 The pope was keen to gather support for a crusade to recover the Holy Land and so sent two cardinals to persuade Bruce to accept a truce and to excommunicate him if he refused.In August 1317 the cardinals set off from England escorted by Lewis de Beaumont and his brother Henry.Disaster struck when they reached anarchic Northumberland where a local knight and brigand, Gilbert Middleton, and his large mob kidnapped and imprisoned them.