A.D. 1312. Edwd. II. and justice were not allowed to take their course, in which case, the result would probably have been the same, so far as Gaveston was concerned, but the effect on the King, and on the nation, would have been widely different, and the destiny of the barons themselves would, probably, have been a permanent triumph, instead of an untimely ruin. and buried at King's Gaveston's body was buried, by the Friars Langley. Preachers, in their church in Oxford; from whence, it was afterwards removed to the new church at King's Langley in Hertfordshire, the King himself placing with his own hands two palls of cloth of gold on the tomb. 22 The King evades the ordinances. It seems that, although the King had agreed to the ordinances, yet they were not practically acted on, for the barons now again demanded that they should be confirmed, and put in execution. Not receiving any satisfactory answer from the King, the barons assembled their forces at Dunstable, with the view of proceeding to London, where the King then was, and compelling him, by force of arms, to yield to their The barons demands. The King got frightened, and sent his nephew, the Earl of Gloucester, with certain bishops, and two nuncios, or ambassadors, from the Pope, to treat with the barons, at Wheathampstead near St. Albans, whither they had advanced. "The King, on his part, promised to grant a general pardon to them, and to all their adherents, reserving power to grant the like to those that had favoured Gaveston's return.' collect their forces. Unsatisfactory 71 26 A reconciliation was effected on this most unsareconcilia- tisfactory basis. The King yielded nothing. The barons, however, probably felt that they had gone too far in executing Gaveston without trial; and thought tion with the King. that, by his death, they had gained enough. But Edwd. II. their conduct shows a great want of foresight and of consistent perseverance. "The barons punctually performed their word in restoring whatever was seized at Newcastle, but Edward was not so sincere. He delayed publishing the general pardon for a year, and, during that space, used all means to draw the Earl of Lancaster to court. But what safe conduct soever he offered him, it was not possible to persuade the Earl to put himself in his power, before the pardon was proclaimed." 27 Shortly after this reconciliation, the King's eldest son, who afterwards became Edward the Third, was born at Windsor on November 13th. All this time, the Scots, profiting by the divisions of the kingdom, and the weakness of the King, were vexing and harassing the North of England. The King and Queen spent their Christmas at Windsor, surrounded by foreigners, who did all in their power to prejudice the King against the barons. We thus see, that, while the realm, more and more, needed unity and strength, the King, by his folly, did nothing but increase its divisions and weakness, and thus kept preparing the way for his own tragic end. A.D. 1312. Birth of eldest son. the King's At the end of May in the following year, A.D. A.D.1313. 1313, the King and Queen went to France, accompanied by Hugh le Despenser, who now began to have great influence over the King, and whose son soon replaced Gaveston in the infamous affections of the King. They were invited by Philip the Fair, King of France, professedly that they might grace with their presence the festivities given on the occasion of his three sons receiving the order of Renewal of quarrels between the King and the barons. Edwd. II. knighthood. But Philip really wished to take the A.D. 1313. opportunity of trying to reconcile his son-in-law with his subjects. 16 In this object, however, Philip did not succeed. On the return of Edward and Isabella to England, a Parliament was summoned to meet in September. At this Parliament, the King, forgetting the conditions on which he had made peace with the barons, set up complaints against them for putting Gaveston to death. The Earl of Lancaster, who came "with a great number of armed attendants, raised from his own tenants," 51 and with other barons, answered, that they had only destroyed a public enemy, and they further declared that they would no longer trust the King. Peace, however, between the King and the barons was soon restored, but again on terms humiliating to the barons. They agreed to humble themselves before their Sovereign, and beg his pardon; while the King, on his part, only promised that "he would no longer question any man for the death of Gaveston." 52 It is difficult to find a sufficient cause for the barons yielding in so humiliating a manner. They gained absolutely nothing from the King, except an escape from the possible penalties of the murder of Gaveston by some of them. But, having gone so far, they should not have drawn back, until they had compelled the King to govern his people as law and justice required. The King on the other hand gained everything, or seemed to do so. He humbled the barons and granted nothing but pardon for a crime which he would not then have dared to punish. In the following year, A.D. 1314, the King invaded Scotland in great force, but suffered so complete a defeat, that Bruce became thereby firmly seated on his throne. War with Scotland. Edwd. II. A.D.1314. Scotland. I must now describe the wars waged between War with England and Scotland, since the beginning of the reign of Edward the Second, but glancing back, occasionally, at what happened at the same time in England, in order that you may understand the relation the different events bore to each other. When Edward, at the beginning of his reign, returned to England with Gaveston, he dismissed the Earl of Pembroke from the government of Scotland, and appointed, in his stead, John de Bretagne, Earl of Richmond, nephew of the late King. A large army was collected, and orders were sent to the sheriffs of London to transport "to Berwick the provisions, military stores and arms requisite for the troops, with certain large crossbows, called balista de turno, employed in the attack and defence of fortified places." 31 (A.D. 1307.) Events in Scotland at the beEdward's ginning of reign. The Earl of Richmond, at the head of this army, attacked Bruce and compelled him to retreat to the North of Scotland, where, however, he does not appear to have been followed by the English. But some of the Scottish nobles, the chief among them being Bruce's mortal enemy John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, prepared to attack him. At this time Bruce was grievously ill, but he roused all his energies to meet Comyn, who had been joined by his own nephew Sir David de Brechin, and, although so weak as to be obliged to be supported on horseback by a squire on each side, he led on his men, and put his enemies to flight. Bruce's army now increased rapidly, (A.D. 1308.) Scotland at the be Edwd. II. and he laid siege to and took the castle of AberA.D.1314, deen, and obtained other successes. King Edward, Events in thinking doubtless that his defeats were owing to want of skill on his general's part, dismissed ginning of Richmond from his office, and appointed Robert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus, William de Ross of Hamlake, and Henry de Beaumont, joint governors of Scotland in his stead. Edward's reign. Bruce had, by this time, reduced great part of the North of Scotland to submission, but the South still resisted his authority, and he therefore sent his brother Edward to bring it under subjection. By (A.D. 1308.) the middle of June (A.D. 1308) Sir Edward Bruce had expelled the English entirely from Galloway, and the gallantry of his exploits rivalled, if they did not equal, those of his brother. The victory, by which Bruce finally drove out the English, was gained over Sir John de St. John. The English were in number fifteen hundred, while Bruce's army was far inferior in force, but he supplied, by stratagem, what he lacked in strength. Bruce found out, by his scouts, that the English intended to make a forced march, and take him by surprise. He accordingly placed his foot soldiers in a narrow valley, strongly fortified by nature, and early in the morning, under cover of a thick mist, he set forth at the head of fifty knights on horseback, and gained the rear of the English. His intention was, to allow the English to attack his foot soldiers, and, while this was going on, to rush on them from behind and throw them into confusion. With this view, he and his knights followed the English army silently and stealthily, about a bow-shot distance in their rear. The mist cleared off before these plans could be |