This is a step which we shall not attempt to justify, however consistent it might be with the general belief of those days: in truth, we feel it to be the weakest and most indefensible act of Edward’s life. Yet still we must not forget, that it was consistent with the current belief of those days. Men knew then, as we know now, that some vows are rash vows; that some oaths, like that of Herod (Mark vi. 26), are unfit to be kept; and they believed also—what we do not believe—that Christ had left authority with the bishop of Rome, to “bind and loose” in all such matters; and that when he had declared any oath or vow to be null and void, it became as though it had never been given. These views, as we have said, were held by all men at that time;[114] and although we now reject them, we ought to judge any man’s character mainly by his adherence to what he conscientiously believes to be true; acting honestly on that measure of light which he possesses.
There was also another feature of the case which greatly weighed with the king; a feature, too, which our courts of equity up to the present hour always take into the account, when examining into the validity of a man’s engagements; we mean, that of coercion and intimidation.
He had left Winchelsey, in 1297, one of the council of the young prince. The council, on Wallace’s success, called a parliament in London; and to that parliament there came Hereford and Norfolk, with a large body of armed retainers, and insisted on a fresh confirmation of the charters, with a new clause. Their demands were remitted to Edward in Flanders, with an earnest request, on the part of the council, that he would concede to the wish of the two earls. So advised, the king assented to these proposals. Since then, it had been shown to him, that all these proceedings in 1297 were the result of a conspiracy between Winchelsey and the two earls; and he had had a letter put into his hands which proved this fact. At Lincoln, too, in 1301, he had observed the same conspiracy or confederacy at work; and had again found that civil war was contemplated and prepared for by the conspirators. Thus a sort of treason had been, for three or four years, going on all around him. Any man of a generous and noble mind, and with a just sense of his kingly rights, would naturally feel indignant at such treatment; and Edward, in his application to the pope, dwells especially on these proceedings, as taking from his engagements that character of freedom which ought to attend them. In our own day, if a woman, in contracting a marriage, or a man, in giving a bond, is found to have been acting under coercion or fear, or to have been the victim of a conspiracy, those obligations can be set aside by our courts of equity. Rome, at that time, claimed to be the court of equity for all the sovereigns of Europe, and the pope professed to act upon principles which are recognized by English lawyers in the present day. The bull was granted, and the extorted concessions declared to be null and void.
Many historians have expressed their wonder that this bull, when obtained, was scarcely acted upon. “The power was not, in fact,” says Hume, “made use of.” “The king made,” says Lingard, “no public use of this document.”
This wonder arises from a misconception of the king’s real views and objects. Many writers assume, most absurdly, that Edward was hostile to “the charters.” Yet one of his first acts, as Hume admits, after receiving the papal absolution, was to grant “a new confirmation of the charters;” thus showing, in the most direct and palpable manner, that it was not against “the charters” that his efforts had been directed.
If we wish to understand the king’s actions, and their motives, we have only to study his own words, and there we shall soon discover, that it was to rectify some of the evil consequences of the disafforesting regulations of 1305, and to nullify Winchelsey’s sentence of excommunication, that this papal absolution was procured. The bull arrived in Easter 1306, and its publication declared to the people that the archbishop’s anathema was made null and void. But the king left them but a short time in doubt as to his intentions; for on the 28th of May came forth that remarkable statute which appears on the hundred and forty‐seventh page of the “Statutes of the Realm,” and in which the king addresses himself to the hearts and understandings of his subjects, in the following fervent expressions:—
“The king, to all whom, etc.—Greeting:
“While we behold the imperfection of human weakness, and weigh with attentive consideration the burdens that lie upon our shoulders, we are inwardly tormented with divers compunctions, tossed about by the waves of divers thoughts, and are frequently troubled, passing sleepless nights, hesitating in our inmost soul upon what ought to be done, what to be held, or what to be prosecuted.[115] Yet, under Him, who, holding in heaven the empire over all things, bringeth everything into existence, and dispenseth the gifts of his grace as it pleaseth Him, while the understandings of men cannot conceive the greatness of his wisdom, We do resume our power, trusting that He will perfect our actions in his service; and in the clemency of his goodness, will mercifully look upon, and supply our deficiency; that we, relying on his protection, may be directed in the path of our Lord’s commandments. Truly, among all the things that rest upon our care, about this chiefly is our mind busied without intermission, that we may provide ease and comfort for our subjects dwelling in our realm, in whose quietness we have rest, and in whose tranquillity we are comforted. We have learned, by the information of our faithful servants, and by the cries of the oppressed, that the people of our realm are, by the officers of our forests, oppressed and troubled with many wrongs, … Wherefore, being desirous to prevent such oppressions, and grievances, … and to provide with our most diligent endeavour for the peace and tranquillity of the inhabitants of our realm, We have ordained,
1. (Of presentments of offences.)