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healed by the good offices of Pope Boniface VIII., who had conceived the idea of saving bloodshed by making the papal court into a court of arbitration for the settlement of national disputes. Neither Philip nor Edward, however, would admit Boniface's interference in his official capacity, but they accepted his good offices as a man, and eventually the whole of his Gascon possessions were restored to the English king. A good understanding for the future was secured by a double marriage: Edward, who had been a widower since 1290, marrying Margaret, the sister of Philip, and his son Edward, aged fifteen, being betrothed to Philip's five-year-old daughter Isabella.

In Scotland, meanwhile, things had been going altogether wrong. Earl Warrenne, the guardian, had been non-resident; and Cressingham, the Rebellion of treasurer, and Ormesby, the justiciar, ruled the Scots with a Wallace. rod of iron. The natural result was an insurrection, analogous to that in Wales in 1282, but differing from it in the fact that it was led neither by a member of the reigning house nor by the nobility, but was a genuine outbreak of general discontent. Various leaders appeared in various parts, but eventually the movement concentrated round William Wallace or Waleys, i.e. the Welshman, and Sir Andrew Murray. In the

Battle of Cambuskenneth.

summer of 1297, Warrerne returned at the head of a large army, but in September allowed himself to be defeated at Cambuskenneth, near Stirling. At that place the Fortk was crossed by a long bridge, so narrow that only two armed men, presumably horsemen, are said to have been able to pass abreast, and reaching the northern bank of the river at a point where a range of low hills comes close to the water. Behind these hills Wallace and Murray concealed their soldiers, and when five thousand English soldiers under Cressingham had crossed the bridge, they were suddenly overwhelmed by a rush of Scots from the high ground. Cressingham himself perished, and few if any of his men made their escape. The news of the victory caused the rebellion to spread like wild-fire. The English had to fly for their lives, and a provisional government was set up under William Wallace and Andrew Murray, 'the generals of the army of the kingdom of Scotland' and guardians for King John.

During the whole of this year Edward himself was in Flanders, almost as much troubled to keep the peace between his Flemish, English, and

Edward's

Second

Campaign

Welsh soldiers as to fight the French, but in 1298 an opportune truce gave him an opportunity to return to England, and he marched north to crush Wallace. The task was not easy, as the lowlands had been so ravaged that feeding the army was all but impossible, and a retreat was inevitable when Edward

in Scotland.

Falkirk.

learned that Wallace lay in Falkirk wood ready to fall on his rear. The news revived the drooping energies of his soldiers, and a rapid march brought them in view of the Scots on July 22nd, 1298. Battle of Being deficient in cavalry, then the offensive part of an army, Wallace took post behind a morass, drew up his spearmen in four circles defended by palisades, linked them together by a line of archers, and placed his scanty troop of cavalry in the rear. Edward, however, showed himself equal to the occasion. Sending his cavalry to right and left of the morass, he put the Scottish horsemen to flight, and drove the archers into the squares, and then bringing up his own archers and military engines he plied the Scots with missiles till well-directed charges of cavalry were able to break their ranks. The defeat of Falkirk was fatal to Wallace's power, and after less than a year's prominence he disappears from the scene, and seems to have spent the next few years partly in hiding, partly in France.

Though Wallace left the field, his place was taken by others; and between 1298 and 1303 the chief burden fell on John Comyn, sister's son to Balliol, and the bishop of St. Andrews, and by their Comyn's efforts the independence of Scotland north of the Forth was Rebellion. maintained. Their chief exploit was the victory of Roslin in 1302. During those years French affairs still detained Edward; but in 1302 the Flemings defeated Philip in the famous battle of Courtrai; Philip himself was further absorbed in a quarrel with Boniface; and in 1303 Edward was again able to give his personal attention to Scotland. The result showed how much the Scottish resistance had been indebted to the French troubles. Almost without fighting, he marched his army across the Forth, and made his way to Aberdeen and Banff. This display of power frightened Comyn into submission. During the winter he negotiated for himself and his friends, and was permitted to make his peace: the same indulgence being offered to Wallace 'if he thought proper.' Wallace, however, made no sign, and Edward, fearful lest his continuance at large might lead to further troubles, made it known that his favour might be won by the apprehension of the outlaw. The hint had its effect. Wallace was was seized by the sheriff of Dumbarton, Sir John Menteith, and was carried to London. There he is said to have pleaded that what he had done was not treason, as he had never sworn of Wallace. allegiance to Edward. He was condemned to be hanged by the neck for the robberies, murders, and felonies of which he had been guilty. His head was placed on London Bridge, and his quarters distributed to Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth. Wallace had played for a great stake and lost; but his death made him the hero of Scottish independence;

P

Execution

and legend, song and fiction have tended to exalt his reputation somewhat unfairly at the expense of other Scottish patriots.

