Mysterious Monarch Deaths: Edward II

King Edward II of England (from 1307 to 1327) had a disastrous reign following that of the greatest Plantagenet king of all, Edward I. Edward I had subdued Wales and crushed revolts in Scotland, and was faithful to his wife, Eleanor of Castile, who provided Edward many children but only one healthy son. Three previous sons -- John, Henry, and Alfonso -- all died in childhood, the last at age 10 a few months after Edward II was born in 1284. Growing up in the shadow of his great, controlling father -- as well as five older sisters -- young Edward II had a fondness for servants and lower-born people, and was always eager to follow another man rather than lead on his own. In his youth he followed Piers Gaveston, the son of a Gascon knight who had done great service for Edward I, in exchange for which Edward I allowed the man's son to be raised with young Edward II. Edward held such special fondness for (and likely a homosexual relationship with) young Piers, who dominated the king until the other barons killed him. Later the Hugh le de Spensers (father and son) replaced Piers Gaveston in the king's affections.

Queen Isabella of France, incensed at how Edward neglected her and preferred his male friends over her, plotted her revenge, and after ensuring that Edward gave her four children, including two sons (Edward -- future Edward III -- and John), took steps to overthrow her husband and place herself and her lover, Roger Mortimer, on the throne. Edward III was only 14 years old when Isabella and Mortimer raised armies from France and overthrew Edward II. In November 1326 Edward II was held captive at Kenilworth Castle, and in January 1327 was forced to abdicate to his son, though Isabella and Mortimer retained the real power. On April 3, 1327, Edward II was secretly moved from Kenilworth to Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, under the custody of Thomas de Berkeley, owner of Berkeley Castle, and his brother-in-law John Mautravers, until September 21 of that year. A living former king was always a problem for the new regime, and at least two rescue attempts were made that summer of 1327, the first by Thomas Dunheved and conspirators in the Warwickshire area in July. They raided the castle and managed to free Edward II, but Thomas de Berkeley soon hunted the group down and by late August had recaptured the king and most of those involved in the rescue attempt. A second attempt was being planned soon after, but Roger Mortimer learned the details from one of the men involved, William Shalford, and determined to put an end to any further rescue attempts and have the king murdered. William Ockle, Thomas Gourney, and Simon Bereford are believed to be the men appointed to carry out Mortimer's instructions.

It was expedient to do the deed in secret and make it appear that Edward had simply died of natural causes, and so kill in a way that would not reveal evidence of foul play. The mystery comes out of that shroud of secrecy, so that historians today are not sure how Edward II died, or even if he died at all that year. In the popular story told in the next centuries, a red hot poker was inserted into the inside parts -- purportedly to not show evidence of foul play. This story, which connects the murder to Edward II's perceived homosexuality, was first told in a set of chronicles called The Brut:

when that night the king had gone to bed and was asleep, the traitors, against their homage and their fealty, went quietly into his chamber and laid a large table on his stomach and with other men's help pressed him down. At this he woke and in fear of his life, turned himself upside down. The tyrants, false traitors, then took a horn and put it into his fundament as deep as they could, and took a pit of burning copper, and put it through the horn into his body, and oftentimes rolled therewith his bowels, and so they killed their lord and nothing was perceived.

However, the only reference from the time, from Adam of Murimuth, simply states that the king was suffocated by Gourney and Mautravers, on September 22. Suffocation with a pillow over the head was a common method employed to easily kill someone without leaving a trace, so it seems unlikely that they would have gone to so much trouble when a simpler method would have worked just as well. Furthermore, the bodies of medieval kings were routinely embalmed and wrapped up (as indeed was also done with Edward II's body); so it would have been difficult for anyone to notice marks on the body, and it seems it would not have mattered how he was killed.

Apart from the incident with Edward II's half-brother Edmund of Woodstock (who was entrapped by agents of Roger Mortimer, and as a result of the plot was killed for his alleged treason), everyone at the time accepted that Edward II had died at Berkeley Castle in 1327. However, a few modern historians have made much of the "Fieschi letter" which was not discovered until the 19th century. The Fieschi letter claimed that Edward II was transferred from Berkeley Castle to Corfe Castle, where he resided for 1 1/2 years before crossing to Ireland where he stayed another nine months; then Edward disguised himself as a hermit and took ship to France and later was received by the pope.

