Piers Gaveston (lived circa 1284-1312) was a Gascon-born English nobleman, famous as the favorite of King Edward II of England (reign 1307-1327). Gaveston's humble origins and undue influence over the king caused jealousy and resentment among the English nobility. His enemies got him exiled from England multiple times, but he was always invited back by the king, and would return haughtier and more overconfident than he had been before. Finally, the earls had had enough; they hunted him down, captured him, and murdered him at Blacklow Hill in 1312. Gaveston would cause a rift between Edward II and his magnates that would eventually lead to the king's own downfall.
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