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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

*935

ROGER OF WENDOVER'S
1 1 1 FLOWERS OF HISTORY.

COIUPR[STN«

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND
FROM THE DESCENT OF THE SAXONS TO A.D. 123S

FORMERLY ASCRIBED TO

MATTHEW PARIS.

TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN,
By J. A. GILES, D.C.L.
LATE FELLOW OF CORPUS CHRIST! COLLEGE, OXFORD.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON:
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
M.nCCC.XLIX.

LONDON
J. H ADDON, PRINTJBR, CASTLE STREET, FfNSBURV.

ROGER OF WENDOVER'S
FLOWERS OF HISTORY.

How the nobles of Brittany swore fealty to king Henry and his son

a.d. 1170. Henry king of England held his court on
Christmas day at Nantes, with the bishops and barons of
Lesser Britain, who all swore fealty to him and to his son
Geoffrey. In Lent following he crossed over into England,
and was almost drowned with all his people.
Of the absolution of the bishop of London.
This year, also, Gilbert bishop of London arriving at
Milan on his way to Borne, received there a letter from our
lord the pope, to the following purport : " We have com
manded the archbishop of Bouen and. the bishop of Exeter
in our stead to receive from you an oath that you will abide by
our sentence, touching the causes for which the sentence
was passed against you, and then to absolve you; so that
your excommunication may entail no loss of rank or dignity,
or mark of infamy upon you hereafter." The bishop,
therefore, succeeded in the object of his wishes, and was
publicly absolved at Bouen on Easter Sunday.
Of the life and virtues of St. Godric the hermit.
This same year, the venerable hermit Godric passed from
this life to that which is eternal. Of his life, his miraculous
acts, and glorious end, we will here introduce a few re
marks, since it would be an injustice to the saint altogether
to pass over his glorious deeds. This friend of God was
born in Norfolk ; his father's name was Ailward, and his
mother's Eadwenna. He was brought up by his parents in
his native village of Walpole, and there passed part of his
VOL. II. B

2 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1170.
life in their company. When he had passed the innocent
years of childhood he became a tradesman; at first in a
humble manner, and afterwards frequenting the public
market with other traders. One day, as he was walking
alone upon the shore, he found three dolphins cast up by the
sea ; one of which seemed to be dead, and the other two
dying. For humanity's sake he left those which were alive
untouched, but loaded himself with part of that which was
dead, and set out to return home ; but the tide beginning to
rise as usual, was at first over his feet and legs, and at last,
rose as high as his head. But being strong in faith, he con
tinued to walk along, under the water, guided by the Lord,
until he reached the dry ground ; and delivering the fish to
his parents, he told them all that had happened to him.
Sometimes he would meditate when he was alone, upon
heavenly things, and say over the Lord's prayer and the
creed. In his zeal for religion, he went to St. Andrew's in
Scotland to pray, and with no less devotion went also to
Borne. On his return from thence he joined himself to some
merchants, and with them carried on traffic by sea ; which
brought him so much wealth that he was owner of half one
ship, and the fourth part of another. Being robust in body
and active in mind, he sailed to different countries of the
world, and visiting the holy places of the saints, commended
himself to their protection.
Of the girl who ministered to St. Godric ire his pilgrimage.
When Godric had spent sixteen years in the gains of these
trading voyages, he determined to spend, in the cause of
religion, the wealth which his labours had accumulated. He
therefore took the cross and devoutly visited our Lord's
sepulchre; after which he returned by way of St. James's*
to England. After some time he felt a holy desire to visit
the threshold of the apostles, and communicated this inten
tion to his parents; and when his mother expressed her
wish to accompany him, if he would let her, he gladly
assented, and with filial obedience, carried her on his shoul
ders, whenever the roughness of the road required it.
When they had passed through London, a woman of great
beauty approached them, and asked permission to join in
* Compostello in Spain.

A.D. 1170.] ST. GODRIG THE HERMIT. 3
their pilgrimage. To this they readily assented, and she
adhered to them with great diligence and devotion ; for she
washed and kissed their feet, and served them better than
any others. In this manner she conducted herself the whole
way, both going and returning ; no one asked her who she
was or where she came from, nor did she ever mention it.
When they passed through London on their return, she ob
tained their consent to leave; but she said before going
away, " It is now time for me to go to the place from which
I came : and you must give thanks to God, who never de
serts those that put their trust in Him ; for I tell you that
you will surely obtain that which you prayed for at Borne
from the apostles." None of the company saw this woman
except Godric and his mother only.
How the man of God, on his return home, retired into the desert.
When he had restored his mother in safety to the protec
tion of his father, he sold all that he had, received their
blessing, and left them, in order to become a hermit. In
the extreme parts of England he came to a city called Car
lisle, where, finding some of his relations, he obtained from
one of them a present of one of St. Jerome's psalters, which
in a short time he learned to recite by heart. He then,
without the knowledge of his friends, retired to the woods.
where he lived some time on wild herbs and fruits ; and
both serpents and wild beasts came and looked on him, but
after a time left him without doing him any harm. In this
desert he spent many days as a hermit ; at one time on his
knees, at another time with his hands raised to heaven, or
prostrate on the ground, he was constantly in prayer to God.
At last he found in that place a hermit's cave, into which he
entered, and received the salutation, " Welcome, brother
Godric!" To which he replied, "How do you do, father
Ailric?" though they never knew one another before.
" You are sent by Heaven," replied the old man, " to bury
my old body when I am dead." These two lived together
two years, though neither of them had any property. At
last the old hermit became very infirm, and was carried
about by Godric, who brought him food, and fetched a priest
to hear his confession, and administered to him the eucharist.
Godric, therefore, seeing that he became worse, said, " Thou
b 2

4 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1170.
spirit, that hast been created after God's likeness, I adjure
thee by the Almighty God, not to leave this body without
my knowledge." The old man thereupon died immediately,
and Godric saw a kind of spherical body like a hot and burn
ing wind, which shone like most transparent glass, in the midst
of an incomparable whiteness, though no one can describe
the measure of the soul's quahties. At the news of the holy
man's death, his companions, who were at the court of
St. Cuthbert, where, when a young man, he had himself
resided, buried him in the cemetery of Durham.
How the blessed Godric went to Jerusalem and returned safe.
When the brother aforesaid was buried, Godric returned
to the desert, doubting what might be the divine will con
cerning him. Whilst, therefore, he was praying earnestly to
God on this subject, a voice came from heaven saying to
him, " It is expedient that thou shouldst go to Jerusalem and
return again." Also St. Cuthbert, Christ's holy confessor,
appeared to him saying, " Go to Jerusalem, and be crucified
with the Lord, and I will there be your helper and patron in
all things. When you have completed this journey, you
shall serve God under my protection at Finchale." Godric
returning to Durham, took the cross and received the priest's
blessing. On this journey he ate nothing but barley bread
and drank water, he neither changed nor washed his clothes,
nor ever took off his shoes to change or mend them, until he
arrived as the holy places. When he came to the Lord's
tomb and the other sacred places, he prayed devoutly, shed
ding tears, and kissing the spot so long and devoutly, that
one could hardly have thought it possible. He then went to
the river Jordan, where, clothed in sackcloth, and with a cup
which he carried in Ms wallet, and a small cross, which he
always bore in his hand, he entered the river, which he
always after loved, and there putting off his clothes, came
forth washed and clean ; but he threw away his shoes, and
said, "Almighty God, who in this land didst walk with naked
feet, and didst suffer thy feet to be pierced with nails upon
the cross : henceforth I will never again wear shoes."
Having thus fulfilled his vow of pilgrimage, he returned to
England.

A.D. 1170.] ST. GODRIC DWELLS WITH WILD BEASTS. 5
How the blessed Godric, by God's inspiration, chose his residence
at Finchale.
Beturned from pilgrimage, he found a secret place in a
forest, in the north of England, called Eskdale, which he
thought would suit him to dwell in. He accordingly built a
hut of logs, covering it with turf, and dwelt there a year
and some months : but when the proprietors of the land began
to annoy him, he left it and went to Durham, where he made
such rapid progress in learning the Psalter afresh, that he
soon knew as much of the psalms, hymns, and prayers, as he
thought sufficient. Wherefore, one day, inspired from on
high, he went into a grove in the neighbourhood, where he
heard a shepherd say to his comrade, " Let us go and water
our flocks at Finchale." Godric hearing these words, gave
the. shepherd the only penny he had, to conduct him to that
place. As he proceeded towards the interior of the forest,
there met him a fierce wolf of extraordinary size, which
rushed upon him, as if it would tear him in pieces. Godric,
perceiving that this was one of the wiles of the old enemy,
made the sign of the cross, saying, " I adjure thee in the name
of the Holy Trinity to depart with speed, if the service which
I propose to discharge to God in this place is acceptable to
him ! " At these words, the animal prostrated himself with
his impious feet, as if begging pardon of the holy man.
How Saint Godric dwelt at Finchale among the wild beasts and serpents.
Intending, therefore, to serve the Lord in this place,
Godric, by licence of Balph bishop of Durham, formed a
cave in the earth near the bank of the river Wear, and
covering it with turf, resided therein among the wild beasts
and serpents. The number of serpents was fearful; but
they were all tame towards the man of God, suffering them
selves to be handled, and obedient to his commands. Some
times as he sat by the fire they would twine round his legs,
or coil themselves up in his dish or his cup. After having
passed some years in this way of life, he thought that the
serpents impeded his prayers ; wherefore one day seeing
them about him as usual, he commanded them to enter his
house no more ; upon which all those vermin wholly left it,
and never again crossed his threshold. When, also, presents
of food and other articles were offered to him, he declines

ROGER OF WENDOVER. [_A-D-

1170.

them altogether, preferring to live by the labour of his hands :
and he burnt boughs and branches of trees to ashes, which
he mixed with his barley flour in such proportion that the
ashes formed one-third of the whole ; and he restrained the
passions of the body by weeping, watching, and fasting, so
that sometimes he even passed six days without eating.
After tempting him strongly with luxury, the devil appeared
to him in the form of a wild beast, such as a bear, a lion,
bull, or wolf, a fox, or a toad, and endeavoured to alarm
him ; but he was strong in faith and despised them all. To
quench the burnings of the flesh, he subdued his body by
the use of the harshest sackcloth, and for fifty years wore a
coat of mail. His table was a broad flat stone, on which stood
his bread, such as I have before described it, but he never
tasted it until compelled by absolute necessity: his drink
was a moderate draught of water, and only when urged by
extreme thirst ; he never reposed in a bed, but would lie on
the ground when he was fatigued, with his sackcloth under
him, and with his head reclining on the stone which served
him for a table. When the moon shone, he devoted himself
to his works, and, shaking off sleep, spent the time in
prayer. In winter, amid snow and hail, he entered the river
naked, and there, during the whole night, offered himself up
a living victim to the Lord, immersed up to his neck, and in
this state poured forth psalms, and prayers, and tears.
Whilst he was in the water, the devil used often to appear
to him with all his limbs distorted, and on the point of rush
ing on him, but he was repulsed in confusion at the sign of
the holy cross; he endeavoured, however, to carry off the
clothes of the holy man, but was so terrified by Godric's
shouts, that he cast them also away and fled.
How Saint Godric one day saw a child come forth from the mouth of the
crucifix, and reverently settle himself in the bosom of its mother.
One day, whilst the man of God was sitting in his oratory
repeating the psalter, he saw a little boy come out of the
mouth of the crucifix, who, going to the image of the
blessed virgin, which stood on the north end of the same
plank, sat himself in her bosom. She, on the other hand
stretching out her hands to meet him, fondled him in her arms
for nearly three hours. The boy during the whole time

A.D. 1170.] VISIT OF THE HOLT VIRGIN TO GODRIC. 7
moved as if he was alive ; and both when he came and when
he went, the image of the virgin trembled so much that the
plank seemed likely to fall. Godric thought that the limbs
of the image were filled with the spirit of life, and that the
boy was no other than Jesus of Nazareth. The child after
wards returned into the mouth of the crucifix in the same
way as it came out.
How our Lord's mother and Mary Magdalene appeared lo Saint Godric,
and of the song which our Saviour's mother taught him.
Another time, when the man of God was praying before
the altar of the blessed virgin mother of God, he saw two
girls, of tender age, and of the utmost beauty, standing at
the two horns of the altar, and clothed in garments of snowy
whiteness. They stood some time looking at one another,
and Godric did not dare to move, but turned his eyes from one
to the other, and occasionally bowed his head in adoration. The
virgins then approached him, and she who was at the right
hand of the altar asked him, "Dost thou know me, Godric?"
To whom he answered, " That is impossible, lady, except to
whom you design to reveal yourself." She replied, " Of a
truth thou hast said that I am the mother of Christ, and
through me thou shalt obtain his grace. This other lady is
the female apostle of the apostles, Mary Magdalene." Godric
now threw himself at the feet of the mother of God, saying,
" I commit myself to thee, my lady, and beseech thee to take
me under thy protection." She then placed both of her
hands on his head, and smoothing down his hair, filled the
house with a sweet odour. After this she sang, and taught
Godric to sing a song, which he afterwards often repeated
and imprinted it firmly on his memory : the song in the
English idiom is as follows :* —
" Seinte Marie, clane virgine,
Moder Jesu Christ Nazarene,
Onfo, acild, help thin Godrieh
Onfang, bring heali widh the in Godes»rich.
Seinte Marie, Christes bour,
Meidenes clenhed, moderes flour,
Delivere mine sennen, regnein min mod,
Bringe me to blisse wit thi selfe, God."
* These are the exact words of the original, and form a curious
fragment of early English religious poetry.

