Kings and Queens of England
Edward I Longshanks
Born: 17 June
1239 at the Palace of Westminster 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 Castille 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.
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 Baliol. Baliol 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 Baliol Ð Baliol 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."
Died: 7 July 1307 at Burgh-on-Sands, Cumberland
Buried: Westminster Abbey, Middlesex
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 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