A great famine added to the sense of danger from Wales and from Scotland and to the irritation at the new demands from both Henry and Rome with which the year 1258 opened.

It was to arrange for a campaign against Wales that Henry called a parliament in April.

But the baronage appeared in arms with Gloucester and Leicester at their head.

The king was forced to consent to the appointment of a committee of twenty-four to draw up terms for the reform of the state.

The Twenty-four again met the Parliament at Oxford in June, and although half the committee consisted of royal ministers and favourites it was impossible to resist the tide of popular feeling.