8 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1170.
This song may thus be rendered in Latin: — " Sancta Maria,
virgo munda, mater Jesu Christi Nazareni, suscipe, adduc,
sancta, tecum in Dei regnum. Sancta Maria, Christi thala
mus, virginaUs puritas, matris flos, dele mea crimina, regna
in mente mea, due me ad felieitatem cum solo Deo." This
song Christ's mother told Godric to sing whenever he was
fearful of being overcome by pain, sorrow, or temptation.
" And when you call on me by singing it," continued she,
" you shall immediately have my help." She then made the
sign of the cross upon his head, and in his sight went up to
heaven, leaving behind a pleasant odour.
How Saint Godric raised two dead persons to life again.
One day there came to the man of God a husband and
wife, and besought him mercifully to restore to hfe their
daughter who was dead, and at the same time they produced
her body from a sack which they brought with them. The
man of God, judging himself unworthy to perform such a
meritorious deed, made no answer, but went into the field
to his usual labour ; at which the two persons were disturbed
and took their departure, leaving the body in his oratory,
" for," said they, " he may keep the corpse and bury it, or
else restore it to life ; which he could do if he pleased. In
the evening Godric returning, found the body in the corner
of his oratory, and immediately began devoutly to pray God,
who is the source of life and health to all, to bring back the
girl to life. This he continued to do for three days and two
nights ; when, on the third day, whilst he was still lying
prostrate before the altar, he saw the girl advance towards
it ; upon which he forthwith called her parents and restored
her to their cares, making them at the same time swear that,
so long as he lived, they would reveal this seeret to no one.
At another time, also, when the dead body of a boy was
brought by his parents privately to the man of God, he bade
them place it on the altar of the blessed virgin in his oratory,
saying, " Do not suppose that the boy is dead, but kneel down
with me and entreat the divine mercy for the child." When
they had prayed, he told them to go and take the boy from
the altar, which when they went to do, they found him alive
and smiling. The man of God afterwards bound them by
oath, not to reveal this deed to any one as long as he should
be alive.

A.D. 1170.] GODRIC'S OPINION OF HIMSELF. 9
Of the amwer which the man of God gave to one who wished to write
his life.
The saint had some intimate friends among the monks of
Durham, especially one whose name was N  .* This
man was repeatedly urged to write the life and virtues of
St. Godric for the benefit of posterity, and to obtain more
certain information on the subject, he came to the man of
God, to learn from him what he should write. Whilst
sitting at the saint's feet, he said that he proposed to write
his life, and stated the benefit which would result to pos
terity from a knowledge of what he had done : to which the
man of God replied with much energy, " My friend, the Hfe
of Godric is as follows : — In the first place, Godric the coarse
rustic, the unclean fornicator, a falsifier, deceiver, and per
jurer, a vagrant, petulant and gluttonous, a foul dog, a base
worm, not a hermit but a hypocrite, not a solitary but a loose-
minded fellow, a devourer of alms, contemptuous, a lover of
pleasure, negligent, slothful, and snoring away his time,
prodigal and ambitious, unworthy to serve others, and ever
lashing or rebuking those who ministered to himself. These
are the things, and still worse than these which you will
have to write about Godric." When he had said these
words, indignantly, he held his peace, and the monk retired
in confusion : but when some years had intervened, he did
not dare again to question the saint about his past life, until
Godric himself, in compassion, or perhaps because he repented
of the wrong he had done him, of his own accord told him
what he wished to know, but at the same time adjured the
monk, by the regard which they had for one another, to
show the book to no one during his life.
Of the answer which Godric gave when asked concerning the departure of
the soul, and its state after death.
Another time, when the same monk came to him at the
feast of Saint John the Baptist to celebrate mags for him, he
sat outside the door of his oratory, and heard Godric within
singing. After vespers, the brother asked him what was the
nature of the soul's departure from this world : to which he
* We learn from other sources that this man's name was Reginald. N.
for nomen, is the letter commonly used by the medieval writers and copyists,
to occupy the place of a name not known to them.

10 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1170.
is said to have received this answer : — " The pious soul,"
said he, " departs gently from the body ; but the sinful soul,
as if unfit to depart, is urged thereto by many lashes. As
soon as it has made its exit from the body, it mounts aloft,
awaiting the pleasure of the Almighty. Now there is in the
air a narrow iron gate, guarded on both sides by spirits both
good and evil: through it the souls of the just are admitted
by an easy passage, but those of the wicked are severely
constrained and tormented, and miserably driven downwards.
I this day saw the soul of a just man pass through it, and in
my joy thereat, I began to sing with the angels that con
ducted it, and this was what you heard with so much sur
prize." How St. Peter celebrated mass for St. Godric.
The same monk on another occasion, returning thither
again, asked the man of God if he would like to hear a mass :
to which he rephed, " I have to-day heard the mass of the
Holy Trinity, and received the communion from the hand
of a man in white, who, descending from heaven, again as
cended thither after he had admonished me to confess my
sins, and I had told all that occurred to me of what I had
done amiss. Thus he gave me absolution, and I received
the communion from his hands, after which he raised his hands
over me and ascended into heaven. Do you recommend
me then, my son, after this, to receive confession or commu
nion from your hands?" The monk said he could not dare
to do so ; but at the same time asked him which of the saints
it was. The man of God rephed that it was Feter the
apostle, who had been sent by God to absolve him from his
sins. " Do you, then," said he, " celebrate mass in honour
of the blessed virgin, that by her mediation we may gain the
favour of her Son." And the monk, giving thanks to God,
joyfully did as he was bidden.
How St. Godric was released from the demons by prayer and the sign of
the cross.
When Godric had spent forty years in the desert at
Finchale, he was worn out with disease and old a<*e, and
drew near his latter end. For during almost eight years he
kept his bed, and could not even turn on his side without

A.D. 1170.] DEATH OF ST. GODRIC. 11
some one to help him : * his pains and temptations were at
this time so numerous that it is impossible for tongue to tell
or pen to write them. Two demons came to him, carrying a
litter, and said to him, " We are come to carry you to hell,
for you are an old madman, and from being wise are become
foolish," but Godric made the sign of the cross and uttered a
prayer to God, which put the demons to flight.
How the devil struck Godric on the head, and of his death.
Afterwards, when the man of God was once lying alone on
his bed, the attendants, who were without, heard a voice call
ing them ; one of them running in, found him lying naked on
the floor of his oratory, and placing him back on the bed,
asked him why he lay on the floor. "The devil," said
Godric, " stood by me, and seeing me lying careless after a
doze, he suddenly threw me out of bed, and dashed my head
against the bench." As he said this, he showed them a
sweUing on his head, and added, " The devil came upon me
so suddenly, that I had no time to protect myself by making
the sign of the cross, saying, ' Ah, Godric the rustic, I could
not vanquish you by the agency of my satellites, but
whilst you were enjoying repose in your bed, I have
now killed you.' Let every one therefore reflect how danger
ous it is to give way to bodily pleasures, or to indulge in
sloth ; God is never found among those who live luxuriously."
The venerable father Godric died on the 21st of May, which
was the octave of our Lord's ascension : his Ufe and actions
seem to be more than human, and above the power of man
to describe : he was buried on the north side of his oratory,
before the steps of St. John the Baptist's altar, and his tomb
to this day is hallowed by the performance of miracles.
The coronation of young king Henry.
At this time, namely, a.d. 1170, on the 13th of July,
by the king's command, there met at Westm^ister, Boger
archbishop of York, and aU the suffragan bishops of the
church of Canterbury, to crown the king's eldest son Henry ;
who was crowned accordingly, by Boger archbishop of York,
* This was no doubt brought on by his austerity of life, of which pains in
the body are the natural result : the temptations which he endured from
the devil, may be ascribed to imagination.

12 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1170.
on the 18th of June, contrary to the proliibition of our lord
the pope, who sent letters to the archbishop and the other
bishops, to the following purport : " We forbid you all by our
apostolical authority, from crowning the new king, if the case
shall occur, without the consent of the archbishop and church
of Canterbury, nor shall any of you put forth his hand, con
trary to the ancient customs and dignity of that church, or in
any way forward the coronation aforesaid." This prohibition,
however, was of no avail, for, before the letters were pro
mulgated, the young king had been crowned. The king
immediately afterwards crossed the sea, and came to a con
ference with the archbishop at Montmirail, where, also, the
king of France attended, and after a long negotiation about
making peace between them, when they came to the kiss, the
archbishop used the words, "I kiss you to the honour of
God," but the king recoiled from the same, as having been
only conditionally brought to agreement; for though the
archbishop's conscience might be most pure, the king always
objected to the forms of words which he used, as for instance,
saving the honour of God, saving my order, saving God's
holy faith, and the archbishop was suspicious of this caution
on the king's part, lest, if the reconciliation took place, he
should be thought to have acquiesced in the king's unjust
customs of England.
How peace was made between king Henry and Thomas archbishop
of Canterbury.
The king of France again had a conference with the king
of England, William archbishop of Sens, and the bishop of
Nevers, at Freitval, whereat king Henry and the archbishop
rode apart from the rest, twice dismounted from their horses,
and twice mounted again; the king also twice held the
stirrup whilst the archbishop was mounting ; and finally, by
means of Botric archbishop of Rouen, they came to terms at
Amboise; peace was made between them, and king Henry
wrote the following letter to his son the young king. " This
is to inform you that Thomas archbishop of Canterbury has
made peace with me, to my satisfaction. I therefore com
mand that he and all his adherents shall be unmolested : and
that you cause all their goods to be restored to him, as
well as to all his clerks and others who left. England on his

A.D. 1170.] RETURN OF ARCHBISHOP THOMAS. 13
behalf, as they held them three months before the archbishop
left England. You will also summon before you some of the
best and oldest knights of the honour of Saltwood, and
ascertain by their oaths what property is there held of the see
of Canterbury, and whatsoever is found to be so shall be
held by that tenure. Farewell !" Before the archbishop
crossed to England, he sent a letter to the pope, informing
him that he had made peace with the king. The pope, in his
reply, gave thanks to God, in the foUowing terms. " Anxiety
of heart and bitterness of soul overwhelm us, when we reflect
on the anguish, the burdens, and the wrongs which you have
so long and unflinchingly maintained in the cause of j ustice :
but, that you might fiU up the measure of your virtue, you
persevered in your purpose, unconquered by adversity, for
which we laud your admirable fortitude and congratulate you
heartily in the Lord for such long-suffering. For since we
have so long borne with the king of England, and so often
warned him, both in mild and in gentle language, and some
times with severity and sharpness, that he should reflect and
amend his conduct ; if he does not fulfil the terms of the
peace which he has concluded with you, and restore to you
and. yours all the possessions that have been taken away,
we give you full power over all persons and places, belong
ing to your legation, to exercise ecclesiastical discipline upon
them, without appeal, according as you shall think fit."
Of the archbishop's return to England from exile.
With these guarantees from the pope and king, the arch
bishop sailed for England, and landed at Sandwich on the 1 st
of December. As soon as he arrived, that nothing might be
wanting to hasten the glory of martyrdom, which he ardently
longed for, he sent the foUowing letter to the archbishop of
York. " Whereas the king of England wished his son to be
crowned, and it appears that this office belongs ito the arch
bishop of Canterbury, from ancient custom, it appears, my
brother archbishop, that the said king, setting aside the arch
bishop aforesaid, has caused the crown of the kingdom to be
placed on his son's head by your hands, and that the oath
prescribed for the maintenance of the church's liberties was
not only not taken, but not even demanded by you ; but that,
on the contrary, the unjust customs of the kingdom, by which

