King Of England Edward I PLANTAGENET

   Another name for Edward was LONGSHANKS.

  General Notes:

Reign 1272-1307

Born: 17 June 1239 at the Palace of Westminster
Died: 7 July 1307 at Burgh-on-Sands, Cumberland
Buried: Westminster Abbey, Middlesex

Crowned: 19 August 1274 at Westminster Abbey, Middlesex

Married: (1st) October 1254 at Las Huelgas, Castile; (2nd) 10 September 1299 at Canterbury Cathedral

Spouse: (1st) Eleanor daughter of Ferdinand III, King of of Castile & Leon; (2nd) Margaret daughter of Philip III, King of France

Offspring: (1st) Eleanor, Joan, John, Henry, Julian (alias Katherine), Joan, Alfonso, Margaret, Berengaria, Mary, Alice, Elizabeth, Edward, Beatrice & Blanche; (2nd) Thomas, Edmund & Eleanor; (Illegitimate) supposedly one

Contemporaries: Robert Burnell (Chancellor, 1272-1288); Alexander III (King of Scotland, 1249-1286); Robert Bruce; William Wallace; Philip IV (King of France, 1285-1314); Llywelyn ap Gruffydd

Edward I, nicknamed "Longshanks" due to his great height and stature, was perhaps the most successful of the medieval monarchs. The first twenty years of his reign marked a high point of cooperation between crown and community. In these years, Edward made great strides in reforming government, consolidating territory, and defining foreign policy. He possessed the strength his father lacked and reasserted royal prerogative. Edward fathered many children as well: sixteen by Eleanor of Castile before her death in 1290, and three more by Margaret.

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.

Edward I added to the bureaucracy initiated by Henry II to increase his effectiveness as sovereign. He expanded the administration into four principal parts: the Chancery, the Exchequer, the Household, and the Council. The Chancery researched and created legal documents while the Exchequer received and issued money, scrutinized the accounts of local officials, and kept financial records. These two departments operated within the king's authority but independently from his personal rule, prompting Edward to follow the practice of earlier kings in developing the Household, a mobile court of clerks and advisers that traveled with the king. The King's Council was the most vital segment of the four. It consisted of his principal ministers, trusted judges and clerks, a select group of magnates, and also followed the king. The Council dealt with matters of great importance to the realm and acted as a court for cases of national importance.

Edward's forays into the refinement of law and justice had important consequences in decreasing feudal practice. The Statute of Gloucester (1278) curbed expansion of large private holdings and established the principle that all private franchises were delegated by, and subordinate to, the crown. Royal jurisdiction became supreme: the Exchequer developed a court to hear financial disputes, the Court of Common Pleas arose to hear property disputes, and the Court of the King's Bench addressed criminal cases in which the king had a vested interest. Other statutes prohibited vassals from giving their lands to the church, encouraged primogeniture, and established the king as the sole person who could make a man his feudal vassal. In essence, Edward set the stage for land to become an article of commerce.

Edward concentrated on an aggressive foreign policy. A major campaign to control Llywelyn ap Gruffydd of Wales began in 1277 and lasted until Llywelyn's death in 1282. Wales was divided into shires, English civil law was introduced, and the region was administered by appointed justices. In the manner of earlier monarchs, Edward constructed many new castles to ensure his conquest. In 1301, the king's eldest son was named Prince of Wales, a title still granted to all first-born male heirs to the crown. Edward found limited success in extending English influence into Ireland: he introduced a Parliament in Dublin and increased commerce in a few coastal towns, but most of the country was controlled by independent barons or Celtic tribal chieftains. He retained English holdings in France through diplomacy, but was drawn into war by the incursions of Philip IV in Gascony. He negotiated a peace with France in 1303 and retained those areas England held before the war. In 1290, he expelled the Jews from England.

Edward's involvement in Scotland had far reaching effects. The country had developed a feudal kingdom similar to England in the Lowlands the Celtic tribal culture dispersed to the Highlands. After the death of the Scottish king, Alexander III, Edward negotiated a treaty whereby Margaret, Maid of Norway and legitimate heir to the Scottish crown, would be brought to England to marry his oldest son, the future Edward II. Margaret, however, died in 1290 en route to England, leaving a disputed succession in Scotland; Edward claimed the right to intercede as feudal lord of the Scottish kings through their Anglo-Norman roots. Edward arbitrated between thirteen different claimants and chose John Balliol. Balliol did homage to Edward as his lord, but the Scots resisted Edward's demands for military service. In 1296, Edward invaded Scotland and soundly defeated the Scots under Balliol D Balliol was forced to abdicate and the Scottish barons did homage to Edward as their king. William Wallace incited a rebellion in 1297, defeated the English army at Stirling, and harassed England's northern counties. The next year, Edward defeated Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk but encountered continued resistance until Wallace's capture and execution in 1304. Robert Bruce, the grandson of a claimant to the throne in 1290, instigated another revolt in 1306 and would ultimately defeat the army of Edward II at Bannockburn. Edward's campaigns in Scotland were ruthless and aroused in the Scots a hatred of England that would endure for generations.

