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165-509: There were in fact two main Wardrobes for much of this period: around 1300 the confusingly named Great Wardrobe , responsible only for expenditure on such things as clothing, textiles, furs and spices, split away from the more senior Wardrobe, which remained responsible for financing the king's personal expenditure and his military operations. In addition there were smaller Privy Wardrobes at various royal palaces; most of these provided items for

330-665: A European-wide crusade, it was essential to prevent conflict between the sovereigns on Continental Europe . A major obstacle to this was the conflict between the French Capetian House of Anjou ruling southern Italy and the Crown of Aragon in Spain. In 1282, the citizens of Palermo rose up against Charles of Anjou and turned for help to Peter III of Aragon , in what has become known as the Sicilian Vespers . In

495-726: A campaign in Wales against the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , but Edward's forces were besieged in northern Wales and achieved only limited results. Around the same time, Leicester, who had been out of the country since 1261, returned to England and reignited the baronial reform movement. As the King seemed ready to give in to the barons' demands, Edward began to take control of the situation. From his previously unpredictable and equivocating attitude, he changed to one of firm devotion to protection of his father's royal rights. He reunited with some of

660-536: A chamber (Latin camera ), alongside which a secure room or wardrobe ( garderoba ) would be provided for storage of clothes and other valuables. In the royal household, the Chamber came to represent the king's nearest advisers. Before long the Wardrobe emerged, under the auspices of the Chamber, to become an administrative body in its own right, providing secure storage for the robes, treasures, archives and armaments of

825-432: A child, and he fell ill in 1246, 1247, and 1251. Nonetheless, he grew up to become a strong, athletic, and imposing man. At 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) he towered over most of his contemporaries, hence his epithet "Longshanks", meaning "long legs" or "long shins". The historian Michael Prestwich states that his "long arms gave him an advantage as a swordsman, long thighs one as a horseman. In youth, his curly hair

990-432: A close companion of the prince for the rest of his life. Edward was placed in the care of Hugh Giffard – father of the future Chancellor Godfrey Giffard  – until Bartholomew Pecche took over at Giffard's death in 1246. The details of Edward's upbringing are unknown, but he received an education typical of an aristocratic boy his age, including in military studies. There were concerns about Edward's health as

1155-567: A colonialist approach to their governance and to Ireland, and for antisemitic policies leading to the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290. Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of 17–18 June 1239, to King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence . Edward , an Anglo-Saxon name , was not commonly given among the aristocracy of England after the Norman conquest , but Henry

1320-541: A demand of a grant of one-half of all clerical revenues. There was some resistance, but the King responded by threatening opponents with outlawry , and the grant was eventually made. At the time, Robert Winchelsey , the designated Archbishop of Canterbury, was in Italy to receive consecration. Winchelsey returned in January 1295 and had to consent to another grant that November. In 1296, his position changed when he received

1485-448: A distant relative of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. The causes included resentment at the occupation, poor, colonial-style governance, and very heavy taxation. This last conflict demanded the King's attention, but in both cases the rebellions were put down. The revolt was followed by immediate punitive measures including taking 200 hostages. Measures to stop the Welsh from bearing arms or living in the new boroughs probably date from this time, and

1650-660: A formal alliance with one of the main reformers, Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester , and on 15 October announced that he supported the barons' goals and their leader, the Earl of Leicester. The motive behind Edward's change of heart could have been purely pragmatic: the Earl of Leicester was in a good position to support his cause in Gascony. When the King left for France in November, Edward's behaviour turned into pure insubordination. He made several appointments to advance

1815-427: A great financial strain on the nation. There were several ways through which the King could raise money for war, including customs duties, loans and lay subsidies, which were taxes collected at a certain fraction of the moveable property of all laymen who held such assets. In 1275, Edward negotiated an agreement with the domestic merchant community that secured a permanent duty on wool, England's primary export. In 1303,

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1980-573: A group of magnates drew up a document for reform of the King's government – the so-called Provisions of Oxford  – largely directed against the Lusignans. Edward stood by his political allies and strongly opposed the Provisions. The reform movement succeeded in limiting the Lusignan influence, and Edward's attitude gradually changed. In March 1259, he entered into

2145-533: A key person of influence within the Household. By the reign of Richard II , the Chamber had re-established its seniority within the Household, and the Wardrobe then 'ceased to be the directive force of the household, remaining simply as the office of household accounts'. Rather than being a separate department, the Wardrobe and its officers now came under the authority of the Steward , and before long, even within

2310-525: A key stage in the development of the Privy Wardrobe there into a repository and manufactory of arms, armour and artillery. No further appointments were made to this office after 1476. Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782 The Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782 ( 22 Geo. 3 . c. 82) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain . The power over the expenditure in

2475-569: A local, temporary basis, the English expulsion was unprecedented because it was permanent. It was eventually reversed in the 1650s . Edward claimed the Expulsion was done "in honour of the Crucified " and blamed the Jews for their treachery and criminality. He helped pay for the renovation of the tomb of Little Saint Hugh , a child falsely claimed to have been ritually crucified by Jews, in

2640-481: A more conciliatory policy to rebuild systems of patronage and service, particularly through his son as Prince of Wales, but Wales remained politically volatile, and a deep distrust remained between the English settlers and the Welsh. Edward never again went on crusade after his return to England in 1274, but he maintained an intention to do so, and in 1287 took a vow to go on another crusade. This intention guided much of his foreign policy, until at least 1291. To stage

2805-582: A more immediate source of funds than the fixed Exchequer. The Wardrobe first rivalled, and then eclipsed the Chamber in terms of power within the Court and in relation to the governance of the realm. Thus we see, early in the reign of Henry III , the office of Treasurer of the Chamber annexed to (and taken over by) that of Keeper of the Wardrobe . At around the same time the Keeper's deputy (the Controller of

2970-574: A new identity, and rose in prominence and power, becoming the main official repository and provider of arms, armour and ordnance in the Kingdom of England. By the 14th century, the Tower of London had become well established as a convenient and safe place for storage of arms and armour, jewels and plate; so when the Great Wardrobe departed these items stayed put. Arms had been manufactured within

3135-450: A novel method of minting coins that involved cutting blank coins from a silver rod, in contrast with the old practice of stamping them out from sheets; this technique proved to be efficient. The practice of minting coins with the moneyer's name on them became obsolete under Edward's rule because England's mint administration became far more centralised under the Crown's authority. During this time, English coins were frequently counterfeited on

3300-680: A reputation as untrustworthy. During the summer campaign he began to learn from his mistakes and gained the respect and admiration of contemporaries through actions such as showing clemency towards his enemies. The war did not end with the Earl of Leicester's death, and Edward participated in the continued campaigning. At Christmas, he came to terms with Simon the Younger and his associates at the Isle of Axholme in Lincolnshire, and in March 1266 he led

3465-545: A salary of £200 (fixed in 1674), reduced to £150 in 1761. The post seems to have developed into a sinecure, and by 1765, the office of Assistant to the Deputy Master had become established. The post was abolished with the other offices of the Great Wardrobe in 1782. In July 1323, John Fleet was appointed 'Keeper of the part of the King's Wardrobe in the Tower of London'. This, apparently the first such appointment, marked

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3630-399: A series of statutes regulating criminal and property law , but the King's attention was increasingly drawn towards military affairs. After suppressing a minor conflict in Wales in 1276–77, Edward responded to a second one in 1282–83 by conquering Wales . He then established English rule, built castles and towns in the countryside and settled them with English people . After the death of

