Lightborn is the murderer of Edward II. in Edward II. He is ordered by Mortimer in [Scene 21] to kill the deposed king without anyone being allowed to find out how he died. Lightborn crushes Edward and is afterwards killed by the latter’s guards at Mortimer’s behest in the following…
Margaret de Clare (*12 October 1293, † 9 April 1342) was a niece of the English King Edward II. At his request, she married Piers Gaveston on 7 November 1307. This marriage meant a great social advancement for Gaveston. On 6 January 1312 a daughter was born to them, who…
The Earl of Pembroke’s Men was an Elizabethan acting company about which not much is known. Their patron was Henry Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. He married, in his third marriage, Mary Sidney, a sister of the poet Philip Sidney and a niece of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the long-time…
Piers Gaveston (* c. 1284, † 19 June 1312) was the son of the Gascon knight Arnaud de Gabaston and his wife Claramonde de Marsan, who brought landed property in Aquitaine into the marriage. This made the couple subjects of Edward I, who was also Duke of Aquitaine. Gabaston did…
"Rhys" and "Hywel" are two of the most common names in Cymric historiography. Presumably he is a member of the part of the family that supported the influential Marcher Lord Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, who died at the Battle of Boroughbridge. After this, the Hywels are likely to…
Robert Baldock († 28 May 1327) was Archdeacon of Middlesex when Edward II appointed him Lord Privy Seal in 1320. Probably the Despensers promoted his career. In 1325 he even became Lord Chancellor. In 1326 he was one of the few men who stayed with Edward II until the end,…
Roger Mortimer, Earl of March (* 25 April 1287; † 29 November 1330) was the eldest son of Edmund Mortimer and Margaret de Fiennes. In 1301 he married Joan de Geneville, through whose family he received not only Ludlow Castle but also extensive possessions in Ireland and the Welsh Marches….
Roger Mortimer de Chirk (* c. 1256, † 3 August 1326) was a younger brother of Edmund Mortimer and a paternal uncle of Roger Mortimer. He fought with Edward I in Wales and at Falkirk against the Scots. The king granted him extensive Welsh possessions, which made him one of…
The Salic Law is not directly mentioned in Marlowe’s plays, but it is crucial for understanding the historical context in Edward II and The Massacre at Paris. The Lex Salica consists of legal decrees by the Merovingian King Clovis I from the early 6th century, including a clause that prevents…
Thomas de Berkeley (* c. 1293, † 27 October 1361) married Margaret Mortimer, a daughter of Roger Mortimer, in his first marriage. He supported his father-in-law in the fight against Hugh Despenser. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Boroughbridge and was only released after the fall of the…