14 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1170.
the church's dignity is in danger of being shipwrecked, were
ratified by oath and held to be binding hereafter for ever.
In which matter, although the vehemence of the king himself
causes us much disquiet, yet we are the more disturbed at the
weakness which you and your brother bishops have displayed,
who, we grieve to say it, have been like rams not having
horns, and have retreated ingloriously before the face of your
pursuer. You might lawfuUy have discharged this office,
my brother, in your own province, but in the province of
another, and especially of him who was an exile for the sake
of justice, who alone went forth to give glory to God, we
can find nothing in reason itself, nor in the constitution of
the holy fathers to justify such a deed: you allowed those
unjust constitutions to be confirmed on oath, and neglected to
take the shield of faith, and to stand up for the Lord's house
on the day of battle. Wherefore, that we may not, by longer
silence, be involved, on the day of judgment, in the same
sentence as yourself, we do hereby, on the authority of the
holy Boman church, whose servant under God we are,
declare you suspended from every office appertaining to your
episcopal dignity." Archbishop Thomas, also, by virtue of
another letter from the pope, suspended from their episcopal
functions the bishops of London, SaUsbury, Exeter, Chester,
Bochester, St. Asaph, and Llandaff, as well as the others who
had assisted at the coronation aforesaid. The pope's letter
was as follows : " The cause for which our venerable brother
Thomas archbishop of Canterbury and legate of the apostohc
see has been driven into exile, need not now be explained to
you, because you were present to witness it, and because the
rumour of it has spread through aU the church of the west.
But whereas Theobald of pious memory formerly archbishop
of Canterbury, and predecessor of the present archbishop,
placed the crown on the head of the king of England, and by
these means the church of Canterbury has, as it were, the
right of exercising this office, you have now not hesitated, in
defence of our apostoUcal letters to the contrary, to aid in the
coronation of the new king, though the archbishop had not
been informed of it, and the ceremony took place in his own
province : you, who ought to have lightened the archbishop's
exile by such consolations as were in your power have
rather aggravated the case against him, and, we grieve to say

A.D. 1170.] DEATH OF TANCRED. 15
it, added to the pain of his wounds. In which matter,
though we may not be excited to proceed against you as
much as your fault deserves, yet we cannot pass it over
altogether in silence, lest, perchance, which God forbid, the
sentence of the divine severity go forth against both us and
you, if we neglect to punish crimes which have been enacted
openly in the sight of men. Be it known to you that by the
authority which we hold from God, we have suspended you
from the episcopal office, until you shaU appear before our
apostoUc see to make satisfaction, unless you shaU make the
same previously to the archbishop aforesaid, in such manner
that he may think fit to relax this our sentence."
How the king's agents commanded St. Thomas lo absolve the excommuni
cated bishops.
When the venerable archbishop of Canterbury had re
turned to his church, amid the rejoicings and pious devotion
of both clergy and people, the king's officials immediately
approached him, with orders from their master, to absolve
the suspended bishops and others whom he had excommuni
cated on the plea that whatever was done against them,
redounded to the injury and subversion of the customs of the
kingdom. The archbishop repUed that, if the excommuni
cated bishops would swear, according to the form which the
church prescribes, that they would abide by the pope's com
mands, he would, for the peace of the church, and out of
regard for the king, consent to absolve them. When this was
reported to the bishops, they repUed that they could not take
an oath of this kind without the king's consent. Shortly
afterwards the archbishop went to visit the young king at
Woodstock, but was met by messengers, who, in the king's
name, commanded him to proceed no further, but to return
to his church. He accordingly returned to Kent, and there
made preparation to celebrate the season of Christmas, which
was approaching.*
* Matthew Paris inserts here the following : — " And when these threats
increased against him, he obeyed them ; for his hour was not yet come.
He therefore spent some days at his manor of Harwes, seven miles from
the monastery of St. Albans, and kept the festival there ; and the man of
God showed no signs of trouble. The abbat of St. Albans supplied him
with abundance of provisions ; and the archbishop, in returning him thanks,
civilly said, ' I accept his presents, but would rather have his presence.'

16 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1171.
Of the glorious martyrdom of Thomas archbishop of Canterbury.
a.d. 1171.* On Christmas day, the archbishop of Canter
bury mounted the pulpit to deUver a sermon to the people,
which when he had finished, he excommunicated Nigel de
Sackville, who had violently seized on the church of Herges,
and the vicar of the same church Bobert de Broc, who, in
And the servant said to him, ' My lord, he is at the door coming to you.
On which the archbishop met him at the door. After he and the abbat,
by name Simon, had kissed each other, they had a long convention. The
archbishop then asked the abbat to go to the young king at Woodstock,
and to advise him in gentle though efficient words, to soften the hatred
which he cherished against him. The abbat in compliance with the arch
bishop's wish, went at once to the king ; but meeting with nothing but
pride and anger, he returned without effecting any thing. On his telling
the archbishop with sorrow the result of his application, that prelate
answered with a sigh, ' Be it so; be it so ! ' and, snaking his head, added,
as if with the voice of a prophet, ' Art thou in such haste for the end to
approach ? ' The abbat at the time did not understand these words, but
they were afterwards clear to him. The archbishop casting an affectionate
and almost weeping eye on the abbat, said to him, ' My lord abbat, I return
you thanks ior the trouble you have taken, useless though it has been.'
To heal the sick the leech's art sometimes will fail,
And, spite of remedies, disease weigh down the scale.'
And he added, ' But the king himself will pass sentence without delav; '
and looking on the priests sitting round him, he continued, ' How is this, iny
friends 2 this abbat, who is in no way bound to me, has shown me more civi
lity and kindness than all my brethren and suffragan priests;' for the abbat
on hiB departure to Woodstock had ordered his ceHarer to send liberal supplies
daily to the archbishop who was living near. The abbat previous to his
return home, with clasped hands, earnestly entreated the archbishop in his
kindness to honour the abbey of St. Alban's with his much wished for
presence at the approaching Christmas, and to keep that festival, as well as
that of the first English martyr, at that place. The archprelate replied
with gushing tears, ' Oh ! how willingly would I do so, but far otherwise is
it decreed ; go in peace, beloved father abbat ; go to your sanctuary, which
may God have in his keeping ; but I am going to what will be a sufficient
reason for my not coming to you. But rather do you, if it can be so, come
with me to be my guest, and a consoler to me in the troubles which abun
dantly encompass me.' The abbat refused this, because it was necessary
for him to be present at his abbey on the occasion of such a great festival
and after receiving the archbishop's blessing, departed. But afterwards
often was his heart rent with sorrow and lamentation that it had not been
permitted him to enter into glory in conjunction with such a great martyr.
The archbishop hastened his journey to his church to keep Christmas - and
in the eight days of the feast departed to the Lord."
* The year was sometimes considered to begin on Christmas-day • by
which mode of notation Becket's martyrdom on the 29th of December
would fall in 1171 instead of 1170.

A.D. 1171.] MARTYRDOM OF BECKET. 17
derision of the archbishop had maimed one of his horses
loaded with provisions. After this, on the fifth day from
Christmas-day, about the hour of vespers, as the archbishop
was sitting with his clerks in his chamber, WiUiam de Tracy,
Eeginald Fitz-Urse, Hugh de MorviUe, and Bichard Briton,
coming from Normandy, burst into the room, as if impelled
by madness, and commanded him, in the king's name, to
restore the suspended bishops and absolve those whom he
had excommunicated. To this the archbishop answered
that an inferior judge could not absolve from the sentence of
his superior, and that no man could annul a decision of the
apostolic see : if, however, the bishops of London and Salis
bury and the other excommunicated persons would swear to
comply with his mandate, he would, for the peace of the
church and out of regard to the king, consent to absolve
them. The men glowing with anger, and in haste to carry
into effect what they had conceived, departed with violence ;
whilst the archbishop, by the advice of his clerks, and be
cause the hour of vespers was at hand, entered the church for
the service. The four ministers of evil meanwhile had put
on their armour, and following close upon the archbishop,
found that the doors had been by his orders left open be
hind him. " For," said he, " the church of God should be
open as a place of refuge to all men ; let us not therefore
convert it into a castle." The multitude now began to run
together on all sides, and the four men irreverently entering
the church, cried out, " Where is this traitor to his king ? —
where is the archbishop?" He, hearing himself called,
turned back to meet them ; for he had already mounted
three or four steps of the presbytery,* and said to them,
" If you seek the archbishop, here he stands." Upon which
they used harsh language towards him, mixed with threats.
" I am ready to die," said he, " for I prefer the maintenance of
justice and the liberties of the church to my own life ; but
these my adherents have done nothing for which they should
be punished." The murderers now rushed on him with
drawn swords, and he fell uttering these words, " To God
and St. Mary, the patrons of this church, and to St. Dennis,
I commend my soul and the cause of the church ! " Thus was
slain this glorious martyr before the altar of St. Benedict,
9 The choir.
VOL. II. C

18 ROGER OV WENDOVER. [A.D. 1171.
by a wound received in that part of his body where he had
formerly received the holy oil which consecrated him to the
Lord ; ncr were they content to pollute the church with the
blood of a priest and to profane that holy day, but they also
cut off the crown of his skull, and with blood-stained swords
scattered his brains over the pavement of the church.
How those executioners carried off the spoils of the blessed martyr, a-nd
of the dignified manner of his death.
Thus the glorious martyr was translated to the heavenly
kingdom, whilst the bloody executioners plundered his goods
and carried off all the clothes of his clerks, and whatever they
found in the offices of his servants. Meanwhile his blessed
corpse, which lay on the floor of the church, was carried
about the time of twiUght in front of the high altar, where
the bystanders discovered a fact of which they had aU before
been ignorant; for though the archbishop had concealed
under a canonical habit the monkish dress which he had
secretly worn ever since his promotion, he was found to
have worn the sackcloth shirt — a thing before unheard of —
so long, that it covered his thighs also. There were also
certain concurrents in his life which we wiU here briefly
enumerate : — It was on a Tuesday that the archbishop left
the king's court at Northampton ; on Tuesday he left Eng
land to go into exile ; on Tuesday he returned to England,
according to the pope's mandate ; and on Tuesday, also, he
suffered martyrdom. Early in the morning of Wednesdav,
a report was spread abroad that the murderers had deter
mined to carry off the body from the church, and cast it out
of the city to be torn in pieces by the dogs and crows ; but
the abbat of Boxley, with the prior and convent of the church
of Canterbury, hastily buried it, without the usual form of
washing it, for it was macerated by long abstinence, sub
dued by the shirt of sackcloth, and haUowed by the washing
of its own blood. Many remarkable concurrents may be
observed in this martyrdom : first, that he suffered in
asserting justice and maintaining the liberties of the church ,:
secondly, that the place of his suffering was not an ordinary
church, but the mother of all the English churches ; thirdly,
the time, which was Christmas, when these murderers com
pleted their act of treason ; fourthly, that he was not a com

A.D. 1171 .] KING HENRY'S REPENTANCE. 19
mon priest, but the chief and father of aU the priests in
England; and fifthly, that he suffered, not in one of his
ordinary members, but on the place where he had received
the tonsure of priesthood, and where the holy anointing oil
had been shed.
Of the king's repentance, and how he sent messengers to Rome to excuse
the deed.
King Henry was at Argenton in Normandy when he
heard the news of this melancholy deed. At first he was
plunged by it into the deepest distress, and changed his royal
robes for sackcloth and ashes, calling Almighty God to wit
ness that the deed was done without his wish or connivance,
except so far as he was guilty in not having loved the arch
bishop as he ought. On this point he submitted himself to
the judgment of the church, and promised to acquiesce with
humihty in whatever should be her sentence. For this pur
pose he sent ambassadors to make his excuse before the
supreme pontiff, and to assert his innocence ; but the pope
would not receive them or admit them even to kiss his feet :
they were however afterwards received by the cardinals, but
with nothing more than words of form. On Thursday before
Easter, when the pope is in the habit of pubUcly absolving
or excommunicating those who have deserved it, it was told
the king of England's ambassadors that the pope had deter
mined, with the advice of his whole council, to pass an inter
dict on their master by name, throughout all his dominions,
and to confirm that which had been passed on the archbishop
of York and the other Enghsh bishops. In this strait the
cardinals told the pope that the king's ambassadors had been
instructed to swear that their master would abide by the
decision of the pope and cardinals in every particular. Ac
cording to which suggestion the ambassadors took an oath to
that effect, and so averted the sentence of interdict. The
emissaries of the archbishop of York and of the other bishops
foUowed their example The pope, then, on that day, excom
municated the wicked murderers of St. Thomas archbishop of
Canterbury and martyr, and all who had given their advice,
assistance, or consent to the deed, as well as aU who should
receive them into their territories or maintain them. The
four men were at this time in the king's castle of Knares-
borough, where they remained a year.
C 2

20 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1171.
Of the miracles which now began to be manifested in honour of the
holy martyr.
The same year, about Easter, our Lord Jesus Christ, who
is always wonderful in his saints, began to iUustrate by
frequent miracles the laudable Ufe, and insuperable fortitude
in death, of his glorious martyr archbishop Thomas ; that
seeing he had for so many years patiently endured per
secution, both in his own person and in that of his friends,
he might on this account be shown to have received the
crown of triumph which was due to his merits. From the
tomb of the glorious martyr, no one who goes there in
faith ever returns without profit, by whatever infirmity he
may have been afflicted ; — the lame walk, the deaf hear, the
blind see, the dumb speak, lepers are cleansed, and dead
bodies are raised to hfe ; not only those of men and women,
but even of animals and birds.
The same year, also, on the 7th of August, king Henry
returned to England, and visited Henry of Winchester, now
on his death-bed, who rebuked the king for the death of the
glorious martyr Thomas, and foretold many of the evils
which would come upon him on account of it. The bishop
died, full of years, the next day.
How king Henry went to Ireland, and received the homage of certain
of its kings.
On the 18th of October in that same year, king Henry
landed in arms on the coast of Ireland, where he received
homage and fealty from its archbishops and bishops. The
king of Limely, the king of Chore, and the king who bore
the surname of One-eyed, did homage to him on oath ; but
Boderick, king of Connaught, seeing that his dominions
were inaccessible, in consequence of the intervening marshes,
through which there were no fords nor bridges by which they
might be crossed, and that it was impossible to sail over
them, declined to meet the king. The same year, on the
feast of St. Nicholas, at Albemarle, Boger archbishop of
York made oath that he had not received the pope's prohi
bition before the young king was crowned, and that he had
not sworn to comply with the king's customs of Erio-land,
and that he had not promoted the death of the o-lorious
martyr Thomas, by word, or by writing, or by deed to the

