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Edward the Confessor

son of Ethelred, succeeded Hardicanute in 1041.

Having been reared in Normandy, he brought over many of the natives of that country, whom he preferred at his court, which gave great disgust to his Saxon subjects. Notwithstanding this, he kept possession of his throne, and framed a code which is supposed to be the origin of the common law of England. He abolished the tax of danegelt, was the first who pretended to cure the king's evil by touch, and restored Malcolm to the throne of Scotland, which had been usurped by Macbeth. He consulted William of Normandy about the choice of a successor, and this afterward furnished that prince with a plea for invading the kingdom after the death of Edward, in 1066.

EDWARD I. (Norman line), surnamed Longshanks; born in 1239, succeeded his father, Henry III., in 1272. At the time of his father's death he was in Palestine, fighting against the Saracens for the recovery of Jerusalem, and when he returned, completed the conquest of Wales and subdued Scotland. To preserve Wales, he caused his son, who was born in Cærnarvon, to be called the "Prince of Wales," which, ever since has continued to be the title of the eldest son of the King of England. In endeavoring to break the spirit of the Scotch, he was unsuccessful, the patriotism of Wallace and his followers completely baffling his attempts at the entire subjugation of that people. He died in 1307. While in the Holy Land, Eleanor, the wife of this sovereign, saved his life by sucking the poison from a wound which he received from a vengeful assassin. She was the daughter of Ferdinand III., King of Castile. His second wife was Margaret, daughter of Philip the Hardy, King of France. The laws which he framed entitle him to the name of the English Justinian.

EDWARD III.

EDWARD II., son of the above, was created Prince of Wales in 1284, and after his accession to the throne suffered himself to be governed by his favorites, Gaveston and the Spencers, which occasioned the barons to rise against him. In his reign the battle of Bannockburn was fought near Stirling, in Scotland, which restored to that country whatever of her independence she had lost in the previous reign. In 1327, he was deposed by his subjects, and his crown conferred on his son, when he was confined in Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, where he was murdered in 1327.

EDWARD III., eldest son of Edward II. and Isabella of France; born in 1312, succeeded to the throne on the deposition of his father. Though a regency was appointed, the chief power wa. held by the queen and her paramour, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March. In 1330, Edward assumed the government, had Mortimer seized and hanged, and imprisoned Queen Isabella. In 1333 he invaded Scotland, and defeated the regent at Halidon Hill. The greater war with France soon withdrew his attention from Scotland. He assumed the title of King of France, invaded the country from Flanders, but without any successful result, renewed the invasion in 1340, when he defeated the French fleet at Sluys, besieged Tournay, and concluded a truce. The war was renewed, and another truce made in 1343, to be broken the following year. In 1346 he won the great victory of Crécy, took Calais in 1347, and concluded another truce. During his absence in France, the Scots invaded England, and were defeated at Nevil's Cross, David II. being taken prisoner. In 1356 Edward the Black Prince invaded France, and gained the victory of Poitiers, taking the French king and his son prisoners. The king was released after four years, on the conclusion of the peace of Bretigny, David of Scotland was released for a heavy ransom in 1357.

War broke out again with France in 1369, and in 1373 John of Gaunt marched without resistance from Calais to Bordeaux. The long wars of Edward III., though almost fruitless of practical al result, appear to have been popular; lar: and his numerous parliaments granted liberal supplies for carrying them on, gaining in return confirmations of the Great and other charters, and many valuable concessions. His victories raised the spirit and also the fame of his country, and with the evident military power of England grew also her commerce and manufactures. In this reign Wyclif began his assault on the Church of Rome; the Order of the Garter was instituted; EDWARD IV. cannon began to be used in war; and the first English gold coin was struck. Edward died in Shene, now Richmond, June 21, 1377. By his queen Philippa, daughter of William III., Count of Holland and Hainault, he had six sons and five daughters.

EDWARD VII.

Somerset; but in 1549 his place was taken by Dudley, Earl of Warwick, created Duke of Northumberland; and Somerset, two years later, was charged with treason and felony, and beheaded.

Both of these, however, carried on the work of the Reformation. Somerset made an expedition into Scotland, and gained the victory of Musselburgh, or Pinkie, in 1547; Warwick defeated the insurgents under Ket, the Norfolk tanner, in 1549; a very severe law was passed against vagabonds, but had to be soon repealed. The Act of Six Articles was repealed, and the use of the Book of Common Prayer established. The great aim of Northumberland was to secure the succession to the throne of England for his family. With this view he married his son, Lord Guilford Dudley, to Lady Jane Grey, and obtained from the weak and dying Edward, a document settling the succession on Jane Grey, to the exclusion of Mary and Elizabeth. He died in 1552.

EDWARD VII., King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of all the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, born in Buckingham Palace, London, on Nov. 9, 1841. He was the second child and the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince EDWARD IV., ., son of Richard, Duke of York, succeeded Henry VI. in 1461.

He came to the throne in the midst of the fierce struggle between the Yorkists and Lancastrians, in which he greatly distinguished himself by his courage and military skill. He won a great victory over the Lancastrians at Northampton, in July, 1460, and a second at Mortimer's Cross, in February, 1461; after which he marched on London, and was proclaimed.

A few weeks after his accession he defeated them a third time at Towton, in Yorkshire. The war continued with varying fortunes till 1464. In the same year he married Lady Elizabeth Grey, which so disgusted the Earl of Warwick, commonly called the king-maker, that he joined the Lancastrian party, and the civil war was recommenced.

Warwick defeated Edward's forces near Banbury in 1469. Soon afterward Warwick fled to France, from whence he returned with a supply of troops, and proclaimed Henry. Edward escaped beyond sea, and Warwick released Henry from the Tower, and set him on the throne; but Edward returned with succor, and marched to London, where he took Henry prisoner. He shortly after won the battle of Barnet, in which Warwick fell. Another victory at Tewksbury secured to him the quiet possession of the throne.

Preparations were made for war with France, and an expedition sent, which was, however, fruitless. War broke out also with Scotland, but nothing of importance occurred. In 1478 Edward had his brother, the Duke of Clarence, condemned and put to death as a traitor. Clarence had married Isabel, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, and had taken part with him against the king. He died in 1483.

EDWARD V., son of the preceding whom he succeeded at the age of 12 years, was smothered, with his brother, in the Tower, by order of their uncle and guardian, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, in 1488.

EDWARD VI., the only son of Henry VIII., by his queen, Jane Seymour; was born in 1537. He succeeded his father in 1547, but by reason of his tender age and early death, had little to do with the important measures that mark his reign.

His uncle, the Earl of Hertford, was named protector, and created Duke of " EDWARD VII.

Consort. He was christened Albert Edward. He was made Prince of Wales at his birth and as heir to the throne succeeded to many other titles. He was educated privately and among his tutors was Charles Kingsley. He attended Edinburgh University for one session,