o, simply dressed, rode
on a small black horse by the side of his prisoner, who was splendidly
attired, and mounted on a superb white charger. The king received his
royal prisoner in state in the great hall of his palace at Westminster,
and did all in his power to alleviate the sorrows of his condition. The
splendid palace of the Savoy, with gardens extending to the Thames, was
appointed for his residence, and every means was taken to soften his
captivity.

During the absence of the Black Prince in Guienne the king had been
warring in Scotland. Here his success had been small, as the Scotch had
retreated before him, wasting the country. David Bruce, the rightful
king, was a prisoner in England, and Baliol, a descendant of the rival
of Robert Bruce, had been placed upon the throne. As Edward passed
through Roxburgh he received from Baliol a formal cession of his rights
and titles to the throne of Scotland, and in return for this purely
nominal gift he bestowed an annual income upon Baliol, who lived
and died a pensioner of England. After Edward's return to England
negotiations were carried on with the Scots, and a treaty was signed by
which a truce for ten years was established between the two countries,
and the liberation of Bruce was granted on a ransom of 100,000 marks.

The disorganization into which France had been thrown by the capture of
its king increased rather than diminished. Among all classes men strove
in the absence of a repressive power to gain advantages and privileges.
Serious riots occurred in many parts, and the demagogues of Paris,
headed by Stephen Marcel, and Robert le Coq, bishop of Leon, set at
defiance the Dauphin and the ministers and lieutenant of the king.
Massacre and violence stained the streets of Paris with blood. General
law, public order, and private security were all lost. Great bodies of
brigands devastated the country, and the whole of France was thrown into
confusion. So terrible was the disorder that the inhabitants of every
village were obliged to fortify the ends of their streets, and keep
watch and ward as in the cities. The proprietors of land on the banks of
rivers spent the night in boats moored in the middle of the stream, and
in every house and castle throughout the land men remained armed as if
against instant attack.

Then arose the terrible insurrection known as the Jacquerie. For
centuries the peasantry of France had suffered under a bondage to which
there had never b