Edward I: The Hammer of the Scots and the Lawmaker King

Few monarchs of medieval England cast as long a shadow as Edward I. Towering in both stature and reputation, Edward was a king of relentless ambition, sharp intellect, and an iron will. Known to history as Longshanks for his imposing height, and as the Hammer of the Scots for his wars north of the border, Edward’s reign was a turning point in the story of medieval England. His life was a mix of battlefield triumphs, political maneuvering, and a drive to shape England into a stronger, more centralized kingdom.

Portrait in Westminster Abbey probably depicting Edward I, installed during his reign

Edward was born on June 17, 1239, the eldest son of King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. His early years were steeped in the turbulence of a kingdom still grappling with the aftershocks of Magna Carta. His father’s reign was plagued with baronial unrest, and Edward himself would grow up watching the delicate balance of royal authority and noble power being contested—a lesson that would shape his reign. Unlike his bookish father, Edward developed a love for war and governance, training as a knight and learning to lead men from a young age.

By his twenties, Edward’s mettle was tested during the Second Barons’ War. His cousin, Simon de Montfort, led a rebellion against Henry III, and for a time, Edward even sided with the barons. But when de Montfort overstepped and effectively took control of the kingdom, Edward switched allegiance, raising forces loyal to his father. At the Battle of Evesham in 1265, Edward led a decisive royalist victory, personally overseeing the death of de Montfort and re-establishing royal control. It was an early taste of Edward’s military brilliance and ruthlessness.

Edward’s personal life was equally important to his story. In 1254, at the age of 15, he married Eleanor of Castile, a union that began as a political alliance but grew into one of genuine devotion. Unlike many medieval royal couples, Edward and Eleanor shared a deep bond. She accompanied him on his campaigns, including a crusade to the Holy Land, and they had at least 16 children together. Her death in 1290 was a crushing blow for Edward, and he famously had monumental crosses—the Eleanor Crosses—erected at each resting place of her funeral procession from Lincoln to London.

Edward’s reign (1272–1307) was marked by a determination to consolidate and expand English authority. He reformed the legal system, introducing new statutes that strengthened royal justice and curbed abuses by local lords. These reforms laid important groundwork for England’s common law tradition. Edward also summoned what would later be called the Model Parliament in 1295, which, for the first time, included not just nobles and clergy, but also representatives from towns and counties. This broadened political participation, even if Edward himself saw it as a means to raise taxes for his wars.

But it was in conquest that Edward made his greatest mark. His campaigns against Wales were brutal but effective. The last native Welsh prince, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, resisted Edward’s dominance, but after years of struggle, he was killed in 1282. Edward built mighty stone castles—Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech—that still dominate the Welsh landscape today, symbols of English power and permanence. To cement his victory, Edward declared his newborn son, the future Edward II, the first Prince of Wales, beginning a tradition that continues to this day.

Scotland proved a tougher challenge. When the Scottish throne was disputed after the death of Alexander III, Edward was invited to arbitrate. But he saw opportunity in weakness, demanding recognition as overlord. This heavy-handedness sparked resentment, and when Scottish resistance flared under leaders like William Wallace and later Robert the Bruce, Edward answered with force. His campaigns were fierce, and Wallace was captured and brutally executed in London. Though Edward seemed unstoppable, his efforts to subdue Scotland dragged on for the rest of his reign, leaving a costly and unfinished legacy.

Edward’s personality was as commanding as his actions. He was tall, fierce, and intimidating, but also deeply pious and pragmatic. He could be tender with family yet merciless with enemies. His expulsion of England’s Jews in 1290 reveals the darker side of his rule—an act that reflected both medieval prejudice and Edward’s need for money through confiscated wealth. He was, in many ways, a king who embodied the contradictions of the medieval world: deeply religious yet violently ambitious, a reformer yet a conqueror.

In 1307, while still campaigning in Scotland, Edward fell ill and died near Burgh by Sands, north of Carlisle. His dying wish was that his bones be carried with the army until Scotland was subdued. His son, Edward II, did not fulfill that request, and within years, English fortunes in Scotland began to falter under Robert the Bruce. Still, Edward I left behind a reputation as one of England’s strongest kings—a ruler who reshaped the kingdom’s laws, expanded its reach, and carved his presence into history with castles, parliaments, and war.

Edward I’s reign was far from peaceful or universally admired, but it was transformative. He was a king who understood the mechanics of power and wielded them with relentless energy. To his subjects, he was a monarch who restored order after civil war, expanded royal authority, and gave England new political institutions. To the Welsh and Scots, he was a conqueror whose shadow loomed long after his death. To history, Edward I remains both a nation-builder and a warlord—the kind of king whose story is as compelling today as it was in the 13th century.