Edward I Interesting Facts

1 Prince of Wales

Edward started the tradition of the eldest son of the monarch being named as the Prince of Wales. After devastating the land and enforcing English rule in 1284, Henry promised the Welsh a prince who couldn’t speak English. This was his way of buying peace from the Welsh nobility. He kept to his word by presenting his one-year old pre-speech baby son to the country.

2 Terrible Temper

The Dean of St Paul’s wanted to protest to the King about the imposition of high taxes. Unfotrtunately the angry King terrifed him so much he dropped dead from a heartattack. Edward’s rage was so huge and all-consuming that he once tore chunks of his son’s hair out during an argument. This might be why Edward spent a lot of his time on the battlefield.

3 Wiliam Wallace’s grisly death

Edward introduced the sentence of being ‘hung drawn and quartered’ as the sentence for treason. His reasoning was that treason represented three crimes. One against God, one against man and one against the King. William Wallace was therefore hung until nearly dead, watched his insides being burnt and then had his heart cut out. Finally, he was decapitated and his head put on a spike while his arms and legs were returned to Scotland.

4 Named by his father to honour a Saint

Named Edward by his father, Henry III, in honour of his hero, the pious Edward the Confessor.

5 Longshanks

Edward was a delicate child who nearly died from a childhood illness when he was 7 years old. His mother took good care of him at Beaulieu Abbey where he reovered enough strength to grow uncommonly tall at 6ft 2inches (1.88 metres)

6 Hammer of the Scots

Edward was buried in a black marble tomb with the inscription ‘here lies Edward I, hammer of the Scots’ written in Latin. Edward took the precious Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny back to Westminster Abbey. The stone had been an integral part of the Coronation ceremony for Scottish royals. Edward placed it under the throne at Westminster Abbey where it became a potent symbol of England’s hold over Scotland.

7 Politics turn personal

When Eleanor of Castile died in 1290, Edward was distraught. As a monument to her, he had twelve stone crosses erected to mark the route of her funeral procession, the final cross gives its name to Charing Cross in London. Their marriage began in 1254 when Eleanor was 13 and Edward 15, as a way to give Edward possession of Gascony. It ended with them parenting 16 children and loving each other devotedly.

8 Lucky in love

It appears that both of Edward’s marriages were happy. His second wife Marguerite was 17 when they married while Edward was 60. He had been a widower for 9 years by then. They appeared to be a close couple and had three childen together. He died, almost 8 years after their wedding, while Marguerite was still young at 26. She never married again, saying, ‘when Edward died, all men died for me’. She died ten years later aged 36.

9 A close shave

During his time on the Eigth Crusade, an assassination attempt was made on Edward. During a private audience, his would-be assassin drew a knife. Edward beat off his dagger-wielding assailant, kicking him and knocking him down with a stool. The poisoned dagger pierced his arm and forehead. He was saved by a good surgeon and his wife Eleanor, who legend has it, acted quickly and sucked the venom from his wounds.

10 Once a warrior

Aged 68, Edward was still hot-headed enough to wish to engage Robert the Bruce in battle. Despite being too ill to ride a horse, he nonetheless insisted on being conveyed north to Scotland. On the way, he died. His final wish was that his body be embalmed and carried into battle for a final time. His son however returned his body to Westminster Abbey for burial.