King Edward I of England - Longshanks

King Edward I of England - Longshanks Edward I - Early Life: Born June 17, 1239, Edward was the son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. Trusted to the care of Hugh Giffard until 1246, Edward was later raised by Bartholomew Pecche. In 1254, with his fathers lands in Gascony under threat from Castile, Edward was directed to marry King Alfonso X of Castiles daughter Eleanor. Traveling to Spain, he wed Eleanor at Burgos on November 1. Married until her death in 1290, the couple produced sixteen children including Edward of Caernarvon who succeed his father on the throne. A tall man by the standards of the day, he earned the nickname Longshanks. Edward I -Second Barons War: An unruly youth, he clashed with his father and in 1259 sided with a number of barons seeking political reform. This led Henry to return to England from France and the two were ultimately reconciled. In 1264, tensions with the nobles again came to a head and erupted in the Second Barons War. Taking the field in support of his father, Edward captured Gloucester and Northampton before being taken hostage after the royal defeat at Lewes. Released the following March, Edward campaigned against Simon de Montfort. Advancing in August 1265, Edward won a decisive victory at Evesham which resulted in Montforts death. Edward I -The Crusades: With peace restored to England, Edward pledged to embark on a crusade to the Holy Land in 1268. After difficulties raising funds, he departed with a small force in 1270 and moved to join with King Louis IX of France at Tunis. Arriving, he found that Louis had died. Deciding to press on, Edwards men arrived at Acre in May 1271. Though his force aided the citys garrison, it was not large enough to attack Muslim forces in the region with any lasting effect. After a series of minor campaigns and surviving an assassination attempt, Edward departed Acre in September 1272. Edward I -King of England: Reaching Sicily, Edward learned of his fathers death and his proclamation as king. With the situation in London stable, he moved slowly traveling though Italy, France, and Gascony before arriving home in August 1274. Crowned king, Edward immediately began a series of administrative reforms and worked to restore royal authority. While his aides worked to clarify feudal land holdings, Edward also directed the passage of new statutes regarding criminal and property law. Holding regular Parliaments, Edward broke new ground in 1295 when he included members of the commons and gave them power to speak for their communities. Edward I -War in Wales: In November 1276, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, declared war on Edward. The following year, Edward advanced into Wales with 15,000 men and compelled Gruffudd to sign the Treaty of Aberconwy which limited him to the land of Gwynedd. Fighting again flared in 1282 and saw Welsh forces win a string of victories over Edwards commanders. Halting the enemy at Orewin Bridge in December, English forces began a war of conquest which resulted in the imposition of English law over the region. Having subjugated Wales, Edward embarked on a large castle building program in the 1280s to consolidate his hold Edward I -The Great Cause: As Edward worked to strengthen England, Scotland descended into a succession crisis following the death of Alexander III in 1286. Dubbed the Great Cause, the battle for the Scottish throne effectively devolved into a contest between John Balliol and Robert de Brus. Unable to come to a settlement, the Scottish nobles asked Edward to arbitrate the dispute. Edward agreed on the condition that Scotland recognize him as its feudal overlord. Unwilling to do so, the Scots instead agreed to let Edward oversee the realm until a successor was named. After much discussion and several hearings, Edward found in favor of Balliol on November 17, 1292. Despite Balliols ascension to the throne, Edward continued to wield power over Scotland. This issue came to a head when Balliol refused to provide troops for Edwards new war against France. Allying with France, Balliol dispatched troops south and attacked Carlisle. In retaliation, Edward marched north and captured Berwick before his forces routed the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar in April 1296. Capturing Balliol, Edward also seized the Scottish coronation stone, the Stone of Destiny, and took it to Westminster Abbey. Edward I -Issues at Home: Placing an English administration over Scotland, Edward returned home and was faced by financial and feudal problems. Clashing with the Archbishop of Canterbury over taxing the clergy, he also faced resistance from the nobles over increasing levels of taxation and military service. As a result, Edward had difficulty building a large army for a campaign in Flanders in 1297. This crisis was resolved indirectly by the English defeat at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Uniting the nation against the Scots, the defeat led Edward to again march north the following year. Edward I -Scotland Again: Meeting Sir William Wallace and the Scottish army at the Battle of Falkirk, Edward routed them on July 22, 1298. Despite the victory, he was forced to campaign in Scotland again in 1300 and 1301 as the Scots avoided open battle and persisted in raiding English positions. In 1304 he undercut the enemy position by making peace with France and swaying many of the Scottish nobles to his side. The capture and execution of Wallace the following year further aided the English cause. Re-establishing English rule, Edwards victory proved short-lived. In 1306, Robert the Bruce, grandson of the earlier claimant, killed his rival John Comyn and was crowned King of Scotland. Moving quickly, he embarked on a campaign against the English. Aging and ill, Edward dispatched forces to Scotland to meet the threat. While one defeated Bruce at Methven, the other was beaten at Loudoun Hill in May 1307. Seeing little choice, Edward personally led a large force north to Scotland that summer. Contracting dysentery on the way, he encamped at Burgh by Sands just south of the border on July 6. The following morning, Edward died as prepared for breakfast. His body was taken back to London and buried at Westminster Abbey on October 27. With his death, the throne passed to his son who was crowned Edward II on February 25, 1308. Selected Sources The British Monarchy: King Edward IEnglish Monarchs: Edward I BBC: Edward I

