A Brief History Of Edward Longshanks - Edward I Of England

today on brief history we look at an english king who as of recently has been reflected on by many as an abject villain but in his time he was widely respected a wise political administrator and a calculated military leader he would learn much from the transgressions of his predecessors and fully adopt the idea of english pride within the monarchy join me as i take a brief look at edward longshanks the hammer of the scots remembered today as edward the first of england [Music] [Music] so edward was born on june 17 1239 at the palace of westminster in london his father was henry iii of england a simple-minded yet pious king and his mother was eleanor of provence he was the oldest child of five children which included his brother edmund not much is known of edward's early youth however it is known that he was named after edward the confessor the anglo-saxon king and saint who was a king just prior to england's conquest by the normans in 1066 edward's father had been dedicated to the memory of edward the confessor due to the saints piety something that edward's father was also known for edward's father became king however when he was nine years old and had grown into what many would describe as an incompetent king being easily influenced and simple-minded once edward's father's regency ended when he came of age he began to fall under the impression of edward's mother's family known as the savoy whose name derives from his maternal grandmother's family the house of sevilla in addition to the savoy are edward's father also came under the influence of his half-siblings through edward's grandmother and their followers known as the losing yawns who had control over the county of potsu on the continent edward's father being both simple-minded and easily influenced enforced impartial judgment for his family which caused his barons to lose faith in him and soon conflict arose edward's father's kingship was the first kingship that had hinged on the acceptance of magna carta which was a document created during edward's grandfather king john's reign that stipulated limitations on the king's powers although that original magna carta document was altered and improved in edward's father's time it nevertheless became the basis of government moving forward in edward's father's reign with edward's father's favoritism towards his family members a war eventually broke out known as the second barons war the barons were led by a controversial yet powerful earl known as simon de montfort who was edward's uncle as simon had married his father's sister when edward was 10 years old in 1249 he had been chosen as the replacement for simon in gascony a territory in part of modern day southwest france which was still owned by the english crown simon had been replaced due to the gaskin's dislike of him and was paid off by edward's father interestingly when his father sailed to gasket to shore this up in 1253 when edward was 14 edward did not go along nor did he truly have any control over the area which was to be his this territory was to be continued to be influenced by his father however while edward's father was in gascony he lined up a marriage for edward to eleanor of castile as castile had long laid claim to gascony themselves this marriage would pacify any disputes between england and castile in relation to the territory with edward and eleanor being married in 1254 this is a noteworthy marriage in that edward and eleanor seemed to have had a great deal of love for each other something that was uncommon in arranged marriages with edward reportedly remaining faithful to eleanor during her lifetime this marriage would produce at least 16 pregnancies although many of their children would not survive to adulthood edward was also granted ireland and many important lands in wales although he was given little control in these areas as well and was even limited in the titles he received eventually edward would grow into a formidable man becoming six feet tall which was tall for that time and attaining his nickname longshanks which roughly translates to long legs it should be noted however that he was known to have spoken with a lisp and had a drooping eye something that he inherited from his father edward in his youth was forced to sit on the sidelines but as he came of age he would play a crucial part in the wars of his father and become a major asset to the crown of england [Music] [Music] prior to the second barons war discussed previously edward had become more and more under the influence of his mother eleanor provence when he was around 17 years old in 1256 during this time his mother pushed for the implantation of unpopular rulers for his welsh territories eventually leading to rebellion and an invasion by the welsh leaders edward was too young and lacked the resources to be able to fend off the invasion on his own accord with one of his armies being destroyed by the welsh edward and his father had been bickering over edward's right to rule in his own right in gascony and with this his father initially refused to assist him in his tribulations in wales however his father would eventually attempt to assist him in the matter but ultimately fail at this point edward's allegiance changed something that he would be known for in his youth and we will see that he would constantly switch sides the losing yans his father's step family discussed previously lent edward the money he needed to campaign against the welsh thus pulling edward from his mother's