During the reign of Edward II, two men held this office. Robert Winchelsey (* around 1240, † 11 May 1313) was elected archbishop in 1293. His tumultuous relationship with Edward I led to Winchelsey’s exile, which was later revoked by Edward II. Despite reinstatement, he vehemently opposed Gaveston’s presence, even…
Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke (* around 1275, † 23 June 1324) was an important magnate and relative of the English royal house. His grandmother Isabelle d’Angoulême had been married to John I in her first marriage, so she was a grandmother of Edward I. He had good family…
During the period in question in Edward II, two men held this office. John Stratford (* around 1275; † 23 August 1348) travelled frequently to the Curia as a diplomat. Against the will of Edward II, Pope John XXII appointed Stratford Bishop of Winchester in 1323. He continued to take…
In 1923, Bert Brecht was hired as director for the Munich Kammerspiele. Lion Feuchtwanger advised Shakespeare and Caspar Neher was already painting the set for Macbeth when it was decided otherwise.1 Brecht’s first independent directorial work was to be Marlowe’s Edward II. Based on a translation by Alfred Walter Heymel…
Edmund FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel (* 1 May 1285, † 17 November 1326) joined the aristocratic opposition soon after the beginning of Edward II’s reign. He was one of the Lords Ordainer and was part of the tribunal that sentenced Gaveston to death. Then he had a change of heart….
Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent (* 5 August 1301, † 19 March 1330) was a son of Edward I and his second wife Marguerite, half-sister of Philip IV of France. He was a half-brother of Edward II. and a cousin of Isabella. Even after the rise of the Despensers,…
Edward II (* 25 April 1284; † 21 September 1327) was the fourth and only surviving son of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. Henry II’s greatest shortcoming was his inability to produce sons who could do him justice. A hundred years later, the same was to happen to his…
The troublesome raigne and lamentable death of Edward the second, king of England: with the tragicall fall of proud Mortimer is pretty much Christopher Marlowe’s last play and his second history. Synopsis Like all of Marlowe’s plays, the first surviving print has neither a list of characters nor a division…
The fact that the general public still regards Marlowe as a pioneer for the acceptance of same-sex love, especially in connection with Edward II, is due in part to director Derek Jarman, although he did not intend it to be so. He had already made a much acclaimed film in…
Edward III (* 13 November 1312, † 21 June 1377) was born at Windsor Castle, the first child of Edward II and Isabella of France. His father was delighted with the birth. The prince’s childhood was certainly marked by the ongoing conflicts between the king and the nobility. In 1325,…