The Ideas and Inventions Attributed to Archimedes

The Ideas and Inventions Attributed to Archimedes Archimedes was a mathematician and inventor from ancient Greece. Regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians in history, he’s the father of integral calculus and mathematical physics. Here are some of the ideas and inventions that have been attributed to him. While there’s no exact date for his birth and death, he was born approximately between 290 and 280 BC and died sometime between 212 or 211 BC in Syracuse, Sicily. The Archimedes Principle Archimedes wrote in his treatise â€Å"On Floating Bodies† that an object submerged in fluid experiences a buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces. The famous anecdote for how he came up with this was started when he was asked to determine if a crown was pure gold or contained some silver. While in the bathtub he arrived at the principle of displacement by weight and ran through the streets naked shouting Eureka (I have found it)! A crown with silver would weigh less than one that was pure gold, Weighing the displaced water would allow calculation of the density of the crown, showing whether or not it was pure gold. The Archimedes Screw The Archimedes screw,  or screw pump, is a machine that can raise water from a lower to higher level. It is useful for irrigation systems, water systems, sewage systems and for pumping water out of a ships bilge. It is a screw-shaped surface inside a pipe and has to be turned, which is often done by attaching it to a windmill or by turning it by hand or oxen. The windmills of Holland are an example of using the Archimedes screw to drain water from low-lying areas. Archimedes may not have discovered this invention since there is some evidence they existed for hundreds of years before his life. He may have observed them in Egypt and later popularized them in Greece. War Machines and Heat Ray Archimedes also designed several claw,  catapult, and trebuchet war machines for use against the armies laying siege to Syracuse. The author Lucian wrote in the second century AD that Archimedes used a heat-focusing device that involved mirrors acting as a parabolic reflector as a way to set invading ships on fire. Several modern-day experimenters have attempted to show this was possible, but have had mixed results. Sadly, he was killed during the siege of Syracuse. Principles of the Lever and Pulleys Archimedes is quoted as saying, Give me a place to stand on and I will move the Earth. He explained the principles of levers in  his treatise â€Å"On the Equilibrium of Planes.† He designed block-and-tackle pulley systems for use in loading and unloading ships. Planetarium or Orrery Archimedes even built devices that showed the movement of the sun and moon across the sky. It would have required sophisticated differential gears. These devices were acquired by General  Marcus Claudius Marcellus as part of his personal loot from the capture of Syracuse. An Early Odometer Archimedes is credited with designing an odometer that could measure distance. It used a chariot wheel and gears to drop a pebble once per Roman mile into a counting box.