Edward Ist, known as Longshanks for his uncharacteristic
height, was a man among men and a king among kings. As a child he was so sickly that few thought
he would survive to take the crown. But take it he did, immediately displaying
a strength and determination that had been sorely lacking. He quickly established his authority, with
his ruthless suppression of rebellion earning him the nickname the Hammer of the Scots and
the adoration of all England. In this week’s Biographics we get up close
and personal with the man who was Edward Longshanks, King of England. Early Life
Edward I, future king of England, was born at Westminster Palace in London on June 17th,
1239. He was the first-born son of King Henry III
and Eleanor of Provence. Henry was a great admirer of previous King
Edward the Confessor and named his son in his honor. Edward was not a well child. In fact, he was so weak that the general consensus
was that he would not survive into adulthood. But survive he did, growing into an unusually
tall and rather robust teenager. He would eventually grow to a height of 6’
2’, which allowed him to tower over most of his contemporaries. It was his unusual height which would lead
his soldiers to refer to him as ‘longshanks’. During his formative years, Edward was groomed
to take on the mantle of king. He was educated by the best scholars and members
of the clergy. He overcame his physical weaknesses to become
an able wielder of sword and club as well as a keen student of the arts and languages. At the age of fifteen, Edward entered into
an arranged marriage with the thirteen-year-old Eleanor, daughter of Ferdinand III of Castile. The union was precipitated by the fear of
a Castilian invasion of the province of Gascony. As a part of the marriage contract, Edward
received land grants worth 15000 marks annually in taxation. This land covered much of Ireland and Wales. However, the entitlement that the teenage
prince had was in name only, as the lands were still controlled by his father and the
income generated went, not to him, but to the royal lieutenant, Simon de Montfort, the
6th Earl of Leicester, who was married to the King’s sister. Edward did benefit from the marriage alliance
on a more personal level. Unlike the vast majority of such arranged
unions, he and Eleanor genuinely cared for each other, and that fondness grew into a
love that lasted their entire lives. Signs of Rebellion
King Henry was an extremely pious man whose main focus as king was on building up the
authority and symbolism of the Church. He devoted himself to the rebuilding of Westminster
Abbey, putting his energies into this project at the expense of more pressing concerns of
state. A series of ill-advised military forays, each
of which ended in failure, added fuel to the fire of discontent with his reign among the
nobility. Attempts were made to usurp the king’s authority
and wield power away from him. The two most powerful noble factions at the
time were the Soler and Colomb families, who were opposed to each other. Henry pursued a policy of neutrality between
the camps. In 1255, however, the sixteen-year-old Edward
began siding with the Soler family. This marked his first act of independence
from his father. In the following year, Edward began associating
with what was called the Lusignan faction, made up of the half-brothers of his father,
who were of French origin. This group was largely despised by the nobility
and had a reputation for being uncouth and violent. Concerns were expressed in the Royal Court
over the increasing wildness of Edward’s conduct when he was with the Lusignans. Three years later, a body of nobles drew up
a document known as the Provisions of Oxford which spelled out a series of reforms designed
to give the barons more say in the running of the king’s government. The barons were especially opposed to the
influence of the Lusignans. Relations between Henry and his brother-in-law
Simon de Montfort had been strained from the start. Simon had not sought the king’s permission
for the marriage to his sister. Simon then proceeded to amass large debts,
naming the king as guarantor, again without his permission. Simon was at the forefront of the baron’s
efforts to bring reform and the pressure imposed eventually led to the King signing the provisions. He was now obligated to seek the counsel of
his barons on matters relating to the governing of the kingdom. As the pressure began to mount on his father,
Edward remained loyal to his friends, the Lusignans and took a stance in opposition
to the Provisions of Oxford. But, as the reform movement grew in intensity,
his position shifted. On October 15, 1529 he announced that he was
supportive of the goals of the barons and aligned himself with his father’s rival,
Simon de Montfort. In November, 1259 King Henry embarked on a
voyage to France. In his absence, Edward’s opposition to his
father grew. He appointed several of the rebellious barons
to important positions within the royal court. When news of this reached his father in Normandy,
he was convinced that Edward was about to stage an overthrow. He quickly returned to London to re-impose
his position. At first, the outraged Henry refused to even
see Edward, but finally a sort of peace was brokered between them by the Archbishop of
Canterbury. It was decided that Edward was to go abroad,
which he did at the age of 21, in November, 1260. He ended up in France where he fell in with
his old pals the Lusignans. Civil War
Meanwhile, in 1261, King Henry, with the backing of the pope in Rome, overthrew the Provisions
of Oxford. This led the barons to set up their own independent
parliament. With civil war looming, this noble parliament
was dissolved and the noble rebellious barons fled. De Montfort himself left the country but returned