savoy our influences and directly into theirs he also began to take part in tournaments around this time becoming dedicated to the understanding of war and began to compile an entourage of young men who thought and acted similarly many of these young men were closely tied to the losing yawns and this group which would come to include edward and their youth were known for their rowdiness and rambunctiousness the losing yawns however had been granted positions of power by edward's father and were also granted special privileges the most notable being that they could not be prosecuted they used this to their utmost benefit unfairly and menacingly subjugating other nobles including edward's uncle simon de montfort this would be the catalyst to the second barren's war eventually the losing yawns would be pushed out of the country with simon de montfort rising as the leading noble against edward's father the war would swing back and forth with simon and edward's father gaining the upper hand at different times during the struggle and edward continuously switched sides sometimes supporting his father and sometimes supporting simon many times during peace with his father he would travel to the continent to take part in the tournament circuit sharpening his warrior skills however eventually edward would fall firmly into his father's royal camp and during the first years of the war furthered his untrustworthy reputation by coming to terms with opponents when he was in precarious positions only to go back on his word once the danger had passed eventually edward and his father met simon demofort in the battle of lewis edward commanded a division of his father's royal army and was able to route his opponent he chased them from the battlefield but in his absence the remainder of his father's royal army was defeated by simon who was a far superior military leader than edward's father edward's father was forced to come to terms with simon and these terms were devastating essentially simon de montfort would become the de facto ruler with edward's father being merely a puppet needed for legitimacy more importantly edward was taken captive in order that his father would follow the rules put forth by the barons however simon would abuse his powers and made agreements with the unpopular welsh something that caused him to lose much support edward during his captivity was allowed to ride with his guards and perform training exercises he used this to his advantage and escaped captivity in 1265 tiring out his guards horses then jumping onto a fresh horse that had been brought for him after his escape and with his father being quasi imprisoned by simon he began to rally support to attempt to defeat his uncle simon he would eventually trap simon in the west at hereford taking the cities of worster and gloucester simon's son known as simon the younger marched a relief army to kenilworth to the east of edward to which edward engaged young simon and defeated his relief army he captured montforian banners and used them to confuse simon's senior scouts into thinking that the relief army was coming to aid him eventually he surprised simon at eveshum and easily defeated the smaller underprepared army simon was butchered on the battlefield and edward's father was rescued and restored to power however edward took on a much larger part in governing the realm after this as his father was becoming old he took the cross in 1268 and agreed to go on what was to be known as the eighth ninth crusade which are sometimes considered separate crusades and sometimes considered the same due to the fact that his brother edmund was also going on the crusade many attempted to convince him to stay but he refused and insisted on going he eventually departed england and reached okra in may 1271 however it should be noted that a large french army was also supposed to meet at akra as well the french were forced to turn back after their king louis ix had died of dysentery and their fleet was caught in a storm with edward's forces not being large enough to form a force to attack a truce was agreed to by the defenders of akra to edward's dismay he opposed the truce and it was due to this that an assassination attempt was made on edward it is believed that a syrian assassin entered his bed chamber and knifed edward in the arm with edward ultimately killing the assassin it was said that the knife was poisoned and edward was only saved when his wife eleanor who had traveled with her husband to the holy land sucked the poison from the wound however this has been a largely disbelieved part of the story edward would recover but ended his aspirations in the holy land and began his trek home his time on crusade technically was a failure but he gained good military experience form strong baronial connections and had gained a degree of popularity and prestige from this trip as crusaders often did on his return trip while in sicily he received news that his father henry iii had died making him the future king of england his trip however was not hurried and he would not reach england for another 18 months stopping along the way to visit the pope and his savvy relatives he would also make a stop in france to pay homage for his french lands to the new king philip iii of france he would eventually reach england on august 2nd 1274 and the next phase of edward's life would begin [Music] edward was crowned on august 19 1274 as edward the first of england however after the archbishop of canterbury placed the crown onto his head edward immediately removed