Edward II (Penguin Monarchs) Paperback by Christopher Given-Wilson

Product Details

• Publisher: Penguin Monarchs (2019-08-27)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 160 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780141989914
• Item Weight: 102.06 grams
• Dimensions: 7.11 x 4.37 x 0.38 cm

'He seems to have laboured under an almost child-like misapprehension about the size of his world. Had greatness not been thrust upon him, he might have lived a life of great harmlessness.'

The reign of Edward II was a succession of disasters. Unkingly, inept in war, and in thrall to favourites, he preferred digging ditches and rowing boats to the tedium of government. His infatuation with a young Gascon nobleman, Piers Gaveston, alienated even the most natural supporters of the crown. Hoping to lay the ghost of his soldierly father, Edward I, he invaded Scotland and suffered catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn. After twenty ruinous years, betrayed and abandoned by most of his nobles and by his wife and her lover, Edward was imprisoned in Berkeley Castle and murdered - the first English king since the Norman Conquest to be deposed.

About the Author

Christopher Given-Wilson is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of St Andrews. His writing and research focuses on 14th and 15th century England.