Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 17.djvu/38

Edward I the force, arrived, the constable and marshal sent to Edward, stating that they attended not in virtue of a summons, but at his special request; for so the message to the sheriffs was worded (Fœdera ii, 767), and they begged to be excused from performing their duties in marshalling the host, and Edward, who was now at Portsmouth making preparations for his expedition, appointed others to execute their offices. They then proceeded to draw up a list of grievances (, ii. 124). Edward evidently thought it well to take some measures to gain the goodwill of the nation; for he promised that all his military tenants who served in Flanders should receive pay, and he was reconciled to the archbishop. On the 14th he appeared before the people on a platform in front of Westminster Hall, in company with the archbishop, his son Edward, and the Earl of Warwick, and with many tears asked them to pardon him for what he had done amiss, saying that he knew that he had not reigned as well as he ought, but that whatever they had given him, or whatever had without his knowledge been taken from them by his officers, had been spent in their defence. 'And now', he added, 'I am going to meet danger on your behalf, and I pray you, should I return, receive me as you do now, and I will give you back all that has been taken from you. And if I do not return, crown my son as your king.' Winchelsey wept, and promised that he would do so, and all the people held up their hands in token of their fidelity (Flores, p. 409).

The barons, however, represented that it was unadvisable that the king should depart; that a rebellion had broken out in Scotland, that the country was exhausted, that no more tallages ought to be levied, and that the Great Charter and the Forest Charter should be confirmed (ib.) Edward promised to confirm the charters if the clergy and laity would make him grants. The grants of the laity were promised by certain of those who had come up to the army levied from the various shires, and the king tried in vain to induce the earls to hold a conference with him. They sent envoys to him at St. Albans on the 28th, but declined to come in person. He ordered the subsidies to be collected from the laity, and on 7 Aug. published a letter which the sheriffs were bidden make known to the people at large. In this letter he said that he had heard that a list of grievances was drawn up; he had not refused to receive it, he had not as yet seen it; his people should remember that whatever money he had taken from them he had used in their defence. If he should return he would amend all things, if not he would have his heir do so; he was bound to go to the help of his ally, the Count of Flanders, and his going was necessary for the safety of the nation. The lords had promised him a grant on condition that he confirmed the charters, and he prayed the people to give him all the help they could, and bade them keep the peace (, pp. 330-4). After the publication of this letter the list of grievances was presented; it purports to be the work of the estates, and after objecting to the king's expedition sets forth the poverty of the realm, the extent to which it was burdened by taxation, the disregard of the Great Charter and of the Forest Charter, and the unjust seizure of wool, and finally declares that the king ought not to leave the kingdom in the face of the Scottish rebellion, and for other causes (, ii. 36l). Edward, who was then at Odemer, near Winchelsea, answered that he could make no reply to these matters without his council, and that some members of it had already crossed to Flanders, and others were in London, and he requested the earls that if they would not go with him, they would at least abstain from doing mischief in his absence. While he was at Winchelsea he met with an accident that might have proved fatal. As he was riding on the mound that defended the town on the seaward side, watching his fleet, his horse shied at a windmill, and refused to advance; he urged it with whip and spur, and the animal suddenly leaped from the mound on to the road which lay far below, winding up the steep ascent of the hill. Luckily it alighted on its legs; the road was muddy from recent rain, and though the horse slipped some feet, the king was able to bring it up again, and entered the gate of the town unhurt (, p. 359). On 10 Aug. the clergy who had been received into the king's protection met in convocation to decide the matter of the grant that had been demanded of them; they returned answer that they would apply to the pope for permission; and as the king was dissatisfied with this reply he ordered certain not immoderate taxes to be collected off them.

Edward set sail from Winchelsea on the 23rd, landed at Sluys, and proceeded to Bruges. There he offered to bear half the expense of fortifying the town, but found that the townsmen were hostile to the count; they refused to become parties to the alliance he had made with Guy, and were inclined to surrender the town to the French. It was not safe for him to remain there, and he marched to Ghent, where the burghers had made terms with the French. Edward's soldiers treated the Flemish with much violence, plundered the neighbourhood, and especially the town of