Notes:

NOTE 1./
Edward I, nicknamed "Longshanks" due to his great height and stature, was perhaps the most successful of the medieval monarchs. The first twenty years of his reign marked a high point of cooperation between crown and community. In these years, Edward made great strides in reforming government, consolidating territory, and defining foreign policy. He possessed the strength his father lacked and reasserted royal prerogative. Edward fathered many children as well: sixteen by Eleanor of Castille before her death in 1290, and three more by Margaret.

Edward concentrated on an aggressive foreign policy. A major campaign to control Llywelyn ap Gruffydd of Wales began in 1277 and lasted until Llywelyn's death in 1282. Wales was divided into shires, English civil law was introduced, and the region was administered by appointed justices. In the manner of earlier monarchs, Edward constructed many new castles to ensure his conquest. In 1301, the king's eldest son was named Prince of Wales, a title still granted to all first-born male heirs to the crown. Edward found limited success in extending English influence into Ireland: he introduced a Parliament in Dublin and increased commerce in a few coastal towns, but most of the country was controlled by independent barons or Celtic tribal chieftains.

Edward's involvement in Scotland had far reaching effects. The country had developed a feudal kingdom similar to England in the Lowlands the Celtic tribal culture dispersed to the Highlands. After the death of the Scottish king, Alexander III, Edward negotiated a treaty whereby Margaret, Maid of Norway and legitimate heir to the Scottish crown, would be brought to England to marry his oldest son, the future Edward II. Margaret, however, died in 1290 en route to England, leaving a disputed succession in Scotland; Edward claimed the right to intercede as feudal lord of the Scottish kings through their Anglo-Norman roots. Edward arbitrated between thirteen different claimants and chose John Baliol. Baliol did homage to Edward as his lord, but the Scots resisted Edward's demands for military service. In 1296, Edward invaded Scotland and soundly defeated the Scots under Baliol Ð Baliol was forced to abdicate and the Scottish barons did homage to Edward as their king. William Wallace incited a rebellion in 1297, defeated the English army at Stirling, and harassed England's northern counties. The next year, Edward defeated Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk but encountered continued resistance until Wallace's capture and execution in 1304. Robert Bruce, the grandson of a claimant to the throne in 1290, instigated another revolt in 1306 and would ultimately defeat the army of Edward II at Bannockburn. Edward's campaigns in Scotland were ruthless and aroused in the Scots a hatred of England that would endure for generations.

Edward married Princess Eleanor DE CASTILLE in Oct 1254 in Las Huelgas, Castile, Burgos, Spain. Princess (daughter of King of of Castile & Leon Ferdinand III and Joan DE DAMMARTIN) died on 28 Nov 1290 in Grantham,,England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Elizabeth PLANTAGENET was born in Aug 1282; died on 05 May 1316.

Family/Spouse: Princess Margaret of FRANCE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Thomas PLANTAGENET
2. Edmund PLANTAGENET
3. Eleanor PLANTAGENET

King married Countess Eleanor DE PROVENCE on 14 Jan 1236 in Canterbury Cath,Canterbury,Kent,England. Countess (daughter of Raymond BERENGER, IV and Beatrix Of SAVOY) was born in 1217 in Aix-en-Prove,Bouches-du-Rhone,France; died on 24 Jan 1291 in Ambresbury,Wiltshire,England; was buried on 11 Sep 1291 in Ambresbury Mon,Wiltshire,England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./

As the fourth child, inherited lands were not available to him, giving rise to his nickname, Lackland. His first marriage lasted but ten years and was fruitless, but his second wife, Isabella of Angouleme, bore him two sons and three daughters. He also had an illegitimate daughter, Joan, who married Llywelyn the Great, Ruler of All Wales, from which the Tudor line of monarchs was descended. The survival of the English government during John's reign is a testament to the reforms of his father, as John taxed the system socially, economically, and judicially.

The Angevin family feuds profoundly marked John. He and Richard clashed in 1184 following Richard's refusal to honor his father's wishes surrender Aquitane to John. The following year Henry II sent John to rule Ireland, but John alienated both the native Irish and the transplanted Anglo-Normans who emigrated to carve out new lordships for themselves; the experiment was a total failure and John returned home within six months. After Richard gained the throne in 1189, he gave John vast estates in an unsuccessful attempt to appease his younger brother. John failed to overthrow Richard's administrators during the German captivity and conspired with Philip II in another failed coup attempt. Upon Richard's release from captivity in 1194, John was forced to sue for pardon and he spent the next five years in his brother's shadow.

John proved extremely unpopular with his subjects. In addition to the Irish debacle, he inflamed his French vassals by orchestrating the murder of his popular nephew, Arthur of Brittany. By spring 1205, he lost the last of his French possessions and returned to England. The final ten years of his reign were occupied with failed attempts to regain these territories. After levying a number of new taxes upon the barons to pay for his dismal campaigns, the discontented barons revolted, capturing London in May 1215. At Runnymeade in the following June, John succumbed to pressure from the barons, the Church, and the English people at-large, and signed the Magna Carta. The document, a declaration of feudal rights, stressed three points. First, the Church was free to make ecclesiastic appointments. Second, larger-than-normal amounts of money could only be collected with the consent of the king's feudal tenants. Third, no freeman was to be punished except within the context of common law. Magna Carta, although a testament to John's complete failure as monarch, was the forerunner of modern constitutions. John only signed the document as a means of buying time and his hesitance to implement its principles compelled the nobility to seek French assistance. The barons offered the throne to Philip II's son, Louis. John died in the midst of invasion from the French in the South and rebellion from his barons in the North.

King married Isabella D'ANGOULEME on 24 Aug 1200 in Bordeaux Cathedral. Isabella (daughter of Count of Angouleme Aymer Taillefer DE VALENCE and Countess Alix DE COURTENAY) was born about 1188 in Angouleme, Charente, France; died on 31 May 1235 in Fontevrault L'Ab,Maine-Et-Loire,France; was buried in Fountervrault Ab, An Jou, Isere, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Raymond married Beatrix Of SAVOY. Beatrix (daughter of Thomas I of SAVOY and Margaret DE GENEVA) died in 1266. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

King married Princess Eleanor DE AQUITAINE on 11 May 1153 in Bordeaux, Gironde, France. Princess (daughter of Duke William VIII Of POITOU and Eleanor DE CHATELLERAULT) was born in 1121 in Bordeaux, France; died on 03 Mar 1204 in Fontevrault abbey, Maine-Et-Loire, France; was buried in Fontevrault abbey, Maine-Et-Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Count married Countess Alix DE COURTENAY. Countess (daughter of Emporer Pierre Of CONSTANTINOPLE and Isabelle Elizabeth DE COURTENAY) was born about 1160 in Courtenay, Galinois, France; died in 1218 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Margaret DE GENEVA. Margaret was born about 1180. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]