two years later when the heat had died down. De Montfort managed to raise a sizeable army
and marched on London. The King vacillated and seemed ready to give
up his throne. It was at this point that Edward stepped up
and began to take control of the situation. Any hesitancy he had previously shown in supporting
his father’s rule had vanished and he was now staunchly determined to restore the king’s
dominance. He took control of the King’s army and led
them in defense of the realm. The rebels were ousted from Windsor Castle. A compromise of sorts was reached, thanks
to the intervention of King Louis IX of France, who negotiated the agreement known as the
Mise of Amiens. The peace between the king and the Barons
was short-lived. In 1264, hostilities broke out once more,
with the onset of what history recalls as the Second Baron’s War. Once again, the barons were led by Simon de
Montfort while the forces loyal to the king were under the control of the now 24-year-old
Prince Edward. In the wake of a series of smaller victories,
Edward’s army met up with the forces of de Montfort at the Battle of Lewes on May
14th, 1264. Things went well for the royalist forces as
they managed to force the London contingent of the opposition into retreat. But then Edward made the mistake of breaking
off with a portion of his army to chase down the Londoners. When he returned to the main scene of battle,
his forces had been defeated. Edward was taken as prisoner and held until
the following May, when he managed to escape. Towards the end of May he teamed up with the
Earl of Gloucester who had recently defected from the barons in support of the king. Over the next few months, the Royalist forces
steadily wore down the resistance army. The most telling victory was at the Battle
of Evesham on August 4th, 1265. The baron’s army was ravaged with many of
its leaders being put to the sword. Simon de Montfort was himself killed when
a lance was run through his body. Edward then allowed his soldiers to mutilate
the body, including cutting off the testicles and hanging them over de Montfort’s nose. Such actions were strictly against the protocol
of war which stipulated that nobles were to be treated humanely. However, Edward considered de Montfort to
be a traitor and therefore, beyond the rules of conduct. The last of the rebels made a stand at Kenilworth
Castle, finally surrendering in accordance with the terms of the Dictum of Kenilworth. Edward’s decisive actions and leadership
skills during the Baron’s rebellion showed him to be a man of action who possessed the
courage, ability and personality to be a great king. Yet, with the rebellion crushed and his father’s
rulership assured, he put his focus on an upcoming crusade. Crusader
King Louis IX of France was planning a crusade to North Africa in order to defeat the Muslims. In 1268, Edward left England with a force
of around 1,200 men. Along with him was his wife Eleanor. After crossing the channel and then the Mediterranean
they arrived at North Sirica only to discover the French king was dead, the result of a
fatal bout of dysentery. Edward was now the leader of the allied force
and he chose to withdraw the fleet to Sicily. However, en route, a fierce storm decimated
the fleet and the French contingent decided to return home. Rather than following the French example,
Edward decided to forge ahead. He landed at Acre on May 9th, 1271. The Christian empire in the Holy Land was
under serious threat from the Muslim states, with Jerusalem already having fallen in 1244. The Egyptian Mamluks were now threatening
to take Acre, which served as the Christian capital. With a relatively small force of men, there
was little that Edward could do to stem the tide of Muslim aggression. The Mamluk warrior-king Baibars had tens of
thousands of men under his command. Before departing for home, however, Edward
played a part in the negotiation of a truce with Baibars. Once the treaty was signed, he stayed for
a period of time to ensure that its conditions would be carried out. On night in September of 1272, an assassin
entered the bed chamber of Edward and Eleanor and attempted to thrust a poisoned dagger
into the prince’s arm. Edward was able to fend of the attack and
kill the assassin. Legend has it that Eleanor sucked the poison
from her husband’s arm, thus saving his life. King of England
In the wake of the foiled assassination plot, the royal couple left the Holy Land. Upon sailing to Sicily, Edward was given the
news that his father, the king, had died. Edward had been weakened by the poison attack
and so now, as king of England, he and Eleanor, his queen, took a leisurely trip home. The situation back in England was stable so
he saw no need to rush back. Edward made his way home through Italy, and
then on to France, crossing the channel in early August, 1274. Edward was officially crowned King Edward
Ist on August 19th 1274 at Westminster Abbey. When the crown was placed upon his head a
chronicler reported that Edward immediately took it off again and stated that he would
only wear it again when all of the territory that was lost during the Kingship of his father
was returned. The new king was 35 years old, tall, muscular
and militarily adept. He was the man of action that his father had
not been. He enjoyed the roughest and most dangerous
forms of hunting, such as going after boars and wolves. As a younger man, he was prone to flying off
the handle, but age had restrained his temper. By the time he ascended to the throne he had
built a reputation as a loyal friend and devoted ruler. However, he was also known as a hard man who
could be harsh, even cruel, in the furtherance of his will. Edward’s reign was not going to be a continuation
