Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Riot, Sodomy, and Minions: The Ambiguous Discourse of Sexual Transgression
- 2 From Goats to Ganymedes: The Development of Edward II’s Sexual Reputation
- 3 Edward II and Piers Gaveston: Brothers, Friends, Lovers
- 4 ‘Is it not strange that he is thus bewitch’d?’: Edward II’s Agency and Culpability
- 5 Edward II as Political Exemplum
- 6 ‘No escape now from a life full of suffering’: Edward II’s Sensational Fall
- 7 Beyond Sexual Mimesis: The Penetrative Murder of Edward II
- Conclusion: The Literary Transformation of History
- Appendix: Accounts of and allusions to Edward II’s reign, composed 1305–1697
- Index
6 - ‘No escape now from a life full of suffering’: Edward II’s Sensational Fall
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Riot, Sodomy, and Minions: The Ambiguous Discourse of Sexual Transgression
- 2 From Goats to Ganymedes: The Development of Edward II’s Sexual Reputation
- 3 Edward II and Piers Gaveston: Brothers, Friends, Lovers
- 4 ‘Is it not strange that he is thus bewitch’d?’: Edward II’s Agency and Culpability
- 5 Edward II as Political Exemplum
- 6 ‘No escape now from a life full of suffering’: Edward II’s Sensational Fall
- 7 Beyond Sexual Mimesis: The Penetrative Murder of Edward II
- Conclusion: The Literary Transformation of History
- Appendix: Accounts of and allusions to Edward II’s reign, composed 1305–1697
- Index
Summary
Abstract
This chapter analyses accounts of Edward's deposition and his subsequent imprisonment. I argue that early modern chroniclers exercised creative agency in selecting their sources for this period of Edward's life, prioritising engaging anecdotes, emotionally compelling detail, and narrativity. In particular, they selected sources which facilitated the construction of Edward II's reign as a de casibus narrative: a popular narrative structure characterized by the image of an ever-rotating ‘wheel of fortune’. Analysis of narratives of Edward II's fall thereby enables us to appreciate the literary motivations of early modern chroniclers, and the way these motivations shaped their research process as well as their writing.
Keywords: Chronicles, De casibus, deposition, Fortune, Geoffrey le Baker, imprisonment
Introduction
In addition to the trend towards sensationalized, emotionally engaging narratives of Edward's reign observed in previous chapters – epitomized in particular by the increasing consensus concerning the sexual nature of Edward's transgressions, and the increasing romanticization of his relationships with his favourites – numerous vivid, sensational, circumstantial details and anecdotes cluster around accounts of Edward's treatment during and after his deposition. As well as creating an exciting narrative, these details function to elicit sympathy for Edward – resulting in a demonstrable shift in authorial tone around the point of his capture by Isabella and Mortimer's allies, from condemnation of Edward's own actions to condemnation of his deposers and keepers. These details overwhelmingly originate in one text: the extraordinarily, atypically sympathetic account of Geoffrey le Baker's Chronicon. Composed in Latin at some point during the period 1347–1360, and based (le Baker claims) on the eyewitness testimony of his patron, Sir Thomas de la More, the Chronicon is a narrative crafted to inspire sympathy for Edward's suffering. In its presentation of Edward as a proto-martyr, it is very much in step with its political context: at the time le Baker was writing, Edward III was engaged in an attempt to have his father canonized. In its demonization of Adam Orleton, Bishop of Hereford, and of Edward's wife Isabella, the Chronicon also appears to be designed to exonerate de la More (who attended Edward's deposition) and possibly also to clarify the innocence of Edward III himself.
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- Information
- Reputation of Edward II, 1305–1697A Literary Transformation of History, pp. 215 - 240Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2020