56 PARLIAMENT OF LINCOLN OF 1316 January comiti Lancastrie ex parte domini Regis aliqua verba ad amovendum quandam dubietacionem quam dicebatur ipsum comitem habuisse de dicto domino Rege. The entry concludes with an enrolment of the ' bill ' in French by which Earl Thomas signified his consent to the king's proposal and laid down his own conditions. Billa predicta formam continens suprascriptam liberata fuit Willelmo de Ayremynne, clerico, per manus dominorum Walteri de Norwico, thesaurarii, et Bartholomei de Bardelesmere [sic] precipientium eidem Willelmo ex parte domini nostri Regis quod ipse eandem billam de verbo ad verbum in rotulo parliamenti faceret irrotulari. Et billa ilia huic rotulo nichilominus est consuta. It remains stitched to the left-hand side of membrane 2. A comparison of these two entries brings out several points of interest. In the first place, it cannot be supposed that they refer to different episodes on different dates. Secondly, the phrasing of the second entry, though it does not make specific mention of the commons, might well include them. The first entry, referring to a date when we know the commons were still present, mentions only ' the king, prelates and magnates '. The second adds to them ' alii pro parliamento illo ibidem existentes '. Thirdly, the mention in each entry of ' alius rotulus ' serves as a cross-reference, directing the reader to two accounts of the same episode. Finally, the explanation of the double entry is implied in Airmyn's description of the elaborate instruc- tions given him as to the enrolment of Lancaster's bill. He fills membrane 1 with an outline account, chronologically arranged, of the proceedings of the parliament from beginning to end. On subsequent membranes he keeps separate accounts, fuller and more elaborate, of particular incidents, this being the most notable. It need not, therefore, be doubted that the episode should be assigned to Tuesday, 17 February, and on this hypothesis the events of the parliament fall into natural and intelligible order. The baronial party on Thursday, 12 February, are informed of the king's wishes, and demand certain concessions in return for acquiescence. These include a promise to observe the ordinances and a security for that promise in the appoint- ment of the greatest of the ordainers as the king's chief adviser. On the following Tuesday the king agrees to their demands, and on Friday of the same week receives the grants he wanted for the Scottish war. Parliament then disperses. If it seems strange that parliament, after waiting more than a fortnight for the arrival of Lancaster and his friends, could get through all its business in a little over a week after his appearance, it may be
