Young Edward
Edward was born at Westminster in June
1239. He had a good education. This was because his parents loved the arts,
especially his mother. He was carefully taught in Latin and French.
In 1254, English fears of a Castilian invasion
of the English province of Gascony induced
Edward's father to arrange a marriage between his fourteen-year-old son and
Eleanor, the half-sister of King Alfonso X of Castile. [1]
Eleanor and
Edward were married on 1
November 1254 in Castile. [2] As part of the marriage agreement, the young
prince got grants of land worth 15,000
marks a year. [3] Though the
endowments King Henry made were sizable, they offered Edward little independence. He had received Gascony as early
as 1249, but Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, as royal lieutenant, he drew the income. In practice, Edward derived neither authority nor revenue from
this province. [4] The grant he received in
1254 included most of Ireland, and much
land in Wales and England, including the earldom of Chester, but the king kept control over the land, particularly in
Ireland, so Edward's power was limited there as well, and the king got most of the income from those lands. [5]
Civil war
The years
1264–1267 saw the conflict known as the
Second Barons' War, in which baronial forces led [AS1] by Simon de Montfort fought against
those who remained loyal to the king. [6] The first scene of battle was the city of Gloucester, which Edward managed to retake from the enemy. When Robert
de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, came to the
assistance of the rebels, Edward negotiated
a truce with the earl, the terms of which he later broke[AS2] . Edward then captured [AS3] Northampton from de Montfort's son,
also Simon. The baronial and royalist forces finally met at the Battle of Lewes, on 14 May 1264. Edward,
commanding the right wing, performed [AS4] well, and soon defeated [AS5] the London contingent of de
Montfort's forces. Unwisely, however, he followed [AS6] the scattered [AS7] enemy in pursuit, and on his return found the rest of the royal army defeated.[7] By the agreement known as the
Mise of Lewes, Edward and his cousin Henry of Almain were givenpp up as prisoners to de Montfort.[8]
Edward remained [AS8] in captivity until March, and even
after his release he was keptpp
under strict surveillance. [9] Meanwhile[AS9] , de Montfort used his victory to set up a de facto government. He even summoned [AS10] the Parliament of 1265, known as de Montfort's Parliament.
Then, on
28 May 1265, Edward managed to escape his
custodians and joined up with the Earl of
Gloucester, who had recently defected to the king's side. Montfort's
support was now dwindling, and Edward retook Worcester and Gloucester with
relatively little effort.[10] Meanwhile, Montfort had madepp an alliance with Llywelyn and startedpp
moving east to join forces with his son Simon.
Edward managed to make a surprise attack at
Kenilworth Castle, before moving on to cut off the earl of Leicester.[11]
There are
three sections. In the left, groups of knights in armour are holding a naked
body, seemingly attacking it with their swords. In the middle, a naked body
lies with severed
[AS11] arms, legs and head nest to a uniform, arms and another prone body. The
right section seemingly depicts a pile of dead bodies in armour.
The two
forces then met at the second great
encounter of the Barons' War— the Battle of Evesham, on 4 August
1265. Montfort stood little chance against the superior royal forces, and after
his defeat he was killedpp and
mutilated on the field.[12]
The war did not end with Montfort's death, and Edward
continued campaigning. At Christmas, he came to terms with the younger Simon de
Montfort and his associates at the Isle of Axholme in Lincolnshire. In March he
led a successful assault on the Cinque
Ports.[13] A contingent of rebels held [AS13] out in the virtually impregnable Kenilworth Castle and did not surrender until the drafting of the
conciliatory Dictum of Kenilworth.[14] In April it seemed as if Gloucester would take up the
cause of the reform movement, and civil war would resume, but after a
renegotiation of the terms of the Dictum of Kenilworth, the parties came an agreement.[15] Edward, however, was little involved [AS14] in the settlement negotiations following the wars; at this point his main
focus was on planning his upcoming
crusade.[16]
Crusade and
accession
See also:
Eighth Crusade and Ninth Crusade
Edward took the crusader's cross in an elaborate
ceremony on 24 June 1268, with his brother Edmund and cousin
Henry of Almain. Among others who committed
themselves to the Ninth Crusade were some
of Edward's former adversaries.[17] There was
great difficulty raising funds for the expedition.
