Sheriffs had stood idly by while violence was done; royal letters had been shown by the rioters as approving their acts; and the Pope openly laid the charge of the outbreak on the secret connivance of Hubert de Burgh.

No charge could have been more fatal to Hubert in the mind of the king.

But he was already in full collision with the Justiciar on other grounds.

Henry was eager to vindicate his right to the great heritage his father had lost: the Gascons, who still clung to him, not because they loved England but because they hated France, spurred him to war; and in 1229 a secret invitation came from the Norman barons.

But while Hubert held power no serious effort was made to carry on a foreign strife.