This insolence enraged the king. He punished Lord and Lady Badlesmere, and at the same time recalled the Despencers. Lancaster rallied round him all his friends and entered into a correspondence with the Scots, who promised to invade the northern provinces. This negotiation had no other effect than to crush the popularity of the Earl of Lancaster, the Scots being so much detested. The king had already attacked and defeated the Earl of Hereford and his ally, Roger Mortimer, and the latter was a prisoner in the Tower. Hereford had joined Lancaster, and the king was marching against them. The two earls had raised the siege of Tichnall Castle and were retreating before the royal army, when at Boroughbridge, on the borders of the Urc, Lancaster found the Governors of York and Carlisle with a body of troops, prepared to dispute his passage. Hereford was killed upon the bridge, and during the retreat which followed, Lancaster was made a prisoner. He was brought back in triumph to his Castle of Pontefract, and the king soon joined him there. Lancaster foresaw the fate which awaited him. "Lord," he said on being captured, kneeling before a crucifix, "I surrender to Thee, and throw myself upon Thy mercy." His conviction was certain, his treason being flagrant. Lancaster was condemned by six earls and six barons. The people insulted him while he was being led to the scaffold. He lifted his pinioned hands towards heaven. "Heavenly King, have mercy on me," he cried, "for the king of earth has abandoned me." He was beheaded on the 22nd of March, 1322. Fourteen bannerets and as many knights also suffered the extreme penalty. Mortimer was condemned to imprisonment for life. {280} The Despencers enriched themselves with the spoils taken from the victims; the father was created Earl of Winchester, and the enmity of the people towards the favorites was increased by the compassion which the condemned men inspired. It was found necessary to forbid the people to kneel before the portrait of the Earl of Lancaster in St. Paul's Cathedral, and rumors of miracles which had taken place at his tomb were spread throughout England, as had formerly been the case with Simon of Montfort, Earl of Leicester.