A.D. 1172.] MIRACLES AFTER THE MARTYR'S DEATH. 21
best of his knowledge ; and when he had done this, he was
restored to his episcopal functions in full.
Of the reconciliation made for the church of Canterbury after the death
of St. Thomas.
After the death of the blessed martyr Thomas, the church
of Canterbury ceased for a whole year from celebrating the
divine services, and made continual lamentations for him ;
the pavement was torn up, the sound of the bells was sus
pended, the walls were stripped of their ornaments, and the
whole church performed its obsequies in grief and humilia
tion, as it were in sackcloth and ashes. At the end of the
year, on the feast of St. Thomas the apostle, the suffragan
bishops met together at the summons of their mother the
church of Canterbury, according to the pope's mandate, to
restore the church squalid with its long suspension to its
former state. Wherefore Bartholomew of Exeter, at the
request of the fraternity, celebrated a solemn mass, and
preached a sermon to the people beginning with these words :
"After the multitude of my sorrows, thy consolations rejoice
my soul."
Of the thunders which were heard generally, and of the atonement which
the king made for the death of St. Thomas.
a.d. 1172. In the night of Christmas day, were heard
thunders, generally, throughout England, Ireland, and Gaul,
sudden and terrible, inviting mankind from divers parts to
come and witness the new miracles of St. Thomas the martyr,
that, as he had shed his blood for the universal church, so
his martyrdom might be fixed in the pious memory of all
men. At the same time, whilst king Henry was in Ireland,
Hugh de St. Maur, and Balph de Fay, queen Eleanor's uncle,
began, with her approbation, as it is said, to alienate the mind
of the young king from his father, asserting it was incon
sistent for any one to be a king and yet not to have due
authority in his dominions. Meanwhile, the king his father,
before leaving Ireland, called a council at Lismore, where
the laws of England were gratefuUy received by aU, and con
firmed by oath. The king then placed in safe custody all the
cities and castles which he had obtained, and, as various
matters of business now rendered his presence necessary

22 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1173.
elsewhere, he embarked on Easter day at evening and landed
the next day in Wales, whence he proceeded to Porchester
and crossed with a favourable wind to Normandy. Thence,
he went without delay to meet the pope's envoys, Albert and
Theodwine, before whom, after long and tedious discussions,
he made oath that the death of the glorious martyr Thomas
had not been perpetrated by his wish or with his consent, or
brought about by any contrivance on his part ; but that, in
asmuch as his words spoken in anger, to the effect that he fed
a scurvy set of knights and retainers, who were too great
poltroons to take his part against the archbishop, had given
an occasion to his murderers of putting the man of God to
death, the king demanded absolution with the greatest humi
lity. To this end he promised, at the suggestion of the
legates, to contribute enough money to maintain two hundred
knights for a year in defending the holy land, to aUow
appeals to be made without impediment to the Boman see, to
annul the customs which had been introduced in his own
times contrary to the church's liberties, and to restore to the
church of Canterbury all that had been taken from it since
the archbishop's departure, and to allow those of both sexes
who had been exiled in behalf of the blessed martyr, to
return home and resume possession of their property; all
these points the king swore to fulfil, according to the injunc
tion of our lord the pope, for the remission of his sins. The
same oath was also taken by the young king, Henry's son,
who, immediately afterwards, in the month of August, crossed
with his spouse Margaret into England, and on the 20th of
the same month, at Winchester, Botroc archbishop of Bouen,
with the assistance of the suffragan bishops of Canterbury,
crowned the aforesaid Margaret queen of England. The
same year, Gilbert bishop of London, having made oath that
to the best of his knowledge he had not promoted the death
of St. Thomas the martyr by word, deed, or writing, was
restored to his episcopal office.
Of the marriage of John the king's son, and of the election to the see of
Canterbury.
A.D. 1173. King Henry obtained in marriage for his son
John, named Lack-land,* the eldest daughter of Hubert
» In French Sans-terre, in Wendovei's Latin, Sine-terra.

A.D. 1173.] ROBERT ELECTED ARCHBISHOP. 23
count of Maurienne, by his wife the widow of Henry duke of
Saxony, though she was hardly seven years old. The same
year, also, Bobert abbat of Bee was elected archbishop of
Canterbury on the 7th of March at Lambeth, in presence of
the suffragan bishops of that province, but the abbat
altogether declined to be elected, whether from weakness or
from religious motives we are not informed.
The same year the young king Henry, walking in the
counsels of the wicked, left his father, and withdrew to the
court of his father-in-law the king of France ; upon which,
Bichard duke of Aquitaine, and Geoffrey count of Brittany,
by the advice as was said of his mother queen Eleanor, chose
to follow their brother rather than their father. Thus se
ditions were engendered on both sides, with rapine and
conflagration, whereby, if we believe aright, God, to punish-
king Henry for his conduct towards St. Thomas, raised up
against him his own flesh and blood, namely his sons, who
persecuted him to death, as the following history will show.
The same year Ealph de WarneviUe, sacristan of Eouen and
treasurer of York, was made chaneeUor of England. About
the same time, at the instance of the cardinals Albert and
Theodwine, Henry king of England conceded that the
elections to vacant churches should be freely made, and the
following appointments took place with the consent of the
king's justiciary — Eichard archdeacon of Poictiers to the see
of Winchester ; Geoffrey archdeacon of Canterbury to that of
Ely; Geoffrey archdeacon of Lincoln to that of Lincoln;
Eeginald archdeacon of Salisbury to that of Bath ; Bobert
archdeacon of Oxford to that of Hereford; and John dean
of Chichester to the bishopric of that same church.
Of the election of Richard to the archbishopric of Canterbury, and the
canonization of St. Thomas.
The same year, on the 9th of July, the suffragan bishops
of the province of Canterbury, with the seniors of the
monastery, elected Eichard prior of Dover to the arch
bishopric ; and immediately the bishop-elect swore fealty to
the king, " saving his order," and no mention was made of
observing the customs of the kingdom. This took place at
Westminster in the chapel of Saint Catharine, with the con
sent of the king's justiciary. In the council, also, ^m read

24 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1173.
the pope's letter in the audience of all the bishops and
barons, containing, besides other matter, the following : —
" We admonish all your fraternity, and, by our apostolical
authority, strictly command you to celebrate every year the
day of the glorious martyr Thomas, namely, the day on
which he suffered, and endeavour by votive prayers to him
to obtain pardon for your sins, that he who for Christ's sake
bravely endured exile during his life and martyrdom in
death, may intercede to God for us through the earnest sup
plications of the faithful." This letter was hardly read,
when all raised their voices on high, and cried, " We praise
thee, O God ! " Because, moreover, his suffragans had not
shown due reverence to their father when he was in exile, or
on his return from thence, but rather had persecuted him,
all publicly confessed their error and sin by the mouth of
one of them, as follows : — " Be present, Lord, to these our
supplications, that we who for our sin know ourselves to be
guilty, may be released by the intercession of St. Thomas
thy martyr and high-priest." The same year, Mary, the
sister of the same holy martyr, was by the king's orders
made abbess of Barking. Also, the young king Henry laid
siege to the castle of Gornai, and therein made prisoners
Hugh the lord of the castle and his son, with twenty-four
knights : the castle itself he burned, and compeUed the towns
people to pay ransom. The same year, also, Eobert earl of
Leicester, and William de Tankerville, with many counts
and barons, left king Henry and went over to . the young
king,* The king of France invades Normandy with an army.
The same year, Louis king of France assembled a nume
rous army to lay waste Normandy; and entering that
province, laid siege to Albemarle, and forced WiUiam its
lord, with count Simon and several other nobles, to surren
der. He then took the castle of Driencourt, and placed a
garrison therein, and marching thence to the castle of Arches,
lost on his way the count of Boulogne, whereupon the count
of Flanders, grieved at his brother's death, returned to his
own country. The elder king Henry was all this time at
• " This year, also, the prudent and religious abbat of Reading, William
by name, was elevated to the archiepiscopal see of Bourdeaux."  M. Paris.

A.D. 1173.] DESTRUCTION OF LEICESTER. 25
Rouen, apparently unconcerned at what was going on, and
more than usually intent on the chase, whilst to all who
came to him he presented a cheerful and smiling countenance.
But those whom he had maintained about him from his
earUest years now fell off from him, for they thought that
his son had every prospect of soon being king in his stead.
The king of France was now, with the young king, besieging
Verneuil, when king Henry sent messengers to him, warning
him to leave Normandy without delay, or he would march
against him on that very day. The king of France, knowing
the king of England to be a most powerful prince and of a
most bitter temper, chose to retreat rather than to fight;
wherefore he withdrew from before the face of king Henry,
and retired with all speed into France.
Of the destruction of Leicester.
The same year, on the 4th of July, by the king's com
mand, the city of Leicester is said to have been besieged,
because the earl, its lord, had left the king and taken part
with the young king his son. When the greater part of the
city had been burned, the citizens began to treat of peace, on
condition of paying three hundred marks to the king, and
having leave to remove to whatever place they chose.
Permission was therefore granted them to go and reside in
the king's cities or castles,* and after their departure the
gates of the city and part of the waUs were destroyed, and a
truce granted to the soldiers in the castle until the feast of
St. Michael ; and thus on the 28th of July the siege was at
an end. After this, WiUiam king of Scotland claimed
the king the province of Northumberland, granted to his
grandfather king David, who had held it for some time, but
the EngUsh king refused it him ; upon which William, collect- /
ing an army of Welsh and Scots, marched securely across
the territories of the bishop of Durham, burned several vil-
* Matthew Paris here makes the following insertion : — " The nobles of
the city were dispersed ; and having offended the king by the defence of
their city, they sought a place of refuge to avoid his threats and anger.
They therefore fled to the territory of St. Alban's the proto-martyr of Eng
land, and to the town of St. Edmund's the king and martyr, as if to a pro
tecting bosom, because these martyrs were at that time held in such great
reverence, that the inhabitants of those places afforded an asylum and safe
protection from their enemies to all refugees."

26 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1173.
lages, and slaying both men, women, and children, carried
off an incalculable booty. To repel the invader, the English
nobles assembled together, and forcing WiUiam to retire, fol
lowed him into Lothian, and devastating the whole of that
country with fire and sword, made spoil of aU they found in
the fields, and at last, at the instance of the Scottish king
himself, they made a truce until the feast of Hilary, and
returned victorious to England.
How the earl of Leicester and the count of Flanders were taken and
imprisoned.
When Eobert earl of Leicester heard what had happened to
his city, he was filled with grief, and crossing through Flanders
with his wife on his way to England, assembled there a large
number of Normans and Flemings, both horse and foot, and
setting sail, landed at Walton in Suffolk on the 29th of Sep
tember. He immediately laid siege to the castle, but with
out success, and marching thence on the 13th of October,
assaulted and burned the castle of Hagenet, where he captured
thirty knights, and compeUed them to pay ransom. He then
returned to Fremingham ; but as his sojourn gave umbrage
to Hugh Bigod lord of the castle, he turned his thoughts
towards Leicester, and marched in that direction. On his
way he endeavoured to surprise St. Edmundbury, but
was prevented by the king's army that was stationed to
guard that part of the country. The earl, therefore, sur
rounded by a strong force, and having with him three
thousand Flemings, in whom he placed especial confidence,
determined to risk a battle. The engagement began accord
ingly, and after various vicissitudes, the earl, his countess, with
all the Flemings, Normans, and French, were taken prisoners.
This happened on the 16th of October. The countess had
on her finger a beautiful ring, which she flung into the
neighbouring river, rather than suffer the enemy to make
such gain by capturing her. At length the greater part of
the Flemings were slain, others of them were drowned, and
the remainder made prisoners.
How king Henry took prisoners many of his enemies.
Whilst king Henry the father was stopping in Normandy,
it was told him that his own troops with the men of Brabant

A.D. 1174.] AXIHOLME CASTLE BESIEGED. 27
and the routiers had surprised the choicest of his son's troops
and was blockading them in the city of Dole. Immediately
upon receiving this news, he took horse, and the next morn
ing reached the camp, and received the surrender of the
enemy, after a few days' resistance : but, before his arrival,
the greatest part of them had been slain by his own routiers.
Among the prisoners were Ealph earl of Chester, who had
only a short time previously deserted to his son, Ealph de
Fulgeriis, WiUiam Patrick, Ealph de la Haie, Hasculph de
St. Hilaire, besides eighty knights. The same year the
English nobles marched with a very large army to check the
pride of Hugh Bigod; but when things were in such a
position that aU thought he might easily have been
vanquished, money passed between them, and a truce was
made until Whit Sunday, whilst fourteen thousand armed
Flemings escorted him safely through Essex and Kent, and
at Dover he was furnished with ships to cross the channel.
The same year the archbishop elect of Canterbury went to
Eome, attended by the bishop of Bath.
How the castle of Axiholme was taken and a large body of men captured.
a.d. 1174. Eoger de Mowbray renounced his fealty to the
old king and repaired a ruined castle in the island of
Axiholme,* but a large number of the Lincolnshire men
crossed over in boats and laying siege to the castle, compelled
the constable and all the knights to surrender : they then
again reduced the fortress to ruins. On the last day of
April, the old king hearing that his son Eichard had seized
the castle of Santojige, marched with the men of Poictou to
recover it. BicharcPs knights, showing no reverence either
to God or the church, entered the cathedral, and converting
it into a castle, filled it with armed men and provisions. The
king, being informed that the enemy occupied three strong
holds, prepared to attack them: two of them were im
mediately reduced, and he then approached the* cathedral
which was full of soldiers and loose characters, not to attack
it but to purify it from its desecration. Altogether, reckon
ing both those who were in the church and those who were
taken elsewhere, sixty knights and four hundred cross-bow
men were made prisoners. In this manner tranquillity
* Hoyeden calls this castle Kinardeferie.