Edward's efforts to finance his wars in France and Scotland strained his relationship with the nobility by instituting both income and personal property taxes. Meetings of the King's Great Council, now referred to as Parliaments, intermittently included members of the middle class and began curtailing the royal authority. Parliament reaffirmed Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest in 1297, 1299, 1300, and 1301; it was concluded that no tax should be levied without consent of the realm as a whole (as represented by Parliament).

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."

Battle of Loudon Hill
Date - 1307
Combatants - King Robert the Bruce .v. King Edward I of England
Setting - Loudon, Scotland

After Wallace's execution in 1305, there was little hope for Scotland. Edward was making the final plans to merge Scotland into England. Edward was an old man though, and would not last much longer. In 1306, something happened that tore the very heart out of Edwards plan's. On the 27th March, 1306, Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick, and claimant to the throne of Scotland, crowned himself at Scone. As you can imagine, Edward I was outraged and immediately headed north to topple King Robert. At Loudon hill, King Robert met his first defeat. He was now an outlaw, forced to seek shelter wherever he could. Hardly befitting for a King.

Scotland would have been finished then and there if it wasn't for the greatest stroke of luck ever to happen to Scotland. On 7th July 1307, Edward marched north for the last time, his aim - to seek out Robert the Bruce. Thankfully, as he was just about to cross the border, he collapsed and died. If this hadn't of happened, then it is probable to conclude that Scotland would no have existed today. Edward was replaced by his much weaker son (Edward II) who had no interest whatsoever of continuing the campaign in Scotland. The army returned home, and King Robert came out of hiding.

Battle of Dunbar
Date - 1296
Combatants - Guardians of Scotland .v. King Edward I of England (Longshanks)
Setting - Dunbar, Scotland

Scotland, was divided into the Highlands north of Perth, and the Lowlands from Perth to the border, mostly garrisoned by the English army or Scottish lords who had been forced to give their allegiance to Edward the first, the English King. After the tragic death of King Alexander at Kinghorn, Edward the first, always cast an avaricious eye towards Scotland, his chance came after the demise of the little Maid of Norway. No fewer than thirteen noble claimants to the crown of the northern kingdom had come forward; the land was threatened by vicious civil war.

The Lords of Scotland appealed to Edward that he might graciously arbitrate, he accepted, with gilded crown and chain in hand; the Lion would now adjudicate the Unicorn Edward as regal bearer of this self-sought Scottish manacle was more than willing to apply it; he demanded that on the 10th of May 1291, at his castle at Norham, the Lords of the north attend him. For the purpose of a hearing of the primary claimants, now reduced to eight. The long adjudication began, the Scottish people had desired a King with nothing but Celtic blood and one of undivided loyalty, this was declared the issue of Edward's mandate to arbitrate. Weeks passed, and the finalists were reduced to the families of Balliol and Bruce.

The Scots Lords, now painfully aware of their feet on alien soil and a foreign king deciding the fate of their crown, silently watched as the two remaining claimants in turn swore to abide by Edwards's decision as their liege and sovereign Lord of the land. Edwards's final favor fell upon his dependent John Balliol. With this choice the Unicorn was finally chained and the die cast for a suicidal war of escape from England's strangling chains. The smile on the teeth of the Lion was warm for his new Scottish subjects as John Balliol was crowned the puppet king at Scone on November the 30th, 1292. Edward removed the famous 'Stone of Destiny' and removed it to Westminster Abbey, where it remained for 700 years - being returned only recently. Dutifully, Balliol appeared later to do homage to Edward at Newcastle bearing with him the ancient seal of Scotland.

Shock however, attended the faces of his faithful followers as Edward took the old and regal seal in his hands and broke it into four pieces and ordered that they be placed in the English treasury as a token of his English dominion. This act gave Edward the first the legal right to Scotland under Norman Law. He asserted his domination by touring Scotland, removing relics that were special to Scotland, and subduing uprisings. Edinburgh castle was garrisoned with English troops for the first time in it's history.

However, Scotland's law even then, differed from English law, in that it was the people in the form of the Scottish parliament that made the law in Scotland and not just the King. Edward had always been aware that in order to rule and hold Scotland that he had to give lands in England to the Scottish nobles and effect marital unions between the daughters of Scottish noble families to his Norman English Lords, this was not acceptable to the Scottish nobility.

When a marriage was arranged between Balliol's son and the Count of Anjou's daughter, one of Edward's French enemies. Edward was so infuriated that he sent an English force into Scotland in 1296. Berwick was the first town in Scotland, Edward hung over 10,000 of its inhabitants from their own doorframes to show what he was capable of, giving a clear message to all that might oppose his will.

His army then moved to Dunbar to defeat a Scottish army and capture most of its leaders, which included Sir William St. Clair of Rosslyn, Sir Symon Fraser of Neidpath, Sir Gilbert Hay of Borthwick, and Sir Edward Ramsay of Dalhousie. Edward made the captured Scottish nobles swear Fealty and allegiance to the English crown before they were released, this they did with tongue in cheek, and were allowed to return to their lands.

