Piers Gaveston

ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolor with gouache, 2008.

An ACEO portrait of Piers Gaveston, favourite of Edward II. Piers and Edward met when young men in 1300. Edwards father, King Edward I, soon came to disapprove of the close relationship and when asked by Edward to give land and title to Gaveston became furious and banished Gaveston to France. Soon after Edward I died and Piers was recalled. Though Edward II was married to Isabella in 1308, and Gaveston to Margaret De Clare, it is very likely the two men had a physical relationship. Certainly Edwards preference for Piers over Isabella came to cause resentment. It also caused resentment among the nobles who were shocked when Edward left Gaveston as regent while he travelled to France to marry Isabella, and Gaveston made many enemies among the nobility, notably Thomas Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Lancaster. In 1312 he raised an army against Edward and Gaveston. Though Edward escaped south, Gaveston was eventually captured and taken to Warwick Castle, where Lancaster approved his execution. He was taken to Blacklow Hill, ran through with a sword and beheaded.

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