A History of England, Period I. Mediæval Monarchy

by J. Franck Bright

Quarrel with France.

Edward outwitted. Gascony occupied. 1294.

First true Parliament.

Philip IV., the new King of France, was as legal in his mind as Edward, but more dishonest. It was as plain to him that it was desirable to unite France by annexing Guienne, as it was to Edward that it was advantageous to England to annex Scotland. They set about their designs in somewhat the same way. The sea was at this time regarded as a sort of no man’s land, where incessant fighting little short of piracy was allowable. There were plenty of instances of battles between English and French merchant-ships. The Normans are said to have infested the whole coast of France from Holland to Spain. The Cinque Ports mariners were probably not much behind them. At last a formal meeting was arranged in 1293, where the matter was to be fought out. An empty chip marked the point of contest, and there the fleets of France and England fought a great battle, which terminated in the defeat of the French. Edward, who knew Philip’s character and the resources of the feudal law, was anxious to do what he could to clear himself of complicity in the quarrel; but no representations of his were attended to by the French King, and Philip summoned him to appear before the French Parliament. As the English offenders were not given up, and as Edward declined to appear, the Constable of France took possession in the King’s name of Edward’s French provinces. With much more important matters in hand, and with the knowledge probably of what Balliol’s conduct was going to be, Edward tried all he could to settle the matter peacefully. He sent over to France his brother Edmund, whose wife[48] was the mother of the French Queen. Through the instrumentality of these Queens a treaty was arranged, by which the summons to Paris was annulled, and a personal meeting at Amiens arranged, pending which the strongholds of Gascony were to be put in Philip’s hands. Edmund withdrew the English army, and dismissed the commander, St. John, and at the same time demanded a safe conduct for his brother at the proposed meeting. But Philip refused the safe conduct, declared himself dissatisfied with the surrender of the towns, and refused to leave the country which he had occupied. Fresh insulting messages were sent to Edward, and, in 1294, Edmund returned to England, and war became necessary. Great preparations were made; alliances were formed on the north-east of France; money was granted by Parliament. This proving insufficient, no less than half their property was demanded from the clergy. An insurrection in Wales, and the news that an alliance had been formed between Philip and the Scotch, rendered the preparations useless.

It was plain to Edward that it was worth risking his foreign dominions to consolidate his power as King of Great Britain. For the present, therefore, he left Gascony alone, and turned his arms against Scotland. Engaged at once in a war with France, with Scotland, and with Wales, he found it necessary to raise supplies from all branches of his subjects. A genuine Parliament was therefore called in October, in which all estates were represented, and which has been considered the true origin of our Parliament as it now exists. The three Estates granted the supply as different orders; and it was not without difficulty that the clergy, suffering from the late enormous exaction, were induced to grant him a tenth. The other estates seem to have come readily to his assistance at this great crisis.

Edward marches into Scotland. 1296.

Defeat of Scotch at Dunbar.

Submission of Balliol and Scotland.

In March a large army was assembled at Newcastle, and while the Scotch crossed the borders and ravaged Cumberland with savage ferocity,[49] Edward pushed forward into Scotland. In three days Berwick was captured. While still before that place, he received from Balliol, who seems to have been under some constraint, renunciation of his allegiance; and before the end of April brought his army, under the Earl of Surrey and Warrenne, to Dunbar. The Scotch advanced to meet him, occupying the higher ground; but foolishly mistaking the movements of the English army in the valley for a flight, they left their strong position, and were hopelessly routed, with a loss of 10,000 men. This battle decided the fate of Scotland. Several of the great Earls and many knights were taken prisoners. The King met no further opposition in his march through Edinburgh to Perth. On the 10th of July, Balliol made his submission, was allowed to live under supervision in the Tower of London, whence he afterwards proceeded to Normandy; and Edward henceforth acted no longer as feudal superior, but as King. At a Parliament held at Berwick, he received the fealty of the clergy, gentry, and barons of Scotland, whose names, filling thirty-five skins of parchment, are still preserved among the English archives. Scotland was left as much as possible in its old condition, but the Earl of Warenne and Surrey was made Guardian; Hugh de Cressingham, Treasurer; William of Ormsby, Justiciary; and an Exchequer was established in the English fashion. At the same time the coronation stone of Scone was removed to Westminster, where it still is. Edward had thus completed his first conquest of Scotland. Both legally and politically, his conduct is justifiable. The consolidation of Great Britain was a most desirable object. The French alliance, the invasion of England, and the renunciation of vassalage, constituted by feudal law a sufficient cause for confiscating the possessions of a vassal prince. But this leaves untouched the question, how far it is right to annex a free people against their will? It must be remembered that the submission of Scotland had been made by the nobility only, who were in fact Normans, and many of them English Barons.

Refusal of the clergy to grant subsidies. Nov. 3. 1296.