Edward II [Book review]

Edward II could not be called a successful king. He is said to have alienated supporters with his meanness; he was calamitous and incompetent; he was not an energetic patron of the arts; he was vindictive to his enemies; he was incapable of developing any coherent policies; he was an inept military leader; and his patronage was directed to his unpopular and greedy favourites. Edward II is best known for being defeated by Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1317. Mostly he is remembered for his gruesome death, thirteen years after Bannockburn, when he was murdered in Pontefract Castle with a red-hot poker.