Edward I. had now become aged and unwieldly, so that he could not readily mount on horseback. When he was informed of this daring attempt of Bruce to wrest from his power a kingdom which had cost him so much to gain and hold, he despatched a messenger to the Pope, praying him to issue the thunders of the Vatican against this bold traitor and murderer of Comyn, and that he would place under interdict all who should endeavor to aid him or draw a sword in defence of liberty. This sentence of interdict, which the Pope often issued against sovereigns for the most trivial offences, involved a nation in the greatest misery. The people were deprived of all the services of the church; no sacred rite was performed for them except the baptism of infants, and the administration of the communion to the dying. The churches were deserted, and the altars were stripped of all the sacred ornaments. The dead lay uninterred, for the consecrated ground was prohibited; and when at last the corpses must be buried, they were hurriedly piled up in ditches and covered over, without any church service to soothe the surviving mourners or hallow the last rites to the dead. The thunders of the Roman pontiff, however, fell powerless upon Robert the Bruce, for he had previously secured the alliance of the Scottish clergy; and as they wished to remain independent of the English bishops, they braved the thunders of the hierarchy, and persisted in celebrating divine worship, notwithstanding its prohibition by the head of the church. In spite of old age and sickness, King Edward began to make extensive preparations for marching personally against the Scots. Prince Edward, his son, was twenty-two years of age, and having not yet been knighted, the king conferred this distinction upon him and bestowed upon him his spurs. Whereupon the young knight then conferred the same honor upon two hundred and seventy young lords who were about to become his comrades in arms. All the company then met at a magnificent banquet. A golden net was placed upon the table, containing two swans, emblems of constancy and fidelity. Then the king, placing his hands upon their heads, swore to avenge the death of Comyn and to punish the rebels of Scotland, without sleeping for two nights in the same place, and to start immediately afterwards for Palestine, in order to rescue the Holy Sepulchre. The young men swore the same oath as the king, and then they started for the frontiers, the king following more slowly, as he was too feeble to travel except upon a litter.