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- Title
The Fairy Tale of Edward II.
- Abstract
This article discusses the sexual orientation of Edward Caernarfon, better known as Edward II. History records that Edward was the lover of a Gascon knight, Piers Gaveston, and also of an Anglo-Norman one, Hugh le Despenser Junior. While the story of Edward was remembered throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, it was the Elizabethan playwright Cristopher Marlowe (1564-1593) who consecrated Edward as a suffering homosexual on the London stage, circa 1592. The author of the most beautiful sustained homoerotic poem in the English language, "Hero and Leander," Marlowe leaves no doubt as to the sexual nature of Edward's relationship with Gaveston, nor about the homophobic motives of those who executed the King. And yet, evidence has been accumulating since serious work on the British medieval archive began 150 years ago suggesting that Edward II was probably not sexually involved with the men traditionally named as his partners, and very possibly wasn't homosexual at all.
- Subjects
UNITED Kingdom; WESSEX, Edward, Prince, Earl of, 1964-; HOMOSEXUALITY; REIGN of Edward II, England, 1307-1327; DESPENSER, Hugh le; MARLOWE, Christopher, 1564-1593; DRAMATISTS; HERO &; Leander (Poem : Marlowe); SEXUAL orientation
- Publication
Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, 2004, Vol 11, Issue 2, p27
- ISSN
1532-1118
- Publication type
Article