'We the more readily consent to their being thus sorely oppressed, because they, under pretence of an ancient bull which had been issued against the free companies forty years ago, without any permission and authority, did raise and assemble companies of men at arms against us and against our realm. This bull could not any way refer, as the simple inspection of it would show, to our said son, uncle, nephew, or cousins, but was applied to them, through wicked counsel, without any authority from our said sovereign father the pope, without any deliberations holden on the subject,--nor was any suit instituted, as was usual in such cases; but without any forms of proceeding that should have been observed, or any preceding admonitions, they were illegally, through force and partiality, condemned as excommunicated, with all their adherents and friends,--which sentence was, in defiance of truth, publicly proclaimed throughout our kingdom. 'They were likewise declared traitors and wicked persons, banished our kingdom, and deprived of all their possessions and offices. On this occasion, many injurious reports were industriously spread abroad against them, and they were themselves treated with the utmost inhumanity. Several of them were put to death without any attention being paid to their souls, like to outlaws and beasts, without administration of the sacraments of the holy church, and then thrown into ditches, or exposed in the fields, like dogs, to be devoured by the birds. 'Such acts are damnably wicked and cruel, more especially among Christians and true Catholics, and have been done at the instigation of seditious persons, disturbers of the peace, and illwishers to our said uncle, nephews and cousins, by means of their abominable fictions in order to gain their false and wicked purposes, as we have since been more fully and truly informed. 'We therefore, desirous, as is reasonable, that such false accusations as have been brought against those of our blood and their adherents, should not remain in the state they are now in, to their great disgrace, and earnestly wishing that the real truth should be published, and reparation made for these illegal proceedings, make known that we are fully persuaded, from the information we have received, that our said uncle, son, nephews, cousins, prelates, barons, nobles, and others their partisans, have ever had loyal intentions toward our person, and have been good relatives and obedient subjects, such as they ought to be in regard to us, and that all which has been done has been treacherously, and wickedly, and surreptitiously contrived against truth and reason, at the instances and importunities of these aforesaid seditious disturbers of the peace, by whom all letters and edicts, that any way tend to tarnish their honour, have been procured under false pretences.