life and there is now only one thing in his mind he will do absolutely anything to get revenge on lancaster [Music] after bannockburn edward is humiliated financially ruined and friendless he desperately needs strong new allies to help him [Music] and here at kfilly castle in the wild west of medieval britain is where he finds them they're called the dispensers this castle tells you everything you need to know about the dispensers in a place where neighbours are constantly at war over money and power the dispensers have the biggest baddest castle of them all there are two of them both called hugh dad is a longtime supporter of edward but it's his son who's the driving force [Music] hugh dispenza jr is as ruthless as he is ambitious he's not afraid to take on anyone and he's got the brains and muscle to back it up the dispensers help edward drag himself out of the mire restoring the royal finances and getting the country up and running again in return they get to do whatever the hell they like as soon as they've gained the king's confidence the dispensers start snatching things for themselves over the next three years they grab territory after territory in the welsh borders trampling on anyone who gets in their way edward must realize the dispensers are massively destabilizing the balance of power in the kingdom it must be obvious they're only out for themselves but i think as long as they ultimately serve up revenge on lancaster he doesn't care who they upset in the process he can't see how the effects of the dispenser's welsh power grab could possibly turn out badly for him but it does because edward backing the dispensers creates a new and very dangerous enemies roger mortimer one of the most powerful barons in the kingdom up to this point he's actually been on edward's side but when the dispensers grab a chunk of his turf and the king does nothing mortimer turns on him and leads a popular uprising against the dispensers and the king mortimer's men kick the dispensers out of wales then they march on london [Music] demands that the dispensers are banished and that puts edward in a hopeless position the king cannot be seen to back down so he has to refuse but with mortimer's army ready to sack london his refusal could easily get him killed salvation comes from an unlikely source no longer a helpless child 25 year old queen isabella falls to her knees in front of the court and begs edward to reconsider for her sake so just as mortimer demanded edward banishes the dispensers but crucially he's able to claim he's doing it for his queen she's given her husband a face-saving way out of a no-win situation and it finally spurs him into action with isabella by his side the king is finally going to take the fight to his enemies so in october 1321 queen isabella makes a surprise stop here at leeds castle in kent seeking shelter on her way to canterbury leeds castle is the stronghold of bartholomew battlesmere one of mortimer's most prominent allies unsurprisingly when she gets to these gates battles may's men refuse to let her in isabella insists it turns nasty then the malay that follows six of her people are killed now clearly isabella's got a tour of steel but why would she come to this castle owned by one of her husband's enemies well in reality this is just a pretext isabella is putting her life on the line to give her husband an excuse to start a fight just days later edward turns up with an army and siege engines and leeds castle surrenders edward and isabella look on as 13 of battlezmir's defenders are executed for resisting watching with them are the dispensers edward's ruthless enforcers brought back from exile to manage his campaign because this is just the start for the first time in his entire life edward has a well thought out strategic plan with the dispensers secretly recalled and isabella by his side he's going to pick off his enemies one by one first battlesmere then mortimer and finally the real prize lancaster [Music] edward heads to wales picking off mortimer's allies on the way the offensive catches mortimer off guard edward quickly captures him and bangs him up in the tower of london the momentum is now with the king but lancaster has a big army and powerful allies in the north he'll be a much tougher proposition to take down then something extraordinary happens that absolutely no one saw coming one of edward supporters the archbishop of york receives a series of damning letters and they're here copied into the government archives the letters are between two scottish ministers here you can see the name of one of them sir james douglas and they refer to an agreement with an english noble who's named as king arthur what he's doing is guaranteeing he won't support any english invasion of scotland there's only one person that king arthur could be the king's cousin thomas of lancaster so this is a smoking gun it's proof that lancaster has been colluding with the enemy and that is treason ever since bannockburn edwards suspected that lancaster is in bed with the scots now he can prove it the king immediately publishes the lancaster letters then marches his army north as edward approaches lancaster's support melts away no one wants a backup traitor the earl is captured fleeing for his life this is what remains of