The nobles accordingly soon find an excuse to turn on Gaveston again, and eventually capture and execute him.

Edward managed to negotiate a deal with the opposition, however, and Gaveston returned the next year.

Upon his return his behaviour became even more offensive, and by the Ordinances of 1311 it was decided that Gaveston should be exiled for a third time, to suffer outlawry if he returned.

Gaveston returned almost immediately, and the two were reunited by early August.

Before the Stamford Parliament, however, on 27 June, Gaveston had returned to England.

Gaveston then returned to Scarborough, while the king left for York.

After Gaveston returned, his behaviour became even more offensive, and opposition towards him grew.

When Gaveston returned to England in 1312contrary to the rulings of the Ordinanceshe was taken into custody by the Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.

The king attributed his son ’ s preferences to his strong attachment to Piers Gaveston, a Gascon knight, and Edward I exiled Gaveston from court after Prince Edward attempted to bestow on his friend a title reserved for royalty.

Edward II immediately recalled Gaveston, created him Earl of Cornwall, gave him the hand of the king's niece, Margaret of Gloucester, and withdrew from the Scottish campaign.

Earlier, Edward I had attempted to control the situation by exiling Gaveston from England.

In the aftermath, the barons rose up, signing the Ordinances of 1311, which promised action against Gaveston and expelled Isabella de Vesci and Henry de Beaumont from court.

Though the two were reconciled at a later point, the king still prevented Gaveston from rejoining the prince.

Edward entrusted the magnates with the care of his son, and instructed them particularly to prevent the return of Piers Gaveston from exile.

Initial from the charter granting Gaveston the Earl of Cornwall | earldom of Cornwall, showing the Coat of arms of England | arms of England at top, and Gaveston's coat of arms Impalement ( heraldry ) | impaled with those of de Clare below.

Gaveston came from relatively humble origins, and his rise to the highest level of the peerage was considered improper by the established nobility.

Even though the new king was initially met with goodwill from his subjects, it was not long before certain members of the nobility became disaffected with Gaveston and the special relationship he enjoyed with Edward.

The chronicles tell of how Gaveston gave mocking nicknames to other earls, calling Lincoln ' burst-belly ', Pembroke ' Joseph the Jew ', Lancaster ' the fiddler ' and Warwick ' the black dog of Arden ' ( from the forest of Arden in Warwickshire ).

In February, Gaveston was sent with an army north from Roxburgh to Perth, but he failed to track down the Scottish army.

It is not quite clear where Gaveston spent his time abroad ; the conditions of his exile banned him from staying in any of the lands of the English king.

The portrayal of Gaveston as homosexual continued in fictional portrayals, such as Christopher Marlowe's play Edward II from the early 1590s, and the 1924 adaptation of that work by Bertolt Brecht and Lion Feuchtwanger.

The king himself swore vengeance on his enemies, but found himself unable to move against them immediately, partly because they were in possession of a number of highly valuable royal jewels taken from Gaveston.

Legend says she advised Piers Gaveston, who owned the Forest of Dartmoor from 1308, and who was in hiding here after being banished from the king's court, telling him to return to court predicting that " his humbled head shall soon be high ".

) that in 1312 the barons who leagued against Edward II and his favourite Piers Gaveston, gathered their troops at Wheathampstead, and whilst there refused to receive emissaries from the Pope, although there seems to be no other documentary evidence of this.

The play telescopes most of Edward II's reign into a single narrative, beginning with the recall of his favourite, Piers Gaveston, from exile, and ending with his son, Edward III, executing Mortimer Junior for the king's murder.

However much Gaveston pleases the king, however, he finds scant favour from the king's nobles, who are soon clamouring for Gaveston's exile.

Upon his return, Gaveston takes revenge on the Bishop of Winchester, who had been responsible for his banishment from England during the previous reign, by personally torturing him.

The accession of Edward II and the return of Langton's enemy, Piers Gaveston, were quickly followed by the arrest of the bishop, his removal from office, and imprisonment at London, Windsor and Wallingford.

Edward was forced to exile Gaveston to Ireland for a period, and began to show Isabella much greater respect and assigning her significant lands and patronage ; in turn, Philip ceased his support for the barons.

Edward is forced to agree to this and banishes Gaveston to Ireland, but Isabella of France, the Queen, who still hopes for his favour, persuades Mortimer, who later becomes her lover, to argue for his recall, though only so that he may be more conveniently murdered.

Baronial opposition to Gaveston, championed by Thomas of Lancaster, was increasing, and Philip IV began to covertly fund this grouping, using Isabella and her household as intermediaries.

He became prominent among the discontented nobles, but in 1312, after the Earl of Warwick betrayed him by executing the captured Gaveston, he left the allied lords and joined the King.

It was alleged by medieval chroniclers that Edward II and Piers Gaveston were lovers, a rumour that was reinforced by later portrayals in fiction, such as Christopher Marlowe's play Edward II.

The discontent reported by the chronicles may have been the result of hindsight, however ; there is no sign that the established nobility objected to the ennoblement of Gaveston at the time.

Gaveston won, according to various accounts of the events, either by bringing too many knights to the field, or simply by having a better contingent.

There is no sign that Gaveston exploited the regency for personal gains, but the other nobles were still offended by his arrogant behaviour.

Though not mentioned by name, Gaveston was the implied target of this document.

Later that year, in the April parliament, the so-called Declaration of 1308 demanded the renewed exile of Gaveston, again without explicitly mentioning the favourite by name.

Gaveston was not exiled immediately ; he did not have to leave the realm until 25 June, but faced excommunication by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Winchelsey, should he return.

Nevertheless, by 25 April 1309, Pope Clement V was satisfied that the difficulties between the king and his magnates had been settled, and agreed to lift the interdict against Gaveston.

On 4 May, the king and Gaveston were at Newcastle, and barely escaped a force led by Lancaster, Henry Percy and Robert Clifford.

Scarborough was soon besieged by Pembroke, Warenne, Percy and Clifford, and on 19 May Gaveston surrendered to the besiegers.

If an agreement could not be reached by 1 August, Gaveston would be allowed to return to Scarborough.

It was hinted at by medieval chroniclers, and has been alleged by modern historians, that the relationship between Gaveston and Edward was homosexual.

John Boswell, in his Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, calls Gaveston Edward's lover, and writes that there is little doubt " that wife and the barons of England were violently hostile to Edward's sexual proclivities, although he more than fulfilled his royal duties by fathering four children with Isabella.

An 1872 painting by English artist Marcus Stone shows Edward II cavorting with Gaveston while nobles and courtiers look on with concern.