It seemed as if the king and his two friends could do what they wanted to do –

and that the strings on the whole were being pulled by the Despensers, while

Edward danced to their tune. The early 1320s weren’t a great time to be

English unless your surname was Despenser.

A gruesome end

The end of the oppressive regime of the Despensers came in the most

unlikely way. The main player was, of all people, Edward’s queen, Isabella.

She had gone to France to help negotiate peace terms between Edward and

her brother, the French king Charles IV, in a dispute over who should hold

power over part of Aquitaine. While she was in France, Isabella, who probably

felt frozen out of her marriage because Edward was so close to his

favourites, found an ally in Roger Mortimer, a nobleman and opponent of the

Despensers who had left England after the defeat of Lancaster and his rebels

a couple of years earlier.

Mortimer and Isabella plotted to end the tyranny of the Despensers once and

for all – even if it meant deposing Edward, too. Strong rumours circulated

that the pair did a lot of their plotting in bed. Be that as it may, their plans

were in place by September 1326, and they landed on the coast of Essex

before making swiftly for London. Edward was nowhere to be found. He had

fled to the Despenser lands in Wales, and Mortimer, Isabella, and the teenage

Prince Edward were soon hot-footing it westward in pursuit.

Because no kingly presence was found, Mortimer and Isabella declared the

prince Keeper of the Realm, indicating that he was effective ruler in the king’s

absence. This tactic was a way of assuming authority that looked legitimate.

The prince became a sort of honorary ruler without actually taking the title

of king – but in reality, the power lay with Isabella and Mortimer.

Mortimer then set about rounding up the Despensers and their followers.

Soon after, the Despensers were executed for treason, and the king himself was

found at Llantrisant and imprisoned. Young prince Edward was declared king.

It was the end of the road for Edward II. In September 1327, a few months

after his son had been put on the throne, Edward’s death was announced

from his prison at Berkeley Castle. No one witnessed the death, and rumours

began immediately. Some said the king had escaped and was in hiding. But

the most persistent story was that he had been murdered, on the orders of

Mortimer, by the insertion of a red-hot poker into his rectum.

Chivalry Rules: Edward III

Edward III was thrust into public life before his time. In 1326, Edward II

was on the throne, but his queen, Isabella of France, and her lover, Roger

Mortimer, staged a coup ousting the king, who had alienated the English

barons by concentrating power in the hands of his favourites. As a result of

this coup, Edward and Isabella’s 14-year-old son, also called Edward, found

himself king in January 1327.

For the first three years of the reign, Isabella and Mortimer effectively ruled

on young Edward’s behalf. The barons weren’t amused. Instead of Edward II

and his favourites, they now had to cope with Isabella and her lover exercising

power just as arbitrarily. Things looked bleak.

Showing who’s boss

The year after he became king, Edward III married. His wife, Philippa of

Hainault, daughter of William, Count of Hainault and Holland, was an attractive,