28 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1174.
having been restored to those parts, Henry was obliged to
return to Normandy ; for Philip count of Flanders, in the
presence of Louis king of France and the nobles of that king
dom, had sworn on the holy Gospels, that within fifteen days
after the approaching feast of St. John, he would invade
England in force, and reduce it under subjection to the
young king. Elated by this prospect young Henry came to
Witsand on the 14th of July, with the intention of sending
over Ealph de la Haie with an army to England : the earl of
Flanders sent forwards three hundred and eighteen veteran
knights to be transported over also, who, soon after they
landed at Arwell,* on the 10th of June, immediately joined
Hugh Bigod the earl. Proceeding at once to Norwich they
took that city on the 28th of June and obtained there a large
booty, besides compelling many captives, whom they took
there, to pay a large sum of money for their ransom. The
king's justiciary seeing this, by common consent sent Eichard
bishop elect of Winchester, to inform the king of the dangers
which threatened England. The bishop, crossing without
delay into Normandy, laid before the king a faithful account
of all that was going on in England.
How the king, returning to England, paid a visit to the tomb of St. Thomas,
to pray there.
The king received the bishop with due respect, and
immediately prepared to cross over into England, taking
with him queen Eleanor, queen Margaret, his son John, and
his daughter Joanna. He also sent forward the earl and
countess of Leicester with other prisoners, to Barbefleuve,
where he went on board ship with a large army, but the wind
proving unfavourable, the seamen were afraid to venture out
that day. The king, perceiving that the sea was rough,
raised his eyes to heaven, and uttered these words in the
presence of all his people : "Ifmj intentions are directed to
maintain peace both for my clergy and people, if the King of
heaven has decreed to restore tranquillity in my kingdom
when I arrive there, may he then grant that I may reach the
shore in safety: but if his anger is roused, and he has
decreed to visit the kingdom of England with the rod of his
fury, may he never suffer me to reach the shores of that
* Near Harwich,

A.D. 1174.] PENITENCE OF KING HENRY. 29
country ! " When he had finished this prayer, he set sail
that same day, and after a fair passage reached Southampton
in safety. He then fasted on bread and water, and would
not enter any city, until he had fulfilled the vow which he
had made in his mind to pray at the tomb of St. Thomas
archbishop of Canterbury and glorious martyr. When he
came near Canterbury, he dismounted from his horse, and
laying aside all the emblems of royalty, with naked feet, and
in the form of a penitent and supplicating pilgrim, arrived
at the cathedral on Friday the 13th of June, and hke
Hezekiah, with tears and sighs, sought the tomb of the
glorious martyr, where, prostrate on the floor, and with his
hands stretched to heaven, he continued long in prayer.
Meanwhile the bishop of London was commanded by the
king to declare, in a sermon addressed to the people, that he
had neither commanded, nor wished, nor by any device con
trived the death of the martyr, which had been perpetrated
in consequence of his murderers having misinterpreted the
words which the king had hastily pronounced : wherefore he
requested absolution from the bishops present, and baring his
back, received from three to five lashes from every one of the
numerous body of ecclesiastics who were there assembled.*
The king then resumed his garments, and made costly offer
ings to the martyr ; assigning forty pounds yearly for candles
to be burned round his tomb : the remainder of the day and
the following night were spent in grief and bitterness of
mind. For three days the king took no sustenance, giving
himself up to prayer, vigils, and fasting : by which means the
favour of the blessed martyr was secured, and, on the very
Saturday on which he prayed that indulgence might be
shown him, God delivered into his hands Wilham king of
Scots, who was forthwith confined in Bichmond castle. On
that same day, also, the ships which the young king his son
had assembled in order to invade England, were dispersed
by the weather and almost lost, and the young* king was
driven back to the coast of France.
The capture of William the king of Scotland.
The mode in which the Scottish king became a prisoner,
* It may be safely presumed that the lashes administered to royal
shoulders on this occasion were not laid on with the utmost severity of the
law.

30 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1174.
was, briefly, as foUows. He invaded Northumberland, as he
had done the year before, for the purpose of uniting it to his
own dominions : but the nobles of that part of the country
met him in arms, and after a pitched battle, took him
prisoner. So many of those Scottish vermin were slain that
the number exceeds all calculation. The king was placed in
custody at Eichmond castle, thereby fulfiUing the prophecy of
MerUn, " A rein shall be placed upon his jaws, fabricated in
the bosom of Armorica ;" i. e. the castle of Eichmond, which
was at that time possessed by Armorican princes, and had
been so from ancient times.
/"To form a true estimate of the benefits which resulted to
(the king from his penitence at the tomb of the martyr and
\$he intercession which the saint made for him, we must con
sider the sequel of our history. When the king had finished
his prayers, he went to London where he was received with
respect by the people, and from thence he went to Hunting
don, where he besieged and took the castle on the 19th of
July. There the knights of the earl of Leicester came and
surrendered to him the castles of Grobi and MountsoreL that
he might show greater consideration towards their master.
On the 22nd of July, the Northern nobles, with the bishop
elect of Lincoln,* the king's son, at their head, reduced
Malessart the castle of Boger de Mowbray ; and troops now
coming in on aU sides, Henry determined to besiege the two
castles of Hugh Bigod, Bungay, and Framingham: but the
earl, having no hope of successful resistance, gave hostages
and paid a thousand marks, by which means he obtained
peace on the 25th of July. The army of Flemings, wjho had
been sent over by count Philip, were then aUowed to return,
but first compelled to make oath that they would not again
invade England. The troops of the young king, also, com
manded by Ealph de la Haye, left England without impedi
ment. Moreover Bobert earl of Ferrars and Boger de
Mowbray, whose castles of Thirsk and Stutbury were at that
time besieged by the king, sent heralds and asked for peace.
Wilham earl of Glocester, and Eichard earl of Clare, met the
king, and promised implicit obedience to his commands.
Thus this glorious king having conquered all his enemies and
restored peace to England, crossed into Normandy on the
* Geoffrey Plantagenet.

A.D. 1175.] THE KING AND HIS SONS RECONCILED. 31
7th of July, attended by his prisoners, the king of Scotland,
the earl of Leicester, and Hugh de Castello.
How the king of France abandoned the siege of Rouen.
When king Henry landed in Normandy, on the 11th of
July, he found the city of Eouen besieged ; for Louis king
of France and the young king Henry, with the count of
Flanders, had assembled a large force in the absence of the
king, and severely pressed the citizens ; but when the king
of France heard that the king of England was coming, he
retreated, not without some detriment to his reputation, and
the English soldiers seized on a large quantity of his arms
and munitions of war. The same year, the archbishop of
Canterbury returned from Eome, bringing back with him the
pall and the primacy of England. Arriving at London on
the 30th of August, he convoked the principal clergy be
longing to the vacant churches, which had lately elected fresh
prelates, and confirmed and consecrated the bishops elect of
Winchester, Ely, Hereford, and Chichester : but Geoffrey,
bishop elect of Lincoln, whose election had not yet been con
firmed, crossed the sea, with the intention of sending mes
sengers to Eome, or going there in his own person.
How all the king's sons made peace with their fattier.
A. d. 1175. Louis king of France and the count of
Flanders, beginning to feel the expenses which they had in
curred in the cause of the young king of England, and re
flecting on the loss of hfe and property which had fallen on
their subjects, promised to abstain from invading Normandy ;
and did their best to reconcile the king with his sons, who,
as they weU knew, had incurred their father's malediction,
the hatred of the clergy, and the imprecations of the whole
people. The king, therefore, informed by the report of the
messengers that all his adversaries were reduced to re
pentance, arranged to meet them at Mans, where his
sons Geoffrey and Eichard first did homage to him, and
took the oath of fealty. After a few days, the young king,
with the archbishops of Eouen, and many other bishops and
barons, came before the old king at Bure in Normandy, and
throwing himself at his father's feet, implored his mercy.
The kine, his father, moved with affection towards his son,

32 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1175.
whom he ardently loved, and perceiving his sincerity, he
was no longer angry with him, but received his homage and
oath of fidelity. When peace was fuUy made, and ratified
all round by a kiss, the king released without ransom nine
hundred and sixty-nine knights, whom he had taken in the
war ; but a few, whose excessive misdeeds had provoked him,
in spite of his merciful incUnations, to anger, were com
mitted to still closer confinement. The young king, also,
released without ransom aU the knights whom he had taken
in war, amounting in number to more than one hundred.
Then the king, his father, sent letters into aU parts of his
dominions to inform them of the reconciliation which had
taken place, that, as they had suffered generaUy by the war,
they might now rejoice in the re-establishment of peace.
The letters also notified that aU castles which had been for
tified against him during the war, should be reduced to the
state in which they were before hostilities commenced.*
William, the king of Scotland, makes peace with king Henry.
The same year WiUiam king of Scotland, who was pri
soner at Falaise, made peace with the king of England on
the 8th of December, on the following terms. The king of
Scotland declared himself the Uegeman of the king of
England, for the kingdom of Scotland and all his dominions,
and did homage and allegiance to him as his especial lord,
and to Henry, the king's son, saving his faith to his father ;
and in the same way all the bishops, with the earls and
barons of Scotland, from whom the king wished to receive
homage and fealty, and not only for themselves but for their
successors, to the king and to his successors for ever, without
mental reservation of any kind. Moreover, the king of
Scots and all his men promised that they would not harbour
in any part of their dominions fugitives out of England, but
would arrest them and give them up to the king of England
* " In the same year, a general council was held at Westminster on the
fifteenth day of June, of which Richard archbishop of Canterbury and
legate of the apostolic see, was president. Roger archbishop of York re
fused to attend. Reginald earl of Cornwall died in this year. Hugh
Petroleonis, a cardinal deacon, came as legate to England, and gained
favour in the sight of the king by granting the power of handing priest*
over to the secular authority, for forfeiture of land and lay demesnes." 
M. Paris.