3795-629: A similar agreement was reached with foreign merchants, in return for certain rights and privileges. The revenues from the customs duty were handled by the Riccardi , a group of bankers from Lucca in Italy. This was in return for their service as moneylenders to the crown, which helped finance the Welsh Wars. When the war with France broke out, the French king confiscated the Riccardi's assets, and

3960-490: A small organisation headed by a Clerk, within the main Wardrobe, which would travel with the Court and furnish the king with these and other personal items. The itinerant Privy Wardrobe continued to operate and to provide for the King on his travels, even when the Court as a whole had ceased to be mobile (it was later known as the Removing Wardrobe ). The central Privy Wardrobe at the Tower of London, however, took on

4125-487: A specialised role as 'buyer' or 'purveyor' within the King's Wardrobe, and keeping their own accounts. Often the King's tailor had this task (which involved purchase of silk, cloth, furs and the like for robes). A Household Ordinance of 1279 formalised the arrangement, ordaining that the Treasurer (Keeper) of the Wardrobe should appoint a man to buy all items appertaining to the Great Wardrobe, "and let this man be Keeper of

4290-544: A subsidiary arm of the Exchequer. (Likewise at times of war it remained an important source of funds but operated under the authority of the Exchequer, in contrast to earlier times when it had functioned as a largely independent 'war treasury'; the Battle of Crécy and its aftermath was the last period of military campaigning for which the Wardrobe itself provided significant funds.) With the Wardrobe under increasing scrutiny,

4455-586: A successful assault on the Cinque Ports . A contingent of rebels held out in the virtually impregnable Kenilworth Castle and did not surrender until the drafting of the conciliatory Dictum of Kenilworth in October 1266. In April it seemed as if the Earl of Gloucester would take up the cause of the reform movement, and civil war would resume, but after a renegotiation of the terms of the Dictum of Kenilworth,

4620-444: A surprise attack at Kenilworth Castle , where the younger Montfort was quartered, before moving on to cut off the Earl of Leicester. The two forces then met at the Battle of Evesham , on 4 August 1265. The Earl of Leicester stood little chance against the superior royal forces, and after his defeat he was killed and his corpse mutilated on the field. Through such episodes as the deception of Derby at Gloucester, Edward acquired

4785-399: A tax of one-twentieth of all movable property; in exchange the King agreed to reconfirm Magna Carta , and to impose restrictions on Jewish money lending. On 20 August Edward sailed from Dover for France. Historians have not determined the size of his accompanying force with any certainty, but it was probably fewer than 1000 men, including around 225  knights . Originally,

4950-418: A war of conquest aimed to "put an end finally to … the malice of the Welsh". The war started with a rebellion by Dafydd, who was discontented with the reward he had received in 1277. Llywelyn and other Welsh leaders soon joined in, and initially the Welsh attack was successful. In June, Gloucester was defeated at the Battle of Llandeilo Fawr . On 6 November, while John Peckham , Archbishop of Canterbury,

5115-479: A war with Scotland and other financial and political burdens. Edward's temperamental nature and height (6 ft 2 in, 188 cm) made him an intimidating figure. He often instilled fear in his contemporaries, although he held the respect of his subjects for the way he embodied the medieval ideal of kingship as a soldier, an administrator, and a man of faith. Modern historians are divided in their assessment of Edward; some have praised him for his contribution to

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5280-428: The 1303 Treaty of Paris , at which point it was partially returned to the English crown, again as a French fief. The relationship between England and Scotland by the 1280s was one of relatively harmonious coexistence. The issue of homage did not reach the same level of controversy as it did in Wales; in 1278 King Alexander III of Scotland paid homage to Edward, who was his brother-in-law, but apparently only for

5445-539: The Alps held by a treaty of 1246. Edward then journeyed to Gascony to put down a revolt headed by Gaston de Béarn . While there, he launched an investigation into his feudal possessions, which, as Hamilton puts it, reflects "Edward's keen interest in administrative efficiency ... [and] reinforced Edward's position as lord in Aquitaine and strengthened the bonds of loyalty between the king-duke and his subjects". Around

5610-693: The Archbishop of Canterbury , Edward removed his crown, saying that he did not intend to wear it again until he had recovered all the crown lands that his father had surrendered during his reign. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd enjoyed the advantage after the Barons' War. The 1267 Treaty of Montgomery recognised his ownership of land he had conquered in the Four Cantrefs of Perfeddwlad and his title of Prince of Wales . Armed conflicts nevertheless continued, in particular with dissatisfied Marcher Lords , such as

5775-505: The Battle of Orewin Bridge . The conquest of Gwynedd was complete with the capture in June 1283 of Dafydd, who was taken to Shrewsbury and executed as a traitor the following year; Edward ordered Dafydd's head to be publicly exhibited on London Bridge . By the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan , the principality of Wales was incorporated into England and was given an administrative system like

5940-484: The Byzantine Empire and King Arthur in an attempt to build legitimacy for his new rule, and they made a clear statement about Edward's intention to rule Wales permanently. The Welsh aristocracy were nearly wholly dispossessed of their lands. Edward was the greatest beneficiary of this process. Further rebellions occurred in 1287–88 and, more seriously, in 1294 , under the leadership of Madog ap Llywelyn ,

6105-666: The English Parliament to answer the charges. This the Scottish King did, but the final straw was Edward's demand that the Scottish magnates provide military service in the war against France. This was unacceptable; the Scots instead formed an alliance with France and launched an unsuccessful attack on Carlisle . Edward responded by invading Scotland in 1296 and taking the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed which included

6270-657: The Holy Land was precarious. Jerusalem had been reconquered by the Muslims in 1244, and Acre was now the centre of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . The Muslim states were on the offensive under the Mamluk leadership of Baibars , and were threatening Acre. Edward's men were an important addition to the garrison, but they stood little chance against Baibars's superior forces, and an initial raid at nearby St Georges-de-Lebeyne in June

6435-587: The Mongol court of the east continued during this time. Diplomatic channels between the two had begun during Edward's time on crusade, regarding a possible alliance to retake the Holy Land for Europe. Edward received Mongol envoys at his court in Gascony while there in 1287, and one of their leaders, Rabban Bar Sauma , recorded an extant account of the interaction. Other embassies arrived in Europe in 1289 and 1290,

6600-480: The Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land in 1270. He was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed of his father's death. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey . Edward spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law . Through an extensive legal inquiry, he investigated the tenure of several feudal liberties. The law was reformed through

6765-575: The Provisions of Oxford . After reconciling with his father, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the Second Barons' War . After the Battle of Lewes , Edward was held hostage by the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and defeated the baronial leader Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. Within two years, the rebellion was extinguished and, with England pacified, Edward left to join

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6930-461: The Statute of Gloucester in 1278 the King challenged baronial rights through a revival of the system of general eyres (royal justices to go on tour throughout the land) and through a significant increase in the number of pleas of quo warranto to be heard by such eyres. This caused great consternation among the aristocracy, who insisted that long use in itself constituted licence . A compromise

7095-575: The Statute of the Jewry , which outlawed loans with interest and encouraged the Jews to take up other professions. In 1279, using a crack-down on coin-clippers as a pretext, he organised the arrest of all the heads of Jewish households in England. Approximately a tenth of the Jewish population, around 300 people, were executed. Others were allowed to pay fines. At least £16,000 was raised through fines and