it and declared that he would not wear it until he recovered all the lands lost by his father edward had seen royal power decline during the reign of his father and one of the main points of contention for him was to reassert this kingly power edward started this process by initiating investigations into corruption within the realm of his own royal officials something that was very popular especially amongst the rebellious barons who had been fighting against such treachery due to edward's father's weak rule he also had many judges removed from their positions again another aspect that was looked upon favorably by many although it should be noted that edward gained substantially in the form of wealth acquired with these punishments edward became an advocate for efficiency within the legal system and is remembered as a king who was heavily involved in passing law that saw this take place these laws on some occasions benefited the people more than the crown against something that increased his popularity there was widespread anti-semitism in feudal england as canon law aka christian church law prevented lending money at interest the jewish community not being bound by these laws became the money lenders of the time and were widely disliked although he and his close supporters many times benefited from these jewish lenders taxing them for exorbitant amounts edward eventually would persecute and expel the jewish community from england again increasing his popularity edward working within the confines of magna carta was politically brilliant and had much success within the law being a king that summoned more parliaments than any other medieval king in england he also began to accept petitions in parliament which allowed on a constant basis the ability to request justice for perceived wrongs that one had incurred these were nonetheless communicated to edward's aides but served as a platform where justice could be acknowledged judged and served in addition edward acknowledged rising crime in england and tackled the issue directly previously royal justices had been sent through the counties to serve justice to the people however these justices saw great increases in the amount of cases that they would be required to tend to hindering their efficiency edward eventually put an end to them altogether replacing them with special commissions who would have the authority to judge cases it is not clear if this lowered crime in england and it is opined that perhaps crime increased due to edward's own wars however the basis of the reforms would set the foundation of justice in the coming centuries in england it should also be noted that edward was one to engage in grandiose show and encouraged the idea of english patriotism reportedly often times speaking english himself one of the first kings to do so a prime example of this grandiose public theater relates to edward and eleanor reportedly traveling to glastonbury abbey where the remains of the mythical king arthur and queen guinevere had supposedly been discovered edward saw to it that he carrying the bones of arthur and eleanor carrying the bones of guinevere were seen as modern representations of the mythical couple and they publicly transferred the remains to be reburied at the high altar these public acts were meant to elevate edward wealth in popularity and myth and generally it seemed that these acts were successful in doing so england and scotland had been at peace since 1217 with the king of scotland alexander iii being married to edward's sister margaret france also had seen a long piece with england via the treaty of paris that was signed by edward's father however wales was a different issue after his ascension edward became the overlord to luellen apgriffid who held the title of prince of wales although this title would incline one to see llewellyn as the abject leader over all the welsh the reality is that wales was split between competing dynasties with llewellyn being the head of the most powerful one known as gwyneth he was however technically overlord to all the welsh rulers and was only subject to the king of england during edward's father's weak reign lewellen was able to campaign against the english capturing valuable lands that edward's father was forced to come to terms with many of these lands were owned by english lords and edward himself was all too familiar with the issue as he had lands that boarded llewellyn's lands in gwynnid the english lords began to attempt to gain back their lands in wales and lewellen who had agreed to pay an annual fee to the english crown for these lands simply stopped paying this fee although it should be noted that llewellyn was doing the same to english-held lands himself these issues could have perhaps been settled by negotiation if it weren't for the fact that llewellyn refused to pay homage to edward in 1276 edward declared llewellyn a rebel and raised an army it should be noted that the welsh did not all support llewellyn with some actually supporting edward in the matter in fact llewellyn's brother daffod upgrived conspired to assassinate llewellyn but ultimately failed with daffod fleeing to england and edward's banners in july edward's army advanced along the northern coast of wales but were held up due to the difficult nature that entailed traveling through snowdonia in northern wales edwards solved this issue by capturing the island of anglesey the heart of llewellyn's lordship and began to seize the surrounding crops which served to feed his army and starve the population this