Edward II: The Unconventional King

I have followed Kathryn Warner's blog for years. It is well-researched and interesting, not only about Edward II but also about the other people in his era. Her book about King Edward II draws upon that research and provides an interesting portrait of a king who has been demonized by Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others throughout the centuries.She draws extensively upon contemporary records to provide a full picture of a man ill-suited for the role his birth ordained. I especially liked how Ms. Warner used account records to show Edward's generosity to the common man as well as his lavish lifestyle. She also gives a new and interesting view of Isabella, his wife, and one that I thought made more sense than the story often told about her. She is often portrayed as a woman who rebelled against her husband by taking a lover and then his crown, because of his interest in his male lovers. Ms. Warner demolishes this picture, showing a much more prosaic and less lurid version of both Edward and Isabella, thus providing a more complete story.This is a biography well worth reading by medieval history enthusiasts.

You probably won't buy this unless you are already interested in Medieval England and/or the characters of Edward's time specifically. Perhaps you come (as I do) from reading other history books about the period - books which are broadly accessible but usually well-sourced and argued. Or you come from reading about Isabella, Mortimer, Edward or other prominent persons of early 14th century England in fiction and are interested in checking out the real deal. In both cases, I think you will enjoy this book.If you, like me, are (mostly) from the first category this book is definitely for you. It ranks for me alongside some of the best history books I've read of the abovementioned genre, and it is a riveting story in itself. I had already become familiar with the tragedy of Edward's kingship (or lack thereof) through Jonathan Sumption's books about the (prelude to the) Hundred Years War and Ian Mortimer's book about, er, Roger Mortimer. But I could not put this down even though I knew, in broad strokes, about what happened to Edward!The people, of Edward's time (himself included) appear generally, at least to my mind, to have acted little better than modern day mafia-clans competing against each other; cheating, warring, killing, you name it - to get land, money and power. And yet they were also human beings, like us, with a variety of sympathetic traits, even if only on a small scale.Edward was a human being, if there ever was one. One we don't like to think mirrors ourself too much in any way, because he was a failure in almost everything he did. And yet exactly for this reason he, and others like him, hold a strange fascination for us. We like to think 'glad it's not me who ... ' and read on about these characters, and in the end we might also learn a little bit from them, I believe. Not in the least I think we can learn that they - and thus we - despite all our failings are never just that: never *just* a failure, even if the redeeming points on the score-card of life are few and far between.Edward was almost pathologically unable to be king - to rule wisely and justly. Yet he had much humour, he did love his wife (in his own way). He also loved (in another - much debated - way) a Gascon knight - among other men. He was fond of mingling with commoners and giving unexpected alms to the poor. And he may - just may - very late in life have been capable of seeing the error of his ways and, in some capacity, change himself (depending on how much you go with Warner - and Ian Mortimer's - argument that he probably lived out his life as a hermit in Italy!).Anyway, Kathryn Warner does much to show this gentler every-day life of Edward's without abusing it to gloss over Edward's grievous failings as a politician, military commander and husband. It therefore left me with that pleasant feeling of being able to see the whole man - or at least as much as we can see from 7 centuries down the road! And that being said, even if I didn't like him very much to begin with - or after reading the book!The prose is fluid, and in a few places a little dry, but fortunately that includes a very pleasant dry wit! Warner is also, like similar authors, very fond of family trees and financial records, but she almost always uses this information to serve the greater story. For example, she tells us sometimes about how Edward went to shop for certain items himself or hung out with/let himself be entertained by/gave gifts en masse to particular friends, (perhaps) as a way to escape the political catastrophes that he just couldn't handle very well. Despite being absolutely clear about Edward's capacity for vengefulness, self-delusion, egocentricity, etc. it still moved me from time to time to read about these parts of his life and they gave me the definite impression of a real man and not of some grotesque villain.So if you want to know more about Edward - and perhaps Isabella, Piers and Mortimer and others, too - you have to approach this book with an open mind, if you hitherto have read mostly about them in the world of -fiction-. They *are* real people - and Kathryn presents them as such, with all their vices as well as their virtues. There are no completely black and whites here, and Kathryn Warner does a very good job of discussing just what we can know (and what we probably can never know) about Edward, particularly his sexuality, relationship with Isabella and a minor handful of malicious acts that were probably overstated or complete invention. Be prepared to have some of your preconceptions about Edward, Isa, and Mortimer very much challenged!There is a good discussion of the various chronicles - not too heavy - and how much we can trust them, although if you come to this bio with as little knowledge as I about the chronicles, you might have wanted even *more* of just that. Sometimes you have to concentrate a bit to keep track of them, although repetition helps. Speaking of repetition, there are some times when it seems non-relevant to mention a detail from Edward's accounts, what he bought, etc. at a certain date, but it is a minor prob. Overall, and as said, this info serves the story. Also you might, especially if you come straight from fiction, miss some more vivid and prosaic descriptions of the period. But that's just icing on the cake. The cake itself is very edible as it is, although I would say that the Kindle edition of it is over-priced at 24 bucks! (I bought it for 12 on a day it was discounted.)But that is not Kathryn Warner's fault. In fact, for writing about such a flawed king, she has pulled off an almost flawless bio.

