Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 17.djvu/47

Edward II festivities and the king's fear for the favourite's safety had induced him to postpone the February council till Easter. The queen's uncles left England in great disgust that Edward neglected his bride for the society of his 'brother Peter' (Ann. Paul. p. 262). The magnates complained that the foreign upstart treated them with contempt, and deprived them of their constitutional part in the government of the country. The whole nation was incensed that everything should be in the hands of the 'king's idol.' When the great council met on 30 April, it sharply warned Edward that homage was due rather to the crown than to the kings person, and frightened him into consenting to the banishment of the favourite before 25 June. Gaveston was compelled to bend before the storm, and to surrender his earldom (ib. p. 263); but Edward heaped fresh grants on him and remained in his society until he embarked at Bristol He made him regent of Ireland, with a vast revenue, pressed the pope to absolve him from the excommunication threatened if he returned, and soon began to actively intrigue for his restoration. At the Northampton parliament in August a nominal understanding between the king and the barons was arrived at. His bad counsellors were removed from office, and Langton soon after released from prison; yet a tournament held by the king at Kennington proved a failure through the neglect of the magnates. At last, on 27 April 1309, Edward was compelled to confront the three estates at Westminster, and as the price of a twenty-fifth to receive eleven articles of grievances, which he was to answer in the next parliament (Rot. Parl.i 443-5). But his proposal that Gaveston should retain the earldom of Cornwall was rejected (, ii. 275), though his intrigues succeeded so far that the chief barons were won over individually to consent or acquiesce in his restoration. Only the Earl of Warwick resisted the royal blandishments (, p. 160). The pope was induced to absolve Gaveston from his oaths (Ann. Lond. p. 167;, p. 161). In July he ventured back to England, and was received with open arms by Edward at Chester. So effectually had Edward's intrigues broken up the baronial opposition that no one ventured openly to object to the favourite's return. At a baronial parliament at Stamford on 27 July Edward courted popular favour by accepting the articles of 1309, while Gloucester succeeded in persuading the magnates to a formal reconciliation with Gaveston, and even to his restoration to the earldom of Cornwall But the favourite's behaviour was as insolent as ever. Lancaster soon raised the standard of opposition. Along with the Earls of Lincoln, Warwick, Oxford, and Arundel, he refused to attend a council summoned at York for October (, ii. 275). Edward, as usual, sought by postponing its session to escape from his difficulties. He celebrated his Christmas court at his favourite palace of Langley ('locum quem rex valde dilexit,' . p. 162). At last, in March 1310, the long-postponed meeting of magnates was held in London. The barons attended in military array; Edward's attempted opposition at once broke down. On 16 March threats of the withdrawal of allegiance compelled him to consent to the appointment (Fœdera ii. 105) of the twenty-one lords ordainers, into whose hands all royal power was practically bestowed. But the limitation of his prerogative affected Edward much less than the danger of Gaveston, against whom the chief designs of the ordainers was directed. In February Gaveston left the court. As soon as the council had ended Edward hurried to the north to rejoin his favourite, and, under the pretence of warring against Bruce, keep Gaveston out of harm's way, while avoiding the unpleasant presence of the ordainers, and escaping from the necessity of obeying a summons for an interview with the king of France (ib. ii. 110; . p. 165). But only two earls, Gloucester and Warenne, attended the 'copiosa turba peditum' that formed the chief support of the royal army. On 8 Sept. the host assembled at Berwick. By 16 Sept. the king was at Roxburgh, and by 13 Oct. at Linlithgow; but no enemy was to be found even if Edward were in earnest in seeking one. Bruce, though he boasted that he feared the bones of the old king more than his living successor, refrained from fighting. By the beginning of November Edward had returned to Berwick (, Itinerary of Ed. II, p. 119), where he remained almost entirely till the end of July 1311. In February (1311), Lincoln, the regent, died, and Lancaster, his son-in-law, succeeded to his estates. After much difficulty Edward was persuaded to go a few miles south into England to receive his homage for this property. At their meeting they observed the externals of friendship, but Lancaster's refusal to salute Gaveston made Edward very angry (Lanercost p. 215). The need of meeting the ordainers at last brought Edward back to the south, leaving Gaveston at Bamborough for safety. But he got to London before the magnates were ready, and, spending August (1311) on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, returned to meet the ordainers about the end of that month. The ordinances were soon presented to him, but in the long catalogue of reforms that were demanded he saw nothing