forced llewelyn to submit and he paid homage to edward and was fined both in monies and lands however edward attempted to maintain a degree of positive relations with llewellyn he allowed him to keep his title prince of wales although limited his power he softened his monetary fines and allowed him to marry simon de montfort's daughter which he had previously forbid he even went as far as to pay for the wedding ceremonies however peace was not to last in 1278 angered by edward's insistence that royal courts be put into welsh lands llewellyn and his now reconciled brother daffod rebelled against edward once again llewellyn made a military advance in december and was killed with his brother daffod being captured shortly thereafter daffod would be hanged drawn and quartered a brutal form of execution that was new to the realm of england and although there were incidents similar to this recorded in edward's father's reign this was one of the first major recordings of a rebel being punished this way edward in order to keep hold of the welsh population began to construct massive castles to serve as a reminder to the welsh subjects of who was controlling the area castles included carnarvon conway and harlick all of which substantially remain to current day edward's son and heir would be born in canarvin and would be given the title prince of wales which is still given to the heir apparent to the english crown in modern day although wales had technically been conquered by edward it remained separate for the most part in administration with many welsh customs being allowed to be retained edward had been successful in his conquest of wales and now it was time to turn his attention north to another foreign land but he would find this conquest to be a recurring problem [Music] as previously stated england and scotland had seen a large degree of peace in the recent past the welsh were seen as uncivilized but the scots were not considered so the king of scotland alexander iii was edward's brother-in-law and this sought to further the positive relations between the two realms however fealty was only swore to the english kings by the scottish kings for their lands controlled in england and the scots did not consider the king of england as their overlord positive relations and peace was perhaps the reason the kings of england never pushed this claim over scotland however in 1286 alexander iii fell from his horse and died with this edward saw an opportunity to exert his control over the scottish kingdom the heir to the throne was alexander's three-year-old granddaughter who was living in norway edward arranged for his then five-year-old son edward of carnarvon to be married to her it was understood that any future son this marriage would bear would become king of scotland and england if this would have taken place perhaps the history between scotland and england would have looked much different but unfortunately margaret died on her voyage to scotland at that point with alexander and margaret's death the lineage of william the lion alexander's grandfather and a previous scottish king came to an end the succession transferred over to the lineage of william the lion's younger brother david of scotland this would come down to two men john baleaul and robert bruce two men of different generations but who both traced their lineage through different daughters of david of scotland it should be noted that robert bruce is the grandfather of the famous robert the bruce who we will discuss shortly the scottish nobility requested that edward arbitrate the matter to which he agreed it was always his intention to exert his overlordship over scotland however in 1290 his wife eleanor became ill and died at 49 years of age edward was reportedly at her bedside when she died and he went into great mourning during the procession to westminster which transported eleanor's body edward erected memorial crosses at 12 sites each of which represent where the procession had stopped for the night the remains of three of these monuments still exist in the modern day another example of edward's dedication to public show and his love for his wife in 1291 when scottish nobles were summoned to parliament and presented with edward's proposition he strengthened his position by including multiple other claimants to the scottish crown although there was hesitation the scottish nobility eventually begrudgingly agreed to edward's overlordship including the two main claimants baillyal and bruce edward would then side with john baleal in 1292 in what would be the conclusion of what was known as the great cause edward immediately set out to enforce his overlordship taking scottish appeals and demanding military service from the scottish nobility this began to build resentment within scotland as the scots had not only not been subjects to england but had enjoyed relative freedom from any imposition from the english in prior years to add to this france began to become unstable as well edward paid homage for his lands in accuton and gascony to philip iii on his way back from the crusade as stated previously gaskin nobles who had gripes with edward and any decisions that he made technically had the right to appeal to phillip but philip pretty well left edward alone in his rule of the territory most likely in an effort to evade conflict however in 1285 philip iv came to power and he intended to exert his overlordship in accutane and gascony over edward in essence philip iv gave edward a taste of his own medicine doing to edward what edward