Originally,
the Crusaders intended[AS15] to relieve the beleaguered [AS16] Christian stronghold of Acre, but before they could do this, several disasters happened
to the French. The French forces were struck [AS17] by an epidemic which, on 25 August, took the life of King Louis himself.[18] By the time Edward arrived at Tunis, Charles had already signed [AS18] a treaty with the emir, and there was
little else to do but return to Sicily. The crusade was postponed
[AS19] until next spring, but a devastating storm off the coast of Sicily dissuaded [AS20] Charles of Anjou and Louis's successor Philip III from any further
campaigning.[19]
Edward decided to continue alone, and on
9 May 1271 he finally landed at Acre. [20]
By then, the situation in the Holy Land was
a precarious one. Jerusalem had fallen in
1244, and Acre was now the centre of the
Christian area.[21] The Muslim states were on the offensive under the Mamluk
leadership of Baibars, and were now threatening Acre itself.[22] An embassy to
the Mongols helped bring about an attack
on Aleppo in the north, which helped[AS21] to distract Baibar's forces.[23]
In November, Edward led a raid on Qaqun, which could have served [AS22] as a bridgehead to Jerusalem, but both the Mongol invasion and the attack
on Qaqun failed[AS23] . Things now seemed increasingly desperate. Finally, an attack by a
Muslim assassin in June forced him to abandon any further campaigning. Although
he managed to kill the assassin, he was struck in the arm by a dagger feared to
be poisoned, and became severely weakened over the following months.
It was not
until 24 September that Edward left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, he was met with
the news that his father had died on 16 November.[24] Edward was deeply
saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home at once, he made a
leisurely journey northwards.[25] The political situation in England was stable
after the mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king at his father's
death, rather than at his own coronation, as had until then been customary.[26]
In Edward's absence, the country was governed by a royal council, led by Robert
Burnell.[27] The new king embarked on an overland journey through Italy and
France, where among other things he visited the pope in Rome and suppressed a
rebellion in Gascony.[28] Only on 2 August 1274 did he return to England, and
was crowned on 19 August.[29]
King Edward
Edward's
reign had two main phases. The first phase was administration of a now peaceful
country. The second phase was warfare against Wales and Scotland.
Administration
His first
concern was to restore order and re-establish royal authority after the
disastrous reign of his father.[30] To do this, he changed the administrators.
He appointed Robert Burnell as chancellor, who held the post until his death in
1292.[31] Edward then replaced most local officials, such as the sheriffs.[32]
This was done to prepare for an inquiry which would hear complaints about abuse
of power by royal officers. Laws were made to define rights about ownership of
land, recovery of debts, trade and local peacekeeping.
Parliament
Edward
reformed English Parliament and made it a source for generating revenue.[33]
Edward held Parliament regularly in his reign.[34] In 1295 a significant change
occurred. For this Parliament, in addition to the lords, two knights from each
county and two representatives from each borough were summoned.[35] Before, the
commons had been expected simply to assent (say 'yes') to decisions already
made by the rulers. Now they would meet with the full authority (plena
potestas) of their communities, to give assent to decisions made in
Parliament.[36] The king now had full backing for collecting 'lay subsidies'
from the entire population. Lay subsidies were taxes collected at a certain
fraction of the moveable property of all laymen.[37] Historians have called
this the "Model Parliament".[38]
War in Wales
Llywelyn ap
Gruffudd was the main Welsh leader. He refused to do homage to Edward, and
married Eleanor, the daughter of Simon de Montfort. In November 1276, war was
declared.[39] Initial operations were launched under the captaincy of Mortimer,
Edmund Crouchback (Edward's brother) and the Earl of Warwick. Support for
Llywelyn was weak among his own countrymen.[40]
In July 1277
Edward invaded with a force of 15,500— of whom 9,000 were Welshmen.[41] The
campaign never came to a major battle, and Llywelyn soon realised he had no
choice but to surrender.[41] By the Treaty of Aberconwy in November 1277, he
was left only with the land of Gwynedd, though he was allowed to retain the
title of Prince of Wales.[42
When war
broke out again in 1282, it was entirely different. For the Welsh, this war was
over national identity. It had wide support, especially after attempts to
impose English law on Welsh subjects.[43] For Edward, it became a war of
conquest.[44] The war started with a rebellion by Dafydd (Llywelyn's younger
brother), who was discontented with the reward he had received from Edward in
1277.[45] Llywelyn and other Welsh chieftains soon joined in, and initially the
Welsh experienced military success. The Welsh advances ended on 11 December,
however, when Llywelyn was lured into a trap and killed at the Battle of Orewin
Bridge.[46] The conquest was complete with the capture in June 1283 of Dafydd,
who was taken to Shrewsbury and executed as a traitor next autumn.[47]
Further
rebellions occurred in 1287–8 and in 1294. In both cases the rebellions were
put down.[33] By the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan, Wales was incorporated into
England and was given an administrative system like the English, with counties
policed by sheriffs.[48]
English law
was introduced in criminal cases, though the Welsh were allowed to maintain
their own laws in some cases of property disputes.[49] After 1277, and
increasingly after 1283, Edward embarked on a full-scale project of English
settlement of Wales. He created new towns like Flint, Aberystwyth, and
Rhuddlan.[50]
Edward
started a big program of building castles, to keep the Welsh under control. His
castles started the widespread use of arrowslits in castle walls across Europe,
drawing on Eastern influences.[51] Also a product of the Crusades was the
introduction of the concentric castle, and four of the eight castles Edward
founded in Wales followed this design.[52][53]
In 1284,
King Edward's son Edward— the later Edward II— was born at Caernarfon Castle.
