Portrait in Westminster Abbey likely depicting Edward I, installed sometime during his reign
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as
Edward Longshanks and the
Hammer of the Scots, was
King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was
Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 to 1306 he ruled
Gascony as
Duke of Aquitaine in his capacity as a
vassal of the
French king. Before his accession to the throne, he was commonly referred to as
the Lord Edward. The eldest son of
Henry III, Edward was involved from an early age in the political intrigues of his father's reign. In 1259, he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting the
Provisions of Oxford. After reconciliation with his father, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the
Second Barons' War. After the
Battle of Lewes, Edward was held
hostage by the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and defeated the baronial leader
Simon de Montfort at the
Battle of Evesham in 1265. Within two years, the rebellion was extinguished and, with England pacified, Edward left to join the
Ninth Crusade to the
Holy Land in 1270. He was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed of his father's death. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and was
crowned at
Westminster Abbey.
Edward spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and
common law. Through an extensive legal inquiry, he investigated the tenure of several
feudal liberties. The law was reformed through a series of
statutes regulating
criminal and
property law, but the King's attention was increasingly drawn towards military affairs. After suppressing a minor conflict in Wales in 1276–77, Edward responded to a second one in 1282–83 by
conquering Wales. He then established English rule, built castles and towns in the countryside and
settled them with
English people. After the death of
the heir to the
Scottish throne, Edward was invited to arbitrate
a succession dispute. He claimed feudal
suzerainty over Scotland and invaded the country, and the ensuing
First Scottish War of Independence continued after his death. Simultaneously, Edward found himself
at war with France (a
Scottish ally) after
King Philip IV confiscated the Duchy of Gascony. The duchy was eventually recovered but the conflict relieved English military pressure against Scotland. By the mid-1290s, extensive military campaigns required high levels of taxation and this met with both
lay and ecclesiastical opposition. When the King died in 1307, he left to his son
Edward II a war with Scotland and other financial and political burdens. (
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