Richard II Plantagenet

Notes:

Edward III
The charismatic Edward III, one of the most dominant personalities of his age, was born at Windsor Castle on 13th of November, 1312 and created Earl of Chester at four days old.

Edward was aged fourteen at his ill fated father's abdication, he had accompanied his mother to France where she and her lover, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, planned his father's overthrow. Edward II was later murdered in a bestial fashion at Berkeley Castle. Although nominally King, he was in reality the puppet of Mortimer and his mother, who ruled England through him.

A tall, handsome and approachable youth, Edward drew inspiration from the popular contemporary tales of chivalry. He was married to his first cousin, Phillipa, the daughter of William the Good, Count of Hainault and Holland and Jeanne of Valois, granddaughter of Phillip III of France. The marriage, celebrated at York Minster on 24th January, 1328, was a happy one, the two became very close and produced a large family. Phillipa was kind and inclined to be generous and exercised a steadying influence on her husband. Their eldest son Edward, later known as the Black Prince, was born on 15th June 1330, when his father was eighteen. Phillipa of Hainault was a popular Queen Consort, who was widely loved and respected, and theirs was a very close marriage, despite Edward's frequent infidelities. She frequently acted as Regent in England during Edward's absences in France. Froissart describes her as being "tall and upright, wise, gay, humble, pious, liberal and courteous."

It seems Edward had been fond of his father Edward II. By the Autumn of 1330, when he reached eighteen, he strongly resented his political position and Mortimer's interference in government. Aided by his cousin, Henry, Earl of Lancaster and several of his lords, Edward lead a coup d'etat to remove Mortimer from power. The Dowager Queen's lover was arrested at Nottingham Castle. Stripped of his land and titles, Mortimer was accused of assuming Royal authority. Isabella's pleas for her son to show mercy were ignored. Without the benefit of a trial, Mortimer was sentenced to death and executed at Tyburn. Isabella herself was shut up at Castle Rising in Norfolk, where she could meddle in affairs of state no more, but she was granted an ample allowance and permitted to live in comfort. Troubled in his conscience about the part he had been made to play in his father's downfall, Edward built an impressive monument over his father's burial place at Gloucester Cathedral.

Edward renewed his granddfather, Edward I's war with Scotland and repudiated the Treaty of Northampton, that had been negotiated during the regency of his mother and Roger Mortimer. This resulted in the Second War of Scottish Independence. he regained the border town of Berwick and won a decisive victory over the Scots at Halidon Hill in 1333, placing Edward Balliol on the throne of Scotland. By 1337, however, most of Scotland had been recovered by David II, the son of Robert the Bruce, leaving only a few castles in English hands

The Capetian dynasty of France, from whom King Edward III descended through his mother, Isabella of France, (the daughter of Phillip IV, 'the Fair') became extinct in the male line. The French succession was governed by the Salic Law, which prohibited inheritance through a female.

Edward's maternal grandfather, Phillip IV died in 1314 and was suceeded by his three sons Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV in succession. The eldest of these, Louis X, died in 1316, leaving only his posthumous son John, who was born and died that same year, and a daughter Joan, whose paternity was suspect. On the death of the youngest of Phillip's sons, Charles IV, the French throne therefore descended to the Capetian Charles IV's Valois cousin, who became Phillip VI.

As the grandson and nephew of the last Capetian kings, Edward considered himself to be a far nearer relative than a cousin. He quartered the lilies of France with the lions of England in his coat-of-arms and formally claimed the French throne through right of his mother. By doing so Edward began what later came to be known as the Hundred Years War. The conflict was to last for 116 years from 1337 to 1453.

The French were utterly defeated in a naval battle at Sluys on 24th June, 1340, which safeguarded England's trade routes to Flanders. This was followed up by an extraordinary land victory over Phillip VI at Crécy-en-Ponthieu, a small town in Picardy about mid-way between Paris and Calais. The Battle of Crecy was fought on 26th August, 1346, where a heavily outnumbered English army of around 15,000, defeated a French force estimated to number around 30,000 to 40,000. French losses were enormous and it was at Crecy that the King's eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, otherwise known as the Black Prince, so named for the colour of his armour, famously won his spurs.

