ABSTRACT
Edward I had set a high standard for his successors. In every sphere of his activity he had shown outstanding ability. As a warrior he had subdued Wales and nearly conquered Scotland. As a legislator he had defined matters of procedure and produced settlement in the realm of common law. As an administrator he had made a strenuous endeavour to increase the royal revenue, upon which the efficiency of administration was dependent, but had not met with complete success. He developed and improved the machinery of local and central government. He had provided the Model Parliament. The country had been rescued out of the chaos into which it had fallen under Henry III and the prosperity of the land as well as the strength of the kingship had been increased. He had done more than secure reforms; he had laid down the lines of future development. In many directions the work of his successor would have to be the maintenance of Edward I's reforms. In one direction, partly because Edward I had failed to grapple successfully with the problem, partly because of the reforms he had introduced, important work awaited the new king. The administration was in need of reform. The state of the exchequer in particular required drastic amendment.
