Editing Edward I of England (section)

===Finances and Parliament===
[[File:Groat of Edward I 4 pences.jpg|thumb|upright=1.09|left|alt=Two sides of a groat (coin) dating from the reign of Edward I. The left image shows its obverse, with a head with a coronet, representing King Edward. The surrounding text says, in abbreviated Latin, "Edward, by the grace of God King of England". The right image shows the reverse, which featured a cross and the text "Duke of Aquitaine and Lord of Ireland", and "Made in London".|Two [[Groat (coin)|groat]]s of Edward&nbsp;I (4&nbsp;[[pence]] coins). On the left the obverse shows a head with a coronet. The surrounding text says, in abbreviated Latin, "Edward, by the grace of God king of England". The reverse shows a cross and the text "Duke of Aquitaine and Lord of Ireland", and "Made in London".]]

Edward's reign saw an overhaul of the coinage system, which was in a poor state by 1279.<ref name="Prestwich 1997 247">{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=247}}.</ref> Compared to the coinage already circulating at the time of Edward's accession, the new coins issued proved to be of superior quality. In addition to minting [[History of the English penny (1154–1485)|pennies]], [[History of the halfpenny|halfpences]] and [[Farthing (English coin)|farthings]], a new denomination called the [[Groat (coin)|groat]] (which proved to be unsuccessful) was introduced.<ref name="Prestwich 1997 246">{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=246}}.</ref> The coinmaking process itself was also improved. The [[moneyer]] William Turnemire introduced a novel method of minting coins that involved cutting blank coins from a silver rod, in contrast with the old practice of stamping them out from sheets; this technique proved to be efficient.<ref name="Prestwich 1997 246"/> The practice of minting coins with the moneyer's name on them became obsolete under Edward's rule because England's mint administration became far more centralised under the Crown's authority. During this time, English coins were frequently counterfeited on the Continent, especially the [[Low Countries]], and despite a ban in 1283, English coinage was secretly exported to the European continent.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|pp=246–247}}.</ref> In August 1280, Edward forbade the usage of the old [[Long cross penny|long cross coinage]], which forced the populace to switch to the newly minted versions.<ref name="Prestwich 1997 247"/> Records indicate that the coinage overhaul successfully provided England with a stable currency.<ref name="Prestwich 1997 248">{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=248}}.</ref>

[[File:Medieval parliament edward.Jpg|thumb|upright=1.09|alt=Below a piece of text is seen a king on a throne on a podium. On either side is seen a king and a bishop in front of the podium and clerks behind it. In front of this sit several lay and ecclesiastical lords, and more clerks, in a square on a chequered floor.|16th-century illustration of Edward&nbsp;I presiding over Parliament. The scene shows Alexander III of Scotland and [[Llywelyn ap Gruffudd]] of Wales on either side of Edward; an episode that never occurred.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=plate 14}}.</ref>]]

Edward's frequent military campaigns put a great financial strain on the nation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harriss|1975|p=49}}.</ref> There were several ways through which the King could raise money for war, including customs duties, loans and lay subsidies, which were taxes collected at a certain fraction of the moveable property of all laymen who held such assets. In 1275, Edward negotiated an agreement with the domestic merchant community that secured a permanent duty on wool, England's primary export.<ref>{{Harvnb|Carpenter|2004|pp=470–471}}.</ref> In 1303, a similar agreement was reached with foreign merchants, in return for certain rights and privileges.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|1989|pp=65–66}}.</ref> The revenues from the customs duty were handled by the [[House of Simonetti#Simonetti of Lucca|Riccardi]], a group of bankers from [[Lucca]] in Italy.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|pp=99–100}}.</ref> This was in return for their service as moneylenders to the crown, which helped finance the Welsh Wars. When the war with France broke out, the French king confiscated the Riccardi's assets, and the bank went bankrupt.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|1989|pp=80–81}}.</ref> After this, the [[Frescobaldi]] of [[Florence]] took over the role as moneylenders to the English crown.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=403}}.</ref> Edward also sought to reduce pressure on his finances by helping his wife Eleanor to build an independent income.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parsons|1995|p=|pp=149-151}}</ref>

Edward held Parliament on a regular basis throughout his reign.<ref>{{Harvnb|Powicke|1962|p=342}}.</ref> In 1295, a significant change occurred. For this Parliament, as well as the secular and ecclesiastical lords, two knights from each county and two representatives from each borough were summoned.<ref name="Krieger1">{{Harvnb|Krieger|Neill|Jantzen|1992|p=251}}, {{Harvnb|Brown|1989|p=185}}.</ref> The representation of commons in Parliament was nothing new; what was new was the authority under which these representatives were summoned. Whereas previously the commons had been expected to assent to decisions made by the magnates, it was now proclaimed that they should meet with the full authority (''plena potestas'') of their communities, to give assent to decisions made in Parliament.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harriss|1975|pp=41–42}}.</ref> The King now had full backing for collecting lay subsidies from the entire population.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|1989|pp=70–71}}.</ref> Whereas Henry III had only collected four of these in his reign, Edward collected nine.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|1989|p=71}}.</ref> This format eventually became the standard for later Parliaments, and historians have named the assembly the "[[Model Parliament]]",<ref>{{Harvnb|Krieger|Neill|Jantzen|1992|p=252}}.</ref> a term first introduced by the English historian [[William Stubbs]].<ref name="Morris2009PP282">{{Harvnb|Morris|2009|pp=283–284}}.</ref>