which might give food and shelter to the English Edward I. army. Edward pursued him to Stirling, but found A.D.1298. the town a heap of ruins. Distressed for provisions, the English advanced to Perth, and found it in ashes. At length, these desperate measures of defence Edward compelled Edward to retreat to England, leaving quently Scotland ready to rise again the moment he had obliged to quitted it. conse return to England. Wallace resigns the office of Governor. victim of Soon after the defeat at Falkirk, Wallace resigned the office of Governor of Scotland. It is difficult to assign a sufficient reason for his doing so. He had resisted the mighty force, brought against him by the King of England, with great success, and, by his skilful tactics, he had even prevented Edward from reaping any benefits from his overthrow of the Scots at Falkirk. It can only be that the jealousy of the Scottish nobles wearied him and worried him, and took away from him any hope of saving his country. He fell a He is a victim to their want of patriotism. The two great the factions of the Comyns and the Bruces forgot, for the jealousy of moment, their own quarrels, and united to put down Wallace. They had never been friends since the Scottish Parliament took away the lordship of Annandale from Bruce and gave it to John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, because of Bruce's leaning to England; and the rivalry between John Comyn, Earl of Badenoch, called the Black Comyn, and Bruce for the throne of Scotland had increased their antagonism. But yet they united against Wallace. In Wallace's stead, four Governors of Scotland were appointed, and two them were Comyn and Bruce. the nobles. Four of in his Edward kept his Christmas in Yorkshire, and early in the following year he returned to London. A Parliament was held soon after Easter, when the King Governors stead. A.D. 1299. returns to Edward London. A.D. 1299. tion of Charter of Forests is demanded. Edward I. was called on to redeem his promise of confirming the Charters. He was very unwilling to confirm the Confirma- Charter of the Forests, and to grant a new perambulation of them. The object of this perambulation or survey, was, to settle which should be kept up, and which destroyed. These forests must have been grievous burdens to the nation and sources of great profit or pleasure to the King. Otherwise they could not have been the cause of such violent opposition on the one side, and obstinate resistance on the other. The King was obliged to yield; he at last confirmed the Charters, but still managed to evade the survey of the forests. The King yields, but evades perform ance. Peace with Baliol released. Third in vasion of Scotland. Peace was now concluded between England and France, and Edward took, for his second wife, Margaret, the sister of the King of France. They were married at Canterbury in the autumn. One of the conditions of peace, required by the King of France, was the release of Baliol, who had, when King of Scotland, entered into an alliance with France. Edward refused; but, at length, at the earnest request of the Pope, he yielded. Balio was set free, and passed the rest of his life quietly in France. Edward still persevered in his designs on Scotland, and prepared for his third invasion of that country. Late in the year, he marched with his army to Berwick-on-Tweed, where he had appointed the barons to meet him, with their whole military strength. So intent was he on gathering together the bravest knights, and best soldiers, to go with him, that, by public proclamation, he forbade all tournaments, and plays of arms so long as the war lasted. The barons met the King at Berwick; but, so deeply assembles dissatisfied were they, at the King's faithless evasion of The army at Berwick. dissatisfied. the Forest Charters, that they refused to go any further, Edward I. making the lateness of the season their excuse. They A.D. 1299. cared but little for the conquest of Scotland; the Scots The barons were willing to make peace, but Edward wanted, not peace, but conquest. In consequence of the barons' Edward opposition, he was unable to proceed with the in- England. vasion; and, early in the following year, he was A.D. 1300. obliged to return to England. returns to The King solemnly ratifies the Charters. The barons persevered, and, in the spring, the King was compelled solemnly to ratify the Charters, and to allow sentence of excommunication to be passed against any who should infringe them. By and bye, he managed to slip through this noose, but, for the present, all was settled amicably, the barons and nobles were satisfied, and the King therefore summoned them and his military tenants to meet him at York on Midsummer-day. At this meeting a The fourth fourth expedition into Scotland was agreed on, and Scotland. he again invaded that country. Edward obtained considerable advantages over the Scots, but was again obliged to return to England by want of provisions, and complaints of the barons. invasion of After some success again returns to England. Truce England land. The Pope over Scot A truce between England and Scotland was brought about, before his departure, by the interference of between the Pope, who had been persuaded by ambassadors and Scotfrom Scotland to take part with the Scots. The Pope sent over a Nuncio, as his ambassador was called, claims with a letter to the King of England, claiming for Sovereignty himself the sovereignty of the kingdom of Scotland, land. ordering him to dismiss all those whom he had appointed as Governors, and summoning him to show his right to the kingdom, if he supposed he had such right. The King answered, that he must consult the great men of his kingdom, and on his arrival in Edward I. England, he summoned a Parliament to meet him at Lincoln, in the following January, to deliberate on the matter. A.D. 1300. A.D. 1301. assembles to consider the Pope's claims. At the meeting of this Parliament, before the Parliament Pope's insolent claims were considered, it was necessary for the King to answer the complaints of his people. The King's Secretary, Roger Brabazon, therefore, opened the proceedings by saying, that whatever the King had done in these late wars had been done by their consent; that they had thus put him to great expense, and that he consequently desired a grant of a fifteenth. At this there was great murmuring, partly on account of the King's frequent demands of money, but mainly because the question as to the forests was still unsettled. Dissatisfaction of the barons. The King agrees to settle the Forest question. After some days' hesitation, the King was obliged to yield. A list of the forests was presented to Parliament, and the King confirmed the perambulations from which the lists were made; agreeing, that whatever, by these last perambulations, was disforested should remain so, and what was then allowed to be forest, should be so for ever. It was also agreed that twenty-four knights should be chosen, to distinguish the ancient from the new forests, and that those which were found to be made forests since the first coronation of Henry the Third, should forthwith be disforested. The King then caused the sentence of excommunication to be again pronounced "against all violators of the said great Charters, which he himself, by means of evil counsellors, had too much violated before." The Great Charters also were confirmed, confirmed. and ordered to be sent down and proclaimed in all the counties of England. The nobles and commons then granted one-fifteenth of all movables, but Great Charters FIFTH INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 321 the clergy still refused to give anything without the Edward L Pope's leave. A.D. 1301. The King then laid before the assembly the Pope's letter claiming the sovereignty over Scotland, to which, it was agreed, an answer should be sent, utterly repudiating the Pope's claims, and expressing, Parliament in the strongest terms, their determination to protect repudiates the rights of the English Crown, even if the King claims." himself should be inclined to give them up. the Pope's Scotland. avoid a general ment. winters in Scotland. The truce with Scotland ended at Whitsuntide, Whitsunwhen the King prepared for a fifth expedition into Fifth inScotland. He created his eldest son, Prince of Wales vasion of and Earl of Chester, as the King's eldest sons have remained to this day, and he gave him the command of one part of the army, reserving the other to himself. No great results followed this expedition. The The Scots Scots pursued Wallace's tactics, avoiding general engagements. The King, therefore, knowing that he engagehad always lost, during his absence in winter, what he had gained in summer, determined to winter in Edward Scotland. While there, he received letters from his brother-in-law, the King of France, asking him to grant the Scots another truce, till the beginning of November. To this, he thought proper to agree, and returned to England. At Stamford, in Lincolnshire, he held a council, at which the complaints against the King for not observing the perambulations of Truce the forests were again renewed, and again he pro- on, and mised to observe his promises. Edward's obstinacy in evading the destruction of the new forests is very England. remarkable, and quite contrary to the general up- complaints rightness of his character. The following year, the King of France offered to The King convert his truce with Edward into a permanent makes agreed Edward returns to Renewed about the forests. again promises. |