7260-520: The Treaty of Aberconwy in November 1277, he was left only with the land of Gwynedd , though he was allowed to retain the title of Prince of Wales. War broke out again in 1282. The Welsh saw the war as being over national identity and the right to traditional Welsh law. This enjoyed wide support, provoked by attempts to abuse the English legal system to dispossess prominent Welsh landowners, many of whom were Edward's former opponents. For Edward, it became

7425-453: The Treaty of Tunis with the Emir, and there was little to do but return to Sicily. Further military action was postponed until the following spring, but a devastating storm off the coast of Sicily dissuaded both Charles and Philip III , Louis's successor, from any further campaigning. Edward decided to continue alone, and on 9 May 1271 he landed at Acre. The Christian situation in

7590-518: The chronicler Matthew Paris , who circulated tales of unruly and violent conduct by Edward's inner circle, raising questions about his personal qualities. Edward showed independence in political matters as early as 1255, when he sided with the Soler family in Gascony in their conflict with the Colomb family. This ran contrary to his father's policy of mediation between the local factions. In May 1258,

7755-483: The massacre of civilians . At the Battle of Dunbar , Scottish resistance was effectively crushed. Edward took the Stone of Destiny  – the Scottish coronation stone – and brought it to Westminster, placing it in what became known as King Edward's Chair ; he deposed Balliol and placed him in the Tower of London , and installed Englishmen to govern the country. The campaign had been very successful, but

7920-472: The papal bull Clericis laicos . This prohibited the clergy from paying taxes to lay authorities without explicit consent from the Pope. When the clergy, with reference to the bull, refused to pay, Edward responded with outlawry. Winchelsey was presented with a dilemma between loyalty to the King and upholding the papal bull, and he responded by leaving it to every individual clergyman to pay as he saw fit. By

8085-558: The 1230s. The Controller also had charge of the Wardrobe's archive of state documents, which gave his office a distinctively secretarial flavour. Under Edward I the Controller was custodian of the Privy Seal and functioned as the King's private secretary; meanwhile his small department of clerks played a key part in the administrative oversight of the entire Household. By the end of the reign of Edward III this important court official

8250-464: The 7th Earl of Gloucester, similarly committed themselves, although some, like Gloucester, did not ultimately participate. With the country pacified, the greatest impediment to the project was funding. King Louis IX of France, who was the leader of the crusade, provided a loan of about £17,500. This was not enough, and the rest had to be raised through a direct tax on the laity , which had not been levied since 1237. In May 1270, Parliament granted

8415-463: The Channel to France, some became victims to piracy, and many more were dispossessed or died in the October storms. The Crown disposed of their property through sales and 85 grants made to courtiers and family. The Edict appears to have been issued as part of a deal to secure a lay subsidy of £110,000 from Parliament, the largest granted in the medieval period. Although expulsions had taken place on

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8580-508: The Cofferer came to be seen as, in effect, the working head of the Wardrobe, acting on the Treasurer's behalf. In his own right he oversaw a small accounting office, staffed by the 'clerks of the Cofferer', who went on to play a key role in the financial oversight of the Household; this was a precursor to the Board of Green Cloth ). As early as the 1220s certain persons are identified as having

8745-596: The Continent, especially the Low Countries , and despite a ban in 1283, English coinage was secretly exported to the European continent. In August 1280, Edward forbade the usage of the old long cross coinage , which forced the populace to switch to the newly minted versions. Records indicate that the coinage overhaul successfully provided England with a stable currency. Edward's frequent military campaigns put

8910-401: The Crown. The 1290 statute of Quo warranto was only one part of a wider legislative reform, which was one of the most important contributions of Edward's reign. This era of legislative action had started already at the time of the baronial reform movement; the Statute of Marlborough (1267) contained elements both of the Provisions of Oxford and the Dictum of Kenilworth. The compilation of

9075-599: The Crusaders intended to relieve the beleaguered Christian stronghold of Acre in Palestine , but King Louis and his brother Charles of Anjou , the king of Sicily , decided to attack the emirate of Tunis to establish a stronghold in North Africa. The plan failed when the French forces were struck by an epidemic which, on 25 August, killed Louis. By the time Edward arrived at Tunis, Charles had already signed

9240-494: The Earl of Gloucester, Roger Mortimer and Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford. Problems were exacerbated when Llywelyn's younger brother Dafydd and Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys , after failing to assassinate Llywelyn, defected to the English in 1274. Citing ongoing hostilities and Edward's harbouring of his enemies, Llywelyn refused to do homage to the King. For Edward, a further provocation came from Llywelyn's planned marriage to Eleanor , daughter of Simon de Montfort

9405-494: The Elder. In November 1276, Edward declared war. Initial operations were under the captaincy of Mortimer, Edward's brother Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, and William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick . Support for Llywelyn was weak among his countrymen. In July 1277 Edward invaded with a force of 15,500, of whom 9,000 were Welsh. The campaign never came to a major battle, and Llywelyn realised he had no choice but to surrender. By

9570-659: The Eleanor Crosses. Edward took a keen interest in the stories of King Arthur , which were popular in Europe during his reign. In 1278 he visited Glastonbury Abbey to open what was then believed to be the tomb of Arthur and Guinevere , recovering "Arthur's crown" from Llywelyn after the conquest of North Wales; his castle-building campaign in Wales drew upon the Arthurian myths in their design and location. He held "Round Table" events in 1284 and 1302, involving tournaments and feasting, and chroniclers compared him and

9735-565: The English triumph would be only temporary. Edward had a reputation for a fierce and sometimes unpredictable temper, and he could be intimidating; one story tells how the Dean of St Paul's , wishing to confront Edward over high taxation in 1295, fell down and died once he was in the King's presence, and one 14th-century chronicler attributed the death of Archbishop Thomas of York to the King's harsh conduct towards him. When Edward of Caernarfon demanded an earldom for his favourite Piers Gaveston ,

9900-400: The English, with counties policed by sheriffs. English law was introduced in criminal cases; the Welsh were allowed to maintain their own customary laws in some cases of property disputes. After 1277, and increasingly after 1283, Edward embarked on a project of English settlement of Wales, creating new towns like Flint , Aberystwyth and Rhuddlan . Their new residents were English migrants,

10065-417: The Exchequer alone was to receive taxes and other state revenue. Later, under Edward III , any ongoing conflicts over the confusion of authority between the wardrobe and the exchequer were finally resolved when William Edington , Treasurer in the mid-fourteenth century, effected a number of reforms which brought the Wardrobe firmly under the financial oversight of the Exchequer. It was around this time that

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10230-594: The Exchequer rather than the royal household). It was superseded in the mid-15th century by the Office of Armoury and the Office of Ordnance (both also based at the Tower), whereupon the Privy Wardrobe's funding ceased and it largely faded from influence (though it continued to have a nominal role until the latter part of the same century). Other members of the Royal Family had their own separate wardrobes, which (like

10395-408: The Great Wardrobe ". By the 16th century the department had gained a great deal of independence, and its keeper began to be styled Master of the Great Wardrobe . The post was abolished with the other offices of the Great Wardrobe in 1782. The Deputy Master of the Great Wardrobe was a position in the British Royal Household, the chief subordinate to the Master of the Great Wardrobe. Holders enjoyed

