Third in my series of chroniclers who regaled their readers with narratives of the horrific deaths of rulers is the story of the demise of King Edward II of England. Edward, who had earned the enmity of powerful aristocrats as well as his wife, had been forced to abdicate his throne and was imprisoned when he died in 1327.
And at this point contemporary sources disagree. Official reports claimed that the king passed away from natural causes. However, some documents (such as a version of a chronicle called “Brut” written around 1333) tell the different and more gruesome tale, in which Edward was murdered by his enemies by anal penetration with a red-hot spit (or poker). As the “Brut” author notes, Edward II “was wonder sore afraid to be dead there and slain”.
Many historians have challenged the truth of this narrative, since the “Brut” was written by an author who liked to embellish his stories, and later accounts of the impaling borrowed from him. It was not only a desire for the lurid anecdote that may have influenced this version of Edward’s death, but also a desire to perhaps punish and condemn Edward’s sexual habits: the king had formed a romantic relationship with an extremely unpopular leader named Hugh Despenser, who had gained great wealth and influence from his relationship to the king.
While historians generally are skeptical about this version of Edward’s killing, there is consensus about the way Hugh died — he was disembowelled, castrated and quartered after being condemned as a traitor.
Source(s): _Notches_, “Beyond Penetration: Rethinking the Murder of Edward II,” Kit Heyam, March 24, 2015.
