Title Monarchs – King Edward II of England on side of city hall - Bradford, UK - Monarchs of the World on Waymarking.com

The statues are the rulers of England from King William I in 1066 up to and including Queen Victoria who was on the throne when the then Town Hall was built in 1873.

King Edward II was born 25th April 1284 and died 21st September 1327. He reigned from July 1307 – 25 January 1327 .

He is unusal in that he did not reign until his death, but was forced to abdicate in January 1327, in favour of his son who became Edward III. He was then murdered on 21st September whilst still in captivity.

It is said that he was not really interested in being King, and preferred boating in craftwork.

Whatever his real interests were, he was not very successful militarily, and was often at war with his own barons, who often felt they were being badly treated.

His father had originally defeated Scotland, but was having to fight many battles to keep it, until his death during one of his campaigns when he contracted dysentery.

Edward the III had no success at all fighting the Scots and Robert the Bruce was a much better tactician. Edward was defeated at Bannockburn which was said to be the worst English defeat since 1066.

Back at home Edward was accused of showing too much favour to his nephew, Hugh Despenser the Younger especially after he gave Gower in Wales to Hugh, when someone else had already bought the land.

There were a number of battles with English barons who rose against him, but he managed to crush all opposition. In 1322 Edward declared that he was no longer subject to the will of Parliament.

On 25 January 1308, Edward had married Isabella of France the daughter of King Philip IV of France. However she also felt that Edward was favouring Hugh, his nephew rather than her. In 1325 Edward sent Isabella to France to try and settle a dispute between him and King Philip. Whilst over there Isabella took the opportunity to gather forces loyal to her rather than Edward.

On her return from France a number of barons joined forces with her. On 16th November 1326 Edward was captured in Wales near to Tonyrefail. He was then imprisoned at Kenilworth in England. A number of charges were brought against Edward by Parliament and he decided to abdicate in favour of his son, rather than fight the charges.

Edward was then taken to Gloucester Castle and imprisoned there until he was eventually murdered on 21st September 1327.

For 3 years Isabella, Edward’s wife in effect ruled the country, until Edward III came of age.

Edward’s main lasting legacy was the founding of Oriel College at Oxford University and King’s Hall at Cambridge University, which later became part of the famous Trinity College.

Monarch Ranking: King / Queen Proper Title and Name of Monarch: By the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine Country or Empire of Influence: England, Ireland and Aquitaine Website for additonal information: [Web Link]

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