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Eighth Episode of Siggie presenting her take on the history of the monarchs of England in the context of her favorite topic….herself. Here she discusses the long but generally unpopular reign of Henry III, the reign of Henry’s son Edward I “Longshanks” and his conflict with the Scots and William Wallace, and finally the relationship of the next monarch, Edward III, with his wife Isabella and his reputed lover Piers Gaveston.

King Henry III of the House of Plantagenet reigned from 1216 to 1272.

He was only nine years old when he was appointed king. It was during the First

Barons’ War. By the way good luck to anyone asked to

run a country at the age of nine. I mean doesn’t look like he got much guidance

because he wasn’t popular. There was too much taxation and failed

military campaigns, so so much for adequate council. Still in the House of

Plantagenet. Let’s move to King Edward I , who ruled from 1272 to 1307.

This king is very famous. He’s also known as Long Shanks and the Hammer of the

Scots. He was huge and he was a warrior king.

He fought in the crusades and guess what. He started the tradition of calling the

royal heir the Prince or Princess of Wales.

You know that did you. It’s a little  trivia. He took the Sacred Stone of Scone.

That rhymes… The Sacred Stone of Scone… from the Scottish. He defeated

William Wallace who was a Scottish knight who became one

of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish independence against King

Edward the First of England. Remember the movie Braveheart with Mel

Gibson? That was based on Sir William Wallace.

So, King Edward II… Oh this is a fun one. Lots of action. A serious disappointment

to his father Longshanks or Edward I. King Edward II married Queen

Isabella of France when she was only 12 years old. Isabella is another one of

those she-wolves of England. Sadly

not much of a marriage as Edward was actually madly in love with his squire

Gaveston who’s a dude. Edward II gave all of Isabella’s and his wedding

gifts to Gaveston. Maybe not all of them but a lot of them. Possibly all of them. I

don’t know. It’s pretty a pretty piss-poor gesture.

He spent much of his time with this guy Gaveston instead of Isabella.

Edward lost the battle of Bannockburn to Robert the Bruce’s army.

Gaveston was murdered and Edward was eventually deposed by Isabella and her

lover Roger Mortimer. Isabella was responsible for the murder of Edward in

Berkeley castle. Can’t get into the specifics but suffice it to say that it

must have been extremely painful and it involved the insertion of a red hot

poker.

(Stay tuned for Episode 9 for even more Plantagenet drama…)