lancaster's favorite castle pontefract and it's here that he's brought in chains to face edwards in a bitter irony edward locks him up in a tower that lancaster had himself built specifically in anticipation of imprisoning the king the next day lancaster has hauled from his tower to face the court now this is the king's big chance to restore the rule of law to england by giving his cousin a fair trial after all the evidence is overwhelming lancaster has committed treason and he would be found guilty but as ever this is personal edward's not interested in justice he wants what he's always wanted revenge [Music] lancaster is tried by a jury of his enemies no defense no right to speak and sentenced to death i'm in judicial murder exactly what he did to gaviston [Music] it takes three blows of the sword to kill lancaster as the last blow lands on lancaster's neck edward finally has his revenge on the man who killed his friend but at what price the king of england has committed the political murder of the country's premier earl his first cousin a man with plantagenet royal blood in his veins pandora's box is open and no one is safe on the day of lancaster's execution six of his supporters follow him to the gallows another three are executed the next day in the months that follow the executions continue no trial no evidence just the word of the king 117 rebels have their lands confiscated and at least 15 others join roger mortimer in the tower it must look to the whole kingdom like edward's bloodlust is insatiable but in reality behind the scenes the dispensers are pulling the strings it's payback time for the humiliation of their exile edward makes huge spencer jr chamberlin of the royal household giving the dispensers complete control of the machinery of government and the country's finances soon all access to edward has to go through them [Music] the dispenser regime makes them hated right across the kingdom but the dispensers don't care the king is now their puppet and they're not done yet two years later in autumn 1324 wall breaks out with france and the dispensers get an opportunity to move on the one person who could still interfere with their control of the king queen isabella the king of france is isabella's brother technically she's an enemy alien and that's how the dispensers treat her on national security grounds they purge her household of french people confiscate her lands [Music] edward does nothing to help [Music] imagine how isabella must feel she's put up with the humiliation of gaviston when edward went after lancaster she was right behind him she even put her own life on the line at leeds castle she's done everything edward could have asked of a queen and more and this is her reward edward can't know it but this is the beginning of the end of his rule [Music] six months later edward and the dispensers are here in dover the war with france is going disastrously wrong the king has no choice but to turn to his wife for help he sends isabella to france to negotiate a truce with her brother king charles when isabella sails for france she does so knowing the dispensers have her children and that's why they're pretty confident she'll have to behave but they've massively underestimated her because this is a woman who'll one day become known as the she-wolf and edward and the dispensers are about to find out why [Music] in france isabella's influence with her brother does the trick she gets him to agree to a treaty but there's a catch the french king demands that edward comes to france to seal the deal [Music] edward going to france is something the dispensers simply can't allow their control over the country depends on having the king in their clutches without him the whole thing could unravel in desperation the dispensers persuade edward to send a message claiming to be ill so they must be delighted when the reply comes back expressing sympathy and saying that under the circumstances the french king would be happy to accept the homage of edward's son twelve-year-old prince edward instead sounds reasonable so edward sends the heir to the throne to france along with a message telling isabella to return immediately it's a massive miscalculation with prince edward safely by her side in paris here at the french court in the concierge isabella makes her move and it's extraordinary separated as far as isabella is concerned until the dispensers are gone her husband is as good as dead neither the king nor the dispensers has appreciated the danger of losing control of both the queen and the heir to the throne but with isabella declared against them she quickly becomes the focus for opposition edward and hugh might have thought that by snatching her children they could force her to toe the line but they've no idea who they're dealing with isabella's opposition doesn't stop its speeches a month later she's wearing her black robes of mourning when she meets a rich powerful and charismatic man who's just escaped from the tower of london roger mortimer her husband's bitterest enemy the attraction is immediate within weeks they're lovers even paris is shocked isabella the she-wolf and roger mortimer sworn enemy of the king for edward ii they are a very dangerous combination [Music] [Music] in the autumn of 1326 isabella and mortimer head