10560-409: The Great Wardrobe may be considered to have become less a part of the King's Household and more "a small, self-contained government office". Mention is made of a Privy Wardrobe ( parva garderoba ) from the 1220s onwards. To begin with, the phrase appears to indicate a room (or type of room) used to store the King's robes, armour and arms. By the end of the 13th century, the same phrase clearly refers to

10725-443: The Household who are also members of the Government. A vestige of the Wardrobe's former significance is seen in the 15th century, when in time of conflict the Treasurer of the Household was also frequently appointed 'Treasurer of Wars'. In the course of the 13th century a distinct organisation began to be identified within the Wardrobe: it came to be known (rather confusingly) as the Great Wardrobe (the word 'Great' referring perhaps to

10890-450: The Household, the Wardrobe began to lose its separate identity: by the late 14th century, its senior officers were more often than not referred to as the Treasurer of the Household , Controller of the Household and Cofferer of the Household (rather than as "Treasurer/Controller/Cofferer of the Household Wardrobe"). Despite this gradual demise of the Wardrobe, these three officers remained (and two of them still remain) as senior officers of

11055-454: The Hundred Rolls was followed shortly after by the issue of Westminster I (1275), which asserted the royal prerogative and outlined restrictions on liberties. The Statutes of Mortmain (1279) addressed the issue of land grants to the Church. The first clause of Westminster II (1285), known as De donis conditionalibus , dealt with family settlement of land, and entails . The Statute of Merchants (1285) established firm rules for

11220-416: The King began to look to the erstwhile-dormant Chamber as providing a more effective structure for overseeing his personal administration and finances. It is there that the beginnings of a privy purse are seen under Edward II, alongside a 'secret seal' which the King now used for personal correspondence in place of the Privy Seal; and under Edward II and Edward III the chief Chamberlain began to re-emerge as

11385-624: The King erupted in anger and supposedly tore out handfuls of his son's hair. Some of his contemporaries considered Edward frightening, particularly in his early days. The Song of Lewes in 1264 described him as a leopard, an animal regarded as particularly powerful and unpredictable. At times, Edward exhibited a gentler disposition, and was known to be devoted to his large family. He was close to his daughters, and gave them expensive gifts when they visited court. Despite his harsh disposition, Edward's English contemporaries considered him an able, even an ideal, king. Though not loved by his subjects, he

11550-481: The King was due to stay in a place for any length of time (or, indeed, if he was engaged on a military campaign at home or abroad) it remained necessary for many of the Great Wardrobe's items to be transported with him in long convoys of wagons (described in the wardrobe accounts as " caravans "). By the fourteenth century the Great Wardrobe had branched into manufacturing (in addition to its duties of purchase, storage and distribution of non-perishable goods) and numbered

11715-414: The King's Tailor, Armourer, Pavilioner and Confectioner among its officials. Nevertheless, it still remained in essence a sub-department of the Household Wardrobe up until 1324, whereupon it gained significant autonomy by being made accountable to the Exchequer rather than to the Wardrobe of the Household. It also began to travel less with the King's Court, and, significantly, began to put down roots outside

11880-442: The King's Wardrobe) were departments staffed by clerks. The first known Queen's Wardrobe was that of Eleanor of Provence (consort of Henry III ); her Wardrobe had a high degree of autonomy, and accounted directly to the Exchequer; later Queens' Wardrobes were more likely to be subsidiary departments of the King's Wardrobe. A Prince's Wardrobe was established for Edward of Caernarfon (the future Edward II ) and for other children of

12045-467: The King's household was transferred to the Treasury , and branches of which were regulated. No pension over £300 was to be granted if the total pension list amounted to over £90,000. Thereafter, no pension was to be above £1,300 unless it was granted to members of the royal family or granted by Parliament. Secret service money employed domestically was similarly limited. A section of the act also abolished

12210-496: The King, and was responsible for keeping a daily account of all transactions of the Household. The primary responsibility of the Controller of the Wardrobe was to check and control the Keeper/Treasurer's expenditure by keeping a counter roll of the Wardrobe accounts; he went on to have responsibility for checking financial compliance and quality control across various departments of the Household. The office dates from

12375-593: The Kingdom received their instructions, as did both the Exchequer and the Chancery (the two main offices of State outside the Household); those serving in the armed forces were paid through the Wardrobe accounts. The Keeper or Treasurer of the Wardrobe was considered (alongside the Steward ) to be one of the two chief officers of the Household at this time. The Wardrobe was still at this point an itinerant operation, but it did maintain two permanent 'Treasuries': one in

12540-510: The Mamluks captured Acre , the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land. Edward had long been deeply involved in the affairs of his own Duchy of Gascony. In 1278 he assigned an investigating commission to his trusted associates Otto de Grandson and the chancellor Robert Burnell, which caused the replacement of the seneschal Luke de Tany. In 1286, Edward visited the region and stayed for almost three years. On Easter Sunday 1287, Edward

12705-673: The Privy Seal, no longer functioned solely as the personal seal of the King, but began to serve as a second, and somewhat less formal, State seal alongside the Great Seal of the Realm . (The fact that the Privy Seal invariably travelled with the King and his Court often made it quicker and easier to use than the Great Seal, which remained in the custody of the Chancellor ). It was by letters authenticated by this seal that officials across

12870-488: The Royal Family, each with their own keeper. A 16th-century Household inventory from the reign of Edward VI lists thirteen such local wardrobes, along with a distinct 'Wardrobe of Robes' ( garderoba robarum ), the Removing Wardrobe (see Privy Wardrobe above), and the still-extant Great Wardrobe. The chief officer of the Wardrobe was initially termed Clerk of the Wardrobe . The first known clericus de garderoba

13035-527: The Tower in the City of London (its staff necessarily had regular dealings with the City's merchants). This was in part due to lack of space: the Tower was becoming a specialist store and manufacturing base for arms and armour (responsibility for which soon devolved upon a new branch, the Privy Wardrobe – see below). Arms and armour remained at the Tower, as did the royal jewels and other valuable items, but much else

13200-455: The Tower of London (London having proved to be the most convenient point of distribution), but others were stored elsewhere according to where they might be needed: indeed, several palaces and castles had their own Great Wardrobe storerooms (some of these were designed for storage of specific items, being located close to a place of specialized manufacture or trade; for example, the Prior of St Ives

13365-537: The Tower of London (forerunner of the Great Wardrobe – see below), and one in the crypt of the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. It was the latter that served as the main repository for the royal jewels, plate, coin and bullion through the 13th century; but, following the burglary of the contents of this Treasury in 1303 by a certain Richard Pudlicott (who was assisted by some of the abbey's monks),

13530-430: The Tower since the previous century; the local wardrobe staff had valuable experience and the Tower itself was strategically well-placed for fast distribution. Already in the 1330s, prior to the departure of the Great Wardrobe, the local 'Privy Wardrobe at the Tower' had begun to specialize in this work, and after 1361 it, in turn, took on a degree of financial and administrative independence (becoming directly accountable to

13695-619: The Wardrobe ) was given oversight of the Privy Seal (which had first come into use within the Chamber). This meant that the Wardrobe, which already served as a repository of important documents and Charters, began producing them as well; and thenceforward its Controller tended to be an important and trusted adviser to the king. With these developments, a third official, the Cofferer of the Wardrobe , began to take increasing responsibility for

13860-454: The Wardrobe . From 1232, when the post of Treasurer of the Chamber was merged into the keepership, the terms Keeper, Treasurer and (still) Clerk were used more or less interchangeably; but in the reign of Edward II Treasurer of the Wardrobe emerged as the preferred title. As such, according to an ordinance of 1279, he had charge of the King's expenses (and those of his family), was entrusted with receipt of all money, jewels and presents made to

