LECTURE FIFTH

A.D. 1307-27.

THE REIGN OF EDWARD THE SECOND.

Character of King EDWARD THE SECOND and of his Reign.-The King's Affection for Gavestón.-History of the Rise and Overthrow of the Order of the Knights Templars.-Events from the King's Marriage until the Death of Gaveston.- Wars with Scotland.- Quarrels between the King and the Barons.- The new Favourites and their fatal Influence.— Murder of King Edward the Second.- His Wife and Issue.

Character of the King and of his Reign.

THE cruel murder of the King whose history I am Edwd. II. now about to relate, would, of itself, be enough to A.D. 1307. enlist our sympathies on his side, were there anything in his character, or any act of his reign traceable to his own personal influence, that was calculated either to deserve our admiration, or to excite our affection. The First and Third Edwards were both great kings; but Edward the Second, unfortunately, Character possessed no single quality to make us love or respect King." him. He was, in everything, the very opposite of his father, whose dying commands it was the first act of his reign to disobey. He was, seemingly, of an easy disposition, but his yielding temper was only weakness, and his semblance of good nature was rank

of the

A.D. 1307.

dents of

the reign.

Edwd. II. selfishness; he was disposed to make friendships, but his fondness for his friends was so unnatural, was so excessive, that he sacrificed to them his duty to his country, and the respect of his subjects. His inordinate affection for his two favourites, Piers Gaveston, and the younger Despenser, involved him in perpetual quarrels with the barons, which certainly, in their result, fostered and strengthened the constitutional liberties of the people, but, in their immediate effect, interfered seriously with the wars of conquest or defence in Chief inci- which the country was then engaged. The romantic incidents of Bruce's heroic exploits, and the breaking up of the famous order of the Knights Templars, give an interest to the history of this reign, which would otherwise be a mere record of the struggles between a weak tyrant and depraved favourites, on one side, and selfish barons on the other. Cruel and lawless murders, and legal, but not less cruel, executions were perpetrated on both sides, and we seek in vain for a single public man, of either party, during the whole of this reign, whose character we can contemplate with pleasure. All that the barons cared for, was, to gain more power for themselves, and thereby prevent the King from taxing them too heavily, or interfering with the course of justice. In their resistance to the King they were influenced by their own personal interests only: no trace of large views, or general principles of government, such as are to be found in that corner-stone of our liberties, the Magna Carta, is discoverable in their proceedings. But yet, while intending to work only for themselves, they, without dreaming of it, worked for the advantage of posterity also.

There is, however, in this reign, one remarkable

able ex

exception to this charge of narrowness, which, while Edwd. II. on the one hand it proves the short-sighted views of A.D.1307. the barons in general, yet shows, on the other, an Remarkapparent enlightenment of one among them, worthy of ception to a later age. I allude to the younger Despenser's attempt to limit and define the power of a king, which the barons. the barons, afterwards, charged against him as a crime. I shall relate this incident in its due course.

Having thus given you a sketch of the general character of this reign, I shall now proceed with the continuous history.

The King's affection for Gaveston.

narrow views of

cession.

father's

Edward the First died on July 1st, A.D. 1307, and His acwas succeeded by his son Edward of Carnarvon, the first Prince of Wales, who was then in the twentyfourth year of his age. Before the death of the old King, Bruce had been very successful in Scotland against the English, and the great King therefore, though through illness hardly able to move, had roused himself for a last struggle against his obstinate foe; but he died in the attempt. Feeling that his end was His near, he called to him his son, and made him promise, dying comby all that was holy, to carry on the war against mands. Bruce, till Scotland lay at his feet; to take his father's bones with him as a constant reminder of the promise he had made and as a token of his fidelity, and not to bury them till the war was crowned with success. Edward also made his son promise that his heart should be taken to the Holy Land. Besides this he expressly bade his son not to recall from exile one Piers Gaveston, a profligate friend of the young prince. This man was the son of a Gascon gentle

He bids

his son not

to recall

Gaveston.