was doing to the scots edward took this seriously as he felt bound to gascony with that being one of the first territories that he was installed as leader in his youth skirmishes broke out with the gaskins plundering the port of la rochelle after a naval victory philip in an attempt to enforce his overlordship publicly summoned edward to account for these actions edward sent his brother edmund instead not wanting to show any form of submission and an agreement was reached edward now widowed would marry phillips fifteen-year-old half-sister and hand over the duchy of accutane as a political gesture only to be immediately granted the duchy back however philip double-crossed edward and once the duchy was handed over he refused to give it back to him causing edward to renounce his homage with war breaking out soon after edward began to attempt to buy allies on the continent something that carried an exorbitant cost philip however was able to convince many of them to switch sides and support him in the conflict in 1294 edward had an army ready to campaign in gascony against the french to be led by his brother edmund however a welsh rebellion broke out led by a man named madag ab luellen which forced edward to divert his attention to wales instead of gascony maddog was defeated with the welsh being brought to heal again and although edmund's campaign and gasket would take place in 1296 it would end up being an absolute failure with edmund dying of dysentery on the continent these campaigns were expensive and things began to go somewhat wrong financially for edward he had relied on italian bankers to lend him money but when they were bankrupted in the 1290s edward was forced to find money elsewhere relentless taxation began to occur immense debt was racked up from other lending parties and edward himself bullied clergy into aiding him he also increased export customs on wool enraging many of the landowners of the realm and immensely increased prizes which is the king's right to gather supplies for his household which edward used for his armies instead he even at one point claimed that attacks have been granted by parliament when only a small select few of the nobility had been in attendance in his court using this small group as a replacement in place of a full parliamentary hearing his nobility began to become fed up with this along with their responsibility to serve militarily uncomfortable conversations began to arise frighteningly similar to those that arose during the time of his grandfather king john and his father king henry iii but edward was not his grandfather or his father and compromised with the nobility reissuing magna carta and abolishing some of his unjust taxes it should be noted that his popularity from his public shows of grandeur in relation to english patriotism in law reforms gave him leeway in this matter and unlike his predecessors before him he was victorious in many of his conquest attempts ultimately having something to show for the money that was being collected this would pacify many critics in his time after edmonds failed campaign in gascony the scots decided that they had finally had enough of edward's imposition and allied with france something that would become known as the old alliance edward used a small issue that arose in the scottish courts which had been elevated to his court on appeal to justify invading scotland he raised an army in 1296 and marched to berwick taking the town by force the town refused to submit to edward and so edward massacred the population he saw success after success with scottish nobles submitting to him along the way eventually john baleal was forced to surrender and was deposed and sent to the tower of london where he would eventually be released to france and die in obscurity edward after fairly easily defeating the scots abolished the scottish kingship declaring that scotland was now a possession of england he seized the stone of schoon from which the scottish kings were crowned and had it installed in his throne in england again as a public show of power he tasked the administration of scotland to his nobles some of which were heavy-handed and greedy they set about attempting to extract as much wealth from scotland as possible to the dismay of the scottish people by 1297 in reaction to the oppressive policies rebellion broke out yet again led initially by some of the lesser nobility which included a man named william wallace but later would come to include the upper nobility as well this would also include robert the bruce the grandson of robert bruce who had a prior claim to the scottish throne during the great cause discussed previously edward however was focused on france and gave little thought to the scottish rebellion he sailed to france to join with his expensive allies he had paid for on the continent only to find that they did not show in the meantime edwards nobles in charge of scotland were readily defeated at the battle of sterling bridge by william wallace's forces with edward's administration falling apart after the defeat edward would make peace with france and return to england to confront the scottish problem he raised a massive army and engaged william wallace and the scots at the battle of falkirk defeating them soundly wallace was not killed or captured here but as many are aware due to modern representations of wallace he was eventually captured in 1305 and executed being hanged drawn and quartered edward continued to campaign in the north but his massive army was difficult to feed and his financial