The Treaty of Leake was an agreement between the "Middle Party", including courtier adherents of Edward II of England,[1] and the king's cousin, the Earl Thomas of Lancaster and his followers.
The removal of evil counsellors, a constant in pressure for reform from the earliest days of Piers Gaveston's ascendancy, were set aside.
At a meeting in the exchequer it was agreed that Lancaster, who had shunned previous parliaments, should be invited to the next as a peer of the realm, "but without accroaching sovereignty towards the others", for Lancaster, by far the greatest of the English magnates, assumed for himself what McKisack terms "a uniquely privileged position vis-à-vis both the king and his fellow-barons.
"[4] The King made a statement at St Paul's Cathedral that he would conform to the Ordinances, make peace with Lancaster, with whom he had been waging all but open war, and rely henceforth on the advice and counsel of his barons.
Five days after signing, the King and Lancaster met to exchange the kiss of peace, and specific letters of pardon were issued to 600 of the Earl's men.