In 1376 De Windsor was ordered to come to Westminster, and confer with the king on the state of his Irish dominions, but this was merely a pretext to deprive him of his post, and he never returned. Maurice Fitz-Thomas, Earl of Kildare, once more acted as deputy for a short time, and then James le Botiller, Earl of Ormonde, carried on the government from 1376 to 1378. Ormonde retired dissatisfied, and the colony was governed by two members of the Council, Alexander de Balscot and John de Bromwich, until in 1380 the king sent over Edmund de Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster, husband of Phillipa, daughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and therefore owner of vast estates and commander of an army of his own. On his appointment the colonists petitioned the king to compel De Mortimer to live in Dublin and protect his property. The petitioners were successful, and the viceroy, instead of appointing a deputy and sharing the profits, graciously agreed to govern Ireland in person for a period of three years at a salary of 2,000 marks. In princely splendour he entered the country, and immediately inaugurated a campaign against the rebellious south. Death, however, claimed him on {41} December 26, 1381, and he died at Cork in a Dominican Abbey, being only thirty years of age. The vacancy thus created was offered in turn to the Earls of Desmond and Ormonde, but they declined on the ground that if they were in Dublin they could not protect their own territories. Dean de Colton, therefore, was appointed pending the pleasure of the king, who, when he heard of De Mortimer's death, at once nominated the deceased viceroy's son Roger to the post. Roger de Mortimer was only eleven, but the viceroyalty was intended as a monetary compensation for the death of his father, and the commission appointing him stated that he was to receive all the profits of the office as well as a salary of 2,000 marks. Furthermore, as soon as he attained his majority he could retire from the post. In pursuance of this convenient plan the boy's uncle, Sir Thomas de Mortimer, was chosen as his deputy. [Sidenote: A Parliament in Dublin]