Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 17.djvu/29

Edward I losing both men and horses from want of food and other privations in the difficult country in which his enemy sheltered himself. Once he made Gaston prisoner, but he escaped again, and he finally referred the quarrel to his lord the king of France. Gaston was afterwards sent over to England by Philip, made submission, and was for about four years kept in honourable confinement. In July 1274 Edward met the Count of Flanders at Montreuil, and arranged a dispute which had put a stop to the exportation of English wool to Flanders (Fœdera ii. 24-32). He landed at Dover 2 Aug., was entertained by Gilbert of Gloucester and John of Warenne in their castles of Tonbridge and Reigate (Flores ii. 363), reached London on the 18th, and on the next day, Sunday, was crowned with Eleanor at Westminster by Archbishop Robert Kilwardby. At the coronation he received the homage of Alexander of Scotland, but Llewelyn of Wales neglected the summons to attend. As many irregularities had been occasioned by the civil war, Edward on 11 Oct. appointed commissioners, with Burnell, bishop of Bath and Wells, whom he made his chancellor, at their head, to inquire into the state of the royal demesne, the rights of the crown, and the conduct of the lords of private franchises. The result of their inquiries is presented in the Hundred Rolls (pref. to Rot. Hundred, i.) At the beginning of November he proceeded to Shrewsbury, where he had summoned Llewelyn to meet him, but the prince did not attend (Fœdera', ii. 41). In a great parliament, held at Westminster on 22 April 1276, the king 'by his council,' and by the assent of his lords and 'of all 'the commonalty of the land,' promulgated the 'Statute of Westminster the First,' a body of fifty-one chapters or laws, many of which were founded on the Great Charter (Statutes at Large, i. 74; Select Charters, p. 438). In return he received a grant of the customs on wool, woolfels, and leather, now for the first time made the subject of constitutional legislation, and in the parliament of 18 Nov. demanded a fifteenth from the laity, and asked for a subsidy from the clergy as a matter of grace, for they were already charged with the papal grant of a tenth. He further forbade the Jews to practise usury, and commanded that they should live by merchandise. On 17 April he and the queen went on pilgrimage to Bury St. Edmunds in pursuance of a vow made in Palestine. During the summer he suffered much from the effects of the wounds he had received from the assassin at Acre, and these probably had caused a serious abscess with which he was troubled in the November previous. He was received at Oxford on 28 July with great pomp by the few clerks that were then there and by the citizens, but would not enter the city for fear of incurring the wrath of St. Frideswide (, p. 264). He went to Chester on 8 Sept.in order to meet Llewelyn, who refused to attend, was summoned to the forthcoming parliament, and again made default (Fœdera, ii. 57; Ann. Wigorn, p. 468).

In the Easter parliament of 1270 Edward ordered that the charters should be observed, and fully pardoned the 'disinherited.' With this policy of pacification is to be connected his presence at the translation of Richard of Chichester on 16 June and his gifts at the shrine, for the bishop had been wronged by his father. He received a message from Llewelyn offering to ransom his affianced bride, Eleanor de Montfort, who had fallen into the king's hand. As, however, he refused to restore the lands he had taken, and to repair the castles he had destroyed, his otter was refused. During the autumn the Welsh were troublesome, and Edward was at Gloucester on 28 Sept. and Evesham on 1 Oct. to take measures against them. On 1 Nov. he sent a body of knights to keep order in the marches, and on the 12th it was agreed by common consent of the bishops, barons, and others 'that the king should make war on the Welsh with the force of the kingdom,' which was ordered to meet him the following midsummer (Fœdera, ii. 68). In the October parliament the statutes 'de Bigamis' and of 'Rageman' were passed (Statutes, i. 115; Constitutional History, ii. 110). The king conducted the Welsh war in person, and moved the exchequer and king's bench to Shrewsbury. About 24 June he proceeded to Chester, had the woods cut down between Chester and the Snowdon country, and built the castles of Flint and Rhuddlan. Although many Welsh submitted to him, Llewelyn believed his position to be impregnable. Edward marched from Chester 31 July; Anglesey was taken by the fleet of the Cinque ports, and on 11 Nov. Llewelyn made his submission at Rhuddlan; he ceded the Four Cantreds, received Anglesey back at a rent of one thousand marks, promised to pay fifty thousand marks for peace, and to do homage in England, gave hostages, and was allowed to retain the homages of Snowdonia for his life. The payments were remitted, and the hostages restored (Fœdera, ii. 88–92). His brother David, who had fought for Edward, was rewarded with lands and castles, was knighted, and received the daughter of the Earl of Derby in marriage. Llewelyn did homage and spent Christmas with the king at London; and the troubles with Wales, which had lasted more or less from Edward's