Reign Of King Edward I.
During the two preceding reigns the struggle between the feudal aristocracy and the royal power has been really a civil war. Under Edward I. the struggle continued, but the civil war ceased. The barons did not protest in favour of their liberty with any less resolute determination than they had hitherto manifested, nor did the king defend his prerogatives less vigorously, but neither party appealed to arms. This is the general history of important struggles; they are begun by a trial of strength between the two contending parties, and when the problem of material forces has been resolved, the struggle changes its direction and its theatre; it becomes concentrated into an assembly, and the victorious party has no longer any other aim than to legalize the victory already gained, and thus add a constitutional validity to a material victory. Parliamentary debates follow civil war. When the parliamentary debates have lasted through a certain number of years, and have received the sanction of time, the struggle may be regarded as terminated. To this stage had matters arrived in the reign of Edward I.; the resistance which was shewn during his reign only displayed itself in Parliament; and, when it had lasted for thirty years, the rights which it had tended to consecrate were for ever recognized and tolerably respected.
At the time of Henry's death, his son Edward was in Palestine; notwithstanding his absence, however, he was proclaimed king without any opposition. The capacity which he had displayed in the troubles of the kingdom, and the moderation which he had often shewn, had gained for him general favour. Upon his return to England, he justified the expectations which had been formed concerning him; many abuses were reformed, and a better order was introduced into the administration of justice.
I shall pass rapidly over the first twenty-four years of this reign. They were occupied with the conquest of Wales, and with Edward's wars in Scotland, which were incessantly renewed by the insurrections of the Scotch. During all this time, although we hear of very frequent assemblies of Parliament, we scarcely hear anything even of the charters. The administration of the kingdom, which was vigorous and fair, excited few complaints, and public attention was absorbed by the expeditions and victories of the monarch.
Exactions Of Edward I.
Nevertheless the necessity of frequently raising subsidies, in order to keep up his numerous armies, soon obliged Edward to adopt violent and arbitrary measures. He limited the quantity of wool which might be exported, and placed on every sack of wool, that was exported, a duty of forty shillings, that is to say, more than a third of its value; all the rest of the wool and hides, that were ready for shipping, were confiscated to the service of the king. He demanded of each sheriff two thousand quarters of wheat, and as many of oats, authorising them to take the required wheat or oats wherever they could lay their hands upon them; besides which he caused a large quantity of cattle to be seized. Lastly, showing no regard for feudal right, he imposed on every landed proprietor, having a larger revenue than twenty pounds sterling, whatever might be the nature of his domains, the obligation to attend him in the war which he was about to prosecute in France.
The dissatisfaction among the people and barons was general, and it was soon redoubled, in consequence of a fraud to which Edward did not hesitate to resort in raising a subsidy, which had been granted to him by the Parliament, held at Saint Edmundsbury in the preceding year (1296.) Instead of contenting himself with the eighth [Footnote 21] of the moveable property, which had been granted to him, he assumed that the impost was much larger, and obliged his subjects to pay it.
[Footnote 21: An eighth, a tenth, &c. was a money tax levied on counties, cities, boroughs, or other towns, and so called because it was the eighth, tenth, &c. of the sum at which these counties, towns, &c. had been anciently valued under the reign of William I. Thus each town knew what it had to contribute. The valuations were contained in the Doomsday Book. (Parliam. Hist., vol. i. p. 83.)]