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.
I think being gay was consider worst crime you could be in those DAYS
Being homosexual is that you are degendate you not living to God view of MAN they did some horrible thing to people in those days
A gay guy named Hugh Despenser.
Sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
when Edward 2 passed on Sofie Marceau I quickly volunteered to hit it for him
You and every heterosexual man who saw that movie...
I recommend Christopher Marlowe’s play, “Edward II: The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer” (c. 1592). I saw a version starring Ian McKellan (of the same persuasion as Ed II) years ago on TV.
This thread turning very gay thread LOL!
BTW Braveheart was on the other night late on HBO 3
Cool thing having HBO you see all grumsome parts
It must be true, especially since it's before Texas and Ohio.
Not that I'm insinuating anything.
Yes. The appalling manner of Edward II’s death is recounted in Christopher Marlowe’s tragedy of that name.
The red hot poker served a triple function: a painful death for the king, a symbolically appropriate death for the king, and a manner of killing him that could be kept hidden from the public, since when his corpse was put on view at his funeral, there were no outward signs of how he died.
OMGGG LOLOL
Thank G-d they didn't waterboard him!
MONK get in here you got photoshop something this thread is becoming very gay
This is the daisy fella in Braveheart, married to Queen Isabella. His father was Edward I, Plantaganot who killed William Wallace (but did not impregnant Isabella as said in the movie, but since she DID get pregnant and Edward II WAS a known homosexual, she certainly had an affair with someone)
Is that same lover who got throw through window by Edward II father Edward I in Braveheart
No, this man came later and was much more involved in deals and came along after Edward I died. But he was a ruthless bastard who screwed over most everyone around him.
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
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Yeah, Isabella was a right B*tch herself.
Then who the daddy of Edward 3
If Edward 2 didn’t sire Edward 3 then who the daddy
Ah, he was an idiot alright, but he didn’t deserve that. Ugh.
Then who the daddy of Edward 3
If Edward 2 didn’t sire Edward 3 then who the daddy
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That is the million dollar question.
So we not sure who proud papa of Edward 3 so could be anybody that did the deed
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