On March 30, 1296, King Edward I of England, often better known as Edward Longshanks, sacked the Scottish town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, part of the ongoing war of England trying to maintain suzerainty over Scotland. (Which means control of the direction and foreign policy of another nation without total ceding of local control. Or something like that.) As Scotland chafed under the English thumb, patriots such as William Wallace, a knight of murky origins, arose to fight the English during the struggle for total independence for Scotland.
Digging Deeper
Why “Longshanks?” Meaning “Long Legs,” Edward was quite tall for his day at 6 feet 2 inches and had long legs. Not unlike the nicknames of other monarchs such as Pepin the Short, Charles the Bald, and Charles the Fat. (Question: What sort of names would these Medieval people lay on our modern presidents and prime ministers?) The name “Edward” was an unusual name for the 5th of the Plantagenet kings, as the name is Anglo-Saxon in origin and Longshanks was of Norman descent. Apparently, Edward’s father, Henry III, was a fan of Edward the Confessor, the King of England from 1042 to1066.
