It was not till the year 1278 that the effect of this commission was seen. Orders were then issued to the itinerant justices to make use of the evidence which had been obtained, and to issue writs of “quo warranto,” to oblige owners to make good their titles. This was the occasion of the well-known answer of Warrenne, Earl of Surrey, who presented his sword to the judge, saying, “This is my title-deed, with this my ancestors won my land, with this will I keep it.” The temper thus shown by one of his most faithful followers prevented Edward from pushing matters to extremity. During these years was set on foot also the practice of demanding that those who were wealthy enough should receive knighthood. The practice was kept up during the reign, but the property counted sufficient for the holder of that dignity varied from £20 to £100 a year. The King’s activity reached in all directions. Another commission was issued to inquire into the conduct of sheriffs. The coinage, much clipped and debased, was renewed; it was ordered that its shape should always be round, as the prevalent method of clipping had been to cut the pieces into four, so that the exact edge could not be known. At length, in 1279, Edward proceeded to regulate one of the great abuses of the Church. Not only had that body become exorbitantly rich, but the privileges which it claimed had begun to be detrimental to the Crown; and when, in the earlier part of the year, Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, produced and authorized, at a meeting at Reading, some canons tending to the independence of the Church, the King was determined to strike a blow in return. As corporations could not die, land which had passed into their possession was free from the fines and payments due from an incoming heir, which were thus lost to the feudal superior. Moreover, and this touched the Crown more nearly, it had become a habit to give property to the Church, and fraudulently to receive it back again as a Church fief, and thus free from feudal services. By the Statute of Mortmain, which was now passed, it was forbidden, without the King’s consent, to transfer property to the Church. [Sidenote: Wales. 1275.] [Sidenote: Llewellyn’s suspicious conduct.] [Sidenote: War breaks out. 1277.] [Sidenote: Llewellyn submits.] [Sidenote: His merciful treatment.]