ABSTRACT
Though his peace was proclaimed on January 24th, and he was crowned with due solemnity on February 1st, Edward III. was King only in name—he was but fourteen years old. His mother and Mortimer were supreme, and for the next few years mismanaged the affairs of the nation quite as effectively as had the man whom they deposed, for when they came to rule they found immorality and sentimentality formed no basis on which to raise strong governance. All through the reign of the last King the voice of the chronicler spoke of a growing national spirit, which resented the way England had been dragged in the dust and had been defied by France and Scotland. Edward's Scottish policy would be negligible were it not for the military importance of the battles, and for the part to be played by Scotland during the French war.
