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Edward I of England

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1500 and
before (including Roman Britain); Monarchs of Great Britain

                                 Edward I
    By the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of
   Aquitaine
                             Image:Edw1.JPG
   Reign       20 November 1272 – 7 July 1307
   Coronation  19 August 1274
   Born        17 June 1239
               Westminster
   Died        July 7, 1307 (aged 68)
               Burgh-by-Sands, Cumberland
   Buried      Westminster
   Predecessor Henry III
   Successor   Edward II
   Consort     Eleanor of Castile ( 1241– 1290)
               Marguerite of France ( 1282– 1317)
   Issue       Joan of Acre ( 1271– 1307)
               Alphonso, Earl of Chester ( 1273– 1284)
               Edward II ( 1284– 1327)
               Thomas, 1st Earl of Norfolk ( 1300– 1338)
               Edmund, 1st Earl of Kent ( 1301– 1330)
   Royal House Plantagenet
   Father      Henry III ( 1207– 1272)
   Mother      Eleanor of Provence (c. 1223– 1291)

   Edward I ( 17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), popularly known as Longshanks,
   also as "Edward the Lawgiver" because of his legal reforms, and as
   "Hammer of the Scots", achieved fame as the monarch who conquered Wales
   and who tried to do the same to Scotland. He reigned from 1272 to 1307,
   ascending the throne of England on 21 November 1272 after the death of
   his father, King Henry III of England. His mother was Queen consort
   Eleanor of Provence. He was voted the 94th greatest Briton in the 2002
   poll of 100 Greatest Britons.

Childhood and marriage to Eleanor

   Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the evening of 17 June
   1239. He was an older brother of Beatrice of England and Edmund
   Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster. From 1239 to 1246 Edward was in the
   care of Hugh Giffard (the son of Godfrey Giffard) and his wife, Sybil,
   who had been one of the midwives at Edward's birth. On Giffard's death
   in 1246, Bartholomew Pecche took over. Early grants of land to Edward
   included Gascony, but Simon de Montfort had been appointed by Henry to
   seven years as royal lieutenant in Gascony in 1248, a year before the
   grant to Edward, so in practice Edward derived neither authority nor
   revenues from the province.

   Edward's first marriage was arranged in 1254 by his father and Alphonso
   X, the ruler of Castile. Alphonso had insisted that Edward receive
   grants of land worth 15,000 marks a year, and also asked to knight him;
   Henry had already planned a knighthood ceremony for Edward but
   conceded. Edward crossed the channel in June, and was knighted by
   Alphonso and married to Eleanor of Castile on 1 November 1254 in the
   monastery of Las Huelgas.

   In 1255 Edward and Eleanor both returned to England. The chronicler
   Matthew Paris tells of a row between Edward and his father over Gascon
   affairs; Edward and Henry's policies continued to diverge, and on 9
   September 1256, without his father's knowledge, Edward signed a treaty
   with Gaillard de Soler, the ruler of one of the Bordeaux factions.
   Edward's freedom of manoeuvre was limited, however, since the seneschal
   of Gascony, Stephen Longespée, held Henry's authority in Gascony.
   Edward had been granted much other land, including Wales and Ireland,
   but for various reasons had less involvement in their administration.

Early adulthood before accession

   In 1258 Henry was forced by his barons to accede to the Provisions of
   Oxford; the barons also were opposed to the Lusignans, Henry's
   half-brothers; Edward was at this time an ally of the Lusignans. This
   led to an attempt by the barons to control Edward's political
   activities by forcing four councillors upon him: John Balliol, Roger de
   Mohaut, John de Grey and Stephen Longespée. The councillors do not
   appear to have had much effect on Edward's behaviour, however, and on
   14 March 1259 Edward made an alliance with the Earl of Gloucester, who
   had been a key instigator of the Provisions of Oxford. Thereafter
   Edward became more aligned with the barons and their promised reforms,
   and on 15 October 1259 he announced that he was allied with Simon de
   Montfort, and that he supported the goals of the barons.

