General Notes

Edward & Eleanor had 4 sons and 9 daughters though only Edward II and five
daughters survived infancy.  Edward was a strong leader, viewed with respect,
devoted to the Queen.  His military skills were considerable in the conquest of
Wales and the subjugation of the Scots hence nicknaming him "Hammer of Scots".
He built great castles in Wales.

Reign 1272-1307
Burial , Westminster, Abbey, London, England
Edward I, Longshanks
(1272-1307 AD)

Born: 17 June 1239 at the Palace of Westminster

Died: 7 July 1307 at Burgh-on-Sands, Cumberland

Parents: Henry III and Eleanor of Provence

Siblings: Margaret, Beatrice, Edmund, Richard, John, Katherine, William &Henry

Crowned: 19 August 1274 at Westminster Abbey, Middlesex

Married: (1st) October 1254 at Las Huelgas, Castile; (2nd) 10 September1299 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, wasperhaps the most successful of the medieval monarchs. The first twentyyears of his reign marked a high point of cooperation between crown andcommunity. In these years, Edward made great strides in reforminggovernment, consolidating territory, and defining foreign policy. Hepossessed the strength his father lacked and reasserted royalprerogative. Edward fathered many children as well: sixteen by Eleanor ofCastille before her death in 1290, and three more by Margaret.

Edward held to the concept of community, and although at timesunscrupulously aggressive, ruled with the general welfare of his subjectsin mind. He perceived the crown as judge of the proper course of actionfor the realm and its chief legislator; royal authority was granted bylaw and should be fully utilized for the public good, but that same lawalso granted protection to the king's subjects. A king should rule withthe advice and consent of those whose rights were in question. The levelof interaction between king and subject allowed Edward considerableleeway in achieving his goals.

Edward I added to the bureaucracy initiated by Henry II to increase hiseffectiveness as sovereign. He expanded the administration into fourprincipal parts: the Chancery, the Exchequer, the Household, and theCouncil. The Chancery researched and created legal documents while theExchequer received and issued money, scrutinized the accounts of localofficials, and kept financial records. These two departments operatedwithin the king's authority but independently from his personal rule,prompting Edward to follow the practice of earlier kings in developingthe Household, a mobile court of clerks and advisers that traveled withthe king. The King's Council was the most vital segment of the four. Itconsisted of his principal ministers, trusted judges and clerks, a selectgroup of magnates, and also followed the king. The Council dealt withmatters of great importance to the realm and acted as a court for casesof national importance.

Edward's forays into the refinement of law and justice had importantconsequences in decreasing feudal practice. The Statute of Gloucester(1278) curbed expansion of large private holdings and established theprinciple that all private franchises were delegated by, and subordinateto, the crown. Royal jurisdiction became supreme: the Exchequer developeda court to hear financial disputes, the Court of Common Pleas arose tohear property disputes, and the Court of the King's Bench addressedcriminal cases in which the king had a vested interest. Other statutesprohibited vassals from giving their lands to the church, encouragedprimogeniture, and established the king as the sole person who could makea man his feudal vassal. In essence, Edward set the stage for land tobecome an article of commerce.

Edward concentrated on an aggressive foreign policy. A major campaign tocontrol Llywelyn ap Gruffydd of Wales began in 1277 and lasted untilLlywelyn's death in 1282. Wales was divided into shires, English civillaw was introduced, and the region was administered by appointedjustices. In the manner of earlier monarchs, Edward constructed many newcastles to ensure his conquest. In 1301, the king's eldest son was namedPrince of Wales, a title still granted to all first-born male heirs tothe crown. Edward found limited success in extending English influenceinto Ireland: he introduced a Parliament in Dublin and increased commercein a few coastal towns, but most of the country was controlled byindependent barons or Celtic tribal chieftains. He retained Englishholdings in France through diplomacy, but was drawn into war by theincursions of Philip IV in Gascony. He negotiated a peace with France in1303 and retained those areas England held before the war.

Edward's involvement in Scotland had far reaching effects. The countryhad developed a feudal kingdom similar to England in the Lowlands theCeltic tribal culture dispersed to the Highlands. After the death of theScottish king, Alexander III, Edward negotiated a treaty wherebyMargaret, Maid of Norway and legitimate heir to the Scottish crown, wouldbe brought to England to marry his oldest son, the future Edward II.Margaret, however, died in 1290 en route to England, leaving a disputedsuccession in Scotland; Edward claimed the right to intercede as feudallord of the Scottish kings through their Anglo-Norman roots. Edwardarbitrated between thirteen different claimants and chose John Baliol.Baliol did homage to Edward as his lord, but the Scots resisted Edward'sdemands for military service. In 1296, Edward invaded Scotland andsoundly defeated the Scots under Baliol Ð Baliol was forced to abdicateand the Scottish barons did homage to Edward as their king. WilliamWallace incited a rebellion in 1297, defeated the English army atStirling, and harassed England's northern counties. The next year, Edwarddefeated Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk but encountered continuedresistance until Wallace's capture and execution in 1304. Robert Bruce,the grandson of a claimant to the throne in 1290, instigated anotherrevolt in 1306 and would ultimately defeat the army of Edward II atBannockburn. Edward's campaigns in Scotland were ruthless and aroused inthe Scots a hatred of England that would endure for generations.

Edward's efforts to finance his wars in France and Scotland strained hisrelationship with the nobility by instituting both income and personalproperty taxes. Meetings of the King's Great Council, now referred to asParliaments, intermittently included members of the middle class andbegan curtailing the royal authority. Parliament reaffirmed Magna Cartaand the Charter of the Forest in 1297, 1299, 1300, and 1301; it wasconcluded that no tax should be levied without consent of the realm as awhole (as represented by Parliament).

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

Edward went to the crusade rather than his father, in Aug 1270. After an assassination attempt on his life he returned home to England.