of his father’s weak, lenient rule. He immediately set about re-establishing the
dominance of the crown. His love of power was unquestioned, but he
saw that in order to retain power he had to institute policies that were popular with
the people. Determined to prevent a repeat of the civil
war that had scarred his father’s reign, he made lasting provision for the lower classes
to be represented in Parliament. This established the basis of the House of
Commons which today is the predominant House in the English political system. Welsh Rebellion
During the first years of his reign, Edward focused primarily on streamlining and reforming
the administration of his government. He then turned his attention to the situation
that was occurring in Wales. The Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
had been handed the title by King Henry III in return for agreeing to pay homage to the
English crown. Llywelyn, however, had been an ally of Henry
– and Edward’s – enemy Simon de Montfort, and set about conquering other Welsh kingdoms
and was now threatening to move against England itself. Edward acted pre-emptively leading a force
of ten thousand across the Welsh border. However, Llywelyn’s unpopularity at home
prevented him from raising a sizable army to counter the English invasion. In fact, as his army moved up the Welsh countryside,
Edwards’ forces were strengthened by the addition of local Welsh armies who were opposed
to Llywelyn. Among those who joined Edward was Llywelyn’s
own brother, Dafydd. The upstart was soon deposed and Edward claimed
large swathes of Wash territory as his own. He rewarded Dafydd by giving him a small parcel
of land. That was not pleasing to Dafydd who felt that
he deserved much more for his service to the Crown. In 1282, Dafydd led a revolt against the king
that was soon joined by his still seething brother, Llywelyn. An angry Edward responded by invading Wales
a second time. This time, however, he was determined to go
all out with a three-pronged attack from the south, east and north. The English invasion was unstoppable, resulting
in the stomping out of the rebellion and the death in battle of Llywelyn. For his part, Dafydd was captured and executed. Edward consolidated his victory in Wales by
constructing a series of castles throughout the land. The most impressive was at Caernarvon. It was here that Edward’s son and future
heir, Edward II was born in 1284. The now vacant title of Prince of Wales was
bestowed upon the child and since that time the heir to the British throne has been given
that title in a ceremony that is held at Caernarvon castle. When it came to foreign relations, Edward
did his best to maintain peaceful relations with his European counterparts. Despite the fact that Phillip III of France
was his cousin, relations between the two powers were under constant tension. When Phillip died in 1285, Edward crossed
the channel in order to pay homage to the new French king, Phillip IV. He did not return to England until 1289, spending
much time in the Duchy of Gascony, which was one of his possessions. In 1287, Edward took the Cross for the second
time, intending to stage another, far more successful crusade to retake the Holy Land
from the Muslims. He knew that success in this enterprise depended
upon the stitching together of a truly international European alliance. Toward that end, he expended much effort in
trying to preserve peace among the powers. Edward’s long absence from London had thrown
the government into confusion and chaos. He returned to discover that corruption was
rife and was forced, in disgust, to expel many of his judges and ministers. On November 28th, 1290, Eleanor died, after
suffering a protracted illness that may have been malaria. She was just 48 years of age, having spent
35 of them at Edward’s side. The king was distraught at the loss of his
wife. He became a hardened man in the wake of the
loss, more bitter and brooding in nature. Jewish Persecution
Edward’s campaign against the Welsh had imposed huge financial burdens upon the nation. Taxes were the main way to meet those expenses
and a prime source of that taxation were the Jews of England. Edward taxed the Jews far more heavily than
other groups. In 1279, he ordered the arrest of the heads
of all Jewish households throughout the country. About 300 of them were put to death. The following year all Jews were ordered to
attend special sermons preached by Dominican Friars in order to convert them to Christianity. Then in 1290, Edward issued the Edict of Expulsion
by which all Jews were kicked out of England. It wasn’t until 1656 that the Jewish ban
in England was lifted. The Scottish Problem
From 1290 onward, Edward’s attention was focused on troubles in Scotland. Following the death of Alexander III in 1286,
Scotland was governed in the name of his grand-daughter, Margaret. King Edward had made the suggestion that his
eldest surviving son, Edward of Caernarvon and Margaret should be united in marriage,
bringing about the union of England and Scotland. Before this could happen, though Margaret
died. The Scottish throne was now in dispute. With a number of Scottish claimants, the English
king was asked to play the role of arbitrator. Edward agreed, but on the condition that the
claimants accept him as their overlord. In 1292 he awarded the throne to John Balliol
who was crowned as the new king. It didn’t take long, however, for the Scottish
people to resent the jurisdictional control that Edward held over their country. John was deprived of all of his power and
the Scots formed an alliance with France. By this time, England’s relations with the
French had deteriorated. Things came to a head when Phillip IV refused
