Edward I's Marshal of England could invoke the legal limits of the office when resisting deployment outside England. One dispute ended with the marshal handling the northern campaign while the king went to France. The episode qualifies the image of Edward as an unconstrained authoritarian because even he had to contend with the law attached to established titles. A distinct admiralty title gave the Crown a maritime official whose jurisdiction could follow the seas connected to England. Calling the post Admiral of the Seas of England may therefore have been a careful institutional solution to a real command problem.
Notable Point · 6:25-8:25
Why Edward I needed an admiral rather than another marshal
The carefully framed title 'Admiral of the Seas of England' may have avoided the jurisdictional limits and political friction attached to the Marshal of England.