woes discussed previously added to this problem with scottish opposition remaining in scotland bolstered by french assistance however in 1299 the war with france officially ended in peace and edward married margaret of france who had been offered to him previously before he had been double-crossed edward was reinstalled as the duke of accuton in 1303 and the french ceased to support the scots with this remaining opposition in scotland folded with sterling castle being handed over in 1304 edward had been successful again in exerting his control over scotland and wales but unfortunately this would not last and with edward's age any future campaigns would become increasingly difficult in an effort to appease the scots edward was significantly more generous in his negotiations than he had been in his first conquest he allowed greater influence in government with many scots holding high positions of power however he refused to reward many scottish who submitted early with the understanding that they would gain by doing so one of these men was robert the bruce who in 1306 rebelled again having himself declared king of scots after killing his longtime rival by this time edward was 66 years old and his health was failing but he nevertheless put scotland in his sights again bruce was defeated initially barely escaping capture but was able to mount a comeback in 1307 defeating an english force at the battle of loudoun hill with his health continuing to decline the old king edward set out with his force into scotland to attempt to bring the scottish rebels to heal yet again he camped nearby sands near carlisle and on july 7 1307 king edward the first of england died from his sickness it was said that edward requested his bones be carried into battle with the scots and his heart sent to the holy land to be carried alongside crusaders in reality this probably is an exaggeration and he most likely asked the nobility in attendance to look after his son edward who had shown himself to be inept and would succeed him to the throne edward's son who would eventually become edward ii would end up disbanding his father's army ignoring the scots for the first three years of his reign edward's body was brought back south and buried at westminster abbey on october 27th being laid to rest in a fairly plain tomb made of marble with no effigy something that was utilized by kings prior to him this tomb can still be seen today at westminster abbey in london and a memorial was erected at bruff march which is said to mark the exact spot in which edward died in the 16th century an inscription was added to his tomb in latin which translates to here is edward the first hammer of the scots 1308 keep the vow this would be where his second nickname would draw its origin although it is not believed that this nickname was attributed to him during his time edward's reign is a perfect example of how only a couple things could impact how a king was viewed and accepted edward was known for his need to tax in large quantities same as his father and grandfather and although it may or may not have been equal to or greater than that of his predecessors it was nevertheless a burden to many but edward was not remembered as unfavorably as his predecessors it appears that there was a wrong way and a right way to do everything even in medieval england and it appears that edward found the proper way from which to handle these issues his acceptance of magna carta and the dedication to the idea of counsel something that his predecessors overtly opposed set the precedent that an english king must rule with one major aspect in mind that aspect being consent it also goes to show that military success gave one a significant leg up in regards to reputation should edward have failed in his campaigns in wales in scotland or not gone on crusade he very well could have been looked upon by his contemporaries with the same contempt that his father and grandfather endured he was indeed a skilled politician and military commander winning great battles compromising with the nobility and showing mercy and reconciliation to those who were defeated much was also gained in edward's reign in terms of administrative progress edward's dedication to reform brought peace and stability internally to england something that had long been in dispute and is a benchmark that many times is an indicator of a strong king throughout history his dedication to show and national pride slowly morphed the monarchy into a decidedly english crown moving further away from the foreign lineage of his predecessors he no doubt has his fair share of criticism although he may have been successful in many of his campaigns he was nearly bankrupted and left a troubling situation for his son and successor his punishments were cruel with the idea of hanging drawing and quartering being first popularized during his reign lastly scotland who we must remind ourselves wish to remain a separate country was ultimately painfully subjugated by edward something that he has been disdained for in the modern day whatever one may believe edward to be an english hero successful military commander and great political reformer or a vile and evil oppressor his reign should not be understated and his story should surely continue to be told and remembered [Music]

Channel: Brief History

Views: 157,996

Keywords: Edward I, Edward Longshanks, Edward I Of England, Brief History, Hammer Of The Scots

Id: 5rzMeyJUZMI

Length: 32min 27sec (1947 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 21 2021