focuses on one of the most ill-starred reigns in English history. The historical Edward II (reigned 1307-1327) was the eldest son of Edward I, a talented military commander who had led several brutally effective campaigns against the Scots, and his beloved wife Eleanor of Castile, to whom the king’s devotion was so strong that on her death he erected a series of crosses to mark the stopping-places of her cortège. (Hence Charing Cross in London, a corruption of the French “chère reine”.) But, as with Calyphas in
Tamburlaine the Great, Part Two, this golden couple produced a weakly and ineffectual son. Edward II not only preferred traditionally lower-class pursuits, such as manual tasks, to the aristocratic one of waging war, he also preferred men to women, leading to…
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Citation: Hopkins, Lisa. "Edward II". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001; last revised 01 March 2021. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5434, accessed 22 November 2024.]
