1270s in England

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

• 1270
  • April – Parliament levies a property tax to support the Eighth Crusade.[1]
  • 9 September – William Chillenden elected to the Archbishopric of Canterbury.
  • 20 August – Prince Edward participates in the Ninth Crusade[2] with his wife Eleanor of Castile.
  • Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, donates to the Cistercian Hailes Abbey near Winchcombe in Gloucestershire (his father's foundation) a phial held to contain the Blood of Christ, acquired in the Holy Roman Empire; this becomes such a magnet for pilgrimage that within 7 years the monks are able to rebuild their abbey on a magnificent scale.[3]
  • Battle of Áth-an-Chip: The army of the Irish Kingdom of Connacht routs the English army near Carrick-on-Shannon.[1]
• 1271
  • Prince Edward reaches Acre during the Ninth Crusade.[1]
• 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.[2]
  • Court of Common Pleas established as a permanent body, and receives its first chief justice (Gilbert of Preston).[1]
  • Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and Curriers granted rights to regulate the leather trade in the City of London; Fishmongers Company chartered.
• 1273
  • Edward pays homage to Philip III of France.[1]
• 1274
  • 2 August – Edward I returns to England from the Ninth Crusade.[1]
  • 19 August – coronation of Edward I.[2]
  • The Hundred Rolls are commissioned, enquiring into the rights of English landowners.[2]
  • Merton College, Oxford receives its statutes, the first English university college to do so.[1]
• 1275
  • 22 April – Edward I's first parliament meets[1] and passes the first Statute of Westminster, codifying the existing law in England, in 51 chapters of Norman French, and defining legal privileges.[2]
  • May – Parliament imposes the first regular customs duty on wool and leather.[1]
  • 11 September – an earthquake in southern England damages churches at Glastonbury and is felt across the country.
  • Llywelyn ap Gruffudd refuses to pay homage to Edward I;[1] 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.[1]
• 1276
  • November – Edward I invades Wales.[1]
  • Merton College, Oxford, is first recorded as having a collection of books, making its Library the world's oldest in continuous daily use.[4]
• 1277
  • 9 November – Treaty of Aberconwy by which Llywelyn was to retain control of Gwynedd in return for paying homage to England while Edward was to rule the remainder of Wales.[2]
  • St George's Cross is first recorded in use as the national flag of England.[5]
• 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.[1]
  • 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.[6]
• 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 against the wishes of the King.[1]
  • The first of the Statutes of Mortmain prevents land from passing into possession of the church.[2]
  • December – new coinage issued, including the first groats and round farthings and a new silver halfpenny.[1]
  • Itinerant royal judges are ordered to inquire into confederacies against justice, thus effectively making conspiracy a crime.[7]
  • The Royal Mint moves to the Tower of London by this year.[8]
  • Further round of Hundred Rolls commissioned.

• 1270
  • Approximate date – Andrew Harclay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, military leader (executed 1323)
• 1272
  • April – 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
  • 15 March – Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant, daughter of King Edward I (died after 1333)
  • 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
  • 11 March – Mary of Woodstock, daughter of King Edward I, nun (died by 1332)
  • Approximate date – Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, politician (executed 1322)
• 1279
  • Approximate date – Marguerite of France, daughter of Philip III of France and Queen consort of Edward I of England (died 1318)

• 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 friar 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)
  • John of Howden, canon and poet writing in Norman French and Latin
• 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)