   Shortly afterwards, Henry crossed to France for peace negotiations, and
   Edward took the opportunity to make appointments favouring his allies.
   An account in Thomas Wykes' chronicle claims that Henry learned that
   Edward was plotting against the throne; and in the spring of 1260 Henry
   returned to London and eventually were reconciled by Richard of
   Cornwall's efforts. Henry then forced Edward's allies to give up the
   castles they had received, and Edward's independence was sharply
   reduced.
           English Royalty
         House of Plantagenet
   Armorial of Plantagenet
               Edward I
       Joan, Countess of Gloucester
       Alphonso, Earl of Chester
      Edward II
       Thomas, Earl of Norfolk
       Edmund, Earl of Kent

   Eleanor and Edward had sixteen children, and her death in 1290 affected
   Edward deeply. He displayed his grief by erecting the Eleanor crosses,
   one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night. His
   second marriage, in September 1299, to Marguerite of France (known as
   the "Pearl of France" by her English subjects), the daughter of King
   Philip III of France (Phillip the Bold) and Maria of Brabant, produced
   three children.

   Edward's character greatly contrasted with that of his father, who
   reigned over England throughout Edward's childhood and consistently
   tended to favour compromise with his opponents. Edward had already
   shown himself as an ambitious and impatient man, displaying
   considerable military prowess in defeating Simon de Montfort at the
   Battle of Evesham in 1265, having previously been imprisoned by de
   Montfort at Wallingford Castle and Kenilworth Castle. He gained a
   reputation for treating rebels and other foes with great savagery. He
   relentlessly pursued the surviving members of the de Montfort family,
   his cousins.

Military campaigns

Crusades

   In 1269 Cardinal Ottobono, the Papal Legate, arrived in England and
   appealed to Prince Edward and his brother Edmund to participate in the
   Eighth Crusade alongside Louis IX of France. In order to fund the
   crusade, Edward had to borrow heavily from Louis IX and the French. It
   is estimated by scholars such as P.R. Coss that Edward raised and spent
   close to half a million livres. The number of knights and retainers
   that accompanied Edward on the crusade was quite small, possibly around
   230 knights. Many of the members of Edward's expedition were close
   friends and family including his wife Eleanor of Castile, his brother
   Edmund, and his first cousin Henry of Almain. The original goal of the
   crusade was to relieve the beleaguered Christian stronghold of Acre,
   but Louis had been diverted to Tunis. By the time that Edward arrived
   at Tunis, Louis had died of disease. The majority of the French forces
   at Tunis returned home, but a small number of them joined Edward who
   continued onward to Acre to participate in the Ninth Crusade. After a
   short stop in Cyprus, Edward arrived in Acre with thirteen ships. While
   in Acre, Edward engaged in diplomacy with the Mongols hoping to form an
   alliance against Sultan Baibars of Egypt. In 1271, Hugh III of Cyprus
   arrived with a contingent of knights. The arrival of the additional
   forces emboldened Edward, who engaged in a raid on the town of Ququn.
   Soon afterward Edward signed a ten year peace treaty with Baibars.
   Around the same time, Edward was nearly assassinated but warded off his
   attacker, according to Matthew Paris, by bludgeoning his would-be
   assassin with a metal tripod. Upon hearing of the death of Henry III,
   Edward left the Holy Land and returned to England in 1274.

   Overall, Edward's crusade was insignificant and only gave the city of
   Acre a reprieve of ten years. However, Edward's reputation was greatly
   enhanced by his participation in the crusade and was hailed by some
   contemporary commentators as a new Richard the Lionheart. Furthermore,
   some historians believe Edward was inspired by the design of the
   castles he saw while on crusade and incorporated similar features into
   the castles he built to secure portions of Wales, such as Caernarfon
   Castle.

