1269, the eastern part, choir and transept, were Edward I. opened for service, but the choir was not completed A.D. 1288. till A.D. 1285.26 commerce. About this time also, we have a glimpse of the Foreign way in which the foreign commerce of England was carried on in those days. "Merchant strangers, as they were called, were now first permitted to rent houses, and to buy and sell their own commodities themselves, without any interruption from the citizens. Before this time, they hired lodgings, and their landlords were the brokers who sold all their goods and merchandise for them. This deserves notice, because it shows us the restrained manner of commerce in those days, when strangers managed most of the trade, and English merchants brought few foreign commodities into the kingdom." 2 This year also, the King took away the Charter of Extortions London, and turned out the mayor, because he had of bakers. suffered himself to be bribed by the bakers, who sold their bread six or seven ounces too light in the onepound loaf. On his return from France, the King's "first care was to reform several abuses introduced in his absence, particularly in the administration of justice." 14 It was said that "there were not any of those judges, or officers, though counted among the wisest, and most knowing men of the kingdom, whose innocence could bear a strict examination, or who could make any reasonable defence to those many accusations, that were then preferred against them." A Parliament was therefore summoned at Westminster, to which "all those who had anything to object against his justices, sheriffs, and other inferior officers, should come in and be heard."3 From this it seems, that these A.D. 1289. Abuses in nistration the admi of justice. Edward I. Parliaments were sometimes a kind of court of justice A.D. 1289. and appeal.* Affairs of Death of Alexander At this parliament, above twelve judges, including the chief justices, itinerant judges, the Master of the Rolls, and others, were fined to the extent of above 100,000 marks, and the King obliged his justices to swear, "that they would receive no bribe nor present from any one, save only eatables, which they might take according to law." King Edward had now been eighteen years on the throne, and, with the exception of the three years passed in France, and the three years which elapsed before he was crowned, his time had been devoted to the settlement and improvement of his country, and to the conquest of Wales. The greater part of the rest of his reign, was occupied in wars with Scotland, of which I shall now proceed to give you an account. Affairs of Scotland. Alexander the Third, King of Scotland, died on the Third. March 19th, A. D. 1286, a short time before Edward's departure for France. His Queen, who had died some years before (in A.D. 1275), was Edward's sister. His children all died before him; and none but Margaret, who had been married to Eric, King of Norway, left any child. Margaret left only one, a daughter, also named Margaret, and called the Maid of Norway.† The Maid At the death of Alexander, she was scarcely three years old; but, being the only living descendant of Alexander, she was heiress to the throne of Scotland. It was important to settle who should be her of Norway, the successor to the throne. This view is confirmed by the wording of the 29th Ordinance passed in the reign of Edward the Second, as will be seen in the history of the next reign. † See Genealogical Table, p. 341. husband, and a Parliament was therefore assembled at Edward I. Scone in Scotland (on April 11th, A.D. 1286) to settle A.D. 1286. this weighty business. To this Parliament, Edward sent ambassadors, to ask her in marriage for his son Edward, her cousin-german. This request was well received, but nothing was settled before the King's visit to France. claimants. During his absence, other claimants14 for the throne Other of Scotland arose; and, after much strife, open war broke out between the two chief claimants, Bruce and Baliol. The Estates, or Parliament, of Scotland Scotch became alarmed,14b and sent ambassadors to Edward in Estates appeal to France, to ask his advice and mediation. The King Edward. of Norway also sent to him, at the same time, to treat of Scotch affairs. Norway to Scotland. On his return to England, Edward appointed a Meeting at meeting at Salisbury, between the Scotch nobles, Salisbury. the Commissioners sent by the King of Norway, and others, appointed by himself, to consider what should be done. It was there agreed, that the Maid of Maid of Norway should come over, either to England or come to Scotland, unfettered by any promise of marriage; England or that if she came to England, Edward, so soon as Scotland was in a safe and quiet state, should send her there, but still free from any marriage contract; and lastly, that she should not marry without the consent of the King of Norway. The government of the kingdom had been placed in the hands of six guardians, or regents, at the death of Alexander; two of them were dead, but the kingdom still remained under the charge of the remaining four. King Edward perceived that there was now an Edward opportunity of uniting Scotland with England, and begins to thus making the whole island of Great Britain one of Scot U 4 plan union land and England. Edward I. kingdom, if he could bring about the marriage of his A.D. 1286. eldest son with the Maid of Norway. The the En glish throne the heiress Having therefore obtained a dispensation from the approve of Pope, permitting the marriage of the two cousins, he the heir of directed the Scottish Commissioners at Salisbury, to ascertain, on their return to Scotland, whether such a marrying marriage would be well received by the Scotch nobles. A meeting of the Scotch Estates was accordingly held at Roxburgh, at which the King's proposals were well received, and a favourable answer was therefore sent to him. A letter was also sent to the King of Norway, informing him of the consent of the Scotch nobles to the proposed marriage, and requesting him to send his daughter to Scotland. of the Scottish throne. Important treaty between England and In the meantime, a treaty relative to the intended marriage was drawn up between Edward and the guardians of Scotland. It is most important to obScotland; serve, that it provided in every way for the independence of that country, and for the maintenance of its ancient laws. It was settled that no person should be obliged to go out of Scotland to do homage, that the Scotch parliament should be held in Scotland, and above all that the kingdom of Scotland should remain separated, divided, and free in itself, from the kingdom of England, without any subjection, by its true bounds and limits, as it had been before time. To this condition, however, was added, " with a saving of the King's right, which he had before this." with im portant re Had Edward feudal rights over Scotland? From the very beginning of Edward's reign, it had been matter of dispute whether the King of England was feudal lord over the whole of Scotland. When Alexander, King of Scotland, did homage to Edward, at his coronation, he was careful to avoid the admission that he thereby did homage for any lands except those in England. But, we must recollect, that England formerly Edward I. extended over a considerable part of what is now A.D. 1290. called Scotland. In the reign of Edgar, the Bridge of Stirling was the boundary between England and Scotland; and the ancient kingdom of Northumbria, which became a part of England, extended to the Firth of Forth. It is, in the highest degree, probable, therefore, that the King of England had feudal rights as far as the Firth of Forth, but not farther. the Maid These matters are of great importance in relation Death of to the events which shortly followed; for, to the mis- of Norway. fortune of Scotland, all these preparations for the A.D. 1290. arrival of the Maid of Norway turned out vain. The princess died on her voyage, and thus ended all hopes of a peaceable settlement of Scotch affairs. This event happened in September, A.D. 1290. tion for asked to assist in choosing The various competitors for the throne at once Competibegan a struggle for its possession, and Edward was the throne. appealed to by the Bishop of St. Andrews, one of the Edward guardians of Scotland, "to come to the borders, and enable the faithful men of the realm, to choose him, the King. for their King, who by right ought to be so.' "15 Edward agreed, and for this, the Scotch charge him with ambition. But they are supported by one historian only, who says, "The King of England, having assembled his Privy Council, and chief nobility, told them, that he had it in his mind, to bring under his dominion the King and realm of Scotland, in the same manner that he had subdued the kingdom of Wales." 16 It is unlikely that such was his original intention, for, if it were, he would hardly have been so careful to judge rightly between the claimants to the throne. In compliance with the Bishop's request, Edward and his Queen set out on their way to Scotland, "to King and out to go to Queen set Scotland. |