Α..Χ. 1298. PEACE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND Γ BAN CE. 527 joined to themselves some English robbers, committed great slaughter, and plundered property at Rotterdam, Ghent, and other places belonging to the king of France, for which many o f them were deservedly hanged. At length, a judicial decision having been agreed to, and concessions having been mutually made by the kings of the two countries, they made a truce with one another for two years, to begin at the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord ; and the Icing of England returned from Flanders, and, on the twenty-first of March, landed at Sandwich. This year, the lord Nicholas Longsword, bishop of Salisbury, died, and was succeeded by Master Simon of Ghent, who had been educated in London, and who was a man very skilful in theological learning. Peace with France is settled now, But Scotland sees the advancing foe. A.D . 1298. The king of England came to Westminster, on the twenty-ninth of March, and a terrible fire took place in the lesser hall of the palace, and the flame reached the roof, and being fanned by the wind, devoured the buildings of the neighbouring abbey and the king's palace. The king leaving Westminster, proceeded to York, taking with him his barons of the exchequer, and his justiciaries of the king's bench, after the feast of the Holy Trinity, intending to hold a parliament with the nobles of the kingdom. From thence he moved onwards, attended by a numerous company of earls, barons, and knights, determining to subdue the rebellious Scots. And the Scots, with clergy and laity, uniting in one solid mass, to the number of more than two hundred thousand men, were found determined to resist gallantly, or die. And a terrible battle took place on the day of Saint Mary Magdalene, on the plain which is called Falkirk. And immediately the Scots were routed, and there fell of that army two hundred knights, and forty thousand infantry and more, and all the rest were speedily put to flight, and a great number were drowned in the river. And of the English there fell Brian de Jay, master of the Templars in England, and about thirty foot soldiers. On the vigil of the Apostles Peter and Paul, peace was established at Rome, between the kings of England and France, by the exertions of pope Boniface, though it was not entirely durable. This year, also, Saint Louis, formerly king of