Le Despenser the Elder, our information concerning the
Queen's movements is absolutely _nil_ until we find her at Hereford on
the 20th of November. She then sent Bishop Orleton of Hereford to the
King to request the Great Seal, and he, returning, found her at Marcle
on the 26th. It was probably on the 24th that the younger Despenser
suffered. On the 27th the Queen was at Newent, on the 28th at
Gloucester, on the 29th at Coberley, and on the 30th at Cirencester.
She reached Lechlade on December 1st, Witney on the 2nd, Woodstock on
the 3rd. Here she remained till the 22nd, when she went to Osney Abbey,
and forward to Wallingford the next day. (Wardrobe Accounts, 20 Edward
the Second and 1 Edward the Third, 26/11.) She was joined at
Wallingford by her younger son Prince John of Eltham, who had been
awaiting her arrival since the 17th, and losing 3 shillings at play by
way of amusement in the interim (_Ibidem_, 31/18). By Reading, Windsor,
Chertsey, and Allerton she reached Westminster on the 4th of January
(_Ibidem_, 26/11).

I have examined all the Wardrobe Accounts and Rolls likely to cast light
on this period, but I can find no mention of the whereabouts of the two
Princesses during this time. Froissart says that they and Prince John
were delivered into the Queen's care by the citizens of Bristol; which
is certainly a mistake so far as concerns the Prince, whose compotus
just quoted distinctly states that he left the Tower on October 16th
(which fixes the day of its capture), quitted London on December 21st,
and reached Wallingford on the 24th. He, therefore, was no more at
Bristol than his father, and only rejoined his mother as she returned
thence. The position of the royal sisters remains doubtful, as even
Mrs Everett Green--usually a most faithful and accurate writer--has
accepted Froissart's narrative, and apparently did not discover its
complete discrepancy with the Wardrobe Accounts. If the Princesses were
the companions of their royal father in his flight, and were delivered
to their mother when she entered Bristol--which may be the fact--the
probability is that he sent them there when he left Gloucester, on or
about the 10th of October.

VI. THE ORDER OF SEMPRINGHAM.

The Gilbertine Order, also called the Order of Sempringham, was that of
the reformed Cistercians. Its founder was Gilbert, son of Sir Josceline
de Sempringham; he was Rector of Saint Andrew's Church in that village,
and died in 11