the
king was at last driven to seize the lay fees of the clergy of the
province of Canterbury. In the spring of the following year he proceeded
to seize all the wool of the country, paying for it by tallies, and to
levy a supply of provisions on the counties. The act was only justifiable
on the plea of necessity, and led to measures being taken to prevent its
repetition.(328)

(M207)

It was an easier matter for Edward to raise money than to get the barons
to accompany him abroad. To leave them behind was to risk the peace of the
country. He therefore spared no efforts to persuade them to join in a
projected expedition, and when persuasion failed tried threats. It was his
desire that the barons should go to Gascony, whilst he took the command in
Flanders. This was not at all to the taste of the barons, who declined to
go abroad, except in the personal retinue of the king himself. "With you,
O king," said Roger Bigod, "I will gladly go; as belongs to me by
hereditary right, I will go in front of the host, before your face;" but
without the king he positively declined to move. "By God, earl," cried the
king, fairly roused by the obstinacy of his vassal, "you shall either go
or hang;" to which the earl replied, with equal determination, "By the
same token, O king, I will neither go nor hang."(329)

Nothing daunted, the king issued writs (15 May) for a military levy of the
whole kingdom for service abroad, to meet at London on the 7th July, a
measure as unconstitutional as the seizure of wool and the levying of
taxes without the assent of Parliament. On the day appointed, the barons,
who had received a large accession of strength from the great vassals,
appeared with their forces at St. Paul's; but instead of complying with
the king's demands--or rather requests, for the king had altered his
tone--they prepared a list of their grievances.

(M208)

With difficulty civil war was avoided, and in August Edward set sail for
Flanders. No sooner was his back turned, than the barons and the Londoners
made common cause in insisting upon a confirmation and amplification of
their charters.(330) Prince Edward, the king's son, who had been appointed
regent in his father's absence, granted all that was asked, and on the
10th October (1297), the _Confirmatio Cartarum_, as it was called, was
issued in the king's name.(331) Thenceforth, no customs duties were to be
exacted without the consent of parliament.

(M209)

In view of the