A.D. 1176.] VISIT TO THE TOMB OF ST. THOMAS. 33
and to his justices. As a guarantee for the observance of
this treaty, the king of Scotland gave up to king Henry and
his successors the castles of Berwick and Eoxburgh* for
ever ; and, if the king of Scotland should ever contravene
this treaty, the bishops, earls, and barons of Scotland under
took to oppose him, and the bishops to lay his kingdom
under an interdict, until he should return to his duty towards
the king of England. Thus king William gave hostages,
and returned to England in free custody, until the castles
should be surrendered according to his bargain with the
king. And many of the fortresses which had been raised
through England, and Normandy, during the dissension
between the father and son, were now, by the king's com
mand, destroyed.
How the two kings, father and son, paid a visit to the tomb of St. Thomas.
a.d. 1176. The kings of England, father and son, on
their return to England, ate every day at the same table,
and slept every night in the same bedroom. They also
together visited the blessed martyr St. Thomas, to offer up
their prayers and vows at his tomb ; after which they went
through England, promising justice to everyone, both clergy
and laity, which promise they afterwards fully performed.
The same year, William de Brause, having craftily as
sembled a multitude of the Welsh in the castle of Aber
gavenny, forbade travellers to carry a knife or bow, but
when they opposed this decree, he condemned them all to
capital punishment. That you may understand how he
paUiated his treachery under the cloak of right, he per
petrated this deed to avenge his uncle, Henry of Hereford,
whom they had slain on the previous Easter Saturday. The
same year, Eichard archbishop of Canterbury, appointed
three archdeacons, Savary, Nicholas, and Herbert, in his
diocese, though up to this time it had been content with one
archdeacon. The same year John dean of Sahsbury was
consecrated bishop of Norwich, and not long after, the
king of England rased to the ground the castles of Leicester,
Huntingdon, Walton, Grobi, Stutsbury, Hay, and Thirsk,
besides many others, in return for the injuries which the
lords of those castles had often done to him. He then, by
* Also the castles of Jedburgh, Edinburgh, and Stirling.
VOL. IL D

34 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1176.
the advice of his son and the bishops, appointed justices
through six districts of his kingdom, in each part three, who
made oath that they would do fuU justice to every body.
How the king granted four articles to Peter the legate of the Roman see.
About this time Petro-Leonis, the pope's legate, came to
England, and the king conceded to him the four articles
following, to be observed in the kingdom of England. First,
that for the future no clerk should be dragged in person
before any secular judge, for any crime or transgression,
except in the matter of the forest or a lay-fee, for which lay-
service is due to the king or to any other lord : secondly,
that archbishoprics, bishoprics, and abbacies should not be held
in the king's hand beyond a year, except for an evident
cause or urgent necessity : thirdly, that murderers of clerks,
convicted or confessed, should be punished before the king's
justiciary, in presence of the bishop : fourthly, that clerks
should not be compelled to serve in war. The same year,
Johanna, the king's daughter, who had been promised in
marriage to the king of Sicily, was on the 9th of No
vember, at St. Giles's, delivered to her husband in the sight
of an illustrious company of persons, who witnessed it ; and
at the same time, aU the castles in England were given into
custody by the king's orders. Also, WiUiam earl of Gloucester
not having a son, and unwilling that his inheritance should
be divided between his daughters, constituted the king's son,
John Lack-land, his heir.*
How foreign kings submitted their differences to the decision of the king
of England.
About this time, Alphonso king of Castile, son-in-law of
the king of England, and Sancho king of Navarre, his uncle,
being at variance, sent ambassadors to the king of England,
and promised to abide by his decision. When the ambas
sadors appeared at Westminster before the king, bishops,
* Matthew Paris adds :—" Hugh Petro-Leonis, after fulfilling his em
bassy, set sail. King Henry gave his youngest daughter to the king of
Apuleia, and crossed sea on the 27th of August. Richard earl of Strigoyle
died ; William earl of Arundel also died on the 12th of October at
Waverley, and was buried at Wimundham, a cell of the church of' St.
Alban's, of which he was known to have been a patron. Walter, also'
prior of Winchester, was made abbat of Westminster."

A.D. 1177.] KING HENRY'S DECISIONS. 35
earls, and barons, it was asserted on the part of Alphonso,
that whilst he was still a minor and an orphan, Sancho king
of Navarre had taken from him, unjustly and by violence,
the castles and lands of Logtoium, Navarret, Anthlena, Aptol,
and Agosen, with their appurtenances, which had belonged
to Alphonso's father before he died, and which Alphonso
himself had since for some years possessed ; for which
reason they claimed restitution for their sovereign. The
ambassadors of Sancho, on the other hand, did not deny
these facts, but asserted that Alphonso had taken by force
from Sancho the castles of Legin, Portel, and that held by
Godin ; and, as the opposite party did not contradict, they
with equal urgency claimed restitution for their master.
They also acknowledged publicly that a truce had been
made for seven years, on oath, between the parties. When
the king of England had counseUed with his bishops, earls,
and barons on the subject of this quarrel, as it appeared
that neither party denied the acts of violence on either side,
and there appeared to be no reason why mutual restitution
should not be made, the king decided that both parties
should give up what they had taken, that the truce should
be observed up to its full period, and that, for the sake of
peace, Alphonso should pay to Sancho every year for ten
years three thousand marabotins,* and on these terms there
should be final peace and friendship between the two. In
these days, ambassadors from Manuel emperor of Constan
tinople, from the Boman emperor Frederic, from William
archbishop of Treves, from Henry duke of Saxony, and
Philip count of Flanders, each engaged on his own separate
business, met together in the king's court at Westminster, as
if by agreement, on the 12th of November. We mention
this fact, in proof of the estimation in which aU the world
held the wisdom and magnificence of the king, as was
evinced by aU of them applying to him for advice* and settle
ment of their disputes.
Of the removal of the secular canons from Waltham church.
a.d. 1177. The canons, called secular, were removed
from the church of Waltham, and regular canons introduced
* The marabotin or marabitin was a Spanish gold coin, the exact value
of which is unknown ; but it was probably borrowed from the Moors. The
modern maravedi is, on the contrary, of a diminutive value.
d2

36 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1178.
in their places, by the authority of the supreme pontiff, on
Whitsun-eve, by the command of the king, who was also
present on the occasion : and the same day, Ealph canon of
Chichester received the government of the same church
from the hands of the bishop of London, to whom, as his
diocesan, he bound himself in express words to pay canonical
obedience ; after which he was introduced into the church in
company with the brethren, appointed by the bishop to be
their prior, and solemnly enthroned.* The king of England,
now, having settled the affairs of the kingdom to his wish,
crossed to Normandy on the 18th of August, and held a con
ference with the king of France, at which the foUowing
treaty was concluded : " I Louis king of France and I,
Henry king of England, hereby notify to all men, that we
have, by God's inspiration, promised and confirmed on oath,
to enter the service of our crucified Saviour, and, taking the
cross, to go to Jerusalem ; and that it is our wish to be
friends, and to maintain one another in hfe, limb, and worldly
honour against all men: and if any one shaU presume to
injure either of us, I Henry, wiU assist Louis king of France,
as my lord, against all men ; and I Louis, will help Henry
king of England, as my faithful man, against aU men, saving
the faith which we owe to our own men, as long as they
shall continue faithful to us." This took place at Minancourt
on the 25th of September.
Of the foundation of Westwood monastery.
a.d. 1178. Eichard de Lucy, justiciary of England, on
the 11th of June, laid the foundations of a conventual
church in honour of St. Thomas the martyr, at a place called
Westwood,| in the territory of Eochester. Also, king
• Matthew Paris adds the following :— "In the same year, too, Philip
count of Flanders and William de Magnaville set out for Jerusalem. The
emperor Frederic did homage to pope Alexander; for he heard that when
that pontiff was flying from the persecution of the emperor, and the
journey by land was unsafe for him, he took ship, and a storm having
arisen, he put on all the papal decorations, as if he was going to celebrate
mass, and standing up on board, he commanded the sea and winds like
Jesus Christ, whose vicar he said he was, and there was a calm immediately.
On hearing this, the emperor was astounded, and by humiliating himself
appeased the pope, more, however, through fear of God than man- and
flius the quarrel ended." f Called also Lesnes abbey.

A.D. 1178.] REVELATION CONCERNING ST. AMPHIBALUS. 37
Henry, having now secured the fortresses throughout all his
dominions, from the Pyrenees to the British ocean, dnd
settling everything to his wish, on the 13th of June visited
the tomb of St. Thomas the martyr, and shortly after, on the
6th of August, at Woodstock, made his son Geoffrey a
belted knight.
Of the revelation made to a certain man concerning St. Amphibalus.
The same year there was a certain man who lived at his
native town, St. Alban's, and enjoyed a character free
from reproach among his countrymen. From his youth up
to the present time, he Uved honestly, as far as the mediocrity
of his fortune allowed, and was a devout attendant at the
church. Whilst this man lay in bed one night, about the
time of cock-crowing, a man of taU and majestic mien
entered his apartment, clad in white, and holding in his hand
a beautiful wand. The whole house shone at his entrance,
and the chamber was as light as at noon-day. Approaching
the bed, he asked in a gentle voice, "Eobert, are you
asleep ?" Eobert, trembling with fear and wonder, replied,
"Who art thou, lord ?" " I am," said he, "the martyr St.
Alban, and am come to teU you the Lord's will concerning
my master, the clerk, who taught me the faith of Christ, for,
though his fame is so great among mankind, the place of his
sepulture is stiU unknown, though it is the belief of the
faithful that it will be revealed to future ages. Eise there
fore, with speed, put on your clothes and follow me, and I
will show you the spot where his precious remains are
buried." Eobert, therefore, rising from his bed, as it
seemed, foUowed him, and they went together through the
pubUc streets towards the north, until they came to a plain
which had lain for ages uncultivated near the high road.*
* Matthew Paris adds the following : — " On their way they conversed
with one another, as is the custom amongst friends travelling together, at
one time of the walls of the ruined city, at another of the decrease of the
river, of the common street adjoining the city ; then the discourse turned
to the arrival in the city of the blessed Amphibalus, their master ; his
departure to be lamented by them, and of the passion of both. And
whatever questions Robert wished to ask, the martyr readily answered
them. It happened that as they were conversing they were met by some
traders of Dunstable, who were hastening to be in the market at the town
of St. Alban's on the morrow, to transact some businen there; and the
martyr having foretold their approach, said, " Let us turn aside for a little,

38 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [i..T>. 1178.
Its surface was level, furnishing an agreeable pasturage for
cattle, and resting place for weary traveUers, at a village
caUed Eedburn, about three mUes from St. Alban's. In
this plain were two eminences, caUed the " HiUs of the
banners," because there used to be assemblies of the faithful
people held round them, when, according to an ancient
custom, they yearly made a solemn procession to the church
of St. Alban, and offered prayers. Here St. Alban turned a
httle out of the way, and seizing the man's hand, led him to
one of the mounds, which contained the sepulchre of the
blessed martyr. "Here," said he, turning to his foUower,
"he the remains of my master;" and then, opening the
ground a Uttie, in the shape of a cross with the man's
thumb, and turning up a portion of the turf, he opened a
smaU chest, from which a briUiant hght came forth, and
fiUed first the whole of the west, and then the whole
world with its rays, after which the chest again closed, and
the plain was restored to its former appearance. The man was
astonished, and asked the saint what he should do. " Notice
the spot carefully," said the saint, " and remember what I
have shown you. The time shaU soon come when the in
formation which I have privately given to you shall turn out
to the benefit of many. Bise now," continued he, " let us
be going, and return to the place whence we came." As
they were on their way home, the saint entered his own
church, and the man, returning to his house, went to bed
again. How the man disclosed the vision which he had seen.
In the morning the man awoke, and was much disturbed
in mind, doubting whether or not he should disclose to others
what he had seen in the vision, or, as he rather beheved, in
till those who are approaching shall pass, that they may not delay our
journey by asking questions ;" for the road shone from his presence ; and
this came to pass. When they had got about half way on their journey,
at a place where two trees had been thrown down, the martyr said, " To
this place I brought my master, the blessed Amphibalus, when, for the last
time during his life on earth, we conversed together, weeping, as we were
then on the point of separating from one another." And if the shining
light which proceeded from the martyr had not dazzled the sight of
Robert, and Robert himself had not been restrained by fear and by his
simplicity, the saint would have informed him of many other things past
and future.

A.D. 1178.] MIRACLES AT THE MARTYRS' TOMB. 39
reality: for he feared lest he should offend God if he con
cealed it, and incur the ridicule of mankind if he told it.
In this state of doubt the fear of God prevailed; and,
although he did not proclaim it pubhcly, yet he communicated
it to his domestics and private friends. They, however, at
once published in open day what had been told them in the
darkness, and what they had heard in the ear they pro
claimed upon the house-tops. Thus the story was spread
throughout the whole province, so that the inhabitants
thronged the cloister of St. Alban's monastery. At last
the happy report reached Simon, the abbat, by whose in
fluence, next to God, it acquired great importance. He im
mediately gave praise and thanks to God, and having held a
council of the brethren, chose some of them to proceed to
the spot, to which the man above mentioned should guide
them. Meantime, the whole convent at home prayed de
voutly to God; while the brethren, appointed for the pur
pose, proceeded to the spot where they hoped to find the
rehcs of the martyr. When they reached the spot,
they found there a large multitude, who had met to
gether from divers parts of the country, led by the Holy
Spirit, to witness the discovery of the martyr's rehcs.
Whilst they aU waited for the event, the man aforesaid led
the brethren to the plain where the bodies of the saints lay.
It was the Friday before the feast of St. Alban's when this
was done. From that day, until the bodies of the saints
were removed, there was always a watch kept over that
spot, the brethren of the abbey assisting the laity in this duty.
MeanwhUe, the convent entered upon a stricter rule of
life, and proclaimed to the people a solemn occasion for
prayer and fasting. This place, in which the rehcs were
hereafter to be found, now bore the appearance of a market,
and when one party, who from devotion visited the spot,
left it, another party arrived.
Of two women who were cured by visiting the saint.
Signs of well-attested miracles began now to be exhibited,
whilst the martyrs were stiU beneath the ground, giving
hopes of the greater works which they would do hereafter.
For a woman of Gatesden, who had been bound ten years
with a weakness of the shoulders and loins, and had been on

