Those who have dealt with the reputation of Edward II's sexuality constitute a whole spectrum of historical commentators. Arguably the least-informed element of that spectrum is composed of those who presume Edward II may be taken as a gay icon, representing the king as a homosexual in order to reinforce arguments about homosexuality in society. Another band consists of those who objectively classify the king as a homosexual in an attempt historically to understand fourteenth-century homosexual identities, presuming that such identities existed. Another consists of those who present Edward II's sexual inclinations in a genuine attempt to understand the personality politics of the fourteenth century. And at the highest end of the spectrum we find a narrow band of writers who are careful about making presumptions about Edward II's personal sexual inclinations but who nevertheless realise that contemporary perceptions of Edward's relationships are of crucial importance to an understanding of the reign, and that the possible homosexual connotations of his acts cannot be ignored. Without any doubt, the essay in this volume by Mark Ormrod now takes pride of place among these.

As Ormrod has shown, there are many methodological parameters to the debate. If one strips out the extraneous arguments concerning the modern politicised understandings of homosexuality, similarly setting aside the presumptions about a repressed homosexual identity in medieval society, one may return to the core evidence and interpret it in the light of what we know about medieval approaches to sexuality generally.