Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall (ca. 1284 – 19 June 1312) was the favourite of King Edward II of England. Their contemporaries thought that the relationship between the two men was homosexual. The nobles of England grew jealous and angry as Gaveston rose in power. In 1312, civil war erupted. Gaveston was captured and killed. Gaveston is a major character in Christopher Marlowe's tragedy, "Edward II".