EDWARD I! 



EDWARD VI 



in 1272. During his reign, Edward 

 conquered Wales, and endeavoured 

 to form a united kingdom embrac- 

 ing the whole island by asserting his 

 sovereignty over Scotland, which 

 regularly rebelled whenever the 

 king was seriously engaged else- 

 where. Edward was at the head 

 of an invading army when he died, 

 July 7, 1307, at Burgh-on-Sands. 



Edward ranks as one of the 

 greatest kings of England. He 

 systematised the English laws, and 

 gave the English parliamentary 

 system its definite form by sum- 

 moning to the Model parliament of 

 1295 not only the higher clergy and 

 baronage, but knights and burghers. 

 His tomb in Westminster Abbey 

 bears the inscription, Malleus Sco- 

 torum, "the Hammer of the Scots,' 1 

 and his motto, Pactum serva, Keep 

 troth. Edward's first wife was 

 Eleanor, daughter of the king of 

 Castile, and his second wife was 

 Margaret, daughter of Philip of 

 France. See Edward I, T. F. Tout, 

 1893; alsoillus. p. 2240. 



Edward II (1284-1327). King 

 of England. Son of Edward I, he 

 was born at Carnarvon, April 25, 

 1284. In 1301 he was created 

 prince of Wales at Lincoln and he 

 acted as regent when his father 

 was away ; 

 however, he 

 early revealed 

 the indolence 

 and levity 

 that finally 

 destroyed 

 him. In 1306 

 he was given 

 the province 

 of G a sc ony, 

 and in 1307 

 he became 

 king. He abandoned the war 

 against Scotland, and was married 

 to Isabella of France. 



Edward was already under the 

 influence of Piers Gaveston. The 

 barons took up arms with Edward's 

 cousin, earl Thomas of Lancaster, 

 at their head, and they forced 

 upon the king the banishment of 

 Gaveston. A reconciliation, brief 

 and insincere, followed. In 1314 

 the Scotch war was renewed and 

 Edward suffered defeat at Ban- 

 nockburn. This was Lancaster's 

 opportunity, and for a time the king 

 was a cipher, but he found fresh 

 favourites in the Despencers, and 

 a combination of circumstances 

 brought about the defeat and death 

 of earl Thomas in 1322. Edward 

 and the Despencers were then 

 supreme until 1326. Isabella, alien- 

 ated from her husband, crossed 

 from France with some followers. 

 Caught in Wales, he was formally 

 deposed, and on Sept. 21, 1327, he 

 was murdered at Berkeley Castle. 



Edward II, 



King of England, 



1307-27 



Edward III, 



King of England, 



1327-77 



See Place and Reign of Edward II 

 in English History, T. F. Tout, 

 1914; also illus. pp! 1077 and 1713. 



Edward III (131 2-77). King of 

 England. Born Nov. 13, 1312, 

 he was raised 

 to the throne 

 by the depo- 

 sition of his 

 father, Ed- 

 ward II (Jan., 

 1327). The 

 government 

 was in the 

 hands of the 

 queen - mother 

 Isabella and 

 Roger Morti- 

 mer till the young king, who married 

 Philippa of Hainault, 1328, over- 

 threw them by a, coup d'etat in 1330. 



At first Edward warred against 

 the Scots, but his ambitions were 

 soon turned to France, and in 

 1338 began the Hundred Years' 

 War. In the course of it he secured 

 the English supremacy of the nar- 

 row seas by the naval victory of 

 Sluys, June 24, 1340, established 

 the prestige of the English soldiery 

 and the military supremacy of the 

 English archers by the startling 

 victory of Crecy, Aug. 26, 1346; 

 and in 1347 captured Calais. A 

 victory was won by his son Edward 

 the Black Prince at Poitiers, Sept. 

 19, 1356, and Edward was con- 

 firmed in the independent sove- 

 reignty of Aquitaine by the treaty 

 of Bretigny in 1360. He died, 

 prematurely senile, June 21, 1377. 

 His family included the dukes of 

 Clarence, York and Lancaster, 

 whose descendants fought for the 

 crown during the Wars of the 

 Roses. He was the first king who 

 conspicuously directed policy to 

 commercial expansion, the security 

 of the trade with Flanders being 

 one of the objects of his French 

 wars. See Lives, W. Longman, 

 1869; W. Warburton, 2nd ed. 

 1876; J. Mackinnon, 1900. 



Edward IV (1442-83). King of 

 England. The eldest son of Richard 

 duke of York, and Cicely Neville, 

 he was born at 

 Rouen, April 

 28, 1442. In 

 Dec., 1460, he 

 became the 

 leader of the 

 Yorkists and 

 their candidate 

 for the crown. 

 Acting with I 

 great energy, 

 he crushed the 

 L a n c a strians 

 at Mortimer's 

 Cross, and in 

 London was hailed as king. He 

 then seated himself on the throne 

 at Westminster on March 4, 1461. 



After a victory at Towton Edward 

 was able to hold his own, although 

 not absolutely secure. In 1469, how- 

 ever, came a change. He had made 

 many enemies by the favour he 

 showed to his wife's kinsfolk, the 

 Woodvilles, and when Warwick 

 and Clarence, the king's brother, 

 joined his foes, his position was 

 precarious. He prepared to meet 

 thorn in the field, but the desertion 

 of 6,000 men was fatal to his cause, 

 and in great haste he left Lynn for 

 the Netherlands. Returning with 

 an army, he won battles at Barnet 

 and Towkesbury. In 1475 he con 

 ducted a short war with France 

 and he had some trouble with 

 Scotland, but in general he kept 

 the land at peace. He died April 

 9, 1483. See Life, L. Stratford, 

 1910; also illus. p. 1802. 



Edward V (1470-83). King of 

 England. He was born in the 

 Sanctuary, Westminster, Nov. 3, 

 1470, a son of 

 Edward IV and 

 Elizabeth 

 W o o d v i 1 1 e. 

 When he suc- 

 ceeded to the 

 throne, April 9, 

 1483, his uncle, 

 the duke of 

 Gloucester, 

 was his 



guar- 

 dian. 



Gloucester, however, imprisoned 

 the boy king and his brother in the 

 Tower, and had himself crowned as 

 Richard III, July 6, 1483. Accord- 

 ing to Sir Thomas More, endorsing 

 contemporary belief, Edward and 

 his brother were murdered very 

 shortly after. See Richard III. 



Edward VI (1537-53). King of 

 England. He was born at Hamp- 

 ton Court, Oct. 12, 1537, the son 

 of Henry VIII 

 and his third 

 wife, JaneSey- 

 m o u r, and 

 succeeded t o 

 the throne, 

 Jan. 28, 1547. 

 His uncle, the 

 duke of Som- 

 erset, was pro- 

 tector and the 

 real ruler for 

 the first half of 

 the reign, and on Somerset's fall 

 and execution, to which the young 

 king calmly assented, his rival, 

 the earl of Warwick, later duke of 

 Northumberland, held the chief 

 power. The young king favoured 

 Northumberland's plan for securing 

 the succession of his daughter, Lady 

 Jane Grey. Edward died at Gseeri- 

 wich, July 6, 1553. See King 

 Edward VI : an appreciation, C. R. 

 Markham, 1907. 



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