Edward then laid siege to the port of Calais in September, which, after a long drawn out siege, eventually fell into English hands in the following August. Edward was determined to make an example of the unfortunate burghers of Calais, but the gentle Queen Phillipa, heavily pregnant, interceded with her husband, pleading for their lives. Calais was to remain in English hands for over two hundred years, until it was lost to the French in 1558, during the reign of the Tudor queen, Mary I.

The war with Scotland was resumed. Robert the Bruce was long dead, but his successor, David II, seized the chance to attack England while Edward III's attention was engaged in France. The Scots were defeated at the Battle of Neville's Cross by a force led by William Zouche, Archbishop of York and the Scot's king, David II, taken prisoner to England, where he was housed in the Tower of London. After spending eleven years a prisoner in the Tower, he was released and allowed to return to Scotland for the huge ransom ransom of 100,000 Marks

The Black Prince covered himself in glory when he vanquished the French yet again at Poiters in 1356. Where the French king, John II, was captured. A ransom was demanded for his return which ammounted to the equivalent of twice the country's yearly income. King John was accorded royal privileges whilst a prisoner of the English and was allowed to return to France in attempt to collect the huge ransom. Claiming to be unable to raise the ammount, he voluntarily re-submitted himself to English custody and died a few months later. Peace was then negotiated and by the Treaty of Bretigny of 1360 England retained the whole of Aquitaine, Ponthieu and Calais, in return Edward relinquished his claim to the French throne.

Edward III was responsible for founding England's most famous order of chivalry, the The Order of the Garter. Legend has it that while dancing with the King at a ball, a Lady (said by some sources to be the Countess of Shrewsbury) was embarrassed to have dropped her garter. The King chivalrously retrieved it for her, picking it up, he tied it around his own leg, gallantly stating "Honi soit qui mal y pense."(evil to him who evil thinks). This became the motto of the order, a society of gartered knights based at St.George's Hall, Windsor Castle.

Disaster struck England in Edward III's reign, in the form of bubonic plague, or the Black Death, which cut a scythe across Europe in the fourteenth century, killing a third of it's population. It first reached England in 1348 and spread rapidly. In most cases the plague was lethal. Infected persons developed black swellings in the armpit and groin, these were followed by black blotches on the skin, caused by internal bleeding. These symptoms were accompanied by fever and spitting of blood. Contemporary medicine was useless in the face of bubonic plague, it's remorseless advance struck terror into the hearts of the medieval population of Europe, many in that superstitious age saw it as the vengeance of God. The population of England was decimated. King Edward III's daughter, Joanna, died of the plague whilst on her way to Bordeaux to marry Pedro of Castille.

In the aftermath of the Black Death there was inevitable social upheaval. Parliament tried to legislate on the problem by introducing the Statute of Laborers in 1351, which attempted to fix prices and wages.

Queen Phillipa died in August, 1369, of an illness similar to dropsy. The last years of Edward III's reign saw him degenerate to become a pale shadow of the ostentatious and debonair young man who had first set foot in France to claim its throne. His heir, Edward, the Black Prince, the flower of English chivalry, was stricken with illness and died before his father in June, 1376.

The King began to lean heavily on his grasping and avaricious mistress, Alice Perrers. Government of the kingdom passed to Edward's ambitious third son, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. In September 1376 the king was unwell and was said to be suffering from an abscess. He made a brief recovery but, in a fragile condition, suffered a stroke at Sheen on 12th June, 1377. It was said that Alice Perrers stripped the rings from his fingers before he was even cold. He was buried in Westminster Abbey and was succeeded by his grandson, Richard II, the eldest surviving son of the Black Prince.

Edward married Phillipe de Hainault. Phillipe was born on 24 Jun 1310; died on 15 Aug 1369. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Medieval Showdown: The King vs The She-Wolf

