Posted on 02/17/2008 6:44:21 PM PST by blam
Abbey body identified as gay lover of Edward II
By Laura Clout
Last Updated: 1:06am GMT 18/02/2008
A mutilated body found in an abbey graveyard has been identified as that of a notorious medieval villain rumoured to have been the gay lover of Edward II.
The remains, which bear the hallmarks of having been hanged, drawn and quartered, are thought to be those of Sir Hugh Despenser the Younger, who was executed as a traitor in 1326.
Sir Hugh was executed after Edward II [above] was deposed from the throne in 1326
Sir Hugh had been favourite of Edward II - who was widely believed to have been homosexual - but was brutally executed before a mob after the king was ousted from the throne.
The decapitated remains, buried at Hulton Abbey, Staffs, have intrigued experts since they were uncovered during the 1970s and now Mary Lewis, an anthropologist, says she has uncovered compelling evidence of their true identity.
The manner of execution, carbon-dating of the bones, and the absence of several parts of the body all point towards Sir Hugh being the victim, she said.
"If the remains are those of Sir Hugh Despenser the Younger, then this is the first time such an execution victim has been identified," she added.
Sir Hugh insinuated himself into the king's favour by backing him in his battles with the barons. Through a series of ruthless deals, he consolidated a huge fortune, winning himself a legion of enemies in the process, including Edward's wife, Queen Isabella.
His downfall came when the queen and her ally, Roger Mortimer, deposed the king in 1326.
Sir Hugh was judged a traitor and a thief. He was hanged and, still conscious, castrated, disembowelled and then quartered before his head was displayed on London Bridge.
Miss Lewis, a biological anthropologist at the University of Reading, found that the Staffordshire skeleton had been beheaded and chopped into several pieces with a sharp blade, suggesting a ritual killing.
There was also evidence of a stab wound to the stomach.
She said: "This form of public execution was high theatre that aimed to demonstrate the power of government to the masses. High treason dictated that the perpetrator should suffer more than one death."
Radiocarbon analysis dated the remains to between 1050 and 1385 and subsequent tests suggested that the male was over 34 years old. Sir Hugh was 40 when he was killed.
"Dating of the Hulton Abbey skeleton indicates that he died no later that 1385, when this brutal and very public form of execution was handed out only to the most notorious political prisoners. This suggests that the skeleton at Hulton Abbey was a well-known political figure," Miss Lewis added.
Sir Hugh's wife asked for his bones to be buried on his family's Gloucestershire estate but only the head, a thigh bone and a few vertebrae were returned to her. These are the bones that are missing from the Hulton Abbey skeleton.
In addition, the abbey formed part of the estate of Sir Hugh's brother-in-law, Hugh Audley, and it is thought the family may have chosen to bury what remained of their disgraced relative there.
So does this mean that those who killed can now be charged with a “hate crime?”
Is that same lover who got throw through window by Edward II father Edward I in Braveheart
Still got a kick out of the fact that Longshanks was portrayed by Prisoner #6.
The window thing must have been all Hollywood, since this guy got his head lopped off.
But yes, this is the same Edward II who was in the movie.
It’s good to be King. And sometimes bad to be the King’s booty call.
OH OKAY yeah that crazy that Prisoner 6 is King Edward 1 what get me is
He protray wardern in Clint Eastwood classic Escape from Alcatraz
And will his descendants be able to ask the Queen of England for reparations for this terrible hate crime??
So did they still bury the body, or what there was of it, in consecrated ground? that would seem surprising and may be an interesting story.
Rule 1....No Pooftahs!
Bump
If Braveheart was in true story BOY Edward 2 was a wimp
If you want read good book folks read Queen Isabella She wolf of France by Alison Weir she didn’t kill Edward 2 it was actually her lover who did the deed
Well wadda you know...one of those coincidence moments.
I’ve just started reading Ken Follett’s “World Without End “... his sequel to his previous, massive historical novel, “The Pillars of the Earth”.
It is placed in 1337 and I have just reached the part (early in the novel) where it looks like the big secret concerns Isabella, Edward II et.al.
Could be this poofter revelation.
One of the most horrible deaths leading to one of the most frightening ghost sounds:
“Screams of a murdered king
Edward II remains famous for one thing above all others - the grisly manner of his death.
The king, son of Edward I , proved to be something of a disappointment to his father, who conquered Wales for the English and was given a bloody nose by the Scots.
Edward II was a weak king who handed a good deal of his power over to the English noblemen - but even that didn’t help him in the end.
He was horribly tortured at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire but only died when a red-hot poker was thrust up his rectum.
It was reported at the time that his screams could be heard as far away as the village of Berkeley and sometimes his screams can still be heard.
The castle - still owned by the same family as it was then - is open to the public and a part of it is preserved in the style of the day as Edward’s cell, although it can’t be proved that this room is where he met his death”.
http://beehive.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/default.asp?WCI=SiteHome&ID=7542&PageID=40239
Fascinating addition to this story. Thanks Blam!
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