His opponents accused him of being homosexual. The male favorites he gathered around him during his short life gave those malevolent enemies solid arguments to do so. He would not have failed if he had proved himself to be an energetic king. But Edward II of England (1284-1327) never was a king like Edward I Longshanks, his father, or Edward III, his son, were. And his end is shrouded in myth and mystery.
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen was a highly significant German king and Holy Roman emperor. Raised in Sicily, he was a sponsor of science, a reformer, perhaps even the first modern ruler. But Frederick could also be a brutal tyrant. He had his son Heinrich rot in the dungeon, for his imperial honour went before everything else.
