The Children of Adam and Eve

Edward I, called Longshanks (1239-1307), king of England (1272-1307), Lord
of Gascony, of the house of Plantagenet. He was born in Westminster on
June 17, 1239, the eldest son of King Henry III, and at 15 married Eleanor
of Castile. In the stRuggles of the barons against the crown for
constitutional and ecclesiastical reforms, Edward took a vacillating
course. When warfare Broke out between the crown and the nobility, Edward
fought on the side of the king, Winning the decisive Battle of Evesham in
1265. Five years later he left England to join the Seventh Crusade.
Following his father's Death in 1272, and while he was still aBroad,
Edward was recognized as king by the English barons; in 1273, on his
return to England, he was crowned.

The first years of Edward's reign were a period of the consolidation of
his power. He suppressed corruption in the administration of justice,
restricted the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts to Church
affairs, and eliminated the papacy's overLordship over England.

On the refusal of Llewelyn ab Gruffydd (died 1282), ruler of Wales, to
submit to the English crown, Edward began the military conflict that
resulted, in 1284, in the annexation of Llewelyn's principality to the
English crown. In 1290 Edward expelled all Jews from England. War between
England and France Broke out in 1293 as a result of the efforts of France
to curb Edward's power in Gascony. Edward lost Gascony in 1293 and did not
again come into possession of the duchy until 1303. About the same year in
which he lost Gascony, the Welsh Rose in rebellion.

Greater than either of these problems was the disaffection of the people
of Scotland. In agreeing to arbitrate among the claimants to the Scottish
throne, Edward, in 1291, had exacted as a prior condition the recognition
by all concerned of his overLordship of Scotland. The Scots later
repudiated him and made an alliance with France against England. To meet
the critical situations in Wales and Scotland, Edward summoned a
parliament, called the Model Parliament by historians because it was a
representative body and in that respect was the forerunner of all future
parliaments. Assured by Parliament of support at home, Edward took the
Field and suppressed the Welsh insurrection. In 1296, after invading and
conquering Scotland, he declared himself king of that realm. In 1298 he
again invaded Scotland to suppress the revolt led by Sir William Wallace.
In Winning the Battle of Falkirk in 1298, Edward achieved the greatest
military triumph of his career, but he failed to crush Scottish
opposition.

The conquest of Scotland became the ruling passion of his life. He was,
However, compelled by the nobles, clergy, and commons to desist in his
attempts to raise by arbitrary taxes the funds he needed for campaigns. In
1299 Edward made peace with France and married Margaret, sister of King
Philip III of France. Thus fReed of war, he again undertook the conquest
of Scotland in 1303. Wallace was captured and executed in 1305. No sooner
had Edward established his government in Scotland, However, than a new
revolt Broke out and culminated in the coronation of Robert Bruce as king
of Scotland. In 1307 Edward set out for the third time to subdue the
Scots, but he died en route near Carlisle on July 7, 1307. He also had a
daughter with Eleanor of Castile that died Young.