Oxford, even had they not been extorted by force, had
they not been so exorbitant in their nature, and subversive of the
ancient constitution, were expressly established as a temporary
expedient, and could not, without breach of trust, be rendered
perpetual by the barons. [MN 23d Jan.] He therefore annulled these
provisions; restored to the king the possession of his castles, and
the power of nomination to the great offices; allowed him to retain
what foreigners he pleased in his kingdom, and even to confer on them
places of trust and dignity; and, in a word, re-established the royal
power in the same condition on which it stood before the meeting of
the Parliament at Oxford. But while he thus suppressed dangerous
innovations, and preserved unimpaired the prerogatives of the English
crown, he was not negligent of the rights of the people; and besides
ordering that a general amnesty should be granted for all past
offences, he declared that his award was not anywise meant to derogate
from the privileges and liberties which the nation enjoyed by any
former concessions or charters of the crown [e].
[FN [e] Rymer, vol. i. p. 776, 777, &c. Chron. T. Wykes, p. 58.
Knyghton, p. 2446.]

This equitable sentence was no sooner known in England, than Leicester
and his confederates determined to reject it, and to have recourse to
arms, in order to procure to themselves more safe and advantageous
conditions [f]. [MN Renewal of the civil wars.] Without regard to
his oaths and subscriptions, that enterprising conspirator directed
his two sons, Richard and Peter de Montfort, in conjunction with
Robert de Ferrars, Earl of Derby, to attack the city of Worcester;
while Henry and Simon de Montfort, two others of his sons, assisted by
the Prince of Wales, were ordered to lay waste the estate of Roger de
Mortimer. He himself resided at London; and employing, as his
instrument, Fitz-Richard, the seditious mayor, who had violently and
illegally prolonged his authority, he wrought up that city to the
highest ferment and agitation. The populace formed themselves into
bands and companies; chose leaders; practised all military exercises;
committed violence on the royalists; and to give them greater
countenance in their disorders, an association was entered into
between the city and eighteen great barons, never to make peace with
the king but by common consent and approbation. At the head of those
who swore to maintain this association we