Recent books, including Ian Mortimer's 'The Greatest Traitor' and Alison Weir's 'Queen Isabella: treachery, adultery, and murder in medieval England,' make much of the Fieschi letter and thus argue that Edward II lived on for many years as a fugitive. Another writer, Paul Doherty, discredits the Fieschi letter as a made-up story in an attempt to get favors from the king, but still accepts the Fieschi letter's basic premise that Edward II survived -- but that Edward simply eluded his captors and hid for many years.

Of course it really doesn't matter in the greater scheme of things, as certainly Edward II as former king and potential king had clearly deceased in the public eye and could pose no further threat to the next ruler. He may or may not have lived on for a few more years, but all trace of him in the known world vanished in September of 1327.

For further reading:
Brittania Encyclopedia entry
Everything2: The Death of Edward II

Suggested books:
Non-fiction: King Edward II: Edward of Caernarfon His Life, His Reign, and Its Aftermath 1284-1330, by Roy Martin Haines
Historical fiction: Follies of the King, by Jean Plaidy

The Disappearance of Arthur of Brittany

Another medieval mysterious death involves not an actual monarch, but a would-be king who had a strong claim to the throne: Arthur, Duke of Brittany (1187 - 1203).

Richard I succeeded his father Henry II, as the eldest living son, in 1189. During the next ten years Richard married Berengaria of Navarre, but spent little time with her as he was more interested in fighting a Crusade in the Holy Land. At Richard's death in 1199, the two possible claimants to the throne were his younger brother John, and his nephew, Arthur son of the late Geoffrey Plantagenet. According to the primogeniture established later in the Plantagenet dynasty, Arthur had the stronger claim, as he was the son of an elder brother, Geoffrey coming after Richard but before John. But at this time such rules of succession had not been established, and though during his reign Richard designated Arthur as his heir, the young prince was never brought to England. Arthur was born just three months after his father's death, and his distrusting mother, Constance, preferred France and the French king to the English. Consequently, she not only refused to bring Arthur to England, but then took the boy to be raised at the court of Philip Augustus of France.

At Richard's death, Arthur was only 12 years old, had never been to England and spoke only French. Before dying, Richard designated his youngest brother John as heir, and the leading barons, including William the Marshal, decided to support John's claim over Arthur's, as the lesser of two evils. John at least was a grown man, and spoke the language of the people. Yet over the next three years war raged between the two sides, with Arthur's followers and the King of France (ever ready to divide the Angevin kings, seeking any opportunity to bring Normandy and other lands back to the crown of France) supporting Arthur's claim. Many skirmishes followed, and Arthur briefly held his grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, captive at her castle before she was rescued by John's reinforcements.

John captured Arthur, and held him prisoner for a while, under the care of Hubert de Burgh. John requested that Arthur be blinded and castrated so as to be no threat to his power, but de Burgh took pity on the boy and kept him safe, while attempting to hide the boy and tell John that the procedures had been done but that in the process Arthur had died. Soon the story got out that Arthur had been killed, and the people were outraged at John, so de Burgh soon confessed the truth to John, and Arthur was again shown to be healthy and alive. However, Arthur was still too dangerous for John's power, and in February or March 1203 John had Arthur moved from de Burgh's care, and sent to the new tower in Rouen where he was closely guarded by Robert de Vieuxpoint. At the end of March 1203 Arthur suddenly vanished. No one knows for sure how he died, but a later source (Annals of Margam, early 13th century) tell that in early April John slew Arthur, tied a heavy stone to the body and cast in the Seine. The body later was found by fishermen who dragged it ashore; the body was identified and secretly buried for fear of the local tyrant.

The murder of his nephew was just one of many wicked deeds attributed to King John, and the next 13 years would see more misrule, the barons' revolt and the Magna Carta (1215). Yet would Arthur have made any better king? As a teenager, Arthur was (not surprisingly) exceedingly arrogant and thought too highly of himself; as an adult he might not have been so cruel as John, but as a foreigner he would likely have populated his court with French and alienated the English who would never have accepted him and thus might have revolted against him. The name Arthur was another problem, as anyone with that name would fall short in comparison with that other, great King Arthur of legend. It is interesting to note that while a few princes were named Arthur (including also the firstborn son of Henry VII, older brother of Henry VIII) none by that name ever became king. "King Arthur" still refers only to the one and only legendary leader of Camelot.

For further reading:
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1522930
http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/arthur_brittany.htm
http://www.badley.info/history/Arthur-of-Brittany-France.biog.html

Books:
Non-fiction: King John (English Monarchs) by W. L. Warren
Historical fiction: The Prince of Darkness, by Jean Plaidy