Edward I (1289 – 1307)

Known as Edward Longshanks due to his height and Edward Hammer of Scots, because of brutal campaigns in Scotland (watch Braveheart!), Edward I was a ruthlessly ambitious king who sought to combine England, Wales and Scotland under one rule.

Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster in London in 1289, the eldest son of King Henry III. During the reign of Henry III the English nobles led by Simon de Montfort, rebelled. Edward was taken prisoner by De Montfort and held at Kenilworth Castle, but managed to escape, and rallying troops, he defeated and brutally killed De Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.

Whereas Henry was regarded as a weak king, favouring compromise and appeasement with his enemies, Edward learned to take more direct action and was ruthless in pursuing his aims and crushing those who opposed him. After De Montfort was killed, Edward rounded up his entire family, who were Edward’s own cousins, and executed them.

From 1269 to 1272 Edward went on the Crusades to the Holy Land, where his later castle building ambitions were no doubt inspired. On his return to England, Edward’s wife Eleanor, with whom he had 16 children, took ill and died. To commemorate her, Edward had a monument, known as the Eleanor Crosses, built at every place the funeral cortege had stopped.

When he returned to England, Edward set himself on an expansionist course aimed at bringing Wales and Scotland under his control.

Edward first set his sights on his old enemy the Prince of Gywnedd in Wales. After kidnapping his fiancé, and imprisoning her in Windsor Castle, Edward demanded that Prince Llywelyn pay homage to him. When Llywelyn refused, Edward led his army into Wales in 1276, forcing Llywelyn to accept Edward as his king. But after Llywelyn died, his brother Dafydd led another Welsh rebellion. Edward brutally crushed the rebellion capturing, torturing and executing Dafydd. With the Welsh defeated, Edward set about ensuring his conquest by building a ring of impressive castles, using state of the art military architecture. These concentric castles can still be seen in North Wales at Caernarfon, Conway, Beaumaris and Harlech. Edward further cemented his rule over the Welsh by making his son Edward II Prince of Wales, a title that is bestowed to the eldest son of the ruling English monarch to this day.

With the Welsh subjugated, Edward turned his attentions to the Scots. At first Edward tried the usual medieval diplomatic route of alliance through marriage, offering to marry his son Edward off to the child queen, Margaret of Scotland. But Margaret died en route from Norway to Orkney, throwing Scotland into crisis. Fearing civil war between the two contenders for the Scottish throne, John Balliol and Robert the Bruce, the nobles of Scotland asked Edward to arbitrate.

Edward saw his chance, he agreed to select the next king of Scotland on condition that the King of England be recognised as his Overlord. The Scottish noblemen were forced to agree and swore allegiance to Edward. Balliol was selected, but when he was ordered to provide troops and finances for Edward’s wars with France, Balliol refused and Edward invaded Scotland in 1296.

So began the Wars of Independence, that are depicted (with some Hollywood invention it has to be said) in the film Braveheart. The first battles went Edward’s way, he led his army against the border town of Berwick, raising it to the ground and massacring its inhabitants, then took Edinburgh, where Edward seized the Stone of Destiny, on which the kings of Scotland were crowned. Edward took the stone back to Westminster to install in his throne. Since 1308 all English monarchs have been crowned on this throne and the stone was only returned to Scotland in 1996.

Edward instilled his rule of Scotland, through English nobles who were as ruthless as himself and it wasn’t long before the Scottish revolted. In 1297 a rebellion led by William Wallace defeated the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. But a year later the Scots were defeated at Falkirk, Wallace was later captured, tortured and brutally executed in London. However Edward’s desire to fully subjugate the Scots was never realised. On route to Scotland to crush another rebellion, this time led by Robert the Bruce, Edward I died in Cumberland and Robert the Bruce would finally free Scotland from the English yoke following the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.