A little later Edward married the favourite to his niece, Margaret of Clare, the eldest sister of Earl Gilbert of Gloucester.  Of the tried comrades of Edward I. the only one who remained in authority was Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln.  The abandonment of the Scottish campaign soon followed.  It was no wonder that the Scots lords, who had performed homage to Edward at Dumfries, began to turn to Bruce.  Already king of the Scottish commons, Robert was in a fair way to become accepted by the whole people.

The readiness with which the barons acquiesced in Edward’s reversal of his father’s policy shows that they had regarded the late king’s action with little favour.  Lincoln, the wisest and most influential of the earls, even found reasons for the grant of Cornwall to Gaveston, and kept in check his son-in-law, Earl Thomas of Lancaster, who was the most disposed to grumble at the elevation of the Gascon favourite.  Gilbert of Gloucester was but newly come to his earldom.  He was personally attached to the king, his old playmate and uncle, and was not unfriendly to his Gascon brother-in-law.  The recent concentration of the great estates in the hands of a few individuals gave these three earls a position of overwhelming importance both in the court and in the country, and with their good-will Edward was safe.  But the weakness of the king and the rashness of the favourite soon caused murmurs to arise.

Early in 1308 Edward crossed over to France, leaving Gaveston as regent, and was married on January 25, at Boulogne, to Philip the Fair’s daughter Isabella, a child of twelve, to whom he had been plighted since 1298.  The marriage was attended by the French king and a great gathering of the magnates of both countries.  Opportunity was taken of the meeting for Edward to perform homage for Aquitaine.  After the arrival of the royal couple in England, their coronation took place on February 25.  Time had been when the reign began with the king’s crowning; but Edward had taken up every royal function immediately on his father’s death, and set a precedent to later sovereigns by dating his own accession from the day succeeding the decease of his predecessor.  The coronation ceremony, minutely recorded, provided precedents for later ages.  It was some recognition of the work of the last generation that the coronation oath was somewhat more rigid and involved a more definite recognition of the rights of the community than on earlier occasions.  Winchelsea was still abroad, and the hallowing was performed by Henry Woodlock, Bishop of Winchester.

Discontent was already simmering.  Not even Lincoln’s weighty influence could overcome the irritation of the earls at the elevation of the Gascon knight into their circle.  The very virtues of the vigorous favourite turned to his discredit.  At a tournament given by him, at his own castle of Wallingford, to celebrate his marriage with the king’s niece, the new-made earl, with a party of valiant knights,