vassals from all quarters, and
being reinforced by Baliol, lord of Galloway, Brus, lord of Annandale,
Henry Piercy, John Comyn,[*] and other barons of the north, they
composed an army, formidable as well from its numbers as its military
prowess and experience. The first enterprise of the royalists was the
attack of Northampton, which was defended by Simon de Mountfort, with
many of the principal barons of that party: and a breach being; made in
the walls by Philip Basset, the place was carried by assault, and both
the governor and the garrison were made prisoners. The royalists marched
thence to Leicester and Nottingham; both which places having opened
their gates to them, Prince Edward proceeded with a detachment into the
county of Derby, in order to ravage with fire and sword the lands of
the earl of that name, and take revenge on, him for his disloyalty.
Like maxims of war prevailed with both parties throughout England; and
the kingdom was thus exposed in a moment to greater devastation, from
the animosities of the rival barons, than it would have suffered from
many years of foreign or even domestic hostilities, conducted by more
humane and more generous principles.

* Rymer, vol. i. p. 772. M. West. p. 385. Ypod. Neust. p.
469.

The earl of Leicester, master of London, and of the counties in the
south-east of England, formed the siege of Rochester, which alone
declared for the king in those parts, and which, besides Earl Warrenne,
the governor, was garrisoned by many noble and powerful barons of the
royal party. The king and prince hastened from Nottingham, where they
were then quartered, to the relief of the place; and on their approach,
Leicester raised the siege and retreated to London, which, being the
centre of his power, he was afraid might, in his absence, fall into the
king's hands, either by force or by a correspondence with the principal
citizens, who were all secretly inclined to the royal cause. Reenforced
[**unusual spelling but that is what it looks like] by a great body
of Londoners, and having summoned his partisans from all quarters,
he thought himself strong enough to hazard a general battle with
the royalists, and to determine the fate of the nation in one great
engagement, which, if it proved successful, must be decisive against
the king, who had no retreat for his broken troops in those parts, while
Leicester himself, in case of any sinister accident, could easily
take shelter in th