The Black Death had swept through England taking out great swaths of the population with terrifying efficiency.  The only silver lining to be found in this great expanse of death is that it left the survivors in the possession of more wealth and power than their forebearers.  Men who had been scratching a living, suddenly became village elites with a bit of money and property as all the other heirs were carried off with plague.  Labor for the harvests was scarce and food was scarcer, so those willing to toil were able to charge a wage and not be tied to land as defined by feudal law.  However, the lords…

Edward I of England and his queen, Eleanor of Castile, were deeply devoted to one another.  Their marriage, like most marriages at the time, was pure rooted in pragmatic politics.  Henry III, Edward’s father, was having a dispute with Eleanor’s half brother Alphonso over claims to the duchy of Gascony.  A deal was struck that Alphonso would cede his claims to his half-sister’s new husband after the marriage.  They were married at Burgos in Castile in August 1254 in a lavish ceremony.  Although the two had not known each other previously, there seems to be a real affection that grew up between them.  From the time of the marriage, they…