King Edward the Second was _born_ at Caernarvon Castle (but not, as tradition states, in the Eagle Tower, not then built), April 25, 1284; _crowned_ at Westminster Abbey, August 6, 1307, by the Bishop of Winchester, acting as substitute for the Archbishop of Canterbury. The gilt spurs were borne by William le Mareschal; "the royal sceptre on whose summit is the cross" by the Earl of Hereford (killed in rebellion against the King) and "the royal rod on whose summit is the dove" by Henry of Lancaster, afterwards Earl: the Earls of Lancaster, Lincoln, and Warwick--of whom the first was beheaded for treason, and the third deserved to be so--bore the three swords, Curtana having the precedence: then a large standard (or coffer) with the royal robes, was carried by the Earl of Arundel, Thomas de Vere (son and heir of the Earl of Oxford), Hugh Le Despenser, and Roger de Mortimer, the best friend and the worst enemy of the hapless Sovereign: the King's Treasurer carried "the paten of the chalice of Saint Edward," and the Lord Chancellor the chalice itself: "then Peter de Gavaston, Earl of Cornwall, bore the crown royal," followed by King Edward himself, who offered a golden pound as his oblation. The coronation oath was administered in French, in the following terms. "Sire, will you grant and keep and confirm by oath to the people of England, the laws and customs to them granted by the ancient Kings of England, your predecessors, the rights and devotions [due] to God, and especially the laws, customs, and franchises granted to the clergy and people by the glorious King, Saint Edward, your predecessor?" "I grant and promise them," was the royal answer. "Sire, will you preserve, towards God and holy Church, and to the clergy and people, peace and concord in God, fully, according to your power?" "I will keep them," said the King. "Sire, will you in all your judgments do equal and righteous justice and discretion, in mercy and truth, according to your power?" "I will so do." "Sire, will you grant, to be held and kept, the righteous laws and customs which the commonalty of your realm shall choose, and defend them, and enforce them to the honour of God and according to your power?" King Edward's answer was, "I grant and promise them." Twenty years later, chiefly by the machinations of his wicked wife, aided by the blinded populace whom she had diligently misled, Edward was _deposed_ at Kenilworth, January 20, 1327; and after being hurried from place to place, he was at last _murdered_ in Berkeley Castle, September 21, 1327, and _buried_ in Gloucester Cathedral on December 20th.