14025-495: The Wardrobe began to be known as the Household Wardrobe : this was in part to differentiate it from the increasingly autonomous 'Great Wardrobe' (see below), but it also reflects the fact that the wardrobe was by now losing its wider influence. In England, its business was restricted now to Household administration; and although it retained greater influence when accompanying the King and Court overseas, it did so only as

14190-461: The Wardrobe, along with the rest of the royal household, continued to travel with the King as part of his Court, accompanied by the goods and chattels for which it was responsible. It clearly made sense for at least some of these items to be kept in a more settled location. The 'Great Wardrobe' was the name given to this more centralised system of storage; initially, however, there was no single Great Wardrobe location. A majority of items were stored in

14355-536: The Welsh administration continued to be nearly wholly imported. In 1284, King Edward had his son Edward (later Edward II ) born at Caernarfon Castle, probably to make a statement about the new political order in Wales. In 1301 at Lincoln, the young Edward became the first English prince to be invested as Prince of Wales, when the King granted him the Earldom of Chester and lands across North Wales, hoping to give his son more financial independence. Edward began

14520-724: The Younger before embarking on a retaliatory campaign against Derby's lands. The baronial and royalist forces met at the Battle of Lewes , on 14 May 1264. Edward, commanding the right wing, performed well, and soon defeated the London contingent of the Earl of Leicester's forces. Unwisely, he pursued the scattered enemy, and on his return found the rest of the royal army defeated. By the Mise of Lewes , Edward and his cousin Henry of Almain were given up as hostages to Leicester. Edward remained in captivity until March 1265, and after his release

14685-521: The authority of the Wardrobe. For example, 1307 saw a separate Keeper of the Privy Seal appointed; over the next few decades the Privy Seal developed into a minor office of state, operating alongside the Office of Chancery, outside both Wardrobe and Household. Then in 1311 a series of Ordinances were issued by barons opposed to the King, a number of which reasserted the status quo ante over recent Wardrobe innovations; for example, ordinance 8 insisted that

14850-668: The bank went bankrupt. After this, the Frescobaldi of Florence took over the role as moneylenders to the English crown. Edward also sought to reduce pressure on his finances by helping his wife Eleanor to build an independent income. Edward held Parliament on a regular basis throughout his reign. In 1295, a significant change occurred. For this Parliament, as well as the secular and ecclesiastical lords, two knights from each county and two representatives from each borough were summoned. The representation of commons in Parliament

15015-413: The baronial opposition, the King could dive underground and still govern the country through the Wardrobe": hence the baronial demand in 1258 that all money should in future go through the Exchequer. During the reign of Edward I , the Wardrobe was at the height of its power as a financial, administrative and military department of the Household and State. It was "the brain and hand of the Court". Its seal,

15180-477: The bulk of the remaining treasure was removed to the Tower (including items of coronation regalia , such as are still stored at the Tower to this day). Toward the end of Edward's reign, a series of costly wars took their toll on the Wardrobe's hitherto independent means. Then, during the reign of Edward II , concerted efforts were made to reassert traditional rights of the Chancery and the Exchequer, and to limit

15345-465: The campaign. On 24 September 1272 Edward left Acre. Shortly after arriving in Sicily, he was met with the news that his father had died on 16 November. Edward was deeply saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home, he made a leisurely journey northwards. This was due partly to his still-poor health, but also to a lack of urgency. The political situation in England was stable after

15510-564: The cause of the reformers, and his father believed that Edward was considering a coup d'état. When Henry returned from France, he initially refused to see his son, but through the mediation of Richard of Cornwall and Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury , the two were eventually reconciled. Edward was sent abroad to France, and in November 1260 he again united with the Lusignans, who had been exiled there. Back in England, early in 1262, Edward fell out with some of his former Lusignan allies over financial matters. The next year, King Henry sent him on

15675-451: The church, who were increasingly intolerant of Judaism and usury. The Jews were the King's personal property, and he was free to tax them at will. Over-taxation of the Jews forced them to sell their debt bonds at cut prices, which was exploited by the crown to transfer vast land wealth from indebted landholders to courtiers and his wife, Eleanor of Provence, causing widespread resentment. In 1275, facing discontent in Parliament, Edward issued

15840-434: The coinage system, which was in a poor state by 1279. Compared to the coinage already circulating at the time of Edward's accession, the new coins issued proved to be of superior quality. In addition to minting pennies , halfpences and farthings , a new denomination called the groat (which proved to be unsuccessful) was introduced. The coinmaking process itself was also improved. The moneyer William Turnemire introduced

16005-489: The conflict relieved English military pressure against Scotland. By the mid-1290s, extensive military campaigns required high levels of taxation and this met with both lay and ecclesiastical opposition in England. In Ireland, he had extracted soldiers, supplies and money, leaving decay, lawlessness and a revival of the fortunes of his enemies in Gaelic territories . When the King died in 1307, he left to his son Edward   II

16170-402: The contest, he had to be fully recognised as Scotland's feudal overlord. The Scots were reluctant to make such a concession, and replied that since the country had no king, no one had the authority to make this decision. This problem was circumvented when the competitors agreed that the realm would be handed over to Edward until a rightful heir had been found. After a lengthy hearing, a decision

16335-528: The country unable to address its basic needs, while the administration was wholly focused on providing for Edward's war demands; troops looted and fought with townspeople when on the move. Gaelic Ireland enjoyed a revival, due to the absence of English magnates and the weakness of the Lordship, assimilating some of the settlers. Edward's government was hostile to the use of Gaelic law , which it condemned in 1277 as "displeasing to God and to reason". Conflict

16500-567: The county. Henry made sizeable endowments to Edward in 1254, including Gascony; most of Ireland, which was granted to Edward, while making the claim for the first time that dominion of Ireland would never be separated from the English crown; and much land in Wales and England, including the Earldom of Chester . They offered Edward little independence, for Henry retained much control over the land, particularly in Ireland, and benefited from most of

16665-427: The day-to-day business of the Wardrobe. The administrative historian T. F. Tout has speculated that a reason for the Wardrobe's increasing influence was its "new and elastic" nature: it was not hidebound by restrictive traditions or customary ways of working. Moreover, it was able to respond quickly in times when speedy expenditure was required – most especially in time of war – and with a flexibility which suited both

16830-403: The defendant could not produce a royal licence to prove the grant of the liberty, then it was the Crown's opinion – based on the writings of the influential 13th-century legal scholar Henry de Bracton  – that the liberty should revert to the King. Both the Statute of Westminster 1275 and Statute of Westminster 1285 codified the existing law in England. By enacting

16995-401: The dispute. The actual decision would be made by 104 auditors – 40 appointed by Balliol, 40 by Brus and the remaining 24 selected by Edward from senior members of the Scottish political community. At Birgham, with the prospect of a personal union between the two realms, the question of suzerainty had not been of great importance to Edward. Now he insisted that, if he were to settle

17160-456: The end of November 1254, Edward and Eleanor left Castile and entered Gascony, where they were warmly received by the populace. Here, Edward styled himself as "ruling Gascony as prince and lord", a move that the historian J. S. Hamilton states was a show of his blooming political independence. From 1254 to 1257, Edward was under the influence of his mother's relatives, known as the Savoyards ,

