heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

ROYAL HERALDRY. 393
great indignation, declaring that Philip had come into his chamber, and
promised, on the faith of loyal kings, that all things should be as he
supposed. On this he had sent Master John de Lacy to Gascony, to render
up to the people of the King of France the seizin of the land as afore
agreed, and the King had sent the Constable of France to receive it ;
and that when the King withdrew his sister Blanche, the two Queens of
France and Navarre had prayed him to give safe conduct to the King
of England to come and receive back his land, and he had assured them
of his intention to do so. Nevertheless, at the Council he had told them
that he never meant to restore the territory. Edmond concludes, however,
by suggesting that the way out of the difficulty would probably be for
him to take her younger sister Margaret instead. However, Edward was
not a man likely to submit tamely to such double-dealing, and a fierce
war ensued, which lasted four years, at the end of which time they agreed
to refer the matter to the Pope, who decided that Edward should give up
Guienne or Gascony, and take Margaret, with the ; 1,500 left her by her
father, and Peirs Langtoft indicates that he got the best of the bargain :
"Not dame Blanche the sweet,
Of whom I now spake,
But dame Marguerite,
Good withouten lack."
And the marriage eventually took place at Canterbury, September 8th, 1299.
Edmond Crouchback's eldest son, Thomas, had, in the meantime,
made a great marriage with Alice, daughter and heir of Henry de Lacy,
Earl of Lincoln, by Margaret, daughter and heir of William Longespee,
Earl of Salisbury, but there was no issue of the marriage, and she proved
a most profligate and abandoned character. So, as his male line threatened
to become extinct, he surrendered his estates to the King, on which a
new grant was made of them to him 25th October, 1294, for life, with
remainder to Edmond Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, and the heirs of his
body.
In 1296, Edmond Crouchback went in command of an army into
Gascony, and died at Bayonne, his body being brought to England and
buried on the north side of the altar in Westminster Abbey, near to the
body of his first wife, Aveline de Fortibus. His tomb, surmounted with a
triple canopy over a finely sculptured effigy of the Earl in chain armour,
still remains, one of the largest and most elaborate in the building.
The great estates and honours then passed to his son Thomas, who
was condemned to death by Edward II. in his own castle, at Pontefract,
for having honestly endeavoured to carry out the injunction of the King's
father. As he had no children they passed to his brother Henry, whose
daughter Blanche married John of Gaunt, who jure uxoris became Duke