Welsh Wars

   One of Edward's early achievements was the conquest of Wales. Under the
   1267 Treaty of Montgomery, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd had extended Welsh
   territories southwards into what had been the lands of the English
   Marcher lords, and gained the title of Prince of Wales although he
   still owed homage to the English monarch as overlord. Edward refused to
   recognize the Treaty which had been concluded by his father. In 1275,
   pirates in Edward's pay intercepted a ship carrying Eleanor de
   Montfort, Simon de Montfort's only daughter, from France (where her
   family had lived in exile) to Wales, where she expected to marry
   Llywelyn. The parties' families had arranged the marriage previously,
   when an alliance with Simon de Montfort still counted politically.
   However, Llywelyn wanted the marriage largely to antagonise his
   long-standing enemy, Edward. With the hijacking of the ship, Edward
   gained possession of Eleanor and imprisoned her at Windsor. After
   Llywelyn repeatedly refused to pay homage to Edward in 1274–75, Edward
   raised an army and launched his first campaign against the Welsh prince
   in 1276–77. After this campaign, Llywelyn was forced to pay homage to
   Edward and was stripped of all but a rump of territory in Gwynedd. But
   Edward allowed Llywelyn to retain the title of Prince of Wales, and the
   marriage with Eleanor de Montfort went ahead.

   However, Llywelyn's younger brother, Dafydd (who had briefly been an
   ally of the English) started another rebellion in 1282. Llywelyn died
   shortly afterwards in a skirmish. Subsequently, Edward destroyed the
   remnants of resistance, capturing, brutally torturing, and executing
   Dafydd in the following year. To consolidate his conquest, he commenced
   the construction of a string of massive stone castles encircling the
   principality, of which Caernarfon Castle provides a notable surviving
   example. Wales became incorporated into England under the Statute of
   Rhuddlan in 1284, and in 1301, Edward dubbed his eldest son Edward
   Prince of Wales, since which time the eldest son of each English
   monarch has borne the same title.

Scottish Wars

   Edward then turned his attentions to Scotland. He had planned to marry
   off his son to the heiress Margaret, the Maid of Norway, but when
   Margaret died with no clear successor, the Scottish Guardians invited
   Edward's arbitration, to prevent the country from descending into
   dynastic war. Before the process got underway Edward insisted that he
   be recognized as Lord Paramount of Scotland, the feudal superior of the
   realm. After some initial resistance this precondition was finally
   accepted. Edward presided over a feudal court held at the castle of
   Berwick-upon-Tweed in November 1292, where judgment was given in favour
   of John Balliol over other candidates. The matter had been perfectly
   fair, and John Balliol was chosen as the candidate with the strongest
   claim in feudal law, but Edward subsequently used the concessions he
   had gained to undermine the authority of the new king. Indeed, Edward
   summoned John Balliol to do homage to him in Westminster in 1293 and
   made it clear he expected John's military and financial support against
   France. But this was too much for Balliol, who concluded a pact with
   France and prepared an army to invade England.
   Edward I depicted in Cassell's History of England (1902)
   Edward I depicted in Cassell's History of England (1902)

   Edward gathered his largest army yet and razed Berwick, massacring its
   inhabitants, and proceeded to Dunbar and Edinburgh. The Stone of
   Destiny was removed from Scone Palace and taken to Westminster Abbey.
   Until 1996, it formed the seat on King Edward's Chair, on which all
   English monarchs since 1308 have been crowned, with the exception of
   Mary I. In 1996, the stone was returned to Scotland, to return only
   during royal coronations. Balliol renounced the crown and was
   imprisoned in the Tower of London for three years before withdrawing to
   his estates in France. All freeholders in Scotland were required to
   swear an oath of homage to Edward, and he ruled Scotland like a
   province through English Viceroys.

   Opposition sprang up (see Wars of Scottish Independence), and Edward
   executed the focus of discontent, William Wallace, on 23 August 1305,
   having earlier defeated him at the Battle of Falkirk (1298). His plan
   to conquer Scotland never came to fruition during his lifetime,
   however, and he died in 1307 at Burgh-by-Sands, Cumberland on the
   Scottish border, while on his way to wage another campaign against the
   Scots under the leadership of Robert the Bruce. Against his wishes,
   Edward was buried in Westminster Abbey. He was buried in a lead casket
   wishing to be moved to the usual regal gold casket only when Scotland
   was fully conquered and part of the Kingdom of England. To this day he
   still lies in the lead casket - although the thrones of Scotland and
   England were united in a personal union in 1603 following the death of
   Elizabeth I and the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English
   throne, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was created in 1707 by the
   Acts of Union 1707, uniting Scotland and England in an incorporating
   union, the conquest Edward envisaged was never completed. His son, King
   Edward II of England, succeeded him.