40 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1178.
account of her infirmity, an object of dislike to her husband,
left her native place, and passing through Eedburn, lay down
to sleep near the place where the martyrs were buried, nor
did she rise from thence until she was whoUy cured. Another
woman of Dunstable, named Cecilia, had the dropsy, which
gave her the appearance of being pregnant, and she also was
restored to health by a visit to the spot. Also, a girl five
years old, who had never walked since her birth, but was
always carried by her parents, was placed near the same
spot, in the sight of many faithful witnesses, and after a
short sleep, rose up and ran upon her feet, to the great joy
of her parents. Meanwhile, the day of St. Alban's martyr
dom arrived, and, famous as is that day in itself, it was
made still more so, by the pubUcation of these miracles.
The faithful were admonished to give alms more largely, to
use abstinence in diet, and the solemn procession was re
peated the next day. But the days which still intervened,
did not pas3 in idle talk, for up to the very hour of the
discovery of the relics, evident miracles were performed. A
man of Kingsbury laughed at those who were digging for
saints, and coming with the rest to the spot, though with
very different thoughts from theirs, he was immediately
seized with madness, tore his clothes, and instead of de
riding the diggers, became now a spectacle to them. When
he had been tormented some time in the sight of all who
were present, the hand of God ceased to punish him, and he
returned safe, though chastened, to his home. Another man
also laughed at them for digging for saints, and was also
struck with the divine vengeance, for in the midst of speak
ing he was violently seized, and breathed out on the spot
his blaspheming spirit. One Algar of Dunstable came to
the spot with a cart, in which was a cask of ale for sale :
a poor sick man came up to him and begged of him, for the
love of the martyr, to give him a smaU draught to quench
his thirst. Algar, incensed at his request, said he had not
come there out of regard to the martyr, but to make profit
by the sale of his goods. Whilst he was thus abusing the
poor man, both ends of his cask fell out, the beer ran upon
the ground, and by the saint's interference, not only the poor
man who had been denied the least drop of it, but also many
others with him, falUng upon their knees, drank as much as

A.D. 1178.] BODIES OF MARTYRS FOUND. 41
they pleased, for no one prevented them. Thus, by the
martyr's agency, the wickedness of the perverse was re
pressed, and the devotion of the faithful met with its reward ;
for during the three following days, ten persons of both
sexes were cured of different diseases, to the praise of God
and of his holy martyr.
The discovery of St. Amphibalus and his nine companions.
On the morning of the day when the bodies of the saints
were found, the venerable father, abbat Simon, approached
the holy spot, and having celebrated the mystery of our
redemption in the neighbouring chapel of St. James, in
respect to the martyr St. Alban, he commanded the monks
who were present to search with still greater diligence and
to put on more diggers immediately. The chapel of
St. James had been built in honour of the martyr, in con
sequence of certain rays of Ught which always fell on the
flocks whenever the shepherds drove them to pasture on that
spot; wherefore, also, the aforesaid abbat celebrated mass
there, and implored the^ martyr's aid to bless their search.
When the abbat and brethren had returned to the abbey, and
were seated at dinner, one of them read aloud the passion of
the saint for whom they were digging and of his companions,
by which when they were released from the flesh they entered
into everlasting glory. Whilst, therefore, the convent in
tears were intent on hearing the cruelty of the judge, the
ferocity of his lictors, the patience of the martyrs, and the
lengthened details of their death, some one suddenly entered
the room and announced that they had just discovered the
bodies of Amphibalus and three others. Why should I relate
the effect of this intelligence ? their sighs were changed to
thanksgiving, and j oy succeeded to sorrow. Eising from table,
they all proceeded to the church, and offered up praises to
attest the joy which filled their hearts. The holy martyr
Amphibalus was lying between two of his companions, whilst
the third was found lying crossways in a place by itself.
They also found near the place six others of the martyrs,
making with St. Amphibalus himself, ten in all. Among
other reliques of this champion of Christ were found two
large knives, one in his skuU and the other in his breast, con
firming the account which was handed down from ancient

42 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1178.
times in the book of his martyrdom.* For, according to that
book, whilst the others perished by the sword, Amphibalus
himself was first emboweUed, then pierced with lances and
knives, and finally stoned to death: for which cause, also,
none of his bones were found entire, though in aU the corpses
of his companions not a bone was broken.
How the relics of St. Amphibalus were translated to St. Alban's.
The abbat, as we have observed, hearing the happy news,
hastened with the prior and some of the brethren to the place,
and caused the reUcs thus dug up to be taken up and wrapped
in decent cloths. Then, apprehensive of injury from the pres
sure of the multitude, who could not be kept off from the trea
sure which they had found, he gave orders that the holy martyrs
should be carried to St. Alban's church, where they could be
better taken care of. Why need I say more ? The abbat
and brethren returned to the monastery, carrying with them
separately the bodies of the saints. The rest of the brother
hood, who had remained behind, came out to meet them,
bearing with them the body of the blessed martyr St. Alban,
which, as his bearers can testify, though generaUy heavy,
was at present so Ught that it seemed rather to fly along than
to rest upon their shoulders. Thus martyr met martyr, the
disciple his master, receiving him pubhcly on his return, from
whom formerly he had been taught the true faith in a humble
cottage. We must not, however, pass over in silence a
miracle which God wrought in the elements when first these
holy rehcs met. For, whereas there had been a long drought,
which had dried up everything and reduced the farmers
almost to despair ; at this moment, though there was not a
cloud to be seen, so heavy a storm of rain came down, that
the earth was drenched and the hopes of a future harvest
were revived. St. Amphibalus and his companions were
found on Saturday the 25th of June, a.d. 1177, being the
886th year after his martyrdom. Wherever the holy rehcs
are placed, as weU as on the spot where he was buried, to the
glory of God and of his martyr, the sick are cured of divers
diseases, the Umbs of the paralytics recover their strength,
the mouths of the dumb are opened, sight is restored to the
blind, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and, what is stiU more
• This book is now most probably no longer in existence.

A.D. 1179.] KING HENRY'S TOURNAMENTS. 43
marvellous, those who are possessed with devils are released,
epileptics are cured, lepers cleansed, and the dead recalled to
hfe. If any one desires to read the miracles which the
divine clemency works by means of these his saints, let him
peruse the famous book of his miracles, for we now beg our
readers to pardon us for this digression and hasten on to
other subjects.* How the young king Henry held tournaments.
a.d. 1179. Henry the young king, crossing into Gaul,
spent three years in conflicts and profuse expenditure.
Laying aside his royal dignity, and assuming the character of
a knight, he devoted himself to equestrian exercises and, carry
ing off the victory in various encounters, spread his fame on
all sides around Mm. When his reputation was complete, he
returned to his father who received him with due honour.
The same year Louis, the king of France, determined to pay
a visit for prayer at the tomb of St. Thomas the martyr, and
for that purpose came to England where neither himself nor
any of his ancestors had ever yet been. He landed at Dover,
and was met, on the 22nd of August, by the king of England,
who showed both him and his attendants every possible mark
of respect: for the archbishop of Canterbury, with his
suffragans, earls, and barons, besides the clergy and people,
went in solemn procession to the church, in honour of so
great a king. No one knows how much gold and silver,
precious stones and plate, king Henry bestowed upon the
French nobility, and therefore no one can tell the same. The
king of France granted a hundred measures of wine, to be
delivered yearly at Paris, out of respect to the glorious
martyr, for the use of the convent of Canterbury : and king
Henry showed the French king and his attendants all the
wealth of his kingdom, which had been amassed by himself
and his ancestors ; but the French, careful lest they should
seem to have had another object than to see the blessed
martyr, restrained their hands from receiving gifts, and in
doing so, perhaps, endured a sort of mental martyrdom at
what they saw. Thus the king of France, when he had
* The whole legend of Amphibalus is a fable : there certainly was no such
person, and it may be doubted whether there was ever such a person as
St. Alban ; or, if he existed, his history also is mostly a fable.

44 J ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1179.

spent three days in watching, fasting, and prayer at Canter
bury, and received a few small presents from the king of
England, as tokens of his love, sailed back to France on the
26th of August. The same year, also, died Boger bishop of
Winchester, on the 9th of August.
Of the council at Rome under pope Alexander.
The same year wa3 held a general council at Eome, of
three hundred and ten bishops, on the 29th of March, in the
Lateran, at which pope Alexander the third presided. The
statutes then passed, which are worthy of universal praise, are
contained under twenty-eight heads, as follows : — Of the elec
tion of the supreme pontiff : Of the heretical Albigenses, and
their different appellations : Of the routiers and plunderers
of Brabant, who harass the faithful : That no one shall be
advanced to a bishopric or any other ecclesiastical grade,
unless he is of lawful age and born in lawful wedlock : That
no benefices be given away whilst their incumbents are living,
nor be suffered to remain vacant more than six months after
the incumbents are dead : Of appeals : That no one in holy
orders, or who derives his maintenance from ecclesiastical
revenues, shall concern himself in secular business : Of fixing
the truces, and the times of fixing the same: That clerks
shaU have only one church, and that bishops, if they ordain
persons without a certain title, shall maintain them until
they can appoint them to an office in some church : That
patrons and laymen shall not oppress churches or ecclesias
tical persons : That Jews and Saracens shall not have Chris
tians for slaves, but if they choose to be converted to
Christianity, they shaU in no wise be taken from their
masters : That leprous persons, who are excluded from
society, shall have an oratory and priest of their own : That
ecclesiastical property shall not be turned to any other use,
nor deans exercise episcopal jurisdiction for a certain sum of
money : That in elections and ecclesiastical ordinations,
whatsoever shall be appointed by the senior part of the
council shall take effect : That manifest usurers shall not be
admitted to the communion at the altar, nor receive Christian
burial : That farmers and travellers, and all which they pos
sess, shall enjoy general peace and security : That ordinations
made by schismatics shaU be held as null and void, and aU

A.D. 1179.] STATUTES PASSED AT ROME. 45
benefices bestowed by them be revoked : That no payment
be demanded for instituting ecclesiastical persons, burying the
dead, or pronouncing the blessing at marriages, or for the
other sacraments of the church : That no rehgious persons or
others presume to receive churches or tithes from lay hands
without the authority of the bishop ; nor the templars or hos-
pitaUers open their churches, which have been laid under an
interdict, once a year, nor presume then to bury the dead :
That no one shall for money usurp a religious habit, nor
rehgious persons have property of their own, nor prelates be
degraded except for dilapidation or for incontinence: That
Christians shall not sell arms to Saracens, nor any one dare
to rob those who have been shipwrecked : That clerks in
holy orders shaU live continently, and if they are found to
labour in that sort of continence which is contrary to nature,
they shall be excommunicated and expelled from the clergy :
That archbishops, visiting parishes or churches, shall be con
tent with a retinue of forty or fifty horse ; bishops, of twenty
or thirty; legates, of twenty or five and twenty; arch
deacons, of five or seven ; and deans, of not more than two :
That no one shall practise tournaments, and that those who
are killed in them shall be deprived of Christian burial.-
That every cathedral church shall have a master, who shaU
teach the poor scholars and others, and that none shall de
mand pay for teaching : That prelates shall govern only one
church, and that patrons shall not exact money from the
churches or their lands : That bishops and ecclesiastical
persons shaU not be compelled to appear at lay tribunals, and
that laymen shall not pay tithes to laymen : That, if any one
receives property from another as a security for a loan, and,
after deducting expenses, he has recovered his money out of
the produce of the property, he shall give back the security
to his debtor.
Pope Alexander's letter against the heresy of Peter Lontbard.
The same pope Alexander was informed that master Peter
Lombard had in certain of his writings departed from the
articles of the faith ; wherefore he sent the following letter
to William archbishop of Sens. " Alexander, bishop, servant
of the servants of God, to William archbishop of Sens,
health: — When you were formerly in our presence, we en-

46 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1179.
joined you, by word of mouth, to convoke your suffragan
bishops at Paris, and use your best endeavours to destroy the
false doctrines of Peter, formerly bishop of Paris, by which it is
asserted that Christ, as far as he is human, is not any thing.
We therefore command you, my brother, by our apostolical
writings, as we before commanded you by word of mouth, to
assemble your bishops at Paris, and together with them and
other religious and prudent men, to abrogate altogether the
aforesaid doctrines, and to make masters teach their pupils in
theology, that as Christ is perfect God, so also he is perfect
man, consisting of a body and soul. You wiU strictly charge
all men by no means to presume again to teach the afore
said false doctrine, but altogether to abominate it."
Of abbat Joachim's book, which he wrote against Peter Lombard.
In these days, also, Joachim abbat of Flore, wrote a book
against Peter Lombard, calling him a heretic and a madman,
for having said, in speaking of the unity or essence of the
Trinity, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are one
supreme essence, which neither begets, nor is begotten, one
proceeding. For this assertion, the abbat charged Peter
with holding not three persons in the Godhead, but four,
namely, the three persons usuaUy received, and their com
mon essence or a sort of fourth ; that it is no thing which
is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, neither essence,
nor substance, nor nature, although he admits that the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are one essence, one substance,
and one nature. And the same Joachim confirmed his posi
tion by the authorities which follow : — " There are three
which bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost, and these three are one ; and there are three
which bear record on earth, the Spirit, the Water, and the
Blood, and these three are one.-' again, "I wish, Father,
that they should be one in us, even as we also are one."
Wherefore it appears that the aforesaid Joachim acknow
ledges not a true and proper unity of this sort, but a sort of
collective unity, having the similitude of such, in the same
way as many men are called one people, and many believers
make one church.

