sooner was Wallace disposed of than another claimant to the Scottish
crown appeared in the person of Bruce. Before Edward took the field
against the new foe, he conferred knighthood upon his son and nearly three
hundred others, including John le Blound the mayor. The number of knights
within the small compass of the city was reckoned at that time to be not
less than a thousand.(339) Knighthood, as we have seen, was one of the
means Edward resorted to for raising money, and on this occasion the
citizens of London are said to have made him a free gift of L2,000, in
recognition of the honour bestowed on their mayor.(340)

(M213)

In the summer of 1307, Edward set out to execute the vow of vengeance
against Bruce that he had made on the occasion of the knighthood of his
son, but the hand of death was upon him, and before lie reached the
Scottish border he died (7th July).

CHAPTER VI.

(M214)

The new king's character, differing as it did so much from that of his
father, was not one to commend itself to the citizens of London. With them
he never became a favourite. The bold and determined character of Queen
Isabel, the very antipodes of her husband, was more to their liking, and
throughout the contests that ensued between them, the citizens steadily
supported her cause. At her first appearance, as a bride, in the city, the
streets were compared with the New Jerusalem, so rich were they in
appearance;(341) whilst at the coronation ceremony, which took place a
month later (25th February, 1308), she and her husband were escorted by
the mayor and aldermen in their most gorgeous robes, quartered with the
arms of England and France, and were served at the banquet as custom
commanded.(342)

(M215)

But even thus early in Edward of Carnarvon's reign the presence of
foreigners--to whom the king was even more addicted than his father--was
likely to prove a source of trouble; and it was necessary to make special
proclamations forbidding the carrying of arms on the day of the coronation
and enjoining respect for foreigners attending the ceremony.(343) The
king's foreign favourites proved his ruin, and contributed in no small
degree to the eventual defection of the city. They were for ever desiring
some favour of the citizens. At one time it was Piers de Gavestone who
wanted a post for his "valet";(344) at another it was Hugh le Despenser
who desired (and obtained) a lease of the Small Beam for a friend.(345)
The