17325-593: The entire population. Whereas Henry III had only collected four of these in his reign, Edward collected nine. This format eventually became the standard for later Parliaments, and historians have named the assembly the " Model Parliament ", a term first introduced by the English historian William Stubbs . Edward's policy towards the English Jews dominated his financial relations with Parliament until 1290. Jews, unlike Christians, were allowed to charge interest on loans, known as usury . Edward faced pressure from

17490-581: The events at his court to Arthur. In some cases Edward appears to have used the Arthurian myths to serve his own political interests, including legitimising his rule in Wales and discrediting the Welsh belief that Arthur might return as their political saviour . Soon after assuming the throne, Edward set about restoring order and re-establishing royal authority after the troubled reign of his father. To accomplish this, he immediately ordered an extensive change of administrative personnel. The most important of these

17655-513: The existing Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations which, with the loss of the American War of Independence , had been dismissed earlier by King George III on 2 May 1782. Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots , was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he

17820-500: The expectations of his age: he attended chapel regularly, gave alms generously and showed a fervent devotion to the Virgin Mary and Saint Thomas Becket . Like his father, Edward was a keen participant in the tradition of the royal touch , which was believed to cure those who were touched from scrofula . Contemporary records suggest that the King touched upwards of a thousand people each year. Despite his personal piety, Edward

17985-562: The former relaying Ilkhan Abaqa's offer to join forces with the crusaders and supply them with horses. Edward responded favourably, declaring his intent to travel to the east once he obtained papal approval. This did not materialise, but the King's decision to send Geoffrey of Langley as his ambassador to the Mongols showed that he was seriously considering the prospective Mongol alliance. Eleanor of Castile died on 28 November 1290. The couple loved each other, and like his father, Edward

18150-516: The half-sister of King Alfonso X of Castile . They were married on 1 November 1254 in the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Castile. As part of the marriage agreement, Alfonso X gave up his claims to Gascony, and Edward received grants of land worth 15,000  marks a year. The marriage eventually led to the English acquisition of Ponthieu in 1279 upon Eleanor's inheritance of

18315-530: The heir to the Scottish throne, Edward was invited to arbitrate a succession dispute . He claimed feudal suzerainty over Scotland and invaded the country, and the ensuing First Scottish War of Independence continued after his death. Simultaneously, Edward found himself at war with France (a Scottish ally ) after King Philip   IV confiscated the Duchy of Gascony. The duchy was eventually recovered but

18480-494: The income from those lands. Split control caused problems. Between 1254 and 1272, eleven different Justiciars were appointed to head the Irish government, encouraging further conflict and instability; corruption rose to very high levels. In Gascony, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester , had been appointed as royal lieutenant in 1253 and drew its income, so Edward derived neither authority nor revenue from this province. Around

18645-574: The inquest was to establish what land and rights the Crown had lost during the reign of Henry III. The inquest produced a set of census documents called the Hundred Rolls . These have been likened to the 11th-century Domesday Book , and they formed the basis for the later legal inquiries called the Quo warranto proceedings. The purpose of these inquiries was to establish by what warrant ( Latin : Quo warranto ) liberties were held. If

18810-466: The king. Like other offices of the household it was an itinerant operation: carts and cases containing valuables travelled with the King and his court as they moved from place to place around the realm. Prior to the 13th century references to the Wardrobe and its keepers are few. The 10th-century King Eadred bequeathed substantial sums of money in his will to his hrœgelthegns (robe-keepers), which may suggest that these were persons of some importance. By

18975-524: The lands he held in England. Problems arose only with the Scottish succession crisis of the early 1290s. When Alexander died in 1286, he left as heir to the Scottish throne Margaret , his three-year-old granddaughter and sole surviving descendant. By the Treaty of Birgham , it was agreed that Margaret should marry King Edward's six-year-old son Edward of Caernarfon , though Scotland would remain free of English overlordship . Margaret, by now seven, sailed from Norway for Scotland in late 1290, but fell ill on

19140-527: The law and administration, but others have criticised his uncompromising attitude towards his nobility. Edward is credited with many accomplishments, including restoring royal authority after the reign of Henry III and establishing Parliament as a permanent institution, which allowed for a functional system for raising taxes and reforming the law through statutes. At the same time, he is also often condemned for vindictiveness, opportunism and untrustworthiness in his dealings with Wales and Scotland, coupled with

19305-463: The local Welsh being banned from living there, and many were protected by extensive walls. An extensive project of castle building was also initiated, under the direction of James of Saint George , a prestigious architect Edward had met in Savoy on his return from the crusade. These included Beaumaris , Caernarfon , Conwy and Harlech castles, intended to act as fortresses, royal palaces and as

19470-523: The marriage was delayed by the outbreak of war. Edward made expensive alliances with the German king , the counts of Flanders and Guelders , and the Burgundians , who would attack France from the north. The alliances proved volatile and Edward was facing trouble at home at the time, both in Wales and Scotland. His admiral Barrau de Sescas kept remaining English forces in Gascony supplied, but it

19635-418: The men he had alienated the year before – including Henry of Almain and John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey  – and retook Windsor Castle from the rebels. Through the arbitration of King Louis IX of France an agreement was made between the two parties. This Mise of Amiens was largely favourable to the royalist side and would cause further conflict. From 1264 to 1267 the Second Barons' War

19800-539: The mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king after his father's death, rather than at his own coronation, as had until then been customary. In Edward's absence, the country was governed by a royal council, led by Robert Burnell . Edward passed through Italy and France, visiting Pope Gregory X and paying homage to Philip III in Paris for his French domains. Edward travelled by way of Savoy to receive homage from his great-uncle Count Philip I for castles in

19965-411: The monarch and the nascent powers of English government. It did so largely by securing loans, on the basis of its valuable assets and treasures, from Italian bankers (the Riccardi and the Frescobaldi ). In this way the Wardrobe became an independently powerful financial office. There was however also a political dimension to the Wardrobe's rise. As G. M. Trevelyan put it, "If one office…was secured by

20130-614: The most notable of whom was Peter II of Savoy , the Queen's uncle. After 1257, Edward became increasingly close to the Lusignan faction – the half-brothers of his father Henry III – led by such men as William de Valence . The two groups of privileged foreigners were resented by the established English aristocracy, who would be at the centre of the ensuing years' baronial reform movement. Edward's ties to his Lusignan kinsmen were viewed unfavourably by contemporaries, including

20295-486: The new centres of civilian and judicial administration. His programme of castle building in Wales heralded the widespread introduction of arrowslits in castle walls across Europe, drawing on Eastern architectural influences. Also a product of the Crusades was the introduction of the concentric castle , and four of the eight castles Edward founded in Wales followed this design. The castles drew on imagery associated with

20460-534: The new king, Philip   IV . Following an outbreak of piracy and informal war between English, Gascon, Norman, and French sailors in 1293, his brother Edmund Crouchback allowed Philip IV to occupy Gascony's chief fortresses as a show of good faith that Edward had not intended the seizure of several French ships or the sacking of the French port of La Rochelle . Philip refused to release the fortresses, and declared Gascony forfeit when Edward refused to appear before him again in Paris. Correspondence between Edward and

20625-484: The nominal king of Jerusalem , signed a ten-year truce with Baibars. Edward was initially defiant, but in June 1272 he was the victim of an assassination attempt by a member of the Syrian Order of Assassins , supposedly ordered by Baibars. He managed to kill the assassin, but was struck in the arm by a dagger feared to be poisoned, and was severely weakened over the following months. This persuaded Edward to abandon

