As a result, most of the Coterel band received royal pardons following service abroad or in Scotland, and James, Nicholas and John Coterel all eventually had profitable careers. Modern scholars tend to agree that the activities and members of 14th-century groups such as the Coterels provided the basis for many of the stories later woven around Robin Hood in the 15th century. The Coterel gang was active during a period of political factionalism within central government. The king, Edward II, was extremely unpopular with his nobility, because of reliance on favourites, such as Hugh Despenser the Younger, on whom he lavished royal patronage at the expense of other barons. Despenser was hated by the English nobility, particularly those gathered around the King's cousin, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. In 1322 Lancaster had rebelled against Edward and his favourites, but had been defeated and executed. One of the Coterel brothers and their later allies from the Braybourne family were also involved, so it is likely, says the historian J. R. Maddicott, that there was a political dimension to the band's activities as part of general opposition to the King. The gang at least thrived on the political chaos of the last years of Edward II's reign and the early years of that of Edward III. This was an exceptionally lawless and violent period, says the historian Michael Prestwich, "where a quarrel over a badly cooked herring could end in violent death, as happened in Lincoln in 1353". Members of their own family were "contrariants"—opposed to the Despensers and Edward II—but this did not prevent the Coterel brothers stealing from members of that party whenever the opportunity arose. For example, after the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322—when the contrariant nobles fought Edward II and lost—the Coterels ambushed fleeing survivors of the losing side, and robbed them of horses and armour. On another occasion they stole "a quantity of silver plate", only to be ambushed themselves by a small force of Welsh who in turn relieved them of their loot. The Coterel family has been described as "not only numerous, but also litigious". Nicholas, James and John were the sons of a major Derbyshire landowner, Ralph Coterel. Nicholas had been involved—how deeply is unknown—in Lancaster's rebellion in 1322, for which he had received a pardon. James Coterel, in his youth, has been described as a 14th-century juvenile delinquent.