Who is King Edward from The Reckoning and what is their importance?

Son of King Henry, Edward Plantagenet rules England while he waits for his father to die. Cruel, commanding, and calculating, Edward is called the greatest warrior in Christendom. Edward is the nephew of Simon de Montfort and is responsible for Simon's death and dismemberment, a brutality the de Montfort family will never forgive. When Edward ascends to the throne after Henry's death, he is called a Crusader King. He makes several pilgrimages to the Holy Land to participate in the crusades and seeks to expand his kingdom. He controls his vassals with a heavy hand.