Isabella allied herself with the exiled Roger Mortimer, and invaded England with a small army in 1326. Opposition to the regime grew, and when Isabella was sent to France to negotiate a peace treaty in 1325, she turned against Edward and refused to return. Unable to make progress in Scotland, Edward finally signed a truce with Robert. Edward and the Despensers strengthened their grip on power, revoking the 1311 reforms, executing their enemies and confiscating estates. In response, Edward led a short military campaign, capturing and executing Lancaster. The Despenser family, in particular Hugh Despenser the Younger, became close friends and advisers to Edward, but in 1321 Lancaster and many of the barons seized the Despensers' lands and forced the King to exile them. Widespread famine followed, and criticism of the King's reign mounted. English forces were pushed back in Scotland, where Edward was decisively defeated by Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Led by Edward's cousin, the Earl of Lancaster, a group of the barons seized and executed Gaveston in 1312, beginning several years of armed confrontation. The newly empowered barons banished Gaveston, to which Edward responded by revoking the reforms and recalling his favourite. On Gaveston's return, the barons pressured the King into agreeing to wide-ranging reforms called the Ordinances of 1311. Gaveston's arrogance and power as Edward's favourite provoked discontent both among the barons and the French royal family, and Edward was forced to exile him. The precise nature of Edward and Gaveston's relationship is uncertain they may have been friends, lovers or sworn brothers. In 1308, he married Isabella of France, the daughter of the powerful King Philip IV, as part of a long-running effort to resolve the tensions between the English and French crowns.Įdward had a close and controversial relationship with Piers Gaveston, who had joined his household in 1300.

Edward succeeded to the throne later that year, following his father's death. Beginning in 1300, Edward accompanied his father on campaigns to pacify Scotland, and in 1307 he was knighted in a grand ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne following the death of his older brother Alphonso. Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327.

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