In 1301 at Lincoln, the young Edward became the first English prince to be
invested with the title of Prince of Wales.[54][55]
Wars with Scotland
Scotland and
England were at peace in the 1280s. Alexander III of Scotland and Edward had an
understanding whereby Alexander held land in England. This gave him the excuse
to acknowledge Edward as his lord, and left ambiguous whether or not this
applied to Scotland as well.[56]
The heir to
the throne was his granddaughter Margaret. Unfortunately, Alexander died in
1286, followed by young Margaret in 1290. This left Scotland without a king,
which started all the problems.
Struggle for
the crown of Scotland
There were
fourteen claimants; John Balliol and Robert de Brus (the grandfather of the
famous Robert the Bruce) had the best cases. The competitors agreed to hand
over the realm to Edward until a decision was made.[57][58] John Balliol was
chosen in 1292.
Edward
continued to push his claim as overlord of Scotland. He interferred in some of
the legal affairs of Scotland, and insisted the Scots provided military service
in his army. This caused the Scots to make an alliance with France. They then
attacked Carlisle.[59]
Edward
responded by invading Scotland in 1296 and taking the town of Berwick in a
particularly bloody attack.[60] At the Battle of Dunbar, Scottish resistance
was effectively crushed.[61] Edward confiscated the Stone of Destiny – the
Scottish coronation stone– and brought it to Westminster, deposed Balliol and
placed him in the Tower of London, and installed Englishmen to govern the
country.[33] The campaign had been a very successful, but the English triumph
would only be temporary.[62]
William Wallace
Although the
Scottish conflict seemed settled in 1296, it was started again by William
Wallace, who came from one of the notable families. Wallace was a warlord
rather than a politician, and soon started a rebellion. He defeated a large
English force at Stirling Bridge in 1297 while Edward was in Flanders.[63] In
1298 Edward defeated Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk.[64] After that the Scots
avoided open battle in favour of raiding England with small groups.
Edward's
next move was political: in 1303 a peace agreement was made between England and
France, breaking up the Franco-Scottish alliance.[65] Robert de Brus and most
of the other nobles pledged allegiance to Edward. Wallace was betrayed and
handed to the English. He was publicly executed.[66]
The
situation changed again, in 1306, when de Brus murdered his rival John Comyn
and had himself crowned King of Scotland by Isobel, sister of the Earl of
Buchan.[67] Edward, in ill health, sent armies north under other commanders.
Brus was beaten at the Battle of Methven in June 1306. Edward followed this
with brutal suppression of the allies of the Brus. This in turn fuelled more
rebellion. This conflict was still in progress when Edward died in 1307.[68]
Issue
Eleanor of
Castile died on 28 November 1290. Unusual for such marriages, the couple loved
each other. Edward was deeply affected by her death. He erected twelve Eleanor
crosses, one at each place where her funeral cortège (procession) stopped for
the night.[69] As part of the peace accord between England and France in 1294,
it was agreed that Edward should marry the French princess Margaret. The
marriage took place in 1299.[70]
Edward and
Eleanor had at least fourteen children, perhaps as many as sixteen. Of these,
five daughters survived into adulthood, but only one boy outlived Edward– the
future King Edward II.
Edward was
concerned with his son's failure to live up to expectations, and at one point
exiled the prince's favourite Piers Gaveston.[71] Edward may have known his son
was bisexual but he did not throw Gaveston from the castle battlements as shown
in Braveheart.
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