So wrote the anonymous author of the Vita Edwardi Secundi. He was decrying the fickleness of the earls of Lincoln and Warenne, who, having striven to procure the exile of Piers Gaveston in the spring of 1308, welcomed him back just a year later, when he was recalled from Ireland by Edward II in the summer of 1309. The relationship of Edward to his favourite was to dominate the politics of the first five years of his reign. His first act on becoming king had been to recall Gaveston, who was then in France, having been banished by Edward I. Initially, this had not caused any great resentment; Lincoln and Warrenne, and five of their fellow earls (including Lancaster) were the witnesses to the charter by which Gaveston was created earl of Cornwall, on 6 August 1307. However, Gaveston’s gross arrogance rapidly lost him their goodwill, though perhaps even more objectionable was the undue influence he exercised over royal patronage.

Disaffection was already evident by the beginning of 1308, just seven months after Edward’s accession. In mid-January, Edward and his court crossed to France for his marriage to Isabella, daughter of King Philip IV, leaving Gaveston behind as keeper of the realm. A group of magnates, who accompanied Edward, sealed letters patent at Boulogne on 31 January, pointing out that they were bound by their allegiance to uphold the king’s honour and the rights of his crown, and promising to obtain redress and make amends for ‘the oppressions that have been done and are still being done to his people day in, day out’; this juxtaposition was intended to imply a linkage between the redress of grievances and the upholding of the king’s honour. The group – which included Anthony Bek, bishop of Durham, and the earls of Lincoln, Warenne, Pembroke and Hereford – was made up of courtiers and royal servants; these were therefore men who remained fundamentally loyal to the king, but who realised that reforms were necessary in the face of mounting opposition.