20790-407: The particulars of these commodities than did the Wardrobe clerks . The term Great Wardrobe ( magna garderoba ) first appears in 1253. The older Wardrobe had, by this time, developed into a sophisticated bureaucratic and financial office, and its staff had less time (or inclination) to be occupied with the day-to-day matters of storekeeping. Nevertheless, storekeeping remained a practical necessity as

20955-628: The parties came to an agreement. Around this time, Edward was made steward of England and began to exercise influence in the government. He was also appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1265. Despite this, he was little involved in the settlement negotiations following the wars as he was planning his forthcoming crusade . Edward pledged himself to undertake a crusade in an elaborate ceremony on 24 June 1268, with his brother Edmund Crouchback and cousin Henry of Almain. Some of Edward's former adversaries, such as John de Vescy and

21120-521: The personal use of the King when in residence, but the Privy Wardrobe in the Tower of London came to specialize in the storage and manufacture of armour and armaments, and as such it too developed into an autonomous department of the State. By the 15th century the Wardrobe had lost much of its earlier influence, and it eventually merged entirely into the Household and lost its separate identity. At

21285-472: The recovery of debts, and the Statute of Winchester (1285) dealt with security and peacekeeping on a local level by bolstering the existing police system. Quia emptores (1290) – issued along with Quo warranto  – set out to remedy land ownership disputes resulting from alienation of land by subinfeudation . The age of the great statutes largely ended with the death of Robert Burnell in 1292. Edward's reign saw an overhaul of

21450-424: The reign of Henry II the king's Wardrobe is identified as a 'place of safe deposit' with its own staff, and its own premises within various royal palaces or strongholds; there remained, however, a good deal of functional overlap between the Chamber and the Wardrobe. After 1200, however, the Wardrobe grew in activity and in prestige, partly as a result of King John 's constant travelling of the realm, which required

21615-520: The same style as the Eleanor crosses, to take political credit for his actions. As historian Richard Stacey notes, "a more explicit identification of the crown with the ritual crucifixion charge can hardly be imagined." Edward's primary interest in Ireland was as a source of resources, soldiers and funds for his wars, in Gascony, Wales, Scotland and Flanders. Royal interventions aimed to maximise economic extraction. Corruption among Edward's officials

21780-622: The same time, the Great Wardrobe began to be referred to, more simply, as "the Wardrobe", to some extent taking on the identity of its forebear; but in the sixteenth century the Great Wardrobe lost its independence (it continued in existence as a subsidiary department within the Royal Household until it was abolished by the Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782 ). In the Middle Ages persons of wealth and power often slept in

21945-674: The same time, the King organised political alliances with the kingdoms in Iberia . His four-year-old daughter Eleanor was promised in marriage to Alfonso , the heir to the Crown of Aragon , and Edward's heir Henry was betrothed to Joan , heiress to the Kingdom of Navarre . Neither union would come to fruition. On 2 August 1274 Edward returned to England, landing at Dover. The thirty-five-year-old king held his coronation on 19 August at Westminster Abbey, alongside Queen Eleanor. Immediately after being anointed and crowned by Robert Kilwardby ,

22110-677: The seizure of fragments of the Holy Cross from Wales after its defeat in 1283, and subsequently the Stone of Scone and regalia from Scotland after defeats in 1296. Some historians question Edward's good faith and trustworthiness in relation to his dealing with Wales and Scotland, believing him to have been capable of behaving duplicitously. Historian Michael Prestwich believes Edward met contemporary expectations of kingship in his role as an able, determined soldier and in his embodiment of shared chivalric ideals. In religious observance he fulfilled

22275-539: The seizure of property from the dead. In 1280, he ordered all Jews to attend special sermons, preached by Dominican friars, with the hope of persuading them to convert, but these exhortations were not followed. By 1280, the Jews had been exploited to a level at which they were no longer of much financial use to the crown, but they could still be used in political bargaining. With the Edict of Expulsion in 1290, Edward formally expelled all Jews from England. As they crossed

22440-411: The size of items being stored, not to the importance of the office). The Great Wardrobe dealt with a variety of commodities ranging from cloth, tapestries, clothing, and furniture to sugar, spices, dried fruit, and pepper; and it later became a repository (and indeed manufactory) of jewellery and other treasures, tents, saddles, bridles, armour, and other military items. What all these items had in common

22605-477: The sovereign over successive reigns. Furthermore, several Peers, Bishops and others set up and maintained their own personal Wardrobes along similar lines to that of the monarch in the 13th-15th centuries; the wardrobe accounts of some reveal levels of household (and military) expenditure to rival that of contemporary royalty. In the later 14th century, when the King's court was less mobile, several small separate Wardrobes were established in castles or palaces used by

22770-553: The war that followed, Charles of Anjou's son, Charles of Salerno , was taken prisoner by the Aragonese. The French began planning an attack on Aragon, raising the prospect of a large-scale European war. To Edward, it was imperative that such a war be avoided, and in Paris in 1286 he brokered a truce between France and Aragon that helped secure Charles's release. As far as the crusades were concerned, Edward's efforts proved ineffective. A devastating blow to his plans came in 1291, when

22935-538: The way and died in Orkney . This left the country without an obvious heir, and led to the succession dispute known as the Great Cause . Fourteen claimants put forward their claims to the title, of whom the foremost competitors were John Balliol and Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale . The Scottish magnates made a request to Edward to conduct the proceedings and administer the outcome, but not to arbitrate in

23100-402: The withdrawal of troops to be used against Wales and Scotland and elsewhere, helped induce lawless behaviour. Resistance to 'purveyances', or forced purchase of supplies such as grain, added to lawlessness, and caused speculation and inflation in the price of basic goods. Pardons were granted to lawbreakers for service for the King in England. Revenues and removal of troops for Edward's wars left

23265-423: The years 1294–1297, raising over £200,000. Along with this came the burden of prises , seizure of wool and hides, and the unpopular additional duty on wool, dubbed the maltolt ("unjustly taken"). The fiscal demands on the King's subjects caused resentment, which eventually led to serious political opposition. The initial resistance was caused not by the lay taxes, but by clerical subsidies. In 1294, Edward made

23430-527: Was Lord of Ireland , and from 1254 to 1306 ruled Gascony as Duke of Aquitaine in his capacity as a vassal of the French king . Before his accession to the throne, he was commonly referred to as the Lord Edward . The eldest son of Henry III , Edward was involved from an early age in the political intrigues of his father's reign. In 1259, he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting

23595-486: Was at a high level, and despite Edward's efforts after 1272 to reform the Irish administration, record keeping was poor. Disturbances in Ireland increased during the period. The weakness and lack of direction given to the Lordship's rule allowed factional fighting to grow, reinforced by the introduction of indentured military service by Irish magnates from around 1290. The funnelling of revenue to Edward's wars left Irish castles, bridges and roads in disrepair, and alongside

23760-480: Was blond; in maturity it darkened, and in old age it turned white. The regularity of his features was marred by a drooping left eyelid ... His speech, despite a lisp, was said to be persuasive." In 1254, English fears of a Castilian invasion of the English-held province of Gascony induced King Henry to arrange a politically expedient marriage between fifteen-year-old Edward and thirteen-year-old Eleanor ,

