Edward I (1239--1307), king of England (1272--1307). When Edward
came to the throne he was already an experienced general and
politician. He had played the major role in the defeat of Simon de
Montfort in 1265, the battle of Eveshambeing very much his own
personal triumph; he was in control of the mopping-up operations
that lasted into 1267; and he had taken a leading role in the
deliberations of his father's council before departing on crusade
in 1270. He returned with a considerable reputation, and for the
rest of his life was widely considered as the expected saviour of
the Holy Land. His experience of the traumas and the issues of the
civil war of the 1260s informed his approach to English affairs
when he became king. He appreciated that reform was needed and that
Parliament was a necessary institution. The first 20 years of the
reign were remarkably successful in this regard, the period marked
especially by a great series of statutes which had an enduring
significance, and which largely proceeded in response to the
grievances of his subjects. These same years also saw Edward's
successful scotching of Welsh independence, following his two
campaigns of 1277 and 1282--3, symbolically marked by the ten great
castles, including Caernarfon, Conwy, and Beaumaris, that he
constructed.
The early 1290s proved to be the turning-point in the reign and
in Edward's fortunes. Increasing financial problems and domestic
political tension, associated with the wars against the French and
the Scots, replaced the more relaxed atmosphere of the 1270s and
1280s. It culminated in the crisis of 1297, but it is a measure of
Edward's power and authority that although rebellion threatened,
none actually rose in revolt---then, or at any other
time---something that cannot be said of any of his predecessors
since 1066, or of many of his successors.
On his tomb in Westminster abbey Edward is described famously as
the 'hammer of the Scots'. But this is far from the truth. He acted
as arbitrator between the claimants to the Scottish throne (the
Great Cause of 1291--2), but on the understanding that he be
accepted as feudal overlord of the kingdom. The throne was adjudged
to John Balliol, rather than his chief rival, Robert Bruce, and
Edward's attempts to secure Balliol and exercise his overlordship
proved to be the beginning of the long-drawn-out Scottish War of
Independence. The campaign of 1296 was intended to be as decisive
as the conquest of Wales. Edward was victorious, symbolically
removed the 'stone of destiny' from Scone to Westminster abbey, and
established his own administration. But it was only a temporary
settlement and Edward soon found himself in something of a medieval
Vietnam from which he could not withdraw. He lived to see Robert
Bruce crowned king in 1306, and it is highly indicative of his
dogged determination that he should die leading yet another
expedition toScotland in 1307.
Edward 'Longshanks' was physically impressive and even in old
age retained his physical presence. He stood head and shoulders
above most men: when his tomb was opened in 1774, the body was
measured at 6 feet 2 inches. He met most of the contemporary
expectations of a king. He was a very able soldier and general, who
possessed considerable courage. He was also a very competent
organizer who, like his great-uncle Richard I, appreciated the
importance of supply and transport. His military career was
notable, although his victories against the Montfortians and the
Welsh need to be balanced against defeats by the Scots and French.
In most ways he lived up to the chivalric ideals of his age. As a
young man, in particular, he was conspicuous for his enthusiasm for
tournaments and other chivalric pursuits, and his devotion to the
crusading cause is especially notable. (He took the cross again in
1287, but the matter of the Scottish succession and the outbreak of
war with France unhinged all plans for departure.) But he could be
cruel, as when he imprisoned Bruce's sister Mary, the countess of
Buchan, in apparently inhuman conditions in 1306. He may well have
sought to make a public example of them, and by then the Scottish
war had become extremely savage. His violent temper, shared with
his Angevin predecessors, may also have contributed. An account
book records the cost of repairs to his daughter Elizabeth's
coronet in 1297 after Edward had hurled it into the fire. And on
one occasion he even assaulted his eldest son and heir, the future
Edward II, tearing out his hair.
Yet, his eldest son apart---at least in Edward I's later
years---he was devoted to his family. In particular, his love and
fondness for his first queen, Eleanor of Castile, is legendary and
the marriage was plainly both happy and fruitful. (There were
probably fourteen children in all.) Indeed, it is possible that the
marked change in character of the reign following her death in 1290
owed not a little to Edward's sense of personal loss. He grieved
her deeply, and in the famous Eleanor crosses, twelve in all, one
constructed at each stopping-point of the funeral cortège between
Harby (Notts.), where she died, and Westminster abbey, where she
lies buried, Edward constructed the most elaborate series of
monuments ever created for an English queen (or king).
In his considerable achievements, especially in legislation and
government, Edward was one of the most notable of English medieval
kings, but those achievements have to be set against equally
considerable failures, and the poisoned chalice of Anglo-Scottish
relations, combined with chronic financial difficulties, which he
bequeathed to his son.