to restore the Duchy of Gascony to Edward in 1293. Edward declared war on France at the very
time that the Scots had united with Scotland. To make a bad situation worse, the Welsh chose
this same time to rise in rebellion. King John of Scotland gathered his forces
in March 1296. Edward mustered his forces and marched again
into battle. Many Scottish nobles, including Robert the
Bruce, sided with Edward, whose first target was the city of Berwick. It turned into a brutal massacre of the Scots
with many people being killed. The next target was the castle at Dunbar. Despite having the higher ground, the Scottish
defenders were routed on April 27th, 1296. The Scottish army was virtually wiped out,
allowing Edward to quickly take a succession of castles. All that remained was for King John to surrender. On July 2nd, John sent a pleading letter to
Edward, begging forgiveness and mercy. Edward accepted but only after subjecting
John to a series of humiliations, including having the Scottish coat of arms torn from
his surcoat. He was then thrown into the Tower of London. But Edward wasn’t finished with Scotland. He was determined to stamp out any vestiges
of Scottish independence and to absorb its people into the English kingdom. He demanded oaths of fealty from all Scottish
nobles and magnates. Any who refused to do so were hunted down
as outlaws. The Rise of William Wallace
After conquering the Scots, Edward returned south. He now had to focus on his issues with the
French. However, the masses in Scotland were far from
ready to subject themselves to the heel of Edward Longshanks. Resistance grew under three divergent leaders. In the south-west Robert the Bruce emerged
at the head of a gathering of nobles and church leaders. In the northeast, the struggle was spearheaded
by Andrew Murray and in the center of the country forces were being gathered by an obscure
member of a noble family named William Wallace. In May, 1297, Wallace murdered the English
sheriff of Lanark, William de Heselrig. This act united the disjointed pockets of
resistance into full blown rebellion. Two months later, with the situation reaching
a crisis point, Edward was forced to send his lieutenants in to deal with the situation. He had his own battle to fight in Flanders,
France. Even though he didn’t want his conquest
of Scotland to unravel, he also knew that abandoning the planned French invasion would
only strengthen the rebel’s hand. As things turned out, the British underestimated
the strength of the Scottish resistance. What appeared to be a Scottish attempt at
a negotiated surrender was in fact a ruse to allow Wallace more time to gather his army. With his army strengthened, Wallace managed
to push the English from Fife, Perthshire and Dundee. The climactic battle occurred at Stirling
Bridge. The English outnumbered the Scots six to one,
but when the leader of the first vanguard, Hugh de Cressingham, was reputedlystruck down
by Wallace himself, the thousands following turned and fled. Wallace went on to exploit the terrain and
generally outmaneuver the British to win a resounding victory. Wallace quickly led his ever-growing forces
to overthrow the remaining English outposts in Scotland. He then crossed the border and invaded English
territory. After taking Northumberland, he reached as
far south at Cockermouth. It was time for Edward to take control of
the situation personally. In June, 1298 the king’s army gathered at
Roxburgh, with the king joining them in early July. He marched north with 17,000 men. By now Wallace had returned to Scotland. Edward was determined to hunt him down. Wallace, however, was not keen to engage the
king and drew the monarch further north. The Scots had stripped the land, leaving the
English with no food and a stretched-out supply line. With his army disintegrating, Edward had a
stroke of luck when intelligence was received that Wallace and his men were stationed at
Falkirk about twenty miles away. The king immediately set his army in the direction
of Falkirk. The Scots were surprised, but they were in
a strongly entrenched position. In the end, though, the strength of the English
infantry and cavalry assaults were too much and the Scottish army was torn to pieces. Wallace managed to escape and led pockets
of resistance for the next seven years. But the English were able to re-establish
dominance over Scotland. In 1305, William Wallace was finally captured
by the English. He was taken to London where he was hung,
drawn and quartered. The Final Rebellion
However, this wasn’t the end of the Scottish problem for Edward. In 1306, Robert the Bruce assassinated a rival
for the throne, which had been vacant for ten years. He then had himself crowned King of Scotland. He was quickly defeated in battle with the
English, after which he went into hiding, only to return in 1307 to conduct hit and
run raids on English fortresses. Edward, now in failing health, was determined
to bring this latest Scottish rebel to heel. He again gathered his army and headed north. On the journey to Scotland, however, the king
contracted dysentery. On the morning of July 7th, 1307, he died,
just a few miles short of the Scottish border. It is said that he left instructions with
his son for the flesh to be boiled from his body and his bones be preserved; that every
time the Scots should rebel against him his son would carry with him the bones of his
father. Instead, his body was taken back to London
where it was placed in a plain tomb in Westminster Abbey. 700 years later that tomb is still on display,
reminding visitors of the strength and authority of one of England’s most impressive monarchs.
THE SCOTLAND TRAIL YOU HAVE DIED OF DYSENTERY
Even by Plantagenet standards, he was a colossal arsehole.
He loved his wife!