The Scots Deserted by the Pope and by Philip
The perseverance and courage of the Scots were ill supported by their allies. Boniface soon deserted them, and with extreme inconsistence, forgetting his former declarations, addressed a letter of admonition to Wishart, the Bishop of Glasgow, commanding him to desist from all opposition to Edward. Wishart had been delivered from an English prison some time before, and, on taking the oath of fealty, had been received into favour; but unable to quench his love of liberty, or perhaps of intrigue, he had recommenced his opposition to the English; and the pope now addressed him as the "prime mover and instigator of all the tumult and dissension which has arisen between his dearest son in Christ, Edward king of England, and the Scots.''At the same time his Holiness addressed a bull to the body of the Scottish bishops, commanding them to be at peace with Edward, and threatening them, in case of disobedience, with a severer remedy.Deserted by Boniface, the Scots still looked to Philip for support; and aware that the negotiations for peace between France and England were in the course of being concluded, they sent the Earl of Buchan, James the Steward of Scotland, John Soulis oneof the regents^ and Ingelram de Umfraville, to watch over their interests at the French court. But Philip, having been defeated in Flanders, became anxious at all risks to conclude a peace with England, and to concentrate his efforts for the reduction of the revolted Flemings.ยง Edward, who had hitherto supported the Flemings, entertained the same wish to direct his undivided strength against the Scots, and a mutual sacrifice of allies was the consequence. The English king paved the way for this, by omitting the Earl of Flanders in the enumeration of his allies, in the former truce ratified at Linlithgow; and Philip, in return, not only left out the Scots in the new truce concluded at Amiens, but entirely excluded them in the subsequent and final treaty of peace not long afterwards signed at Paris. Previous, however, to the conclusion of this treaty, so fatal to the Scots, the army of Edward experienced a signal defeat near Edinburgh.