back to england with one simple aim regime change d-day september the 24th 1326 and even with mortimer buyer's side for isabella this is a hell of a gamble i mean let's face it she's an adulterous foreign queen with an escaped convict lover backed by a handful of men closer in number to a moderate house party than a proper invasion force this has all the hallmarks of a suicide mission but isabella and mortimer have called it right popular hatred of the dispensers and the king is so deep and so widespread that as his wife and her lover ride through the shires supporters flop to their side in less than a month the queen takes the country the king is forced to flee for his life [Music] edward's running out of options fast he's supposed to be the anointed king of england but now he's reduced to a man on the run his only remaining supporter is a man who if it's possible is hated even more than he is it said he tried to get a message to isabella if only they could talk maybe they could smooth things over the time for talking is long gone but as usual edward can't see it [Music] edward and hugh are captured running scared on a forest path in the welsh mountains isabella bangs edward up in kenworth castle she hasn't decided what to do with him yet but she's got big plans for hugh dispenza dispenser senior has already been beheaded and fed to the dogs and he's a lucky one when he the younger arrives here in hereford and sees a 50-foot gallows being erected over the town he probably begins to suspect the trial he's about to receive isn't going to be entirely fair and he's right like gaviston and lancaster before him he's not allowed to speak in his own defense and he's tried by people who hate him and the sentence he receives is so spectacularly vicious and inhuman he actually tries to starve himself to death just to avoid it in front of a huge crowd dispenser is hung almost to the point of death but he's not getting off that lightly because isabella has a point to prove this is a very personal execution and a very public statement isabella has a ringside seat as dispenser is strapped to a ladder for the next part of his ordeal the queen wants everyone to know that dispenser has come between her and her husband he's damaged her marriage and this is her revenge dispenser's genitals are cut off and burned in front of him [Music] incredibly isabella is eating as she watches it happen even more incredibly throughout all of this hugh dispenser never makes a sound but isabella isn't done dispenser's entrails are pulled out and shown [Applause] finally almost mercifully he's beheaded murderous personal vindictiveness has become the defining characteristic of edward ii reign the only person who could have stopped it was edward instead he embraced it now it's coming for him edward who's being held here at kenworth castle is isabella mortimer's last remaining problem he may be a defeated tyrant but he's still the rightful king of england anointed by god on the other hand they've been so blatant about their adultery they can hardly just give him his crown back so edward's wife and her lover have him declared incorrigible and he's deposed by act of parliament once king of england he's now just plain edward of carnarvon the place of his birth for the first time since the dark ages a reigning monarch has been forced from the throne england has a new king edward iii but as isabella is regent who's really snatched the crown the she-wolf has earned her name this is barclay castle in gloucestershire and it's here the end game is played out whilst he's still alive the king remains a threat there have already been three attempts to spring him from prison and restore him to power in truth he's been a dead man walking since his wife snatched the throne [Music] publicly it will be claimed that edward has died of natural causes but as news of his death spreads suspicion of murder grows the story we're told is that he's tortured and murdered by having a red hot poker inserted by a trumpet device placed in his rectangle [Music] even after everything edward had done how could a king be tortured and killed in such a horrific fashion the answer of course he wasn't [Music] this is the room where edward ii was murdered not killed with a poker the most probably smothered in his bed the poker story only came about about 60 years after edward was killed but it's become the standard version and that's because the idea of a humiliated emasculated possibly homosexual king being buggered to death is too good a story to be troubled by the truth next time the plantagenet story reaches its catastrophic climax as richard the second the boy king who crushed the peasants revolt turns monstrous tyrant and henry rises up to bring the whole dynasty crashing down

Channel: Chronicle - Medieval History Documentaries

Views: 48,177

Rating: 4.9075699 out of 5

Keywords: history documentary, medieval history documentary, middle ages, medieval history, the middle ages, edward ii, edward ii gay, medieval documentary, gcse history documentary, isabella of france, edward ii life and death, death of edward ii, edward ii murder, edward ii shakespeare documentary, history of shakespeare

Id: iNN9IpzJ_uw

Length: 44min 37sec (2677 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 18 2021