CHAPTER VII.

THE EARLY FOREIGN POLICY AND LEGISLATION OF EDWARD I.

The Dominican chronicler, Nicholas Trivet, thus describes the personality of Edward I.:  “He was of elegant build and lofty stature, exceeding the height of the ordinary man by a head and shoulders.  His abundant hair was yellow in childhood, black in manhood, and snowy white in age.  His brow was broad, and his features regular, save that his left eyelid drooped somewhat, like that of his father, and hid part of the pupil.  He spoke with a stammer, which did not, however, detract from the persuasiveness of his eloquence.  His sinewy, muscular arms were those of the consummate swordsman, and his long legs gave him a firm hold in the saddle when riding the most spirited of steeds.  His chief delight was in war and tournaments, but he derived great pleasure from hawking and hunting, and had a special joy in chasing down stags on a fleet horse and slaying them with a sword instead of a hunting spear.  His disposition was magnanimous, but he was intolerant of injuries, and reckless of dangers when seeking revenge, though easily won over by a humble submission."[1] The defects of his youth are well brought out by the radical friar who wrote the Song of Lewes.  Even to the partisan of Earl Simon, Edward was “a valiant lion, quick to attack the strongest, and fearing the onslaught of none.  But if a lion in pride and fierceness, he was a panther in inconstancy and mutability, changing his word and promise, cloaking himself by pleasant speech.  When he is in a strait he promises whatever you wish, but as soon as he has escaped he forgets his promise.  The treachery or falsehood, whereby he is advanced, he calls prudence; the way whereby he arrives whither he will, crooked though it be, he regards as straight; whatever he likes he says is lawful, and he thinks he is released from the law, as though he were greater than a king."[2]

    [1] Annals, pp. 181-82.

    [2] Song of Lewes, pp. 14-15, ed.  Kingsford.

Hot and impulsive in disposition, easily persuaded that his own cause was right, and with a full share in the pride of caste, Edward committed many deeds of violence in his youth, and never got over his deeply rooted habit of keeping the letter of his promise while violating its spirit.  Yet he learnt to curb his impetuous temper, and few medieval kings had a higher idea of justice or a more strict regard to his plighted word.  “Keep troth” was inscribed upon his tomb, and his reign signally falsified the prediction of evil which the Lewes song-writer ventured to utter.  A true sympathy bound him closely to his nobles and people.  His unstained family life, his piety and religious zeal, his devotion to friends and kinsfolk, his keen interest in the best movements of his time, showed him a true son of Henry III.  But his strength of will and seriousness of purpose stand in strong contrast to his father’s weakness and levity.  A hard-working, clear-headed, practical, and sober temperament made him the most capable king of all his line.  He may have been wanting in originality or deep insight, yet it is impossible to dispute the verdict that has declared him to be the greatest of all the Plantagenets.