Edward II was the
son of
King Edward I of
England and succeeded him to the
throne in
1307. He was born in
1284 at a castle in
Wales, which his
father had conquered for England, and a story exists that he was presented to the Welsh as a baby lying on a shield and his father said in response to Welsh complaints about rule by English speakers, "Here's a
Prince of Wales who can speak no
English."
Edward II wasn't much like his father. He alienated most of the court by giving them offensive nicknames and giving all kinds of gifts and power to his favorites (who were probably his lovers). He was married to a French princess, Isabelle, but when first coming to England with her new husband the couple was met by Piers de Gaveston, Edward's then-favorite. The open affection between Edward and Gaveston was enough to dismay Isabelle greatly. (Gaveston was kidnapped by the Earl of Warwick and beheaded in 1312; that's how unpopular the king's favorite was.)
In 1314 Edward started up his father's pet project again, the campaign to conquer Scotland. But he was soundly defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn and stopped the effort. Edward's new favorite Hugh le Despenser encouraged him to feud with Queen Isabelle and deprive her of her English estates in 1324. Isabelle fled to France and raised an army with her lover Roger Mortimer; in 1326 the two returned to England and were able to depose Edward from the throne (his son Edward III became king) and imprison the former king. Nine months later (1327) he was murdered, supposedly by the insertion of a red-hot iron pike into his backside while he was in the privy. (aneurin's The Death of Edward II says plain old suffocation is more likely.) Isabelle was extremely unpopular after this murder and was forced to live in retirement, while Edward III had Roger Mortimer executed.