On the 25th of January 1308, 12 year old Isabella of France married 23 year old Edward II. She was the daughter of Philip IV and Joan of Navarre. He was the crown prince of England, son of Edward ‘Longshanks’, the Hammer of the Scots. It should have been a match made in mediaeval heaven, however Isabella would spend most of her marriage fighting for the attention of her husband from other men. A month after their wedding the pair were crowned king and queen of England. In the beginning, Edward didn’t take much notice of his young wife. He was preoccupied with a young nobleman by the name of Piers Gaveston. The pair had been together for many years and Isabella was unlikely to come between them. Much to Isabella’s horror, Edward even gave Gaveston jewels he’d received as a wedding gift. He made Gaveston Earl of Cornwall and arranged a prestigious marriage for him. Edward also appointed Gaveston regnant when he was out of the country. Edward’s clear favouritism towards his companion didn’t just upset his queen, it created friction between the king and some of his barons. His behaviour also caught the attention of his father in law, King Philip IV of France. Philip was annoyed with Edward’s treatment of Isabella. Seeing how precarious things were becoming, Edward was forced to exile Gaveston to France. Through careful politicking, Edward was able to appease his barons and Gaveston was allowed back in the country. The king’s relationship with Gaveston continued for several years but by 1312, the barons were once again upset over Gaveston’s influence over the king. This time they didn’t wait for the king to send his lover away. Instead, they had him assassinated. By this time, Isabella was pregnant with their first child, the future Edward III. Without Gaveston in their lives, Edward and Isabella’s relationship flourished and they had three more children. Despite there being other ‘favourites’ (both male and female), the marital bliss between Isabella and Edward lasted around 10 years. By all accounts the couple were infatuated with each other. One particular night Edward saved his wife’s life when a fire broke out in their tent. The king was seen carrying Isabella to safety, both completely nude. Unfortunately, the love affair wasn’t to last. By 1322 Edward had another lover, Hugh Despenser the Younger. Unlike Piers Gaveston, Despenser actively positioned himself between the king and queen, diminishing Isabella’s influence on Edward. It wasn’t just the queen who felt pushed aside for Despenser, the barons were once again feeling left out. After war with France, which resulted in Edward confiscating Isabella’s lands, she was sent to negotiate a peace deal with her brother, Charles IV. While there, an unhappy Isabella convinced Edward to send their son, Edward of Windsor, to join her. Once the queen had control of their son she used him to try to force Edward to see reason. Isabella demanded that her husband get rid of Despenser, return her lands and agree to continue their relationship as husband and wife. Under the influence of Dispenser, Edward refused. This decision would prove to be a huge mistake. A few years before, Isabella had met Roger Mortimer when he was locked up in the Tower of London. He eventually escaped and fled to France where the two once again ran into each other. Although their relationship started out platonic they eventually became lovers. Mortimer had a longstanding grudge against Hugh Despenser and was willing to help the queen get rid of him, even if that meant removing Edward from his throne. Isabella and Mortimer arrived in England and chased the king and Despenser out of London. The barons played their part by rising up against Edward and his lover. Despenser was caught and executed and Edward was forced to abdicate, handing the throne over to his 14 year old son. Since Edward III was still underage, Isabella and Mortimer effectively ruled England for him. However, their greed made them just as unpopular as the previous king. Isabella was given the respect due to a queen and was sent to live under house arrest, giving up most of her exorbitant income. Roger Mortimer didn’t fare so well. In November 1330, Mortimer was hanged. Edward II lived out his days away from court. His cause of death and even the date is unknown. For centuries it was believed that Edward died a gruesome death, ordered by his wife. It was said that a horn was shoved up his backside and a red hot poker inserted, burning out his insides. However, there are accounts of his activities long after he was meant to have died. As far as Isabella’s part in his death, she was known to have sent him gifts shortly before his supposed murder, hardly the behaviour of someone plotting the death of her husband. All Isabella had wanted was a real relationship with her husband and to rule beside him as a true queen. Even after suffering the humiliation of having to share Edward with other men, she still only asked to be allowed to live with him as his wife. Blinded by the influence of Gaveston and then Despenser, he had refused and it had cost him his throne. As a scorned woman, the She-Wolf of France defeated a king.

http://www.portaseum.co.uk/medieval-showdown-the-king-vs-the-she-wolf/

Edward married Isabella of France. Isabella was born in 1295; died on 22 Aug 1358. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Edward I of England
Reign 17 November 1272 – 7 July 1307
Coronation 19 August 1274
Predecessor Henry III
Successor Edward II
Consort Eleanor of Castile (1254–1290)
Marguerite of France (1299–)
among others
Issue Eleanor, Countess of Bar
Joan, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester
Alphonso, Earl of Chester
Margaret, Duchess of Brabant
Mary Plantagenet
Elizabeth, Countess of Hereford
Edward II
Thomas, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Edmund, 1st Earl of Kent

