1270s in England

Incumbents

Monarch - Henry III (to 16 November 1272), Edward I

Events

1270

April - Parliament levies a property tax to support the Eighth Crusade.

9 September - William Chillenden elected to the Archbishopric of Canterbury.

20 August - Prince Edward participates in the Ninth Crusade with his wife Eleanor of Castile.

Battle of Áth-an-Chip: The army of the Irish Kingdom of Connacht routs the English army near Carrick-on-Shannon.

1271

Prince Edward reaches Acre during the Ninth Crusade.

1272

Summer - Pope Gregory X sets aside the election of William Chilldenden to the Archbishopric of Canterbury.

24 September - Prince Edward leaves Acre at the end of the Ninth Crusade for Sicily.

11 October - Robert Kilwardby enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.

16 November - King Henry III dies; Prince Edward succeeds him as Edward I of England.

Court of Common Pleas established as a permanent body, and receives its first chief justice (Gilbert of Preston).

The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers receives the right to regulate the leather trade in London.

1273

Edward pays homage to Philip III of France.

1274

2 August - Edward I returns to England from the Ninth Crusade.

19 August - Coronation of Edward I.

The Hundred Rolls are commissioned, enquiring into the rights of English landowners.

Merton College, Oxford receives its statutes, the first English university college to do so.

1275

22 April - Edward I's first parliament meets and passes the first Statute of Westminster, codifying the existing law in England, in 51 chapters of Norman French, and defining legal privileges.

May - Parliament imposes the first regular customs duty on wool and leather.

11 September - Earthquake in southern England damages churches at Glastonbury.

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd refuses to pay homage to Edward I; Llywelyn's proxy bride Eleanor de Montfort (Edward's cousin) is captured at sea off the south-west of England and held prisoner at Windsor Castle as a bargaining counter for Llywelyn's compliance.

New statute forbids Jews from charging interest on loans.

1276

November - Edward I invades Wales.

Merton College, Oxford, is first recorded as having a collection of books, making its Library the world's oldest in continuous daily use.

1277

9 November - Treaty of Aberconwy: Llywelyn to retain control of Gwynedd in return for paying homage to England; Edward to rule the remainder of Wales.

St George's Cross is first recorded in use as the national flag of England.

1278

June or July - Robert Burnell elected to the Archbishopric of Canterbury.

7 August - Statute of Gloucester defines competences of local courts and establishes legal procedures for claiming a right to privileges.

13 October - The King allows his cousin Eleanor de Montfort to marry Llywelyn ap Gruffudd at Worcester Cathedral.

17 November - All Jews in England imprisoned on suspicion of coin clipping.

1279

January - Pope Nicholas III quashes the election of Robert Burnell to the Archbishopric of Canterbury.

25 January - John Peckham enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.

The first of the Statutes of Mortmain prevents land from passing into possession of the church.

December - New coinage issued, including the first groats and round farthings and a new silver halfpenny.

Itinerant royal judges are ordered to inquire into confederacies against justice, thus effectively making conspiracy a crime.

The Royal Mint moves to the Tower of London by this year.

Further round of Hundred Rolls commissioned.

Births

1270

Approximate date - Andrew Harclay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, military leader (executed 1323)

1271

May - Joan of Acre, daughter of King Edward I (died 1307)

1273

24 November - Alphonso, Earl of Chester, son of Edward I (died 1284)

1274

Approximate date - Adam Murimuth, ecclesiastic and chronicler (died 1347)

1275

18 August - Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere (died 1322)

Approximate date - Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (died 1324)

1276

Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford (died in battle 1322)

1278

Approximate date - Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, politician (executed 1322)

Deaths

1270

18 July - Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury, (born c. 1217)

Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk (born 1212)

1271

13 March - Henry of Almain, crusader (born 1235)

Richard de Grey, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (year of birth unknown)

1272

18 March - John FitzAlan, 7th Earl of Arundel (born 1246)

2 April - Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall (born 1209)

16 November - King Henry III (born 1207)

Bartholomeus Anglicus, Franciscan monk and encyclopedia author (born before 1203)

Approximate date - William of Sherwood, logician (born c.1200)

1275

26 February - Margaret of England, daughter of Henry III of England and consort of Alexander III of Scotland (born 1240)

13 April - Eleanor of England (born 1215)

24 September - Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford, Constable of England (born 1208)

1277

27 October - Walter de Merton, Lord Chancellor and founder of Merton College, Oxford (born c. 1205)

1279

11 September - Robert Kilwardby, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 1215)

Walter Giffard, Lord Chancellor and archbishop (year of birth unknown)