This very grisly story has endured and has become most famous alleged means by which Edward II was killed. However, The Brut – written around six years after the event – stipulates the king was murdered by a red-hot copper poker being thrust through his innards via his backside, under personal order of Roger Mortimer. The Lichfield chronicle states “iugulatus” – strangulation Adam Murimuth (c1275–1347), author of the Continuatio Chronicarum, claims that the king was smothered to death. Some state he suffered ill health and died of natural causes, others that he was murdered. So, what happened to Edward II? There are a number of chronicle accounts that refer to the death of the king. 7 medieval kings of England you should know about.Mortimer acted as a de facto king through the true heir to the throne, Edward and Isabella’s son, Prince Edward (later Edward III). In September 1327, King Edward II was held as a prisoner at Berkeley Castle when he was allegedly murdered under order from Sir Roger Mortimer, the lover of Edward’s wife, Queen Isabella. One of the most savage acts of regicide that took place in the Middle Ages was the purported murder of Edward II. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)