Titles
The King
The Earl of Chester
Duke of Aquitaine
Edward of Westminster
Edward Plantagenet
Royal house House of Plantagenet
Father Henry III
Mother Eleanor of Provence
Born 17 June 1239 Palace of Westminster, London
Died 7 July 1307 (aged 68) Burgh by Sands, Cumberland
Burial Westminster Abbey, London

Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), popularly known as Longshanks,[1] achieved historical fame as the monarch who conquered large parts of Wales and almost succeeded in doing the same to Scotland. However, his death led to his son Edward II taking the throne and ultimately failing in his attempt to subjugate Scotland. Longshanks reigned from 1272 to 1307, ascending the throne of England on 20 November 1272 after the death of his father, King Henry III. His mother was queen consort Eleanor of Provence.

As regnal post-nominal numbers were a Norman (as opposed to Anglo-Saxon) custom, Edward Longshanks is known as Edward I, even though he is the fourth King Edward, following Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr, and Edward the Confessor.

Childhood and marriages
Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the evening of 17 June 1239.[2] He was an older brother of Beatrice of England, Margaret of England and Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster. He was named after Edward the Confessor. [3] From 1239 to 1246 Edward was in the care of Hugh Giffard (the son of Godfrey Giffard) and his wife, Sybil, who had been one of the midwives at Edward's birth. On Giffard's death in 1246, Bartholomew Pecche took over. Early grants of land to Edward included Gascony, but Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester had been appointed by Henry to seven years as royal lieutenant in Gascony in 1248, a year before the grant to Edward, so in practice Edward derived neither authority nor revenue from the province.

Edward's first marriage (age 15) was arranged in 1254 by his father and Alfonso X of Castile. Alfonso had insisted that Edward receive grants of land worth 15,000 marks a year and also asked to knight him; Henry had already planned a knighthood ceremony for Edward but conceded. Edward crossed the Channel in June, and was knighted by Alfonso and married to Eleanor of Castile (age 13) on 1 November 1254 in the monastery of Las Huelgas.

Eleanor and Edward would go on to have at least fifteen (possibly sixteen) children, and her death in 1290 affected Edward deeply. He displayed his grief by erecting the Eleanor crosses, one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night. His second marriage, (age 60) at Canterbury on September 10, 1299, to Marguerite of France, (age 17) (known as the "Pearl of France" by her husband's English subjects), the daughter of King Philip III of France (Phillip the Bold) and Maria of Brabant, produced three children.

Early ambitions
In 1255, Edward and Eleanor both returned to England. The chronicler Matthew Paris tells of a row between Edward and his father over Gascon affairs; Edward and Henry's policies continued to diverge, and on 9 September 1256, without his father's knowledge, Edward signed a treaty with Gaillard de Soler, the ruler of one of the Bordeaux factions. Edward's freedom to manoeuvre was limited, however, since the seneschal of Gascony, Stephen Longespée, held Henry's authority in Gascony. Edward had been granted much other land, including Wales and Ireland, but for various reasons had less involvement in their administration.

In 1258, Henry was forced by his barons to accede to the Provisions of Oxford. This, in turn, led to Edward becoming more aligned with the barons and their promised reforms, and on 15 October 1259 he announced that he supported the barons' goals. Shortly afterwards Henry crossed to France for peace negotiations, and Edward took the opportunity to make appointments favouring his allies. An account in Thomas Wykes's chronicle claims Henry learned that Edward was plotting against the throne; Henry, returning to London in the spring of 1260, was eventually reconciled with Edward by Richard of Cornwall's efforts. Henry then forced Edward's allies to give up the castles they had received and Edward's independence was sharply curtailed.

Edward's character greatly contrasted with that of his father, who reigned over England throughout Edward's childhood and consistently tended to favour compromise with his opponents. Edward had already shown himself as an ambitious and impatient man, displaying considerable military prowess in defeating Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, having previously been imprisoned by de Montfort at Wallingford Castle and Kenilworth Castle.

In 1266, Cardinal Ottobono, the Papal Legate, arrived in England and appealed to Edward and his brother Edmund to participate in the Eighth Crusade alongside Louis IX of France. In order to fund the crusade, Edward had to borrow heavily from the French king, and persuade a reluctant parliament to vote him a subsidy (no such tax had been raised in England since 1237).

