from England
by their bodies and their goods, until satisfaction should be made for
arrears. This haughty message only made matters worse. The king and his
council became indignant, and contemptuously dismissed the envoys,
commanding them to leave England within three days on peril of life and
limb.(297)

(M187)

Time went on; Henry died, and before his son Edward arrived in England
from the Holy Land to take up the reins of government, his chancellor,
Walter de Merton, had caused a proclamation to be made throughout the
city, forbidding any Fleming to enter the kingdom, under penalty of
forfeiture of person and goods. The proclamation was more than ordinarily
stringent, for it went on to say that if perchance any individual had
received special permission from the late king to sojourn and to trade
within the realm, such permission was no longer to hold good, but the
foreigner was to pack up his merchandise, collect his debts, and leave the
country by Christmas, 1273, at the latest.(298)

(M188)

The Countess had probably hoped that a change of monarch on the English
throne would have favoured her cause. This proclamation was sufficient to
show her the character of the king with whom she had in future to deal,
and destroyed any hope she may have entertained in this direction. She
therefore took the opportunity of Edward's passing through Paris to
London, to open negotiations for the purpose of restoring peace between
England and Flanders; and it was to assist the king in conducting these
negotiations, that he had summoned a deputation of citizens of London to
meet him at Paris.

(M189)

The choice of the citizens fell upon Henry le Waleys, their mayor for the
time being, one who was known almost as well in France as in the city of
London, if we may judge from the fact of his filling the office of Mayor
of Bordeaux in the following year. With him were chosen Gregory de
Rokesley who, besides being a large dealer in wool, was also a goldsmith
and financier, and as such was shortly to be appointed master of the
exchange throughout England;(299) John Horn, whose name bespeaks his
Flemish origin,(300) and who may on that account have been appointed, as
one who was intimate with both sides of the question under discussion; and
Luke de Batencurt, also of foreign extraction, who was one of the Sheriffs
of London this same year.

(M190)

These four accordingly set out to confer with the king at Paris, having
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