Government and law under Edward I

   A portrait of Edward I hangs in the United States House of
   Representatives chamber. It was Edward who founded the parliamentary
   constitution of England and eliminated the divisive political effects
   of the feudal system.
   A portrait of Edward I hangs in the United States House of
   Representatives chamber. It was Edward who founded the parliamentary
   constitution of England and eliminated the divisive political effects
   of the feudal system.

   Unlike his father, Henry III of England, Edward I took great interest
   in the workings of his government and undertook a number of reforms to
   regain royal control in government and administration. He also
   instituted numerous reforms on the law, most noticeably via the series
   of Statutes issued during the early years of his reign. He spearheaded
   a wave of nationalism and solidified central authority over the
   country, a trend also used by contemporary monarchs.

   After returning from the crusade in 1274, a major inquiry into local
   malpractice and alienation of royal rights took place. The result was
   the Hundred Rolls of 1275, this was a detailed document reflecting the
   waning power of the Crown. It was also the allegations that emerged
   from the inquiry which led to the first of the series of codes of law
   issued during the reign of Edward I. In 1275 the first Statute of
   Westminster was issued correcting many specific problems in the Hundred
   Rolls. Similar codes of law continued to be issued until the death of
   Edward's close adviser Robert Burnell in 1292.

   Edward held to the concept of community, and although at times
   unscrupulously aggressive, ruled with the general welfare of his
   subjects in mind. He perceived the crown as judge of the proper course
   of action for the realm and its chief legislator; royal authority was
   granted by law and should be fully utilized for the public good, but
   that same law also granted protection to the king's subjects. A king
   should rule with the advice and consent of those whose rights were in
   question. The level of interaction between king and subject allowed
   Edward considerable leeway in achieving his goals.

   Late in his reign, Edward I issued the first trailbaston commissions
   (1305–07). It was also during Edward's reign that the parliament began
   to meet regularly, though its use was still extremely limited to
   matters of taxation. It was during Edward's reign that the Model
   Parliament was convened. Traditionally, this is the start of the
   regular participation of the Commons in Parliament. Nevertheless by
   interacting with his magnates, Edward I obtained a number of taxation
   grants which had been impossible under the reign of Henry III.

   Edward's character found accurate evaluation by Sir Richard Baker, in A
   Chronicle of the Kings of England: "He had in him the two wisdoms, not
   often found in any, single; both together, seldom or never: an ability
   of judgement in himself, and a readiness to hear the judgement of
   others. He was not easily provoked into passion, but once in passion,
   not easily appeased, as was seen by his dealing with the Scots; towards
   whom he showed at first patience, and at last severity. If he be
   censured for his many taxations, he may be justified by his well
   bestowing them; for never prince laid out his money to more honour of
   himself, or good of his kingdom."

Edward and the Jews

   Though the Jews were expelled from England under the reign of Edward I,
   the reason behind it was far from financial. Despite the fact that the
   Jewish community was thought to deal exclusively in moneylending, it is
   evident that by the time of Edward's reign, there was little left of
   the community to be made useful for the Crown financially. Jews had
   been harshly squeezed by King John and Henry III. Furthermore, Edward I
   had adequate financial resources from the Italian banking company of
   Riccadi before 1292, therefore there was virtually no financial motive
   behind Edward's persecution of the Jews. As such, with the thirteenth
   century's growing movement of anti-Jewish feeling, and with France as
   the first country to expel Jews from her cities, the expulsion was as
   much a sop to popular opinion as a recognition that their coffers were
   empty. Moreover Edward's mother, Eleanor of Provence had expelled Jews
   from her estates in 1275 and it was only in 1290 that Edward formally
   expelled all Jews from England. It was Edward who introduced to England
   the practice of forcing Jews to wear denotive yellow patches on the
   outer garments, a practise to be taken up by Adolf Hitler over six
   centuries later.