Resistance being now apparently at an end, Edward produced his scheme for the government of Scotland. The administration of Scottish Organisation affairs was placed under his nephew John of Brittany as of Scotland. lord-lieutenant and guardian. Two justices each were allotted to four circuits into which the land was divided. The Scottish laws were to be revised and those that were barbarous or contrary to the will of God abolished. Lastly, some representatives for Scotland were to be present in the English parliament. This scheme,

if fairly carried out, was not bad; but a national feeling had begun to rise among the Scots, and a new pretender soon appeared to take

Robert advantage of it. This was Robert Bruce, grandson of Bruce. the claimant. Though his father played an ambiguous part, this young man, now about twenty-five, had hitherto been on Edward's side, and was consulted by him about the management of the kingdom; but in 1306 he determined to try for the crown himself. In an interview held at Dumfries in 1306

Murder of

Comyn. Bruce, in a fit of anger, stabbed Comyn, and whether his determination to try for the crown dates from before or after the murder it is impossible to say. At any rate he raised his standard in Galloway; and, being soon joined by a small following, was crowned at Scone in March. At first the matter did not seem very serious, for Bruce could not hold his own in the open field; but Scotland differed from Wales in this, that whereas in Wales the district of Snowdon could easily be blockaded, in Scotland the lowlands were fringed by a background of inaccessible moors, mountains, and islands to which retreat was always open, and in which pursuit was in vain. Consequently an outlaw could bide his time, and while striking sufficient blows to keep up his reputation and encourage resistance could always keep himself out of harm's way. This was Bruce's game, and circumstances ultimately enabled him to play it with success.

Death of

Chief of these was the death of the veteran Edward. Over fifty years of active life and anxiety had begun to break down the iron constitution of the king. In the autumn of 1306, when Edward, he first heard of Bruce's rising, he had had to make the journey to Carlisle in a horse litter; and though in 1307 he thought himself so far better that he was able to mount his charger, the effort was too much for his strength, and after two short marches he died at Burgh-on-the Sands on July 7th, 1307.

Edward was twice married, first to Eleanor of Castile, who died in

1290. By her he had four sons and nine daughters. Of the sons one only, Edward, the youngest, survived his father. Of the daughters, one married Earl Gilbert of Gloucester; another married Edward's Humphrey, earl of Hereford. By his second wife Margaret family. he left two sons, Thomas, earl of Norfolk, and Edmund, earl of Kent Most of his other daughters married abroad.

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CHAPTER II

EDWARD II.: 1307-1327

Born 1284; married Isabella of France, 1308; died 1327.

CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES

Scotland.

Robert L., 1306-1329.

France.

Philip IV., 1285-1309 (see page 246).

Piers Gaveston-The Lords Ordainers-Gaveston's Death-Bruce's Scottish suc cesses - Bannockburn-The Despensers - Lancasters Defeat at Borough. bridge, and Death-General combination against the Despensers, headed by the Queen and Mortimer, leads to Edward's Dethronement.

EDWARD, Prince of Wales, who succeeded his father at the age of twenty-three, was one of the worst of the English kings. His father Character of Edward and his grandfather Henry were both cast in Edward II. a different mould; but the younger Edward inherited neither the statesmanlike ability of the one nor the piety of the other. He grew up utterly frivolous and unprincipled; and though he was handsome, accomplished, and endowed with the power of winning the attachment of his intimate associates, his reign was a complete failure.

The most obvious cause of this was his addiction to favourites. The word 'favourite' is one which needs to be used with discrimination. Its Meaning of most obvious signification is that of some one in whom the Favourite.' sovereign delights, and on whom he lavishes gifts and favours; but it is also used less correctly of any person who has special influence over the king's policy, though such influence may be the proper reward of distinguished ability. Favourites of the first class were hateful to the general body of the people, because the wealth lavished on them impoverished the crown, and consequently had to be made good by increased taxation; those of the second were specially disliked by the nobility. In England, it was the claim of the great nobles to be the hereditary advisers of the crown, and as such to have access at all times to the king's person, and, therefore, they regarded with jealousy any one, whether he were an upstart or one of themselves, who secured a paramount influence in the king's deliberations. For centuries this feeling

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