The number of knights and retainers that accompanied Edward on the crusade was quite small. He drew up contracts with 225 knights, and one chronicler estimated that his total force numbered 1000 men.[4] Many of the members of Edward's expedition were close friends and family including his wife Eleanor of Castile, his brother Edmund, and his first cousin Henry of Almain.

The original goal of the crusade was to relieve the beleaguered Christian stronghold of Acre, but Louis had been diverted to Tunis. By the time Edward arrived at Tunis, Louis had died of disease. The majority of the French forces at Tunis thus returned home, but a small number joined Edward who continued to Acre to participate in the Ninth Crusade. After a short stop in Cyprus, Edward arrived in Acre, reportedly with thirteen ships. In 1271, Hugh III of Cyprus arrived with a contingent of knights.

Operations during the Crusade of Edward I.
Soon after the arrival of Hugh, Edward raided the town of Qaqun. Because the Mamluks were also pressed by Mongols raid into Syria,[5] there followed a ten year truce, despite Edward's objections.

The truce, and an almost fatal wound inflicted by a Muslim assassin, soon forced Edward to return to England. On his return voyage he learned of his father's death. Overall, Edward's crusade was rather insignificant and only gave the city of Acre a reprieve of ten years. However, Edward's reputation was greatly enhanced by his participation and he was hailed by one contemporary English songwriter as a new Richard the Lionheart.

Edward was also largely responsible for the Tower of London in the form we see today, including notably the concentric defences, elaborate entranceways, and the Traitor's Gate. The engineer who redesigned the Tower's moat, Brother John of the Order of St Thomas of Acre, had clearly been recruited in the East.

Accession
Edward's accession marks a watershed. Previous kings of England were only regarded as such from the moment of their coronation. Edward, by prior arrangement before his departure on crusade, was regarded as king from the moment of his father's death, although his rule was not proclaimed until 20 November 1272, four days after Henry's demise. Edward was not crowned until his return to England in 1274. His coronation took place on Sunday, 19 August 1274, in the new abbey church at Westminster, rebuilt by his father.

When his contemporaries wished to distinguish him from his earlier royal namesakes, they generally called him 'King Edward, son of King Henry'. Not until the reign of Edward III, when they were forced to distinguish between three consecutive King Edwards, did people begin to speak of Edward 'the First' (some of them, recalling the earlier Anglo-Saxon kings of the same name, would add 'since the Conquest').

Welsh Wars
Edward I depicted in Cassell's History of England (1902)
One of King Edward's early moves was the conquest of Wales. Under the 1267 Treaty of Montgomery, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd had extended Welsh territories southwards into what had been the lands of the English Marcher Lords and obtained English royal recognition of his title of Prince of Wales, although he still owed homage to the English monarch as overlord. After Llywelyn repeatedly refused to pay homage to Edward in 1274–76, Edward raised an army and launched his first campaign against the Welsh prince in 1276–1277. After this campaign, Llywelyn was forced to pay homage to Edward and was stripped of all but a rump of territory in Gwynedd. But Edward allowed Llywelyn to retain the title of Prince of Wales, and eventually allowed him to marry Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of the late Earl Simon.

Llywelyn's younger brother, Dafydd (who had previously been an ally of the English) started another rebellion in 1282, and was soon joined by his brother and many other Welshmen in a war of national liberation. Edward was caught off guard by this revolt but responded quickly and decisively, vowing to remove the Welsh problem forever. Llywelyn was killed in an obscure skirmish with English forces in December 1282, and Welsh resistance all but collapsed. Snowdonia was occupied the following spring and at length Dafydd ap Gruffudd was captured and taken to Shrewsbury, where he was tried and executed for treason. To consolidate his conquest, Edward began construction of a string of massive stone castles encircling the principality, of which the most celebrated are Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech.

Wales was incorporated into England under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 and, in 1301, Edward invested his eldest son, Edward of Caernarfon, as Prince of Wales. Since that time, with the exception of Edward III, the eldest sons of all English monarchs have borne this title.

