DEATH OF EDWARD LONGSHANKS ~ KING OF ENGLAND

 

 On this day ~ 7th July 1307 
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 DEATH OF EDWARD LONGSHANKS ~ KING OF ENGLAND 

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 On this day 717 years ago, the mighty Edward I died at Burgh-by-Sands, west of Carlisle.

Edward had ruled England with an iron fist, since 1272, however, his death had been steadily coming.
His health had declined in the last three years of his life.

 The exact nature of his illness in the last years of his life is unknown, but it seems it was painful and prolonged.

Throughout 1306 and into the first half of 1307, the king’s household accounts are full of purchases of medicines and ointments.

His joints were apparently painful, he had a neck brace made, and he even bought leather leggings, to help his painful legs.

 Edward would often take herbal baths, drink pomegranate wine and a cordial which included crushed amber, jacinth (a reddish/orange gem), musk, pearls, gold and silver - all in an effort to improve his ailments.

His good health came and went, some months he was carried in a litter, others he was mobile and able to attend parliament at Carlisle.

As always, the king held on to his iron clad legend. Despite the threat of imminent death, he refused to let others see his pain.

 By 1296, Edward had invaded Scotland, and put the Scottish people under English rule.

In this period he earned his nickname, ‘Hammer of the Scots’.

However, Edward underestimated the determined Scots, under the rule of Robert the Bruce.

Determined to bring Bruce to heel, the king ordered his army north.

 Riding out of Carlisle on 3rd July, Edward and the army made slow progress, barely covering more than a couple of miles a day.

By the 6th July, they reached Burgh-by-Sands, when the king suddenly became ill with dysentery.
Here Edward rested in his tent.

Early the following day, on 7th July 1307, his servants entered the tent to wake the king.
As they lifted him from his bed, he fell back in their arms - dead.

 Edward I's body was brought south, lying in state at Waltham Abbey, before being buried in Westminster Abbey on 27th October.

In a solemn ceremony the king was laid to rest wearing his coronation robes.
There are few records of the funeral, which cost £473.

His large grey marble tomb chest, in which his bones lie, had no effigy or decoration.
Possibly the result of the shortage of royal funds.

 In 1774 his tomb was opened and inside a Purbeck marble coffin, his body was found nearly entire.

Edward was wrapped in a waxed linen cloth and still wearing royal robes of red and gold with a crimson mantle.

He had a gilt crown on his head and carried a sceptre, surmounted by a dove and oak leaves in enamels.

 The king's body was well preserved over the preceding 467 years, with dried skin still very visible.

"The chin and lips were entire, but without any
beard.
A sinking, or dip between the chin and the
under-lip, was very conspicuous.

Both the lips were prominent; the nose short, as if
shrunk; but the apertures of the nostrils were
visible.

There was an unusual fall, or cavity, on that part of
the bridge of the nose which separates the orbits
of the eyes, and some globular substance
possible fleshy part of the eye-balls, was
moveable in their sockets under the envelope”

 An opportunity to determine the King's original height, was taken.
The king was measured at six foot two inches tall.

Traces of the Latin inscription on his tomb read ~

"Edwardus Primus Scottorum Malleus hic est, 1308.
Pactum Serva"

"Here is Edward I, Hammer of the Scots, 1308.
Keep the Troth"

The Tudor Intruders (and more)
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 historic-uk. com/HistoryofEngland/Edward-I/
fourteenthcenturyfiend. com/a-leopard-in-winter-the-death-of-edward-i
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 Edward I Tomb
Image © 2023 Dean and Chapter of Westminster