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Plantagenet

Edward I

1272-1307

Early Years

Often considered the greatest of the Plantagenets, Edward I was born on the evening of 17th June, 1239, at Westminster Palace, the first born child of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. He was named Edward in honour of his father's favourite saint, the Saxon King Edward the Confessor. Edward was a delicate child and suffered from a life threatening illness in 1246, which his devoted mother, Eleanor of Provence, nursed him through at Beaulieu Abbey.

Marriage

At the age of fifteen, the 'Lord Edward' as he was then known, was married to his second cousin, the thirteen year old Leonora or Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290) (pictured right), on 1 November, 1254, to settle disputes over rights to Gascony. The couple were married at the monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos, Edward was knighted by Eleanor's half-brother, Alphonso X, to mark the occasion.

Eleanor was the beautiful dark-haired daughter of Ferdinand III, King of Castile and his second wife, Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu. Eleanor was also descended from Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, through their second daughter, Eleanor, who had married Alphonso VIII of Castile. Although their marriage was a political alliance the pair became deeply attached. She bore him sixteen children. The couple's first two sons, Henry and John died in infancy, their third son, Alphonso, the heir to the throne and Eleanor's favourite died at twelve years old, leaving their fourth son, Edward as his father's heir.

The Eighth Crusade

As a young man, Edward had joined the Eighth Crusade. He was persuaded to participate in the Crusade by the Papal Legate, Cardinal Ottobono, who appealed to Edward and his brother Edmund to take part along with Louis IX of France. Edward embarked from Dover in 1270, taking his young wife Eleanor with him. Perhaps he drew inspiration from the exploits of his famous great-uncle, Richard the Lionheart. Louis died at Carthage before the arrival of the English contingent, Edward and Eleanor spent the winter in Sicily, before going on to Acre in Palestine, where they arrived in May 1271, accompanied by his brother Edmund and cousin Henry Almain, the son of Richard, Earl of Cornwall. Edward raided the town of Qaqun, but despite his objections a ten year truce between the Christians and Moslems was negotiated.

In June 1272, an attempt was made to assassinate Prince Edward, a member of the secret society of the Assassins, acting on the instructions of one of the Emirs in negotiation with Edward, feigning he came on secret business obtained an interview with the English prince, he suddenly attacked Edward with a dagger, wounding his arm. Edward managed to beat him off by kicking him and seized a stool, with which he knocked him down, enabling him to grab the dagger. He was, however further wounded in the forehead. As the dagger was poisoned, the wounds were cause for great concern. However the skills of his surgeon saved his life. Legend relates that his wife Eleanor sucked the poison from the wounds.

The aim of the crusade was to relieve the beleaguered Christian stronghold of Acre , but the Eigth Crusade only suceeded in giving Acre a reprieve of ten years. It is believed that it was in the Holy Land that Edward recieved inspiration for the design of the castles he later built to secure his conquests in Wales.

Reign

Edward was in the Holy Land when he heard of his father's death on 20 November 1272, which affected him deeply and consequently made him King of England.

The new King initially called himself Edward IV, but for reasons unknown he came to be known as Edward I. His first parliament, in the Statute of Westminster, legislated on the whole field of law. In 1274, he conducted a country wide survey into the usurpation of crown lands and rights during the war with de Montfort. Edward brought many of England's laws and institutions up to date.

The Conquest of Wales

King Edward embarked on a highly ambitious plan to conquer the whole of Britain. He lead an army into Wales in 1277. The first invasion proceeded along the north Wales coast. Llywellyn ap Gruffyd, Prince of Wales, was the husband of Eleanor, Edward's niece and the daughter of Simon de Montfort. The campaign was successful and the Welsh Prince surrendered to the English king, by the Treaty of Aberconwy in 1287 he was compelled to accept humiliating peace terms.

In 1282 the Welsh, led by Llewelyn's brother Dafydd, rose against English rule. Edward again marched an army into Wales. Llywelyn joined the revolt which experienced some initial success, the castles of Builth, Aberystwyth and Ruthin were wrested from English hands and an English army defeated at the Menai Straights in Gwynedd. Llywelyn was killed at the battle of Irfon Bridge on the 11th December 1282, crushing Welsh hopes. In accordance with the barbaric custom of the time, his severed head was sent to London to be displayed at the Tower. Dafydd continued to lead the Welsh resistance, but was handed over to Edward in June 1283, when he too, was tried and executed.

Following his conquest of Wales, Edward I built a formidable Iron Ring of Castles, a days march from apart, to defend his aquisitions from Welsh rebellion. Subsequent to Edward's first Welsh campaign when he succeeded in isolating his adversary, Llywelyn the last in Snowdonia and Anglesey, the English king errected the castles of Flint, Rhuddlan, Builth Wells and Aberystwth.

After the failure of Llywelyn's second uprising in 1282, the Iron Ring was extended to include castles at Conway, Caernarfon and Beaumaris.