Battle of Stirling Bridge
Date - 11th September 1297
Combatants - William Wallace of Elderslie .v. Earl of Surrey (commander-in-chief of Scotland under Edward I)
Setting - Royal Burgh of Stirling, Scotland

The beginning of the description Wallace goes into action as he hears of the English approach. With many of his Barons hostile, Edward was desperately trying to raise an army to use against France. This situation left him with no troops to send north against the Scots. He therefore decided to release several of the Scottish nobles he had been keeping prisoner since Dunbar. Among them were Alexander Comyn and the Earl of Buchan, who were released on the condition that they quell the disturbances.

When the nobles arrived north, they found the situation far worse then they had been told. They sent various letters to King Edward expressing their loyalty and hopes of success. In the meantime they actually did nothing and waited to see how matters turned out. They also made no effort to prevent their retainers from joining the rebels.

Wallace and Moray had not been idle. By the end of August they had captured Inverness, Elgin, Nabff, Aberdeen, Irvine, Fife and Dundee. The entire country of Scotland, north of the Firth of Forth, was in Scottish hands.

Finally, the Earl of Surrey, Edward's Viceroy in Scotland, decided he should do something. He was an elderly soldier who had learned over the years that hundreds of foot soldiers could be scattered by just a few mounted knights. He was convinced that with most of the Scottish nobility and therefore their knights either on the sidelines, in prison, or in the service of Edward, that he could wipe out the commoners of Wallace and Moray with ease. Gathering a large host of heavy horse and foot soldiers, he marched towards Sterling, which was they key to crossing the Forth, and therefore, the key to the North.

On hearing of this approach, Moray and Wallace joined forces and moved south to meet him and defend Stirling. Overlooking a loop in the Forth river, which was crossed only by a single bridge, was an abrupt rock called Abbey Craig, from which a small neck of ground led back to give safe retreat. Below the northern end of the bridge was an area of bogy ground almost entirely encircled by the forth. The Scots deployed their men upon the crag., The English were camped on the south side of the river. As no army of foot soldiers had ever prevailed against a large force of heavy cavalry, they were extremely self confident.

James Stewart and the Earl of Lennox were hovering on the outskirts with a troop of cavalry, uncertain weather to join Moray and Wallace. They didn't feel the Scots had much of a chance and were hesitant to risk their force. In an effort to prevent the annihilation of the countrymen, they approached the Earl of Surrey with the suggestion that they initiate a parlay. The earl agreed but Wallace and Moray refused. Two Dominican friars were then dispatched to Moray and Wallace with offers of generous treatment if they would yield. "Tell your commander", Wallace replied, "that we are not here to make peace but to do battle to defend ourselves and liberate out kingdom. Let them come and we shall prove this in their very beards."

At dawn on September 11, a party of English foot soldiers were sent over the narrow bridge but were recalled because the Earl had overslept. Hugh de Cressingham was fuming with impatience. He urged that no more time be wasted and the earl gave him the order to cross. He arrogantly led his cavalry across the bridge two by two.When approximately half of his force had crossed the bridge, Wallace and Moray gave the signal to attack. The main force of the Scots fell upon the leading ranks on the causeway that lead from the bridge to the more solid ground some distance from the bridge. A hand picked detachment seized the bridgehead and began to cut away its timbers. Jostled from the causeway, the heavy horses of the armored knights plunged into the deep mire on either side, unable to move or charge, throwing their riders to the ground.

Behind them the rest of the English army was powerless to help as the bridge was now destroyed. A massacre now took place. Hugh de Cressingham was flayed and pieces of his skin were sent throughout the country as tokens of defiance. Legend has it that Wallace had a baldrick made from a large piece of it.

The Earl of Surrey had not crossed the bridge, aghast at the carnage, he fled straight to the border. The foot soldiers and the baggage trains were not as fortunate. As they retreated, James Stewart and the Earl of Lennox, who were lurking in the woods on either side until they saw the outcome, fell upon the fleeing groups.

The effect was immediate, for the first time, commoners had defeated mounted knights. The dissenting barons were so shocked that immediately patched up their disagreements with the King.

Edward married Marguerite De France LE HARDI, daughter of King Of France Philippe III CAPET and Marie DE BRABANT. (Marguerite De France LE HARDI was born in 1279 in Paris, France and died on 14 Feb 1316-1317 in Marlbogough Castle, Wiltshire, England.)

Edward next married Princess Of Castile Eleanor BERENGER, daughter of King Of Spain And Leon Ferdinand III Alfonsez DE CASTILE and Countess Of Ponthieu Joanna DE DAMMARTIN, on 18 Oct 1254 in Abbey Os Las Huelgas, Burgos, Castile, Spain. (Princess Of Castile Eleanor BERENGER was born in 1244 in Aix, France, died on 28 Nov 1290 in Grantham, England and was buried on 16 Dec 1290 in Westminster Abbey, London, England.)