A Gascon by birth, Gaveston was married to Margaret de Clare, a granddaughter of King Edward I and was created Earl of Cornwall by the king. He was made guardian of the realm when Edward had to leave the country in 1308 to marry Isabella of France. Gaveston was unpopular with the new queen as well as with the nobles, and the two men, who were approximately the same age, had a homosexual relationship. Gaveston had already been sent into exile once by King Edward I. In one particularly bold move in April of 1307, Edward asked his father, Edward I, to make Gaveston the Count of Ponthieu, which was a pretty modest title but did include a fair bit of land.

Although he was slower to anger than many of his predescessors, like all his ancestors before him, Edward I had a very nasty temper that, once arroused, could bring mortal wrath down upon the object of it's focus -and people often died in the aftermath. His relationship with Prince Edward was always strained at best, bordering on unpleasant, mostly involving issues revolving around Gaveston and his son's openly expressed sexuality. What Edward the son thought was a perfectly reasonable request, Edward the father received as he would an insulting slap in the face -and this time he got physical with the young prince.

King Edward exploded in anger as he reached forward with his long arms and, grabbing a handful of the prince's hair, yanked him about like a ragdoll until he'd pulled it clean out of his head, all the while grumbling viciously through his teeth, "You baseborn whoreson! Do you want to give lands away now, you who never gained any? As the Lord lives, if it were not for fear of breaking up the kingdom you should never enjoy your inheritance!"

In other words, if it weren't for the fact that Prince Edward was necessary to the king for the succession, he would have gleefully killed him right then and there, not thinking twice about it. The king's reaction scared the hell out of the prince. Gaveston was banished from England entirely, but Edward followed him out, showering him with tapestries, quilts, assorted other presents and easy money. This banishment only lasted about three months, because Edward I died on July 7. This left Edward, now Edward II, free to indulge himself any way he chose.

Following his bungling of the coronation arrangements, Gaveston was sent away to Ireland as regent. He returned within the year, and made more enemies, the most powerful of whom was Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, a cousin of the king, whom Gaveston defeated in a tournament. Gaveston's chief handicap had to have been stupidity but, even so, that does not explain why he didn't understand that spitting in the faces of these powerful nobles was not wise. Had he entered the picture with an amiable nature and likeable disposition, the earls and lords might have been able to live with him. In essence, Gaveston not only tempted retaliation from the nobles through his dispicable treatment of them, he dared and challenged them to do their worst -and their bone chilling worst is what he got in the end.

Lancaster led opposition to Edward, forcing him to send Gaveston into exile yet again. But, as was said, Gaveston couldn't have been very bright, as he had the temerity to return. He was subsequently captured, of course, and treated to numerous beatings. It is not clear whether the nobles who kept Gaveston in custody gave him the privlege of having a trial; however, at some point the Earl of Warwick transferred him to Lancastrian lands where he was executed on June 19th, 1312. He would shortly be replaced in the king's affections by Hugh Despenser.