The Castles of Edward I

The Death of Eleanor of Castille

Eleanor of Castile died in 1290 aged 49. Eleanor had been accompanying Edward on a journey to Lincoln, when she began to exhibit sympoms of a feverish illness she had previously suffered from in 1287. The Queen's condition worsened as their entourage the village of Harby, in Nottinghamshire, they were forced to abandon the journey, the now grievously sick queen was lodged in the house of Richard de Weston. After receiving the last rites, Eleanor died there on the evening of the 28th of November 1290. Her husband was at her bedside at the end.

The normally thick skinned Edward was deeply affected by her loss. Edward had a memorial cross erected at every spot where her body was halted during it's journey to London. Charring Cross derives it's name, which is a corruption of Chere Reine Cross, from one of these crosses.

After embalming, which in the thirteenth century involved evisceration, Eleanor's viscera were buried in Lincoln Cathedral, and Edward placed a duplicate of the Westminster tomb there. Eleanor's heart was taken with the body to London and was buried Blackfriars Priory. The Queen's body was buried in Westminster Abbey, a magnificent gilt bronze effigy by William Torel surmounts her tomb. Three of the 'Eleanor Crosses' have survived to the present day, those at Geddington, Northampton and Waltham.

The King remarried at the age of 60, he chose as his second wife the seventeen year old Margaret of France, the daughter of Phillip III, King of France and Maria of Brabant, their wedding was celebrated at Canterbury on 8th September 1299. Their first child, a son, Thomas of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, was born within a year of the marriage and was followed by a further son Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent in August, 1301. A daughter, named Eleanor for the king's first wife, followed in May, 1306. Despite their disparate ages the pair grew extremely close and Eleanor built up a close relationship with Edward's heir, his eldest surviving son by his first marriage, Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward II) who was but two years younger than herself.

The Hammer of the Scots

Edward's attention was turned north to Scotland. Alexander III, King of Scots, Edward's brother- in-law, had recently died, leaving his young grand-daughter, Margaret, known as the Maid of Norway, as his sole heir. Edward proposed a marriage alliance between Margaret and his eldest surviving son and heir, Edward of Carnarvon, Prince of Wales, by which he hoped to gain control of Scotland. Margaret died on the journey to her new kingdom, leaving the Scottish succession disputed between a number of candidates, among whom the English King was asked to arbitrate by the Scottish lords. His choice fell upon John de Balliol, who did possess a strictly superior hereditary right.

Balliol was effectively a puppet of the English, the discontented Scots promptly rose in rebellion against this arrangement and an English army was marched north into Scotland in 1296 to deal with them. Edward stormed the inadequately defended border town of Berwick upon Tweed, slaughtering its inhabitants and overun Scotland. King John Balliol was humiliated and sent as a prisoner to the Tower of London.

The Stone of Scone, a venerated relic, which Scottish Kings had been crowned on since the Dark Ages, was taken in 1296 and removed to Westminster. It was incorporated in a coronation chair specially built for this purpose at Westminster Abbey and has only recently been returned to Scotland.

The banner of Scottish resistance was taken up by the patriot William Wallace, he was both a brave and resourceful opponent and defeated the Edward's forces at Stirling Bridge in 1297. He then continued a guerilla war in the name of King John, gaining the support of the Scottish clans, although he never gained the loyalty of the nobles.

William Wallace was defeated by Edward I at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 and three regents appointed to rule Scotland, the Bishop of St. Andrews, Robert the Bruce and John Comyn. The spirited William Wallace, unbowed, stormed Stirling Castle in 1304, but was later treacherously handed over to the English by one of his own countrymen, he suffered the horrendous death of being hung, drawn and quartered. Robert the Bruce, after murdering his rival, Comyn, in the church at Greyfriars, was crowned King of Scots. Abandoning conventional methods, Bruce tried to starve the enemy out and made efforts to capture the English strongholds.

Making his way north to deal with the Scots yet again, the great Edward I died at Burgh on Sands, Cumberland on 7 July, 1307. Apprehensive of his son Edward's ability to continue his work, he was purported to have asked his flesh to be boiled from his bones, so that they could be carried with the army on every campaign into Scotland and that his heart be buried in the Holy Land. His son instead buried his body in Westminster Abbey, the mausoleum of English Kings, in a robe of imperial purple. The place where he lies is marked by a simple stone slab which bears the epitaph 'Here lies Edward, the Hammer of the Scots'.

Edward's 26 year old widow, Margaret of France, retired to Marlborough Castle after his death and never remarried, she is recorded as saying "when Edward died, all men died for me". She lived on for ten years after her husband's death, dying at the age of 36 and was buried at Greyfriars Church, Greenwich..

Further Information

The death of Edward I at Burgh by Sands

The conquest of Wales

Dolbadarn Castle stronghold of the Welsh princes

Castell y Bere Stronghold of Llywelyn the Last

The Welsh Castles of Edward I

The Scottish Wars of Independence

William Wallace

Robert the Bruce

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