Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 56.djvu/155

 Lanercost, p. 215); Gaveston was present, but Lancaster ignored his presence, much to the king's anger. The homage was repeated in London on 26 Aug. (''Parl. Writs'', ii. 42). The ordinances which were published on 10 and 11 Oct. contained a decree of banishment on Gaveston, to which Edward, after a humble entreaty that his ‘brother Piers’ might be forgiven, had been obliged at length to consent. But Lancaster and others had to be forbidden to attend parliament in arms (Cal. Close Rolls, p. 442). Gaveston returned in January 1312, and the king countermanded the summons for a parliament on the first Sunday in Lent (12 Feb.) Lancaster, acting for the others, demanded Gaveston's withdrawal, and sent a private message to the queen that he would not rest till he had rid her of his presence. Armed bands were collected under the pretext of tournament, and Lancaster stole north by night. He surprised Edward and Gaveston at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and captured the greater part of their baggage. They fled hastily to Scarborough by sea, where Edward left Gaveston, proceeding himself to York. Then the earls of Pembroke and Warenne besieged Gaveston in Scarborough, while Lancaster hovered between to cut off Peter from all chance of rejoining the king. On 19 May Gaveston surrendered to Pembroke on condition of his safety being guaranteed until the parliament which was to meet on the first of August. If Edward and Gaveston could come to no agreement with the barons then, Gaveston was to be replaced in Scarborough Castle, as he was at the time of his surrender. Pembroke proceeded southward with his prisoner, but the Earl of Warwick took advantage of Pembroke's over-confidence to kidnap Gaveston at Deddington, sixteen miles north of Oxford, and carry him off to Warwick. Here, with the full concurrence of the earls of Lancaster and Hereford, Gaveston was condemned to death. Lancaster assumed the chief responsibility for his death by having him conveyed to Blacklow Hill in his lands to be beheaded (, ii. 180).

Neither the king nor Pembroke ever forgave Lancaster for this act of violence, though Edward was too weak at the time to bring the offenders to justice. Lancaster thought it prudent to come to the parliament to which Edward summoned him on 20 Aug. at the head of a small army. The earls of Gloucester and Richmond mediated, and after the earls had made a formal submission on 19 Oct., the king timore ductus granted them a full pardon on 9 Nov. (Flor. Hist. iii. 337). This did not conclude matters, however, and negotiations still went on under safe-conducts. Lancaster restored the jewels and horses he had captured at Newcastle on 27 Feb. and 29 March 1312, but it was not until 16 Oct. 1313 that a complete amnesty for all offences committed since the beginning of the reign was granted (, ii. 195). Lancaster refused to be reconciled with Hugh le Despenser. Edward summoned him to accompany him in an expedition against the Scots as early as 23 Dec. 1313 (, ii. 238). But Thomas and his party refused, alleging that the king had not carried out the ordinances, especially as regards the removal of evil counsellors. All they did was to send the strict legal contingents due from them (, p. 224). Edward's disaster at Bannockburn obliged him to seek a new reconciliation with Lancaster, who had assembled an army at Pontefract under the pretext that the king, if successful in Scotland, intended to turn his arms against him. This took place in a parliament held in the last three weeks of September. The ordinances were confirmed. Edward was obliged to dismiss his chancellor, treasurer, and sheriffs, who were replaced by Lancaster's nominees. Hugh le Despenser went into hiding, though he still remained one of the king's counsellors (Chron. Edw. I and Edw. II, ii. 208; Flor. Hist. iii. 339). In the parliament which lasted from January to March 1315 he and Walter Langton were removed from the council, the king was put on an allowance of 10l. a day, and Thomas was made his principalis consiliarius (Chron. Edw. I and Edw. II, ii. 209).

On 8 Aug. Thomas was appointed chief commander against the Scots, superseding his enemy, the Earl of Pembroke. In the autumn one of his own tenants, Adam de Banastre, rose against him, fearful of punishment for a murder he had committed. Banastre seems to have made use of the king's name, and is said to have borne his banner. But Lancaster's lieutenants easily crushed him (, ii. 214). The parliament which met on 28 Jan. 1316 was postponed till his arrival on 12 Feb., after which he was requested by the king in parliament to be president of the council, and accepted the office on certain conditions on 17 Feb. (Parl. Writs, i. 156–7). But neither had any confidence in the other. An assemblage at Newcastle was postponed from 24 June to 10 Aug., and then to Michaelmas. Thomas started towards Scotland, only to find that the king refused to follow him. Edward went only as far as York, and, if we are to believe the somewhat pro-Lancastrian account of Robert of Reading (Flor. Hist. iii.