EDWARD 



1956 



EDWARD 



Windsor Castle m the Time of Edward VI 



E 



ENGLAND'S SEVEN EDWARDS DC 



'D'WARD, a royal name in English 

 history, borne by seven monarchs since England 

 became a united nation through the conquest 

 of William I, in 1066. The first was named 

 for Edward the Confessor, who ruled Anglo- 

 Saxon England in the eleventh century. Of 

 the seven Edwards, Edward VII is the most 

 notable, because of his influence on twentieth- 

 century life. 



Edward I (1239-1307), whose fame as a law- 

 giver has won him the title the "English Jus- 

 tinian," succeeded his father, Henry III, in 

 1272. The news of the latter's death reached 

 him on his way home from the Crusades un- 

 dertaken by Louis IX of France, and he was 

 not crowned until 1274. Shortly after his re- 

 turn to England he began war on the Welsh, 

 whom he subdued after a struggle that lasted 

 nearly ten years. In 1282 Wales became a 

 part of the English realm, and Edward made 

 his little son feudal lord of the Welsh, with 

 the title of Prince of Wales. 



The greater part of his reign was given over 

 to the attainment of his great ambition, the 

 possession of Scotland. In 1290 there were 

 several claimants to the Scottish throne, chief 

 of whom were Robert Bruce and John Baliol. 

 Edward, asked to decide between them, chose 

 Baliol, but on condition that he pay homage 

 to the English king as his superior. 



The brave Scottish people, humiliated by 

 this condition, rose in arms, and in 1306, after 

 a long struggle of varying fortunes, Robert 

 Bruce, grandson of Baliol's rival, was crowned 

 at Scone. Edward sent an English army to 

 Scotland to subdue the new king, and soan 

 after set out himself for the north, but died 

 within "sight of the country which he had de- 

 voted to "destruction" (Hailes). During the 

 war he carried off to London the great Stone 

 of Scone, upon which the Scottish kings had 



been crowned for centuries. This famous stone 

 now rests beneath the seat of the coronation 

 throne of the English monarchs in Westminster 

 Abbey. 



In home affairs Edward was one of the 

 greatest kings of his time. He established 

 order in England, improved the law and made 

 regular the representation of the Commons in 

 Parliament. One of his most important decrees 

 was that the right of levying taxes rested with 

 Parliament. 



Edward II (1284-1327), the first English mon- 

 arch to bear, as son of the king, the title Prince 

 of Wales, succeeded his father Edward I in 

 1307. He was a weak and incompetent ruler, 

 constantly under the influence of unscrupulous 

 favorites, which led to rebellions on the part 

 of his nobles. The war begun by his father 

 against the Scotch was continued by this king, 

 but with ill success, and Scottish independence 

 was assured in 1314, by the great victory at 

 Bannockburn. Edward invaded Scotland again 

 in 1322 but he was forced to conclude a truce 

 of thirteen years and to return to England. 

 Finally, he was deposed by a conspiracy of his 

 wife and the great nobles of the kingdom, and 

 in 1327 was murdered in Berkeley Castle. 



Edward III (1312-1377), son and successor 

 of Edward II, was the king in whose reign the 

 memorable Hundred Years' War with France 

 began. Before he commenced the struggle with 

 the French he invaded Scotland and laid that 

 country waste, winning a number of victories 

 that were only of temporary importance. He 

 could not crush the Scotch spirit of inde- 

 pendence. 



Edward brought on the war witli France by 

 laying claim to the French crown, and in 1346 

 won the first great combat -of the struggle, the 

 famous Battle of Crecy. In this battle he was 

 assisted by his son, the Black Prince, a cour- 