   In the course of King Edward's persecution of the Jews, he arrested all
   the heads of Jewish households. The authorities took over 300 of them
   to the Tower of London and executed them, while killing others in their
   homes. Finally, in 1290, the King banished all Jews from the country,
   by the Edict of Expulsion, confiscating all of their their money and
   property.

Trivia

     * He was known to be fond of falconry and horse riding. The names of
       his horses have survived: Lyard, his war horse; Ferrault his
       hunting horse; and his favourite, Bayard. At the Siege of Berwick,
       Edward is said to have led the assault personally, using Bayard to
       leap over the earthen defences of the city.

     * He was largely responsible for the Tower of London in the form we
       see today, including notably the concentric defences, elaborate
       entranceways, and the Traitor's Gate.

     * He initially intended to call himself Edward IV, recognising the
       three Saxon kings of England of that name. However, for unknown
       reasons, this designation does not appear to have been formally
       used, the King instead being known as 'King Edward' not only by
       custom (for a King would generally not be known by his regnal
       designation in ordinary conversation), but in all known formal
       documentation. Upon the accession of his son, also named Edward,
       the custom of the old reign was taken as rule - the new King was
       named Edward II, and the old Edward I. Technically, then, this
       established the custom of numbering English monarchs only from the
       Norman Conquest (although Edward is the only name that has been
       shared by pre- and post-Conquest monarchs).

     * He made extensive use of a large trebuchet called the War Wolf to
       besiege Scottish castles.

     * He was portrayed by Patrick McGoohan in Braveheart.

     * His Royal motto was pactum serva, 'Keep faith'

     * His life was dramatized in a Renaissance play by George Peele, The
       Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First.

Issue

   Children of Edward and Eleanor:
    1. Daughter, stillborn in May 1255 in Bordeaux, France.
    2. Katherine, born 17 June 1264, died 5 September 1264 and buried at
       Westminster Abbey.
    3. Eleanor, born 17 June 1264 and died 12 October 1297. She married
       (1) Alfonso III of Aragon, (2) Count Henry III of Bar.
    4. Joan, born January 1265, buried at Westminster Abbey before 7
       September 1265.
    5. John, born 13 July 1266, died 3 August 1271 at Wallingford, in the
       custody of his granduncle, Richard, Earl of Cornwall. Buried at
       Westminster Abbey.
    6. Henry, born before 6 May 1268, died 16 October 1274.
    7. Juliana (Katherine), born May 1271 in Palestine and died before
       September 1271.
    8. Joan of Acre born May 1271 and died 7 April 1307. She married (1)
       Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, (2) Ralph Morthermer, 1st
       Baron Monthermer.
    9. Alphonso, Earl of Chester, born 24 November 1273, died 19 August
       1284, buried in Westminster Abbey.
   10. Margaret, born 15 March 1275 and died after 1333. She married John
       II, Duke of Brabant.
   11. Berengaria, born 1 May 1276 and died before 27 June 1278, buried in
       Westminster Abbey.
   12. Elizabeth? and Alice, died shortly after birth, January 1278.
   13. Mary, born 11 March 1279 and died 29 May 1332, a nun in Amesbury,
       Wiltshire (England).
   14. Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, born 7 August 1282 at Rhuddlan Castle,
       Denbighshire, Wales, died 5 May 1316 at Quendon, Essex, England.
       She married (1) John I, Count of Holland, (2) Humphrey de Bohun,
       4th Earl of Hereford & 3rd Earl of Essex.
   15. Edward of Caernarvon, later Edward II, King of England, born 25
       April 1284 at Caernarfon, died 21 September 1327. He married
       Isabella of France.
   16. Beatrice, born c. 1286
   17. Blanche, born 1290

   Children of Edward and Marguerite:
    1. Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk ( 1300– 1338), married
       firstly, Alice Hayles and had issue. He married secondly, Mary
       Brewes and had issue.
    2. Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, ( 1301– 1330), married
       Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell and had issue. Executed
       by Isabella of France and Roger Mortimer following the overthrow of
       Edward II.
    3. Eleanor ( 1306– 1311), died young.

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