Scottish Wars
In 1289, after his return from a lengthy stay in his duchy of Gascony, Edward turned his attentions to Scotland. He had planned to marry his son and heir Edward, to the heiress Margaret, the Maid of Norway, but when Margaret died with no clear successor, the Scottish Guardians invited Edward's arbitration, to prevent the country from descending into civil war. But before the process got underway, and to the surprise and consternation of many of Scots, Edward insisted that he must be recognized as overlord of Scotland. Eventually, after weeks of English machination and intimidation, this precondition was accepted, with the proviso that Edward's overlordship would only be temporary.

His overlordship acknowledged, Edward proceeded to hear the great case (or Great Cause, a term first recorded in the 18th century) to decide who had the best right to be the new Scottish king. Proceedings took place at Berwick upon Tweed. After lengthy debates and adjournments, Edward ruled in favour of John Balliol in November 1292. Balliol was enthroned at Scone on 30 November 1292.

In the weeks after this decision, however, Edward revealed that he had no intention of dropping his claim to be Scotland's superior lord. Balliol was forced to seal documents freeing Edward from his earlier promises. Soon the new Scottish king found himself being overruled from Westminster, and even summoned there on the appeal of his own Scottish subjects.

When, in 1294, Edward also demanded Scottish military service against France, it was the final straw. In 1295 the Scots concluded a treaty with France and readied themselves for war with England.

The war began in March 1296 when the Scots crossed the border and tried, unsuccessfully, to take Carlisle. Days later Edward's massive army struck into Scotland and demanded the surrender of Berwick. When this was refused the English attacked, killing most of the citizens-although the extent of the massacre is a source of contention; with postulated civilian death figures ranging from 7000 to 60000, dependent on the source.

After Berwick, and the defeat of the Scots by an English army at the Battle of Dunbar (1296), Edward proceeded north, taking Edinburgh and travelling as far north as Elgin - farther, as one contemporary noted, than any earlier English king. On his return south he confiscated the Stone of Destiny and carted it from Perth to Westminster Abbey. Balliol, deprived of his crown, the royal regalia ripped from his tabard (hence his nickname, Toom Tabard) was imprisoned in the Tower of London for three years (later he was transferred to papal custody, and at length allowed to return to his ancestral estates in France). All freeholders in Scotland were required to swear an oath of homage to Edward, and he ruled Scotland like a province through English viceroys.

Opposition sprang up (see Wars of Scottish Independence), and Edward executed the focus of discontent, William Wallace, on 23 August 1305, having earlier defeated him at the Battle of Falkirk (1298).

Edward was known to be fond of falconry and horse riding. The names of some of his horses are recorded in royal rolls: Lyard, his war horse; Ferrault his hunting horse; and his favourite, Bayard. At the Siege of Berwick, Edward is said to have led the assault personally, using Bayard to leap over the earthen defences of the city.

Later career and death
Edward's later life was fraught with difficulty, as he lost his beloved first wife Eleanor and his heir failed to develop the expected kingly character.

Edward's plan to conquer Scotland ultimately failed. In 1307 he died at Burgh-by-Sands, Cumberland on the Scottish border, while on his way to wage another campaign against the Scots under the leadership of Robert the Bruce. According to a later chronicler tradition, Edward asked to have his bones carried on future military campaigns in Scotland. More credible and contemporary writers reported that the king's last request was to have his heart taken to the Holy Land. All that is certain is that Edward was buried in Westminster Abbey in a plain black marble tomb, which in later years was painted with the words Edwardus Primus Scottorum malleus hic est, pactum serva, (Here is Edward I, Hammer of the Scots. Keep Troth.[6]. Although in their present form these words were added in the sixteenth century, they may well date from soon after his death.

On 2 January 1774, the Society of Antiquaries opened the coffin and discovered that his body had been perfectly preserved for 467 years. His body was measured to be 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm).[7]

Government and law under Edward I
A portrait of Edward I hangs in the United States House of Representatives chamber. It was Edward who founded the parliamentary system in England and eliminated the divisive political effects of the feudal system. Unlike his father, Henry III, Edward I took great interest in the workings of his government and undertook a number of reforms to regain royal control in government and administration. It was during Edward's reign that parliament began to meet regularly. And though still extremely limited to matters of taxation, it enabled Edward I to obtain a number of taxation grants which had been impossible for Henry III.

