Book Review: "Edward II" by Seymour Phillips

As you may or may not know, I am reading one book about every single king and queen of England, starting with Edward the Confessor and working my way through to Queen Elizabeth II. So far, I have read books on the following kings and queens of England:

• Edward the Confessor
• William the Conqueror
• William Rufus (William II)
• Henry I
• King Stephen
• Empress Matilda
• Henry II
• Richard I
• King John
• Henry III
• Edward I

...and now, I begin on possibly my personal most researched king in all of English history: Edward II. I have read so many books and articles, journals and fictional accounts all on Edward II and I have even been to visit his tomb in Gloucester Cathedral. The feeling of standing that close to a man I had read so much about let alone a Medieval English King, was surreal. I must have stood in that one place for at least an hour. So let's review another 'throwback' book - I read this one at about twenty years' old and it's called Edward II by Seymour Phillips.

The reason why I adore this book is because it gives us a great view on the reasons why Edward II was so harshly treated. For example: the whole affair with Piers Gaveston is covered in extraordinary detail with the king proving himself to be a gentle-natured person, others took advantage of that and basically walked all over him. When he married Isabella, there was definitely a power struggle there, nicknamed the 'she-wolf of France' she was a nasty piece of work who sought her own independent powers with harsh and horrid plans. Again, the gentle-nature of Edward II played against his favour even though, this was probably what England needed after the terrifying tyrannical reign of Edward I.

It covers Edward II's character as being nice, calm and kind. He was nice to the labourers, often having conversations with them and this, to the upper class was a terrible thing for a king to do. He bestowed titles on the exiled Gaveston, bringing him back and giving him things - again angering the governing bodies around him. Eventually, the actions and kind-nature of Edward II got him illegally deposed by Roger Mortimer and Isabella who ruled in Edward's son's name until he came of age: Edward III.

The book covers the struggles that Edward II faced as a king. He wasn't interested in war or politics, he wasn't interested in power or money - he seemed to mainly be interested in the arts, in sports and often was a big fan of the music of the day. This again, in the time of the days leading up to all the most important wars in Medieval History, worked out of his favour. He became a king who had to be goverened instead of governing himself. This is what caused his horrid downfall. In 1327, Edward II was illegally deposed and jailed.

When he was jailed, he was told to try to die as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, we don't know how he actually died and there are many terrifying speculations with one that includes a reference to Medieval homophobia which is basically sickening. But the way Edward II was treated throughout his reign was probably sickening enough as well. He was the antidote to his father's tyranny and they wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

Ultimately, this book is a critical analysis of Edward II's reign and what actually happened to cause his downfall. It is both academic and quite emotional and this is why I think it is possibly the best book to read on the topic.