13. This King Humiliated His Queen, So She Deposed Him
In 1314, Edward II led an army into Scotland, but he was decisively defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn. At a stroke, he lost all the gains his father had made with years of toil and great expense to assert English control of Scotland. Humiliated, Edward was unable to resist his magnates when they formed a baronial committee that sidelined him and ruled the realm. It lasted until Edward found another favorite, yet another rumored lover, Hugh Despenser, and elevated him. As with the king’s earlier favorite, the barons demanded that Edward banish Despenser. This time, however, he fought back.
With the Despenser family’s support, Edward defeated the barons and regained his authority in 1322. However, his public displays of affection for Hugh Despenser humiliated and alienated Edward’s queen, Isabella. While on a diplomatic mission to Paris in 1325, she became the mistress of Roger Mortimer, an exiled baronial opponent of Edward. In 1326, the couple invaded England, executed the Despensers, deposed Edward II, and replaced him with his fourteen-year-old son, who was crowned Edward III in January, 1327. Roger Mortimer was made regent to govern England until the new monarch came of age.