Editing Edward I of England (section)

===Childhood and marriage===
[[File:Edward I and Eleanor.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|alt=Inside an initial letter are drawn two heads with necks, a male over a female. They are both wearing coronets. The man's left eye is drawn differently both from his right and those of the woman.|Early 14th-century manuscript [[initial]] showing Edward and his first wife [[Eleanor of Castile]]. The artist has perhaps tried to depict Edward's [[blepharoptosis]] (drooping eyelid), a trait he inherited from his father.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morris|2009|p=22}}.</ref>]]

Edward was born at the [[Palace of Westminster]] on the night of 17–18 June 1239, to King [[Henry III of England|Henry&nbsp;III]] and [[Eleanor of Provence]].<ref name="Morris2009P2">{{Harvnb|Morris|2009|p=2}}, {{Harvnb|Hamilton|2010|p=51}}.</ref> [[Edward]], an [[Anglo-Saxon name]], was not commonly given among the aristocracy of England after the [[Norman Conquest]], but Henry was devoted to the veneration of [[Edward the Confessor]] and decided to name his firstborn son after the [[saint]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Carpenter|2007}}; {{Harvnb|Morris|2009|pp=3–4}}.</ref> Edward's birth was widely celebrated at the royal court and throughout England, and he was [[baptised]] three days later at [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Hamilton|2010|p=51}}, {{Harvnb|Jenks|1902|p=74}}.</ref> He was commonly referred to as the Lord Edward until his accession to the throne in 1272.{{Sfnm|1a1=Burt|1y=2013|1p=75}} Among his childhood friends was his cousin [[Henry of Almain]], son of King Henry's brother [[Richard of Cornwall]].<ref name="Prestwich 1997 6">{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=6}}.</ref> Henry of Almain remained a close companion of the prince for the rest of his life.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|pp=27, 46, 69}}.</ref> Edward was placed in the care of Hugh Giffard&nbsp;– father of the future [[Chancellor of the Exchequer|Chancellor]] [[Godfrey Giffard]]&nbsp;– until Bartholomew Pecche took over at Giffard's death in 1246.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hamilton|2010|p=51}}, {{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|pp=5–6}}.</ref> The details of Edward's upbringing are unknown,<ref name= Chancellor27>{{Harvnb|Chancellor|1981|p=27}}.</ref> but he received an education typical of an aristocratic boy his age, including in military studies.{{sfn|Hamilton|2010|p=51}}

There were concerns about Edward's health as a child, and he fell ill in 1246, 1247, and 1251.<ref name="Prestwich 1997 6"/> Nonetheless, he grew up to become a strong, athletic, and imposing man.{{sfn|Hamilton|2010|p=51}} At {{Cvt|6|ft|2|in|cm}} he towered over most of his contemporaries,<ref>{{Harvnb|Hamilton|2010|p=58}}, {{Harvnb|Carpenter|2004|p=467}}.</ref> hence his [[epithet]] "Longshanks", meaning "long legs" or "long shins". The historian [[Michael Prestwich]] states that his "long arms gave him an advantage as a swordsman, long thighs one as a horseman. In youth, his curly hair was blond; in maturity it darkened, and in old age it turned white. The regularity of his features was marred by a [[Ptosis (eyelid)|drooping left eyelid]] ... His speech, despite a lisp, was said to be persuasive."<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|2008}}; {{Harvnb|Chancellor|1981|p=92}}.</ref>

In 1254, English fears of a [[Kingdom of Castile|Castilian]] invasion of the English-held province of [[Duchy of Gascony|Gascony]] induced King Henry to arrange a politically expedient marriage between fifteen-year-old Edward and thirteen-year-old [[Eleanor of Castile|Eleanor]], the half-sister of King [[Alfonso X of Castile]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Morris|2009|pp=14–18}}; {{Harvnb|Chancellor|1981|p=202}}.</ref> They were married on 1&nbsp;November 1254 in the [[Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas]] in Castile.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morris|2009|p=20}}.</ref> As part of the marriage agreement, Alfonso X gave up his claims to Gascony, and Edward received grants of land worth 15,000&nbsp;[[Mark (money)|marks]] a year.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=10}}; {{Harvnb|Salzman|1968|p=17}}; {{Harvnb|Jenks|1902|p=91}}.</ref>{{Efn|A medieval English mark was an [[Unit of account|accounting unit]] equivalent to two-thirds of a [[pound sterling]].{{Sfn|Harding|2002|p=xiv}}}} The marriage eventually led to the English acquisition of [[Ponthieu]] in 1279 upon Eleanor's inheritance of the county.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=316}}.</ref> Henry made sizeable endowments to Edward in 1254, including Gascony;{{sfn|Hamilton|2010|p=51}} most of Ireland, which was granted to Edward, while making the claim for the first time that dominion of Ireland would never be separated from the English crown;<ref>{{Harvnb|Carpenter|2004|p=362}}, {{harvnb|Davies|1990|p=84}}</ref> and much land in Wales and England,<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|2005|pp=34–35}}.</ref> including the [[Earldom of Chester]]. They offered Edward little independence, for Henry retained much control over the land, particularly in Ireland, and benefited from most of the income from those lands.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|pp=11–14}}.</ref> Split control caused problems. Between 1254 and 1272, eleven different [[Justiciar]]s were appointed to head the Irish government, encouraging further conflict and instability; corruption rose to very high levels.{{sfn|Lydon|2008a|pp=180–181, 193–194}} In Gascony, [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester]], had been appointed as royal lieutenant in 1253 and drew its income, so Edward derived neither authority nor revenue from this province.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|pp=7–8}}.</ref> Around the end of November 1254, Edward and Eleanor left Castile and entered Gascony, where they were warmly received by the populace. Here, Edward styled himself as "ruling Gascony as prince and lord", a move that the historian J. S. Hamilton states was a show of his blooming political independence.{{sfn|Hamilton|2010|p=52}}

From 1254 to 1257, Edward was under the influence of his mother's relatives, known as the [[House of Savoy|Savoyards]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Hamilton|2010|p=52}}, {{Harvnb|Prestwich|2005 |p=96}}.</ref> the most notable of whom was [[Peter II of Savoy]], the Queen's uncle.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morris|2009|p=7}}.</ref> After 1257, Edward became increasingly close to the [[Lusignan]] faction&nbsp;– the half-brothers of his father Henry&nbsp;III&nbsp;– led by such men as [[William de Valence]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|pp=22–23}}.</ref>{{Efn|Henry&nbsp;III's mother [[Isabella of Angoulême]] married [[Hugh X of Lusignan]] after the death of King [[John of England]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=21}}.</ref>}} The two groups of privileged foreigners were resented by the established English aristocracy, who would be at the centre of the ensuing years' baronial reform movement.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|2005|p=95}}.</ref> Edward's ties to his Lusignan kinsmen were viewed unfavourably by contemporaries,{{sfn|Hamilton|2010|p=51}}> including the [[Historians in England during the Middle Ages|chronicler]] [[Matthew Paris]], who circulated tales of unruly and violent conduct by Edward's inner circle, raising questions about his personal qualities.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prestwich|1997|p=23}}.</ref>