Home > Iron Ring, Harlech Castle, Conwy Castle > Edward I

• Born in 1239
• Entered public life at age 12
• Married Queen Eleanor at age 14
• Nicknamed "Longshanks" because of his height and long limbs
• Accomplished swordsman with military experience in Baronial Wars of the 1260's and the Crusades
• Became King in 1272
• Declared war on Llywelyn ap Gruffydd ("Llwelyn the Last") in 1276 because Llywelyn refused to pay homage to him, only to his predecessor Henry III
• Invaded North Wales in 1277, sent troops headed by Marcher lords to South and Central Wales, Llywelyn almost defeated and forced to give up half his lands when in the same year Edward I surround his base of Gwynedd and caused Welsh troops to starve
• War in Wales continuted in 1282 and Llywelyn killed
• Wars in Wales, Scotland, and Gascony
• Continued to build castles to secure the area against uprisings, recruited craftsmen and engineers including Master James of St. George from Savoy
• Queen Eleanor died in 1290
• The Eleanor Cross at Geddington, Northants, is one of 12 similar crosses erected by the grieving King at his overnight resting places for the Queen's coffin on the journey from Lincoln to London
• King Edward I died in 1307 on his way to a Scottish campaign
• His most ambitious project, Beaumaris Castle, cost £50m and was never finished; many describe it as the "most ambitious military building enterprise of the Middle Ages"
• After the defeat of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and his brother Dafydd, Edward I divided Wales into new counties on the English model and extended his Iron Ring around the Welsh stronghold of Snowdonia, costing him £80,000 (which was less than the £100,000 spent on two weeks of war)

Sources: Castes of Wales and the Welsh Marches

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