The constant warfare of the 1290s continued to put the kingdom under a great deal of financial strain. Between 1290 and 1297, seven lay subsidies were levied by the King, in addition to appropriations of food, wool and hides. These demands gave way to deep resentment and eventually open hostility.
The initial resentment to Edward’s financial policy came, not from the laity, but from the Church. In 1294, Edward demanded a grant of half of all Church revenues in England. When the bishops objected, Edward responded with threats of outlawry and the bishops acquiesced to the King’s demand.
The position of the Church in England changed following the issuing of the Papal Bull Claricis Laicos, which prohibited clerics from paying taxes to secular authorities without explicit Papal permission. When Edward demanded a second grant, the bishops resisted, citing the Papal Bull. Edward again threatened to have the bishops declared outlaws.
Edward's Final War with Scotland
Opposition among the secular nobility took longer to become evident, but when it did this resistance was based on two common complaints. The first was the King’s right to demand military service, while the second was the King’s right to levy taxes.
At the Salisbury meeting of Parliament in 1297, the Earl of Norfolk, objected to a royal summons for military service, arguing that the nobles’ obligation for military service only extended as far as serving along side the King Edward was undaunted and ordered another subsidy. This one was considered particularly incendiary because Edward had not consulted the full body of Parliament.
While Edward was at Winchelsea, preparing to depart for the Continent, the Earl of Norfolk and the Earl of Hereford went to the Exchequer to prevent the collection of the tax. As Edward left for Flanders, England teetered on the edge of civil war. The situation was only resolved by the Scottish victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The renewed Scottish threat gave the King and the nobles a common cause. Not long afterward, Edward signed the Confirmatium Cartarum, which reaffirmed the Magna Carta. In exchange, the nobles agreed to follow Edward on a campaign to Scotland.
The Falkirk campaign was not the end of Edward’s troubles with the nobility, however. The English nobility held Edward to the promises he had made In 1301, Parliament was able to force Edward to carry out an assessment of the royal forests. In 1305, Edward received a Papal Bull absolving him of this responsibility.
When Edward left Scotland for the second time, the situation seemed resolved. However, not long after he left, a Scottish insurgency emerged under the command of the brilliant and charismatic William Wallace.
In September, 1297, a large English army under the command of the Earl of Surrey, suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of a smaller Scottish force commanded by Wallace, at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The defeat stunned the English and preparations for a counter strike began at once.
As soon as Edward returned from Flanders, he headed north to Scotland with an army. On July 22, 1298, William Wallace was decisively beaten by Edward’s army at the Battle of Falkirk. Unfortunately, Edward was not able to capitalize on his victory and Stirling Castle fell to the Scots in 1299.
After their defeat at Falkirk, the Scots never met the English in open battle again. Instead, the Scottish armies broke into small groups and began raiding English towns along the Scottish border. Around the same time, England signed a peace treaty with France, breaking up the Franco-Scottish alliance. Shortly afterward, Robert the Bruce, the grandson of the claimant to the Scottish throne during the Great Cause in 1291, sided with the English.
By 1304, most of the Scottish nobility, had also sworn loyalty to Edward. In 1305, Edward won a significant propaganda victory when William Wallace was betrayed to the English by Sir John de Menteith. William Wallace was taken to London where he was made a public spectacle and put to death.
The Death of Edward Longshanks
The situation in Scotland changed again in February, 1306, when Robert the Bruce assassinated his rival, John Comyn and had himself declared King of Scotland on March 25. Robert embarked on a campaign to restore Scotland’s independence, and succeeded in catching the English off balance in the process.
By this time, Edward’s health was failing and he delegated overall command of the expedition to his son, Edward II, now the Prince of Wales. Aymer de Valence and Henry Percy were appointed as advisors to Prince Edward. The English were initially successful and beat back the Scots. De Valence defeated Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Methven.
Prince Edward responded with incredible brutality against Robert’s allies. To the English, this was no longer a war, but the suppression of rebellious subjects. However, the crackdown did not have the desired effect and support for Robert increased. In May, Robert defeated de Valence at the Battle of Loudon Hill.
At the same time, King Edward’s health improved slightly and he made his way north. However, he contracted dysentery during the journey. On July 6, Edward and the royal retinue camped at Burgh by Sands, on the Scottish border. When Edward’s servants entered the royal tent to feed Edward on the morning of July 7, they lifted him up and he died in their arms.
Following his death, Edward’s body was taken south to London, where he was buried at Westminster Abbey on October 27. In the meantime, Edward II remained in Scotland, until August when he abandoned his father’s campaign. Edward II was crowned King of England on February 25, 1308.
Sources
Morris, Marc (2008). A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain (updated ed.). London: Hutchinson.
Raban, Sandra (2000). England under Edward I and Edward II. Oxford: Blackwell.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan (2005). The Crusades: A History. London: Continuum
Watson, Fiona J. (1998). Under the Hammer: Edward I and the Throne of Scotland, 1286-1307. East Linton: Tuckwell Press
Terry Long - I hold degrees in history and journalism. In addition to my contributions to Suite 101, I have also written for the Brampton Bulletin, the ...
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