ABSTRACT
Edward I returned from one crusade hoping to organize another by a united Europe, but he was abundantly occupied at home and his plan remained among the impossibilities of history. By the Statute of Wales in 1284 he annexed Wales to the crown of England and generally introduced English law under English sheriffs. The Black Death was as disastrous in England as elsewhere and as Parliament was unable to check the demands of the laborers for increased wages, many great landholders turned to the raising of sheep. The long wars disturbed trade relations with Flanders, where most of the wool was woven into cloth, and many Flemish weavers came to England to begin the manufacture of woolen cloth there. Despite the chronic wars of the two centuries have just passed in review, England made some progress in the arts of civilization in common with the rest of Europe.
