homage exactly what those territories were, lest he should Edward I. thereby be supposed to have given up his claim to A.D. 1273. others, to which his right was doubtful. Therefore he did homage in these words: "My Lord, the King, I do you homage for all the lands I ought to hold of you." Edward then left Paris and went to Gascony, and where, in his turn, he received homage from his sub- receives ject-vassals. Afterwards he went to Lyons, to see the from the Pope, who then lived there. At that city he was met by ambassadors from England, who desired him to come home "to reform his desolate kingdom." Accordingly he at once returned to England, where he landed on the 2nd August, 1274, nearly two years A.D. 1274, after his father's death. Gascons. Aug. 2nd. England. coronation. On his way to London he was magnificently enter- lands in tained by the Earl of Gloucester, at his castle of Tunbridge in Kent; and by the Earl of Warrenne at that of Reigate in Surrey. He was crowned at King's Westminster Abbey on the 19th August. "The ceremonial was not less magnificent than that of his father in the same edifice. One circumstance that took place on the occasion was singular. Holinshed states that, 'there were let go at libertie, catch them that catch might, five hundred great horses, by the King of Scots, the Earls of Cornwall, Gloucester, Pembroke, Warren, and others, as they alighted from their backs.'" 10b Scotland does Alexander the Third, King of Scotland, was present King of at the coronation, and did homage to Edward as his feudal lord. It became however a matter of dispute, homage. whether he thereby admitted Edward's claim to feudal superiority over the kingdom of Scotland, as will be seen when I relate the history of the wars with that country. T Edward I. A.D. 1274. Edward begins his reign by abuses. Edward's vigour and his love of justice were shown at once. His first employment was the correction of abuses, which had crept in during his weak father's reign; and which had doubtless grown greater, during correcting his own long absence. The better to do this, he issued writs, in the middle of October, only two months after he was crowned, to inquire into the whole state of A.D. 1275. the realm; and, directly after Easter, the next year, he held a Parliament at Westminster, at which some important laws, called "The Statutes of Westminster the first," were passed. The intention of these great laws is shown by the wording of the preface to them: "These are the acts of King Edward, made at Westminster, by his Council, and by assent of the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earls, Barons, and all the Commonalty of the realm thither summoned. Statutes of ster. Abuse of hospitality "Because, our Sovereign Lord the King had great zeal, and desired to redress the state of the realm, because the state of the realm had been evilly kept, and the prelates and religious of the land grieved many ways, and the people otherwise intreated than they ought to be, the peace less kept, and the laws less observed, and offenders less punished than they ought to be." These were noble words, and the acts were a noble corrected. beginning of a great King's reign. Many of the abuses thus corrected, had reference to feudal oppressions, but other matters also which interfered with the rights and liberties of the people, were set right. For instance— persons who were descended from the founders of religious houses, to which large landed estates were attached, used to claim the right of staying at these houses, whenever they pleased, with board and lodging for themselves, their servants and their horses; hunting in their parks, and taking other liberties, Edward I. without the consent, and often against the will of A.D. 1275. those thus encroached on. These oppressions were done away with by the Statutes of Westminster. 13 of elec Again, freedom of elections was secured by these Freedom Statutes. In those days, this mattered more even than tions. now, for the Sheriffs, Coroners, and others who dealt out justice, were then all elected by the people. "Because elections ought to be free," says the Statute, "the King commands, that no man by force of arms, nor by malice or menace, shall disturb any in making a free election." of debts. Once more: there was a curious, and unjust, cus- Recovery tom, in many cities and boroughs, that, if any person of one city, who belonged to any society or guild in that city, owed money in another city, whoever, belonging to such society or guild, went to the city where the debt was due, was held to be answerable for the debt, although he really had nothing to do with it. This custom probably began when offenders were less easily found out and brought up for punishment, and every district was looked on as one community, bound together, so that all who dwelt in it were, to some extent, answerable for the crimes committed in it. It was, however, a rude mode of giving redress, unsuited to the times, and must often have inflicted great wrong. This custom also was now done away with. the Barons. Another enactment of this Statute shows the tyranny Tyranny of of the barons, who lived securely in their strong castles, surrounded by their armed retainers. They were in the habit of driving cattle into their castles, and refusing payment to the owners, and it was therefore enacted, that if redress was refused, "the King shall Edward I. cause the castle or fortress to be beaten down, and no A.D. 1275. leave shall afterwards be given to rebuild it." The oppression must have been great to call for so severe a punishment. Oppression of Jews. Conquest of Wales, The same Parliament, however, passed another act which was harsh and despotic. The Jews who lived in England were rich, and were in the habit of lending money at a high rate of interest, or usury as it was called. Fraud and deceit, in such matters, is justly punished, but the rate paid for the use of money must be a matter of bargain or custom. It was, however, enacted that the Jews should live by trade and merchandise, and not by usury; and that they should wear badges, of a span long, on their upper garments, in order that they might be known. These regulations were not strictly observed, or they would have driven all the Jews out of England. A few years later, (A.D. 1290) however, they were all (nearly 17,000 in number) banished, except those who were put to death, for clipping the coin. Wars with Wales. We now come to the more stirring events of King Edward's reign, and the first subject claiming our attention is, the conquest of Wales. There does not seem to be any good ground for believing that the conquest of Wales was, from the first, part of a plan for the union of all Great Britain under one Crown; nor even does it seem, that any motive, beyond that of subduing a troublesome not origin- neighbour, and supporting his feudal rights, induced ally part of Edward to make war on Llewellyn. There can, the union however, be no doubt that the conquest of Wales, and its consequent union with England, was a benefit, a plan for of Great Britain. not only to England, by giving her additional strength, Edward I. but to Wales also, by the improvement of her laws, A.D. 1275. and the establishment of a friendly intercourse between the two nations. When the Saxons invaded England, some of the ancient Britons fled into Wales, where they kept their old language and laws, and were ruled over by their ancient line of kings. During the chief part of the Saxon period, Wales was divided into four portions, viz. Gwynedd, Powys, Dyfed, and Deheubarth, each of which formed, at least at times, a distinct kingdom, and the last included several smaller states. Offa, the powerful king of Mercia, who reigned between the years A.D. 755 and A.D. 794, compelled the Welsh kings of Powys to retreat beyond the Wye, and planted Saxon colonies in the tract of country lying west of the Severn, between that river and the borders of the mountain region, and constructed a ditch and rampart, known as Offa's Dyke, from the mouth of the Dee to that of the Severn. The Welsh constantly broke through the rampart, but, under several of the later Saxon kings, the Welsh were compelled to acknowledge a kind of dependence on England.25 Petty wars between the English and Welsh borderers were, however, always going on, and the Kings of England granted the Lords, whose lands joined Wales, such lands in Wales as they could win from the Welshmen. These Lords, who were called the Lords. Marchers," introduced the English laws as much as they could, but it was not till Edward's conquest of Wales that English law became general. The Welsh knew that some of the English laws were better than their own, and had themselves prayed, that the Grand |