The king had regained his sceptre, delivered the prisoners, and called back the exiles who had been banished by the Great Earl; but the victory gained by Leicester survived his defeat. In the Parliament convened at Winchester, in the month of September, 1265, the king did not dare to repudiate the liberties acquired by England. {237} The City of London alone lost its charter, but the severe sentences pronounced against Leicester's partisans excited a series of insurrections which Prince Edward had great difficulty in quelling. The want was felt of loosing the reins of government, and of restoring some trust to the vanquished; a committee composed of bishops and barons was entrusted to draw up the conditions of peace, and their decision, known under the title of the Dictum of Kenilworth, was confirmed by the king and the parliament. The efforts of the Pope, the uprightness and good sense of Prince Edward, and the weariness of all parties, at length brought about a general cessation of hostilities. On the 18th of November, 1267, more than two years after the battle of Evesham, the Parliament, which had assembled at Marlborough, adopted several of the liberal guarantees formerly proposed by the Earl of Leicester; the last of the "patriots," as they called themselves, who still held the Isle of Ely, laid down their arms; the citizens of London received a fresh charter, and the country was at peace. Scarcely had peace been secured, when Prince Edward took advantage of it to assume the cross, as did also his wife Eleanor of Castile, and his cousin Henry of Almagne. They made sail in the month of July, 1270; Louis IX. had just set out on his second crusade, and Prince Edward, a great admirer of his uncle of France, was hastening to join him, when Henry of Almagne, who had been sent upon a secret mission to Italy, was assassinated by his cousins, the Montforts. This blow was fatal to the old King of the Romans, who died in the month of December, 1271; eleven months afterwards, on the 16th of November, 1272, his brother. King Henry III., also died. He was interred in Westminster Abbey; but before being lowered into the grave, the Earl of Gloucester, placing his naked hand upon the corpse, took an oath of fidelity to King Edward I.; the other barons followed his example. {238} King Henry was sixty-five years of age, and had reigned fifty-six. King only in name, feeble and frivolous, he had seen the liberties of his people grow greater under his eyes and against his wish; his son, who was still vainly contending against them, was destined to derive from the free support and energetic ardor of the English nation, the strength which served him through his wars and conquests. Chapter X. Malleus Scotorum Edward I. (1272-1307.) Edward II. (1307-1327.)