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EDWARD I (1239-1307), King of England (1272-1307) was the embodiment of many of the perceptions and ideals of the medieval king. He was very tall (nicknamed “Longshanks”), intelligent, articulate and at his succession, already an experienced  battle commander, having  been the architect of the victory over de Montfort at Evesham in 1265 and distinguishing himself in action during the truncated Eighth Crusade (1270).  

'''EDWARD I''' (1239-1307), King of England (1272-1307) was the embodiment of many of the perceptions and ideals of the medieval king. He was very tall (nicknamed “Longshanks”), intelligent, articulate and at his succession, already an experienced  battle commander, having  been the architect of the victory over de Montfort at Evesham in 1265 and distinguishing himself in action during the truncated Eighth Crusade (1270).  

He was very aware of his rights and privileges as the monarch of a major European feudal realm; but unlike his father – indeed any king since Henry II – he also recognised the rights of his subjects and was a passionate believer in good and fair (for the period) governance. And he kept his word - as a young prince, when asked to break the oath he and his father, [[Henry III]] had made unwillingly at Oxford in 1258, he refused, although the barons had broken theirs. In his private life his love of his wife, Eleanor of Castille, and his very public and prolonged mourning after her death in 1290 are well recorded. Some of the 12 “Eleanor Crosses” he had erected in memoriam at the resting places for her funeral cortege on its way from Lincoln to Westminster still stand.

He was very aware of his rights and privileges as the monarch of a major European feudal realm; but unlike his father – indeed any king since Henry II – he also recognised the rights of his subjects and was a passionate believer in good and fair (for the period) governance. And he kept his word - as a young prince, when asked to break the oath he and his father, [[Henry III]] had made unwillingly at Oxford in 1258, he refused, although the barons had broken theirs. In his private life his love of his wife, Eleanor of Castille, and his very public and prolonged mourning after her death in 1290 are well recorded. Some of the 12 “Eleanor Crosses” he had erected in memoriam at the resting places for her funeral cortege on its way from Lincoln to Westminster still stand.