Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Piers Gaveston
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall, was born around 1284 and died on June 19, 1312. He is famous for the impact he had on the royal court of Edward II and the role he played in the kings eventual downfall. Contemporaries of the two, and many scholars since, have had a hard time framing the relationship between these men as anything other than a queer sexual relationship. The “were they/weren’t they” of these men is just one example of how our contemporary understanding of queer identity is hard to apply historically, as well as the frequent straight-washing of history.
An 1872 painting by English artist Marcus Stone shows Edward II cavorting with Gaveston while nobles and courtiers look on with concern.
In 1300 Piers Gaveston arrived in England with his father. His conduct and martial skill so impressed King Edward I that he was assigned to the household of his son, Prince Edward of Caernarfon, the future Edward II. Contemporary accounts claim the Prince was immediately taken with Piers and the two became inseparable. The relationship between the two men would be a weapon consistently used against Edward, and this started early when his father had Piers banished from England as a way to punish his son for the luxuries he continually bestowed on his favorite attendant. Only a few month later King Edward I died. One of the first things his son, now King Edward II, did was to recall Piers from his exile abroad.
Less than a month after assuming Edward II assumed the throne he made Piers the Earl of Cornwall, a decision that stirred controversy given the mans less-than-noble origin. Additionally, this seat of power was normally reserved for a member of the royal family. This was just the beginning of the access Piers had to influence and power many thought above his station. In 1308, for example, when Edward II left for France to marry the French king’s daughter, he appointed Piers as regent.
When Edward returned from France with his new Queen, Isabela, his attachment to Piers had not grown any weaker. Multiple reports of the queen’s coronation feast report the king ignored his new wife to spend time with Piers, something the new queen would not soon forget. She wrote letters back to her father in France expressing outrage over her treatment and, with added pressure from parliament and many of the nobles, succeeded in forcing Piers into exile once again.
This second exile was to be Piers’ longest one, and King Edward II worked tirelessly to win over the other nobles in order to recall the man many now view as his lover. By mid-1309 Piers had returned to England and quickly regained much of the land and many of the titles he had been stripped of during exile. His disdain of the other nobles quickly alienated them from him and the king and in 1310 the king was forced to concede to allowing a council to work on reforms of the royal household. As part of a series or larger reforms the council also demanded the renewed exile of Piers from all English lands. Despite the king’s willingness to agree to all demands if Piers was allowed to remain, he was once again expelled from England.
This final exile lasted only two months, and the two men were reunited in 1312. King Edward II declared the judgements against Piers to be unlawful and restored all titles and land to him. In response, a number of barons took up arms against the king, and the Archbishop at St. Paul’s excommunicated Piers.
In May 1312 Piers was captured at Scarborough and taken hostage, to be used in negotiations with the king at York. The three barons who captured him - Lancaster, Percy, and Clifford - swore an oath to ensure his safety. After an initial round of negotiations he was left in the custody of the Earl of Pembroke in Oxfordshire. Shortly after, the earl left to visit his wife at which point Piers was captured by the Earl of Warwick. After a rushed trial Piers was found guilty of violating the terms of the reforms of the royal household and sentenced to death.
On June 19, 1312 it is believed he was taken to Blacklow Hill where he was run through with a sword and beheaded. Since he had been excommunicated, and likely also because he was despised by the nobility, his body was left unburied on the hill. Eventually a group of Dominican friars collected the remains and, after the king secured a papal absolution, Piers was interred at King’s Langley Priory. The tomb is now lost, but a cross was erected in 1823 on Blacklow Hill at the site believed to be where he was executed.
