It is a measure of Edward's faith in the goodwill of the English people that he did not arrive in England until almost a year after the death of his father, Henry III in 1272. Edward had been a part of the ?? Crusade when his father died, and does not appear to have rushed back to England to claim his crown.
The most interesting events in Edward's life relate to the process by which this stability was acheived. During his father's reign there was considerable unrest, the chief instigator of which was Simon de Montfort, Henry's brother-in-law, and Edward's uncle. As Henry III was not a particularly forceful leader, Edward was the de facto leader of the royalist party for most of the time. These civil wars hardened Edward as a political leader and as a battle commander, and would appear to have been the ideal training for the man who would one day be king.
Edward introduced the punishment of hanging, drawing and quartering.
timnfromoz
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