23925-401: Was conducting peace negotiations, Edward's commander of Anglesey , Luke de Tany , carried out a surprise attack. A pontoon bridge had been built to the mainland, but shortly after Tany and his men crossed over, they were ambushed by the Welsh and suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Moel-y-don . The Welsh advances ended on 11 December, when Llywelyn was lured into a trap and killed at

24090-596: Was devoted to the veneration of Edward the Confessor and decided to name his firstborn son after the saint . Edward's birth was widely celebrated at the royal court and throughout England, and he was baptised three days later at Westminster Abbey . He was commonly referred to as the Lord Edward until his accession to the throne in 1272. Among his childhood friends was his cousin Henry of Almain , son of King Henry's brother Richard of Cornwall . Henry of Almain remained

24255-515: Was eventually reached in 1290, whereby a liberty was considered legitimate as long as it could be shown to have been exercised since the coronation of Richard the Lionheart in 1189. Royal gains from the Quo warranto proceedings were insignificant as few liberties were returned to the King, but he had nevertheless won a significant victory by establishing the principle that all liberties emanated from

24420-437: Was feared and respected, as reflected in the lack of armed rebellions in England during his reign. Edward is often noted as exhibiting vindictiveness towards his defeated enemies, and triumphalism in his actions. Historian R. R. Davies considered Edward's repeated and "gratuitous belittling of his opponents", to have been "one of the most consistent and unattractive features of his character as king". Examples include

24585-424: Was firmly entrenched by the time of the 1297 Irish Parliament, which attempted to create measures to counter disorder and the spread of Gaelic customs and law, while the results of the distress included many abandoned lands and villages. The incessant warfare of the 1290s put a great financial demand on Edward's subjects. Whereas the King had levied only three lay subsidies until 1294, four such taxes were granted in

24750-421: Was fought between baronial forces led by the Earl of Leicester and those who remained loyal to the King. Edward initiated the fighting by capturing the rebel-held city of Gloucester . When Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby , came to the assistance of the baronial forces, Edward negotiated a truce with the Earl. Edward later broke the terms of the agreement. He then captured Northampton from Simon de Montfort

24915-699: Was frequently in conflict with the Archbishops of Canterbury who served during his reign. Relations with the Papacy were at times no better, Edward coming into conflict with Rome over the issue of ecclesiastical taxation. Edward's use of the church extended to war mobilisation including disseminating justifications for war, usually through the issue of writs to England's archbishops, who distributed his requests for services and prayers. Edward's architectural programme similarly had an element of propaganda, sometimes combining this with religious messages of piety, as with

25080-448: Was kept under strict surveillance. In Hereford , he escaped on 28 May while out riding and joined up with Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester , who had recently defected to the King's side. The Earl of Leicester's support was now dwindling, and Edward retook Worcester and Gloucester with little effort. Meanwhile, Leicester had made an alliance with Llywelyn and started moving east to join forces with his son Simon. Edward made

25245-474: Was known as Controller of the Household. The office of Cofferer of the Wardrobe originated in the late 13th century when the Treasurer/Keeper's chief clerk took on particular responsibility for drafting the Wardrobe accounts. Working closely with the Treasurer, the Cofferer usually served as locum tenens when the Treasurer was otherwise engaged with affairs of state (as was often the case); thus

25410-623: Was largely futile. An embassy to the Ilkhan Abaqa of the Mongols helped bring about an attack on Aleppo in the north, which distracted Baibars's forces. The Mongol invasion ultimately failed. In November, Edward led a raid on Qaqun , which could have served as a bridgehead to Jerusalem, but this was unsuccessful. The situation in Acre grew desperate, and in May 1272  Hugh III of Cyprus ,

25575-460: Was made in favour of John Balliol on 17 November 1292. Even after Balliol's accession, Edward still asserted his authority over Scotland. Against the objections of the Scots, he agreed to hear appeals on cases ruled on by the court of guardians that had governed Scotland during the interregnum. A further provocation came in a case brought by Macduff, son of Malcolm II, Earl of Fife , in which Edward demanded that Balliol appear in person before

25740-535: Was moved out. From around 1300 the Great Wardrobe had begun to rent properties in the City to provide extra storage and office space. It made use of a series of properties, including in Bassishaw and in Lombard Street , all the while retaining foothold in the Tower. Then, in 1362 it obtained a more suitable property (which itself became known as The Wardrobe ) to the north of Baynard's Castle ; and there it

25905-514: Was not until August 1297 that he was able to sail for Flanders, at which time his allies there had already suffered defeat . The support from Germany never materialised, and Edward was forced to seek peace. In 1299, the Treaties of Montreuil and Chartres , along with Edward's marriage to Margaret, produced a prolonged armistice, but the whole affair had proven costly and fruitless for the English. French occupation of most of Gascony lasted until

26070-412: Was nothing new; what was new was the authority under which these representatives were summoned. Whereas previously the commons had been expected to assent to decisions made by the magnates, it was now proclaimed that they should meet with the full authority ( plena potestas ) of their communities, to give assent to decisions made in Parliament. The King now had full backing for collecting lay subsidies from

26235-408: Was one Odo in the reign of King John , who oversaw a small department of carters (to handle the carts), sumpters (to handle the horses), porters (to handle the goods) and other workers. As the Wardrobe grew, both in size and sophistication, a larger number of clerks (who were clergy skilled in administration) were employed, and the chief official came to be distinguished with the title of Keeper of

26400-410: Was required to maintain a storehouse for items purchased by the Wardrobe from the famous cloth market at nearby St Ives, Cambridgeshire .) Throughout the 13th century the Great Wardrobe remained a subsidiary operation within the more senior Wardrobe; and despite the above-mentioned moves toward greater centralisation, the officers of the Great Wardrobe continued to travel with the Court at this time. If

26565-479: Was standing in a tower when the floor collapsed. He fell 80 feet, broke his collarbone, and was confined to bed for several months. Several others died. Soon after he regained his health, he ordered the local Jews expelled from Gascony, seemingly as a "thank-offering" for his recovery. The perennial problem was the status of Gascony within the Kingdom of France, and Edward's role as the French king's vassal. On his diplomatic mission in 1286, Edward had paid homage to

26730-413: Was that they were more or less non-perishable and could be stored long-term if not required for immediate use; the Great Wardrobe originated as the department of the King's Wardrobe which was primarily concerned with the storage of such items when not required by the itinerant Court. Part of its distinctiveness, from an early date, was its employment of city merchants and specialist craftsmen, who better knew

26895-452: Was the designation of Robert Burnell as chancellor in 1274, a man who would remain in the post until 1292 as one of the King's closest associates. The same year as Burnell's appointment, Edward replaced most local officials, such as the escheators and sheriffs . This last measure was taken in preparation for an extensive inquest covering all of England, that would hear complaints about abuse of power by royal officers. The second purpose of

27060-428: Was to remain for the next three centuries. The property, a mansion set in its own grounds, which had formerly belonged to Sir John de Beauchamp , provided not only storage, office and meeting rooms, but lodgings for staff, a residence for the Keeper and space for several small manufactories. The nearby parish church is known to this day as St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe . With its permanent establishment in these headquarters,

27225-422: Was very devoted to his wife and was faithful to her throughout their marriage. He was deeply affected by her death, and displayed his grief by ordering the construction of twelve so-called Eleanor crosses , one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night. As part of the peace accord between England and France in 1294, it was agreed that Edward should marry Philip IV's half-sister Margaret , but

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