In these words and on these grounds the Earl Marshal of England refused to undertake foreign service, and the Council scattered. Edward, not to be undone, straightway set about preparing for an expedition independently of his baronage. He laid hands upon all the wool and woolfells of the country, that being the commodity most readily convertible into money, and ordered that it be carried to the seaports. In default of obedience, this wool passed to the crown by confiscation. Every merchant who was the possessor of more than five sacks received tallies from the royal commissioners which might or might not secure payment in the future.[167] Those who had less than five sacks were allowed to retain it upon paying a toll of forty shillings on the sack. Simultaneously, Edward directed at every county a demand for 2000 quarters of wheat, a like quantity of oats, and a supply of beef and pork. Whereas in 1294 Edward had been able to plead the consent of the merchants to his toll on wool, in the present instance no plea was possible save the exigencies of the case, and that was no defense at law. So Edward, by stress of circumstance, was obliged to forfeit the support of a growing and exceedingly important body of his people. The king determined to make a final attempt to win the barons from their contumacy. For the 7th July, he summoned the whole fighting force of the kingdom to London; the assembly was to include all who held lands to the annual value of £20, no matter what the tenure.[168] From these a demand for foreign service was obviously unconstitutional, since they were not immediately bound to him. Coupled with the weakness of the king’s position was the continued opposition of Bohun and Bigod; they and a large number of the other barons had surrounded themselves with a force of knights to the number of fifteen hundred, and, though they were not as yet openly hostile, they had been able to shield their lands from the royal exactions of wool and wheat.[169] When Edward ordered the Marshal and the Constable to perform their offices, they refused. Thus it was that Edward found himself pitted not only against the King of France, but also against the church, the merchant class, and his own baronage. Of these the church showed itself most amenable to placation. Edward restored to Archbishop Winchelsey the lands of the see of Canterbury which he had confiscated.[170] To strengthen further a position which at best was exceedingly weak, Edward made a dramatic attempt to win over to his cause the support of the people. On the 14th July, a week after his unsuccessful council with the barons, he appeared on a wooden stage erected in front of the great hall at Westminster and addressed the populace. He asked that they forgive the harshness of his acts, but reminded them that what money they had given him had gone to subdue enemies plotting to drive the English tongue from the earth. [Edward’s appeal to the people]