After returning from the crusade in 1274, a major inquiry into local malpractice and alienation of royal rights took place. The result was the Hundred Rolls of 1275, a detailed document reflecting the waning power of the Crown. It was also the allegations that emerged from the inquiry which led to the first of the series of codes of law issued during the reign of Edward I. In 1275, the first Statute of Westminster was issued correcting many specific problems in the Hundred Rolls. Similar codes of law continued to be issued until the death of Edward's close adviser Robert Burnell in 1292.

Edward's personal treasure, valued at over a year's worth of the kingdom's tax revenue, was stolen by Richard of Pudlicott in 1306, leading to one of the largest criminal trials of the period.

Persecution of the Jews
In 1275, Edward issued the Statute of the Jewry, which imposed various restrictions upon the Jews of England; most notably, outlawing the practice of usury and introducing to England the practice of requiring Jews to wear a yellow badge on their outer garments. In 1279, in the context of a crack-down on coin-clippers [criminals who shaved the edges of silver pennies to make new bullion], he arrested all the heads of Jewish households in England, and had around 300 of them executed.

Expulsion of the Jews
By the Edict of Expulsion of 1290, Edward formally expelled all Jews from England. In almost every case, all their money and property was confiscated.

The motive for this expulsion was first and foremost financial. Edward, after his return from a three year stay on the Continent, was around £100,000 in debt. Such a large sum - around four times his normal annual income - could only come from a grant of parliamentary taxation. It seems that parliament was persuaded to vote for this tax, as had been the case on several earlier occasions in Edward's reign.

Issue
Children of Edward and Eleanor:
A nameless daughter, b. and d. 1255 and buried in Bordeaux.
Katherine, b&d. 1264
Joan, b. and d. 1265. She was buried at Westminster Abbey before September 7, 1265.
John, born at either Windsor or Kenilworth Castle June or July 10, 1266, died August 1 or 3 1271 at Wallingford, in the custody of his great uncle, Richard, Earl of Cornwall. Buried at Westminster Abbey.
Henry, born on July 13 1268 at Windsor Castle, died October 14, 1274 either at Merton, Surrey, or at Guildford Castle.
Eleanor, born 1269, died 12 October 1298. She was long betrothed to Alfonso III of Aragon, who died in 1291 before the marriage could take place, and on 20 September 1293 she married Count Henry III of Bar.
A nameless daughter, born at Acre, Israel, in 1271, and died there on 28 May or 5 September 1271
Joan of Acre. Born at Acre in Spring 1272 and died at her manor of Clare, Suffolk on April 23, 1307 and was buried in the priory church of the Austin friars, Clare, Suffolk. She married (1) Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, (2) Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer.
Alphonso, born either at Bayonne, at Bordeaux24 November 1273, died 14 or 19 August 1284, at Windsor Castle, buried in Westminster Abbey.
Margaret, born September 11, 1275 at Windsor Castle and died in 1318, being buried in the Collegiate Church of St. Gudule, Brussels. She married John II of Brabant.
Berengaria (also known as Berenice), born 1 May 1276 at Kempton Palace, Surrey and died on June 27, 1278, buried in Westminster Abbey.
Mary, born 11 March or 22 April 1278 at Windsor Castle and died 8 July 1332, a nun in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England.
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, born August 1282 at Rhuddlan Castle, Flintshire, Wales, died c.5 May 1316 at Quendon, Essex, in childbirth, and was buried in Walden Abbey, Essex. She married (1) John I, Count of Holland, (2) Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford & 3rd Earl of Essex.
Edward II of England, also known as Edward of Caernarvon, born 25 April 1284 at Caernarvon Castle, Wales, murdered 21 September 1327 at Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, buried in Gloucester Cathedral. He married Isabella of France.

Children of Edward and Marguerite:
Thomas of Brotherton, later earl of Norfolk, born 1 June 1300 at Brotherton, Yorkshire, died between the 4 August and 20 September 1338, was buried in the abbey of Bury St Edmunds, married (1) Alice Hayles, with issue; (2) Mary Brewes, no issue.[9]
Edmund of Woodstock, 5 August 1301 at Woodstock Palace, Oxon, married Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell with issue. Executed by Isabella of France and Roger Mortimer on the 19 March 1330 following the overthrow of Edward II.
Eleanor, born on 4 May 1306, she was Edward and Margeurite's youngest child. Named after Eleanor of Castile, she died in 1311.

Edward married Eleanor of Castile. Eleanor died on 29 Nov 1290. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]