EDWARD I., King of England, was the eldest son of Henry III. by his wife Eleanor, daughter of Raymond, count of Provence, and was b. at Westminster, June 16, 1239. That union of valor and intelligence which characterized him was exhibited at an early period. At the commencement of the struggle between Henry and his barons, prince E., who was then governor of the duchy of Guienne, came over to England, and boldly declared his dissatisfaction with his father's conduct. Subsequently, he took the king's side in the war, and by his vigorous generalship put an end to the insurrection in a few years, but there is no evidence to show that he had changed his opinion of Henry's policy; and it is remarkable that he himself, during the whole of his reign, carefully avoided coming into collision with his nobles. When the last of the crusades was organized, at the instigation of pope Gregory X., prince E. arranged with Louis, king France, to take part in it. Louis died before reaching Palestine, but the former landed at Acre in 1271. Nothing, however, of any consequence was achieved; and in the fol lowing year lie set out on his return to England. At Messina, he heard of his father's death, whereupon he proceeded to France, and did homage to Philippe III. for his French possessions, arriving in England 25th July, 1274. He and his queen, Eleanor, were crowned at Westminster on the 19th of Aug. following. His first, military expedi tion, after his accession to the throne, was directed against the Welsh. After a contest of nearly 10 years—in the course of which the famous prince Llewellyn was slain at Llanfair, 11th Dec., 1282—Wales was finally subdued and incorporated with England. His next ambition was to possess himself of Scotland. The death, in 1290, of Margaret, granddaughter of Alexander III., and known as the maiden of Norway, who was to have been married to E.'s son, seemed to have frustrated his design; but the selfishness of the 10 competitors for the Scottish crown who now appeared, induced them to acknowledge E. as Lord Paramount of Scotland, each hoping that he would thereby secure the English monarch's support. The competitors were also foolish enough to make him umpire among them, or perhaps it would be more correct to say, they were not powerful enough to refuse his arbitration. Be that as it may, E. decided in favor of John Baliol at Berwick, 17th Nov., 1292; and Baliol immediately took the oath of fealty to him; and on the 26th of Dec. did homage to the English king for his crown at Newcastle. The patriotism and pride of the Scottish nation took fire at such humilia tion, and in a short time Baliol was hurried by Es subjects into a war with England. In 1296, E. entered Scotland, devastating it with fire and sword. He penetrated as far a. as Elgin, compelled Baliol to resign the kingdom, and governed the country by means of his own officers. It was during this expedition that he carried off from the cathedral of Scone the celebrated stone on which the kings of Scotland used to be crowned, and which is now in Westminster abbey. A second rising took place in Scotland in the following summer. The leader on this occasion was William Wallace (q.v.), whom tra dition represents as the most heroic and unselfish of patriots. He was completely suc cessful for a time, chiefly it is to be supposed on account of the absence of Edward. In the spring of 1298, however, that sovereign again made his appearance in Scotland, and gave battle to Wallace at Falkirk, on the 22d of July. Partly through treachery, and partly, no doubt, through the superior generalship of E., who is considered to have been the first military commander of his time in Europe, the Scottish forces were entirely defeated. The next five years were spent by the English king in reducing the country
to obedience—with very imperfect success, however. In the summer of 1303, lie led a third large army into Scotland, and once more spread havoc and ruin to the shores of the Moray firth. The last castle that held out against him was Stirling, which did not yield till the 20th of July, 1304. E. wintered at Dunfermline. Some time after this, Wallace either fell into his hands, or was betrayed, and on the 23d Aug., 1305, was hanged, drawn, and quartered as a traitor, at Smithfield, in London. E. now probably thought that he had no further danger to dread from Scotland, but if so, he was quickly unde ceived. Robert Bruce, earl of Carrick, grandson of the chief rival of Baliol, suddenly left the English court, where lie had been residing, in the beginning of 1306, unfurled once more the banner of Scottish independence, and on the 27th Mar. of that year was crowned at Scone. An English army, under the earl of Pembroke, was immediately despatched to Scotland; and at the close of theyear, the king himself set out to chas tise Bruce. But worn with the " sturt and strife" of many years, the cares of his own kingdom, and the anxieties of conquest, E. only lived to reach Burgh-on-Sands, a village beyond Carlisle, where he expired, 6th July, 1307, "in sight of that country," says lord Hailes, " which he had devoted to destruction." E. possessed most of the qualities that go to form a great ruler: valor, prudence, inexhaustible energy, and pertinacity are visible in his whole career. He was ambi tious, it is true, but in his age, ambition was looked upon as a virtue rather than as a crime; it was the natural accompaniment of kingly courage. His relations to Scot land were also unfortunate. Few people of any understanding, however, now doubt. that the best thing possible for that country would have been a peaceful, union with England, for at that time there was no hatred or jealousy between the two nations. The death of the maiden of Norway destroyed every chance of such a union, and the great mistake committed by E. was his endeavoring to bring about by force what could prove beneficial only when it was the result of voluntary agreement. The effect of his mad endeavor was to plant in the breasts of the two nations the germs of a hitherto unknown hostility, which, in subsequent generations, worked incalculable mischief, and the traces of which have not wholly disappeared even at the present day. As a civil ruler, E. is entitled to the highest praise. Immense progress was made during his reign in the establishment and improvement of law and order throughout the land, the refor mation of civil abuses, and the restriction of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and encroach ments. He has been called the English Justinian; and both Hale and Blackstone affirm, that "the very scheme and model of the administration of common justice between man and man was entirely settled by this king." Ireland and Wales partici pated in the benefits of English law. It was during E.'s reign, too, that the represen tation of the commons of England first became regular; but probably the greatest advantage obtained by the nation, was the declaration that the right or privilege of levying taxes resided in the parlianient. In general, it IiihjitteNattl that E. ruled in harmony with the ideas and desires of the best heads among his nobles and burgesses; and though touchy on the question of his prerogative, like every Plantagenet, and very cruel in his treatment of the Jews, he must be regarded, on the whole, as one of the most enlightened, liberal, and sagacious monarchs of his age.