And when he had said this, having sent ministers to Rome to procure absolution, the King wrote a special letter to the King of France, and to his son Edward, entreating them to furnish him with assistance. And the King of France promised him a large army, which he would support at his own expense for seven years, if it should be necessary; and Edward exerted himself, as it was said, in collecting forces of every description, endeavouring to release Henry, who was no longer a youth, but a veteran, from the confinement in which he was kept, and to make him master of his kingdom, as he had been used to be. In the meantime, the King, having neglected the statute made by his nobles, and being deceived by flattering counsels, entered the Tower of London, and having forced open the bolts, seized the treasure which was deposited there, and spent and dissipated it. Moreover, he hired workmen, and caused the Tower to be strengthened in every part, and he ordered the whole City of London to have its locks and barriers strengthened, and to be fortified all round. And having convoked all the citizens of twelve years old and upwards, he caused them all to swear to maintain their fidelity to him, the crier making proclamation that all who were willing to serve the King should come to receive pay from him. And when they heard this, the nobles flocked in from all quarters with their forces, encamping without the walls, since all entertainment within was entirely denied to them. And so a deadly war was expected on every side, which, indeed, had never been so near in past years. THE QUEEN INSULTED BY THE LONDONERS (1263). +Source.+--_William Rishanger's Chronicle_, p. 18. (Rolls Series). Meanwhile, Edward, the King's son, arrived from across the seas, and garrisoned Windsor Castle with an armed band of aliens, whom he had brought with him a short time before. The King, however, fearing to be imprisoned in the Tower by the army of the Barons, agreed while there was yet time, through the mediation of timorous men, to the conditions of peace proposed by the Barons, and promised to observe the Provisions of Oxford. But the Queen, impelled by woman's malice, opposed the Barons as far as she could. Consequently, when she had embarked in a boat on the Thames for the purpose of proceeding by water to the castle at Windsor, a mob of townspeople gathered at the bridge under which she had to pass, loaded her with abuse and execrations, and, by throwing stones and mud, compelled her to return to the Tower. THE BATTLE OF LARGS (1263). +Source.+--_Androw of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland_, book vii., ll. 3267-3306.