Gaveston, Piers

Gaveston, Piers, d. 1312, favorite of Edward II of England. Son of a Gascon knight at the court of Edward I, he was a boyhood playmate of the future Edward II and acquired great influence over him. Edward I exiled him (1307), but he returned on his friend's accession later in the year. He was made earl of Cornwall and married the new king's niece. When Edward was absent in France (1308), Gaveston was regent. His greed and arrogance and the king's reliance on his counsel aroused strong hostility among the barons, who forced (1308) Edward to banish him. He was made lieutenant of Ireland, but he returned to England the following year. In 1311 the lords ordainers, who temporarily controlled the government, exiled Gaveston again. When he returned within the same year, the barons rose in rebellion. He was captured and executed.

The Piers Gaveston Society is a highly exclusive secret dining club at the University of Oxford with membership limited to 12 undergraduates. It is named in honour of Piers Gaveston, favourite and supposed lover of King Edward II of England. Its members have a reputation for indulging in bizarre entertainments and sexual excess. Traditionally the society will organise very secret bacchanalian parties for hundreds of friends, who are whisked away to secret locations (usually grand country mansions) to enjoy a night of Bollinger champagne, beluga caviar, multitudinous illegal drugs, and public copulation. Words most often associated with this society are "decadence" and "debauchery.

Notable members

Name	Notable for...
Hugh Grant	Actor
Darius Guppy	Convicted of fraud in 1993, he was best man at the wedding of his friend Charles Spencer, the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales
Count Gottfried von Bismarck	Descendent of Otto von Bismarck
Tom Parker Bowles	Stepson of Prince Charles

Footnotes

Further reading

• Oxford Clubs

• Photographs by Dafydd Jones