These facts will explain the position taken by Edward in 1290. He believed that upon him, as overlord, devolved the right of determining which of the many heirs was entitled to the succession. With great pomp and circumstance he undertook the task; obtained from the competitors a recognition of his character as arbitrator, and, after careful examination, decided the cause in favor of John Balliol, a powerful North Country baron of his own, in whom according to recognized legal right the inheritance vested. He was careful to obtain, on Balliol’s accession, a distinct homage for himself and his heirs for the whole kingdom of Scotland. This was the work of 1291 and 1292; early in 1293 symptoms began to show themselves that the result would not be lasting. The rising troubles in the North were followed by an alarm on the side of France. The opportunity given by these troubles, and the means taken by Edward to meet them, combined to produce the complication of difficulties which brought about the great constitutional crisis of the reign in 1297. The several points must be taken in order: the relations with France first. [Sidenote: Relations of Edward with the French king. ] In France Edward still possessed Gascony and some small adjoining provinces, which, after all the vicissitudes of the preceding century, had, mainly by the honesty and friendly feeling of Lewis IX. and Philip III., been preserved to the French descendants of Henry II. In 1279 Eleanor of Castile, his wife, had claimed as her inheritance the little province of Ponthieu, lying on the coast between Flanders and Normandy, and her claim had been recognized by Philip III. But Philip died in 1285, and his son, Philip IV., generally known as Philip the Fair, was a true inheritor of the guile and ability of Philip Augustus. Edward’s long visit to France, from 1286 to 1289, had been spent partly in arranging for a continuance of friendship with the king, and partly in securing and reforming the administration of Gascony; but he must have been aware that the jealousy with which Philip viewed him would sooner or later take the form of downright hostility. Until 1293, however, they continued to be friends. In that year a series of petty quarrels, between the Norman coast towns and the English sailors, and an outbreak between the Gascons and their neighbors, gave Philip his opportunity. He summoned Edward to Paris to render an account for the misdeeds of the offenders, and on his non-appearance condemned him to forfeiture. This was done with considerable craft. Edward, who had lost his faithful wife in 1290, was engaged in a negotiation for marriage with Margaret, the sister of Philip; in preparation for that marriage a new enfeoffment or settlement of Gascony on the King of England and his heirs was agreed on. As a step towards that settlement the fortresses of Guienne were for form’s sake placed in Philip’s hands, and as soon