Deposition of Edward II (1327): Isabella and Mortimer's Coup

The deposition of Edward II in January 1327 was the first time since the Norman Conquest that an English king was formally removed from the throne. His own wife, Queen Isabella of France, and her ally Roger Mortimer invaded England, overthrew his hated favourites and forced him to give up the crown to his fourteen-year-old son, Edward III. Months later Edward II died in captivity at Berkeley Castle, in circumstances still debated.

Background

Edward II, king from 1307, was an unpopular ruler. His devotion to his favourite Piers Gaveston caused a crisis that ended with Gaveston’s killing by a group of barons in 1312, and his humiliating defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 damaged his authority further.

In the 1320s power passed to Hugh Despenser the Younger and his father. After defeating and executing his cousin Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in 1322, Edward ruled through the Despensers, who seized lands and treated opponents harshly. Among those imprisoned was the Marcher lord Roger Mortimer, who escaped from the Tower of London in August 1323 and fled to France.

Isabella, daughter of Philip IV of France, was also alienated. In 1324, during a war with France, her lands were confiscated. In 1325 she travelled to Paris to negotiate with her brother Charles IV and was later joined by her son, Prince Edward. She then refused to return while the Despensers remained in power and formed an alliance with Mortimer.

The invasion of 1326

Isabella arranged for her son to marry Philippa of Hainault, in return for troops from the Count of Hainault. On 24 September 1326 she landed at the mouth of the River Orwell in Suffolk with a small force, often estimated at 700–1,500 men.

Support for Edward collapsed. Leading nobles, including the king’s half-brothers, joined the queen, and London rose in her favour. Edward and the Despensers fled west. The elder Despenser surrendered at Bristol and was executed there on 27 October. Edward and the younger Despenser were captured in South Wales on 16 November, and Despenser was executed at Hereford on 24 November 1326.

The deposition

Parliament met at Westminster in January 1327 in the king’s name, although Edward refused to attend. Articles were drawn up accusing him of incompetence, of following evil counsellors, of losing Scotland and lands in France, and of breaking his coronation oath. Bishops including Adam Orleton of Hereford spoke in favour of the change, and the assembly accepted Prince Edward as king.

A delegation was sent to Kenilworth Castle, where Edward was held. Faced with the threat that his son might be passed over altogether, he agreed in tears to resign the crown. Sir William Trussell formally withdrew the homage of the realm. Edward III’s reign was dated from 25 January 1327, and he was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 1 February 1327.

Death at Berkeley Castle

In April 1327 the former king was moved to Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. Several attempts to free him were made that summer. The regime later gave 21 September 1327 as the date of his death, which was announced to Edward III a few days afterwards, and he was buried at St Peter’s Abbey in Gloucester, now Gloucester Cathedral, on 20 December 1327.

Most historians believe he was killed on the orders of Mortimer’s regime. The famous story that he was murdered with a red-hot iron appears only in later chronicles and is widely doubted. A letter written around 1337 by an Italian cleric, Manuel Fieschi, claimed Edward had escaped and lived as a hermit; a few historians take this seriously, but most do not.

Consequences

Isabella and Mortimer ruled in the young king’s name. In 1328 they agreed the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, accepting Scottish independence, a peace many in England saw as shameful. In March 1330 the Earl of Kent was executed for plotting to free Edward II, whom he believed was still alive.

On 19 October 1330 Edward III and a group of friends entered Nottingham Castle by a secret passage and arrested Mortimer, who was executed at Tyburn on 29 November 1330. Edward III went on to claim the French throne, beginning the Hundred Years’ War.

Timeline

• 1322, 22 March: Thomas of Lancaster is executed after defeat at Boroughbridge.
• 1323, August: Roger Mortimer escapes from the Tower of London.
• 1326, 24 September: Isabella and Mortimer land in Suffolk.
• 1326, 24 November: Hugh Despenser the Younger is executed at Hereford.
• 1327, January: Parliament accepts Prince Edward as king; Edward II agrees to resign at Kenilworth.
• 1327, 1 February: Coronation of Edward III.
• 1327, 21 September: Official date of Edward II’s death at Berkeley Castle.
• 1330, 29 November: Roger Mortimer is executed at Tyburn.

Why it matters

The deposition of Edward II created a precedent for removing an anointed English king through parliament and the consent of the nobility, later used against Richard II in 1399. It also brought Edward III to the throne, opening one of the most important reigns in English history.