The Life And Reign Of Edward I part one: The Making of a Warrior King

 

Edward I was born in June 1239 at the Palace of Westminster. His parents were King Henry III and his queen, Eleanor of Provence. Henry's reign was a long one, too long some might say. Becoming king on the death of his own father, King John, in 1216, Henry would rule for 56 years until his own death in 1272. Just 9 years old when he came to the throne, Henry's crown was at risk of being snatched away from him. At the time of his succession, England had a foreign invader in its midst. This was Prince Louis of France who had been invited to come and take the crown off the hapless King John by the fed up English nobility who had had just about enough of John's incompetent rule. However, with John now dead and a young, innocent boy on the throne, some of the tension eased although Louis didn't give up his claims until he suffered defeat at the Second Battle of Lincoln in 1217 at the hands of the aged but still brilliant knight, William Marshal. Louis, up until that point, was still evidently confident of success as he wasn't even present at Lincoln at the time of his forces' defeat. Louis had divided his army into two with one force marching on Lincoln and Louis leading the other half to besiege Dover. When he heard of the disaster at Lincoln, momentum in Louis' campaign was completely lost and he would have to content himself with a short reign as king of France, when he ruled as Louis VIII from 1223-1226.

Although his crown had been saved, this was hardly the best of starts for a new king. And, unfortunately, Henry inherited some of his father's incompetence. He was particularly lax with finances. One of the more absurd ideas of his reign was to try and put his son, Edmund Crouchback, younger brother of Edward, on the throne of Sicily in the mid 1250s. This idea had been suggested to Henry by the Pope. Eventually, after Pope Innocent IV had died, his successor Alexander IV, demanded Henry pay a huge some of money to cover Papal expenses as the bid to take the Sicilian crown from the hands of Manfred, son of the now dead Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, gradually became more and more costly. Henry's situation was made all the more dire by the fact that before the Sicilian saga had come to pass, he was already in trouble financially. He'd made earlier promises to go on Crusade and had borrowed huge sums of money. However, in Gascony, trouble had kicked off over the heavy handed rule of Simon De Montfort and Henry had been forced to waste the money he had raised for Crusade on quieting Gascony.

As the 1250s became increasingly troubled for Henry III, his son and successor Edward was beginning to grow into a young man. As a child, Edward had a few close shaves. He had several bouts of illness which caused some considerable concern. There was also an interesting story where Edward, by pure luck, escaped being crushed by a huge stone. Edward had been playing Chess with one of his household knights when, for no reason other than perhaps boyish restlessness, Edward stood up and walked out of the room. Within seconds, the stone came crashing down from the roof which apparently would have been enough to kill an adult, never mind a young boy. According to one chronicler, Edward's apparent habit of enjoying good fortune was attributed at the time to him having "the protection of the Lord of Heaven." 

Despite Edward suffering poor health at times in his childhood, he still developed into a famously intimidating figure. He would grow to be 6 foot 2 with powerful legs well suited for riding horses and arms perfect for wielding swords in a most powerful fashion. Edward did have his imperfections however. His left eyelid drooped slightly, something he had inherited from Henry and he spoke with a lisp although he remained a compelling speaker.

In the 1260s, Henry III's problems were growing. Tensions had spilled over between the king and his barons, who were led in their opposition by Simon De Montfort. Aside from his terrible financial situation, Henry had also caused widespread dismay by allowing foreign relatives of both himself and his queen Eleanor to come into England and prosper. Eventually, the barons would defeat a royalist army at the battle of Lewes in 1264 which effectively gave De Montfort control over England for over a year. Edward, a prince now in his mid 20s, had been present at Lewes, fighting on behalf of his father. Early in the battle, Edward caused the barons' army significant damage but Edward then allowed a personal agenda to take over his decision army. Part of the Barons' army was made of men from London with whom Edward had a bone to pick with. Whilst sailing up the River Thames, Edward's mother Eleanor, deeply unpopular with the people of London, was pelted with rocks, vegetables, garbage and basically anything the Londoners' could get their hands on. At one point, the barrage was so serious, the queen came to fear for her life. Remembering that at Lewes, Edward, on seeing the Londoners fleeing from the battle, rashly went in pursuit of them, leaving his father badly exposed. When Edward returned to the field, the battle was lost. In negotiations that followed, in which the king didn't have a leg to stand on, his heir Edward was handed over as hostage to De Montfort.

Edward however was not going to sit quietly and accept his fate as hostage to De Montfort. As his time in captivity wore on, Edward became familiar with his captors, even friendly to a point where they would go out riding together and it was on one of these trips out, that Edward made his daring escape. He managed to manipulate the situation where he was allowed to ride the quickest horse. Seizing the moment, Edward rode off into the distance and returned to his father's side in order to reestablish royal authority over England. This was largely brought about when Edward engaged De Montfort's men at the Battle of Evesham and it was here the rebel Earl of Leicester met his end as his force was absolutely routed. De Montfort's body was hacked to pieces.

With a semblance of calm now restored, Prince Edward vowed to go on Crusade and, unlike Henry, he actually did so. This Crusade would be led by Louis IX of France but the French king would die at Tunis in North Africa after an outbreak of disease. Edward continued the Crusade and headed for the Holy Land where very little was accomplished by the Crusaders. In fact, English history could have been very different indeed because of the Crusade if Edward had not survived an assassination attempt on his life. Whilst camped at Acre, an assassin managed to enter Edward's tent and attacked him with a poisoned dagger. Edward's considerable strength aided him as he fought off the would-be killer but sustained serious injuries. His wife Eleanor had accompanied Edward on the Crusade and was deeply upset by the incident. Edward, as we know, survived but would be left feeling the effects of the attack for some considerable time. Although Edward had been eager for the Crusade to continue, it was clear that there was very little point and Edward's injury made that all the more obvious. Edward finally gave in to the advice of others and began the long journey home.

And a long journey it would be. Edward arrived in Sicily in September 1272 where he was greeted by the king of Sicily. Whilst there, Edward was brought news of the death of his father Henry III. He was now king Edward I of England. It was a bittersweet moment for him as he genuinely grieved the passing of his father. The news however did NOT hasten Edward's journey home. It would seem a fair bet he was still struggling from his Crusading injury. Edward then made a slow progress through Italy where he was greeted warmly far and wide, from city to city. Moving onwards, at Burgundy, Edward was challenged to take part in a tournament which he accepted, evidently feeling better. Edward handled himself more than capably and caused some upset when he through a Count off his horse although, in Edward's defence, the Count had been trying to do the same to Edward but found the new English king to be hard to dislodge from his saddle.

Edward then met the French king Philip III to whom he paid homage for his lands in France. Edward then travelled to Gascony where he put down some further disturbances in the region. Edward FINALLY returned to England in 1274 and in August of that year, he and his queen Eleanor, who had been a loyal companion in his most difficult moments during and after the Crusade, were crowned. In the words of one Chronicler, Edward and Eleanor shone in radiance and glory. Joy at the arrival home of the new king was felt all across England. However, for the country's enemies, perhaps a shudder was felt. Edward would prove to be a truly remarkable king.