A quiz question · medium
True or false: Edward II of England was killed in 1327 by a red-hot poker.
False — almost certainly. The red-hot-poker story first appears in the Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker, written around 1355, about thirty years after Edward's death at Berkeley Castle. Contemporary sources from 1327 say only that he died of natural causes; sources from the 1330s say he was suffocated. The poker detail was a later elaboration intended to fit a theological judgment about his sexuality. Modern historians regard it as invention.
Read the full story →From the story
The King Murdered in a Castle Basement (Maybe) Edward II of England was forced to abdicate, locked in a Gloucestershire castle, and died there in September 1327. Or did he escape and live another fourteen years?
Daily quiz appearances
Related questions
- Hugh Despenser the Younger — Edward II's principal favourite — was executed in November 1326 in spectacular fashion. Queen Isabella watched. How long did the execution last?
- In 1326 the Queen of England raised a small army in the Low Countries, invaded her husband's kingdom, deposed him, and ran the country for three years with her lover. The husband was Edward II. The queen was?
- By what nickname is Isabella of France, queen of Edward II of England, traditionally known?
- On what date did the Khmer Rouge capture Phnom Penh and order the city's evacuation?