The head of this committee was the King’s cousin, the Earl of Lancaster; and from the Ordinances or Articles of Reform which the committee drew up for the management of affairs they got the name of the Lords Ordainers.  Gaveston was now sent out of the country for a third time; but the King persuaded him to return, and gave him the office of Secretary of State.  This last insult—­for so the Lords Ordainers regareded it—­was too much for the nobility to bear.

They resolved to exile the hated favorite once more, but this time to send him to that “undiscovered country” from which “no traveler returns.”  Edward, taking alarm, placed Gaveston in Scarborough Castle, on the coast of Yorkshire, thinking that he would be safe there.  The barons besieged the castle, starved Gaveston into surrender, and beheaded him forthwith.  Thus ended the first favorite.

231.  Scotland regains its Independence; Bannockburn, 1314.

Seeing Edward’s lack of manly fiber, Robert Bruce (S229), who had been crowned King of the Scots, determined to make himself ruler in fact as well as in name.  He had suffered many defeats; he had wandered a fugitive in forests and glens; he had been hunted with bloodhounds like a wild beast; but he had never lost courage or hope.  On the field of Bannockburn, northwest of Edinburgh (1314), he once again met the English, and in a bloody and decisive battle drove them back like frightened sheep into their own country. (See map facing p. 120.) By this victory, Bruce reestablished the independence of Scotland,—­an independence which continued until the rival kingdoms were peacefully united under one crown, by the accession of the Scottish King, James, to the English throne (1603).

232.  The New Favorites; the King made Prisoner (1314-1326).

For the next seven years the Earl of Lancaster (S23) had his own way in England.  During this time Edward, whose weak nature needed some one to lean on, had got two new favorites,—­Hugh Despenser and his son.  They were men of more character than Gaveston (S230), but as they cared chiefly for their own interests, they incurred the hatred of the baronage.

The King’s wife, Isabelle of France, now turned against him.  She had formerly acted as a peacemaker, but from this time she did all in her power to make trouble.  Roger Mortimer, one of the leaders of the barons, was the sworn enemy of the Despensers.  The Queen had formed a guilty attachment for him.  The reign of Mortimer and Isabelle was “a reign of terror.”  Together they plotted the ruin of Edward and his favorites.  They raised a force, seized and executed the Despensers (1326), and then took the King prisoner.

233.  Deposition and Murder of the King (1327).

Having locked up Edward in Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, the barons now resolved ot remove him from the throne.  Parliament drew up articles of deposition against him, and appointed commissioners to demand his resignation of the throne.