ENGLAND. 



619 



History, which they had been expelled, they seized every op- 

 v "" r "Y~^'' portunity of laying waste their country. They endea- 

 voured to profit by every disturbance among their ene- 

 mies ; and had been deeply engaged in the rebellion of 

 Leicester. Lewellyn, Prince of Wales, on the suppres- 

 sion of that rebellion, had been included in the gene- 

 ral accommodation ; but dreading the resentment of 

 Edward, he still carried on a secret correspondence 

 with the Mountfort faction, and had even paid his ad- 

 dresses to Leicester's daughter. The discovery of this 

 correspondence furnished Edward with a pretext for 

 war. He marched a numerous army into Wales, and 

 A. D. 1277. having hemmed in the enemy among the hills at' Snow- 

 dun, reduced them to submission by famine. Lewel- 

 lyn and all his barons swore fealty to the crown of Eng- 

 land. Tin's submission, however, was but of short du- 

 ration. The Welsh, irritated by the insults and op- 

 pressions of their haughty victors, again flew to anus : 

 But it was the signal for their ruin. Edward, well 

 pleased with an opportunity of again going to war, re- 

 solved to free himself from all future apprehension of 

 disturbance from that quarter, by making an alolute 

 conquest of the country. He assembled all his milita- 

 ry tenants, and entered Wales with an army which 

 rendered resistance vain. Lewellyn was surprized and 

 killed. His brother and successor, David, was driven 

 from one retreat to another, and at last betrayed to the 

 enemy. This prince was tried by Edward as a traitor, 

 and was unjustly ordered to be executed. The Welsh 

 nobility immediately submitted, and the principality 

 received the laws of England. But the- barbarous po- 

 licy of Edward led him to a more inhuman step even 

 than the unjust murder of tlu-ir sovtnlgn. Sensible 

 how much traditional poetry and music is calculated to 

 keep alive the idea of national valour and glory, b 

 sembled together all the Welsh bards, and" ordered 

 them to be put to death. 



During an inttnal of three years of peace, the king 

 n-sidcd chiefly on the continent, v. hither he had been 

 called to accommodate a dispute between the kings of 

 Arragon and France respecting the kingdom of hicily. 

 On his return, he found his attention arrested by the 

 state of affairs in Scotland. Alexander III. had died 

 without male issue, and had left his kingdom to his 

 grand-daughter Margaret, who was yet an infant. This 

 princess wa^ the daughter of Eric, king of Norway, 

 and Margaret, daughter of Alexander, and i.s common- 

 ly known in history under the name of the Maid of 

 fforwau. On the death of her grandfather, she was 

 immediately recognized as sovereign by the states of 

 Scotland, and a regency was appointed to adminis- 

 ter the affairs of the kingdom during her minority. 

 Edward, whose mind was continually alive to pro- 

 jects of ambition, was no sooner informed of Alexan- 

 der's death, than he conceived the design of uniting 

 the whole island into one monarchy, by the marriage 

 of the Maid of Norway with his eldest son Edward. 

 The proposals of the king of England were accepted 

 and approved of by the Scottish parliament, who even 

 agreed that their young sovereign should be e<l' 

 at the court of Edward. But these flattering prospects 

 were soon dissipated by the death of the young prin- 

 Edward in- cess who d . ied on hcr pawnge to Scotland. The dis- 

 terferet wi h putes and disorders which were the consequences of her 

 death, still furnished Edward with a pretence for inter- 

 meddling in the affairs of the neighbouring kingdom ; 

 and of at last endeavouring to compel, by force of arms, 

 v. hat he had been prevented from accomplishing in an 

 amicable manner. But these transactions, in which he 



History. 



A. D. 1284. 



Conquest of 

 Wales, and 

 cruel policy 

 of KUward. 



was chiefly engaged during the remainder of his reign, 

 will be particularly detailed under the article SCOTLAND. 



While Edward was intent on the conquest of Scot- 

 land, he found himself at the same time embroiled in a 

 war with France. The origin of this war was a quar- 

 rel between an English and Norman sailor at Bayonne, 

 in which the Norman was killed. The crew of the 

 Norman vessel to which the deceased sailor belonged, 

 complained to the king of France ; but he, without in- 

 quiring into the business, bade them revenge them- 

 selves, and give him no more trouble. They according- 

 ly seized an English ship in the channel, and, having 

 hanged several of the crew at the yard-arm, along with 

 some dogs, dismissed the vessel, saying, That was the 

 satisfaction they required for the blood of their coun- 

 tryman slain at Bayonne. This outrage and insult pro- 

 duced retaliations on the ships of France ; and, in a 

 short time, the whole navy of both nations were enga- 

 ged in the quarrel. The sovereigns seemed to take no 

 notice of the depredations which were daily commit- 

 ted against their respective subjects, until, the two 

 fleets having met, an obstinate battle ensued, in which 

 the French were totally routed, with the loss of 15,000 

 men. The affair had now become too serious to be 

 overlooked ; and Philip dispatched an envoy to Eng- 

 land to demand reparation, Edward attempted to con- 

 ciliate ; and, as he was apprehensive of danger from 

 Scotland, he studiously avoided a rupture with France. 

 Philip pretended, that as it was his honour merely that War with 

 was interested by the outrages of the Gascons, if Ed- France. 1 

 ward would give him possession of Guienne, he would 

 consider himself satisfied, and would immediately re- 

 store it. The king was deceived by the artifice, and 

 ordered Guienne to be delivered up ; but Philip had 

 no sooner got possession, than he threw off the mask, 

 and declared himself sovereign of the province. Ed- 

 ward, enraged more at being thus over-reached, than 

 even at the loss of his territory, dispatched a considerable 

 force lor its recovery. All his attempts, however, were 

 unsuccessful ; and he was, in return, threatened with 

 invasion from France. Philip had entered into a secret 

 treaty with Baliol, king of Scotland; and had even made 

 H descent upon the Kentish coast. His troops took and 

 burnt the town of Dover, but were soon after compel- 

 led to retire. 



The expences attending his multiplied wars, obli- 

 ged Edward to have frequent recourse to. parliamentary 

 supplies, and was the means of again introducing the 

 lower orders into a share of the government. The par- 

 liament at this time consisted entirely of the great ba- 

 rons and the knights of the shires ; for the representa- 

 tives from the boroughs had never been summoned 

 since the usurpation of Leicester. But as the growth 

 of commerce, and the improvements in agriculture, had 

 given property and consequence to the inhabitants of 

 the towns, they were also called upon to contribute to 

 the support of the state. The king, by his prerogative, 

 had the power of taxing them at pleasure ; but he some- 

 times found it both difficult and inconvenient in enfor- 

 cing his demands : the taxes could only be levied with 

 the consent of each particular borough ; and this con- 

 sent wa often obtained only by solicitations or threat- 

 eru'ngs. To remedy, therefore, this inconvenience, Edward 

 Edward resolved to summon two deputies from each ncw u "*Jel 

 borough, who should be provided with sufficient pow- | " P arli - 

 ers from their constituents to agree to what he should 

 require of them : " As it is a most equitable rule," said 

 he, " that what concern* all, should be approved of by 

 all ; and common dangers be repelled by united efforts." 