I was reading Allison Weir’s Queen Isabella and decided I wanted to know more about her husband Edward II. I am about halfway through. This book reads pretty well and definitely fills in details of Edward II’s life. The two books complement each other.

Well researched and written, with some surprising conclusions. Fans of the Marlowe play will enjoy this book; there's lots more to the story.

What an excellent biography! I discovered this book as I was searching for information on Edward's queen Isabella, after reading a rather one-sided biography of her. It is always maddening when an historian begins writing a biography with an agenda. That is to say they use the sources to tell the story they want told, rather than following them to see what emerges. Kathryn Warner did not do this. Her agenda appears to have been to tell the story of EdwardII's life, warts and all. And believe me, there are warts.Edward II had some rather alarming aspects to his personality. He had the notorious Plantanganet temper coupled with a severe stubborn streak. Add to that his utter infatuation with his 'favourites', notably Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despenser the Younger, and his inability to moderate his own behaviour, thereby creating the very situation he most hopes to avoid, and you have a recipe for a disastrous reign. And it was disastrous. So much so that he was deposed by his French queen and her lover in favour of his eldest son who then became Edward III. As a result the English monarchy was never the same, with his grandson Richard II's reign giving rise to the Wars of the Roses. The incredible thing is that after reading this book I've found I have rather a soft spot for Edward.Ms. Warner leaves nothing out, but her approach is such that even the scathing criticism is written with compassion. I don't mean to say she white washes any of his transgressions, or even that uses mild words to describe them. It's more that she doesn't make excuses for the things he did wrong, nor put blame on him where none is due. Its not a sympathetic portrayal, but I do have sympathy for him.There are a couple of looming questions regarding Edward II: Was he a homosexual and was he killed with a red hot poker? Was he even killed at all, or did he escape to Italy and live out his days in prayerful contemplation as a hermit? All of these issues are explored, some in greater detail than others, and, while she clearly has an opinion, she also allows us to form our own. I didn't feel manipulated to believe one theory over another, but was shown the facts as she sees them and quietly left to make up my own mind. Amazing. I sincerely hope this is not the last we hear from Kathryn Warner.

Excellent, well researched and very well written story of a flawed man who lived his life in the shadow of his father. I really enjoyed learning about a man I only really knew through the mysterious and awful story of his death. I thought the story and its telling showed the depth of research and the narrative flowed well which helped make the book a good, factual read.

Una biografía muy amena, muy completa al mismo tiempo y con muy buena base de investigación histórica. Me ha gustado mucho y la recomiendo.

I know author Kathryn for a while, Her knowledge of even the small details on Edward II is amazing. This excellent book is out come of her hard work and passion.

Kathryn Warner challenges some long-held presumptions and makes her case well in those cases. However, in the run of the mill sections she seems to be unwilling to leave any hard-gleaned information out and, as a consequence, includes loads of irrelevant information (or, at least, over-kill) which makes the overall structure of the work more difficult to follow.If you are writing a tretise on royal attitudes to ordinary citizens, this is probably a gold mine but you can only take in so many recompenses of a shilling here or a pound there for making him laugh. Some heavy editing would make this book much more readable and the relevant content clearer.Not a bad read, though.

This was a very good history of a much maligned king. He has his faults but it also showed the hard and softer side of Edward