A.D. 1179.] HERESY OF JOACHIM CONDEMNED. 47
How pope Innocent condemned Joachim's book.
This controversy remained undecided for many years, from
the days of pope Alexander to the time of pope Innocent,
during the papacy of Lucius, Urban, Gregory, Clement, and
Celestine: to whom succeeded Innocent the third, who, in
the year of our Lord 1215, held a general council at Eome,
and condemned Joachim's book against Peter in these terms :
" We, with the consent and approbation of this council, be
lieve and confess with Peter that there is one supreme
substance, incomprehensible and unspeakable, which is truly
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, being both three
persons coUectively and also each of them separately ; and
therefore there are three not four persons in the Deity, for
each of those three persons is that thing, or substance, essence
or divine nature, which alone is the beginning of all things,
besides which no other can be found ; and that substance
neither begets nor is begotten, nor proceeding ; but it is the
Father who begets, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy
Spirit which proceeds, so that there are distinctions between
the persons, and unity in the nature. For although the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are different persons,
they are not different in substance : the Father, by begetting
the Son from eternity communicated to him his own sub
stance, according to what He himself testifies : " That which
the Father hath given me is greater than all." Neither can
it be said that he gave the Son part of his substance and
retained the rest for himself, since the substance of the
Father is indivisible, and altogether simple ; neither can it
be said that the Father transferred his substance to the Son
by begetting him, that is, so gave it to the Son that he did
not retain it for himself, otherwise his substance would cease
to exist : but the Son by his birth received the entire sub
stance of the Father, and so the Father and Son have the
same substance and are the same thing ; as weU as the Holy
Spirit, which proceeds from both, and remains in both, for
the faithful servants of Christ are not, as the abbat Joachim
says, one substance common to all, but one only in unity of
charity, in grace; but in the same of the Divine persons,
there is unity of identity in their nature. We therefore con
demn and reprobate the book and doctrines of Joachim, and
do command that, if any one shall presume to defend or

48 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1180,
approve of his opinions in this matter, he shall be held as
heretical by all men." Concerning this council and the pope
above mentioned, more wiU be said in its proper place.
How Philip was consecrated king of France.
The same year, Philip son of Louis king of France, was
crowned king ofl the festival of All Saints, at Eheims, by
William archbishop of that city : his father was stiU hving,
and supplied all things required for the coronation. Also
CadwaUan, prince of Wales, was this year brought into the
presence of the king of England, where many charges were
laid against him. On his return to Wales, under the safe
conduct of the king, he was set upon by his enemies and
slain, on the 22nd of September, to the great scandal of the
king, though he was in no wise to blame ; for he commanded
the authors of the deed to be severely punished.
Of the league between the king of France and England.
a.d. 1180. A conference was held between Phihp the
new king of France and king Henry, at a place between
Gisors and Trie, where the following treaty was concluded
between them : "I, Philip, by the grace of God king of
France, and I, Henry, by the same grace, king of England,
notify to all men that we have renewed on oath the aUiance
and friendship between us ; and, to avoid aU occasion of dis
cord hereafter between us, we have agreed that neither shaU
claim, against the other, any of the lands, possessions, and
other things which we now hold, except Auvergne, concerning
which there is now a dispute between us, and except the fee
of the castle of Ealph, and except the small fees and divisions
of our lands of Berri : concerning which, if we cannot come to
an agreement, we have each chosen three bishops and barons,
to decide between us, by whose decision we have agreed, in
good faith, to abide." The same year, also, died Louis king
of France, at Paris, on the 18th of September, and was buried
at the Cistercian abbey of Barbeaux ; the building of which
had been completed at the expense of the same king.
How Richard count of Poictou grievously ravaged the lands of Geoffrey
de Lixiniac.
About the same time, Eichard duke of Aquitaine, and son
of lung Henry, provoked by the pride of Geoffrey de Bancon,

A.D. 1180.] SIEGE OF TAILEBCRG. 49
and by many injuries which he had received from him,
assembled his troops, and laid siege to Taileburg, one of his
castles, a bold enterprise, which none of his ancestors had
ever dared to undertake, for the castle was up to that time un
known to its enemies, and was defended by three moats and
walls, besides arms of aU kinds, bolts, and bars ; it was crowned
with turrets placed at intervals, and had a large quantity of
stones on its battlements, besides stores of provisions, and
numbers of knights and experienced soldiers; for which
reason it entertained no fear from duke Eichard's approach.
He, however, invaded its territory with more than a hon's
fury, carried off the produce, cut down the vines, burned the
villages, and demolished every thing ; then fixing his tents
near the castle, he erected machines against the waUs, and
created great alarm in the garrison, who had no suspicion
that any such things would happen. Inasmuch, however,
as it seemed somewhat ignominious, that such high-minded
and experienced soldiers should be cooped up within the
walls, they determined, by common consent, to make a sally
and attack the duke's army by surprise. This resolution
was bravely put in force, but the duke, summoning his men,
charged the enemy and compeUed them to retire within their
walls. In their retreat, a fierce fight ensued, and the worth
of both horse and men, lance and sword, bow and cross
bow, shield and mace, with every other kind of weapon or
defensive armour, were aU tested in that encounter. Where
fore the townspeople, unable any longer to endure the duke's
assaults, retreated within their waUs, and the duke, urging
on the pursuit, entered with the fugitives : the streets were
filled with rapine and conflagration, for there was no way of
escape left for them. Some of the townspeople, favoured by
fortune, fled to the principal tower : the lord of the castle
was compeUed to surrender, the fair waUs were levelled with
the ground, and others of the revolted castles, within a month,
shared the same fate. When every thing was conlpleted to
the duke's wish, he crossed into England, where he was
received with the greatest honours by king Henry his
father.* * " A new coinage was made th:is year in England ; and John bishop of
Chichester died." — M. Paeis.
VOL. H. E

50 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-D- H81.
How Philip king of France submitted the disposition of his realm to the
king of England.
a.d. 1181. Some of the French king's ministers reminded
their master how peacefuUy the king of England governed his
extensive dominions, and kept them safe from those barbarous
nations the Scots and Welsh : wherefore, by the advice of his
household, the French king submitted his own kingdom, also,
and his own person to the disposition of the king of England,
who, influenced hy this example, placed the whole of
Normandy under the control of the young king his son, and,
on the 25th of July, crossing to England made a visit, for the
purpose of prayer, to the tomb of St. Thomas the martyr.
The same year, on the 20th of November, died Eoger arch
bishop of York, who, during his life-time, had obtained a
privilege from pope Alexander, to the effect that if any clerk
under his jurisdiction should on his death-bed make a wiU
and die without having distributed his property with his own
hands, the archbishop should take possession of the goods ol'
the deceased. Now, as every one ought to abide by the laws
which he has laid down for others, when the archbishop
died, aU his treasures, by the just judgment of God, were
confiscated, amounting to eleven thousand pounds of silver,
three hundred pieces of gold, one golden cup, seven sUver
cups, nine silver goblets, three silver salts, three cups of
myrrh, forty spoons, eight silver porringers, one silver basin,
and a great silver dish.
Pope Alexander's letter to Prester * John king of the Indies.
About this time pope Alexander wrote to Prester John
king of the Indies, as foUows : — " Alexander, bishop, to his
beloved son in Christ, health and apostolical benediction. We
had heard, long ago, by the relation of many, what diligence
you show in the performance of pious works, since you have
embraced the Christian religion ; but our beloved son, PhiUp
the physician, who says that he has conversed with the great
and honourable men of your kingdom concerning your inten
tions and plans, has constantly, with his usual discretion,
signified to us that you wish to be instructed in the catholic
and apostolic doctrine, and that it is your fervent desire, on
• Properly Presbyter John ; but, as he is usually known by the name of
Prester John, I hare retained that appellation.

A.D. 1182.] DEATH OF POPE ALEXANDER. 51
the part of both your people and yourself, to hold nothing
which may appear to differ from the doctrines of the apostolic
see. To which must be added the liighest merit, as the
aforesaid Phihp says he has heard from your own people, that
you desire to have a church in the city of Jerusalem and an
altar, where religious and prudent men of your kingdom
might remain and be more fully instructed in apostolic dis
cipline, by whom also you and your people might the more
easily receive and hold their Christian doctrines. We, there
fore, wishing to reclaim you from those articles in which you
deviate from the Christian faith, have sent the aforesaid
Philip to your highness, through whom you may be instructed
in the articles of the Christian faith, wherein you and yours
seem to differ from us, and so may have no cause to fear that
anything will spring out of your error to impede the salva
tion of you or yours, or in any way to cast a stigma on your
profession of Christianity."
How Lucius succeeded to pope Alexander.
The same year died pope Alexander, after he had sat
twenty-two years in the Boman see. He was succeeded by
Humbald bishop of Ostia, who took the name of Lucius the
third, and sat four years in the apostolic church. Also
Philip king of France married Margaret daughter of Baldwin
count of Hainault, by Margaret, sister of Philip count of
Flanders. The same year, also, the old coinage was abro
gated, and a new coinage issued on the feast of St. Martin's.
The same year, Baldwin abbat of Ford, a Cistercian monas
tery, succeeded to Boger as bishop of Winchester.
How Geoffrey bishop elect of Lincoln declined the election.
a.d. 1182. Geoffrey elect of Lincoln, and son of the king
of England, after his election had been confirmed by the
pope, and he had ruled that same church peaceably during
seven years, on the day of the Epiphany at Marlborough, in
presence of the king and the bishops, renounced his election,
though no one compelled him to do so. At the same time,
Henry, in presence of the nobles of the kingdom, at Waltham,
liberally granted two thousand marks of silver and five
hundred marks of gold to assist the Holy Land, after which he
crossed into Normandy. In these days, Henry duke of

52 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1183.
Saxony, the king's son-in-law, had been exUed by the
emperor, and came to the king in Normandy, bringing with
him the duchess and his two sons Henry and Otho ; he was
there supphed three years by the king's munificence with aU
things necessary in the greatest abundance. The same year,
also, Walter de Constantiis archdeacon of Oxford, was con
secrated bishop of Lincoln by Eichard archbishop of Canter
bury, at Anjou, in the church of St. Laud. Also, Walter
bishop of Eochester died this year.
Of the death of abbat Simon, and the accession of Warin.
a.d. 1183. Died Simon abbat of St. Alban's, and was
succeeded by Warin prior of the same church, and on the
day of the nativity of the mother of God, received the
blessing as abbat. Of the death of Henry the young king.
About this time king Henry endeavoured to make his sons
Geoffrey and Eichard do homage to the young king his eldest
son, for Brittany and the duchy of Aquitaine. To this wish
Geoffrey readily acceded, and did homage for the earldom of
Brittany ; but Eichard no sooner heard his father's request
than he was violently angry, saying it was unreasonable,
whilst their father was alive, that they should subject them
selves to their elder brother, who was born of the same father
and mother as themselves, that, as the eldest brother would
claim the father's inheritance, so he, Eichard, would justly
claim the succession to his mother's property. Kino- Henrv
was much displeased at this conduct, and earnestly enjoined
the young king his son to do his utmost to check his brother's
pride. When they had frequently met for this purpose, and
there appeared no hopes of peace, the young king assembled
a large army, and determined to fight his brother, but his Ufe
was suddenly cut off like a thread, and with him were cut off
the hopes of many ; for in the flower of his youth, when he
had just completed his twenty-eighth year, he died in that part
of Gascony which is caUed Turonia, at the castle of Martel
on the feast of St. Barnabas the apostle, and his body
wrapped in the linen garments, which he wore anointed with
the chrism at his coronation, was carried to Eouen, where it
was buried near the high altar in the cathedral with the

A.D. 1184.] SARACENS DEFEATED BY THE CHRISTIANS. 53
honour due to so great a prince. The same year Girard,
surnamed la Pucelle, having been consecrated to the see of
Coventry, died after he had been bishop ten weeks. Also
Walter de Coutance bishop of Lincoln, came into England,
and was solemnly enthroned in his see.
a.d. 1184. Eichard archbishop of Canterbury, died at
AUingham, a village belonging to the bishop of Bochester ;
and king Henry escorted the duke of Saxony with his family
to England, where the duchess a few days afterwards gave
birth to a son named William, at Winchester. The same
year, Baldwin bishop of Worcester was elected archbishop of
Canterbury, and Walter of Lincoln was elected to the arch
bishopric of Bouen. Both these prelates received the pall,
and were solemnly enthroned in their sees. At this time
Phihp archbishop of Cologne, and Philip count of Flanders,
came into England to discharge their vows to the blessed
martyr St. Thomas. King Henry went out to meet them,
and invited them to pay a visit to London the royal city.
When they arrived in London, that capital presented such a
festive appearance as had never been seen before, and all its
streets sounded with mirth and revelry. The archbishop of
Cologne and the count of Flanders were received in solemn
procession at St. Paul's church, and the same day similar
honours were paid to them ; after which they were enter
tained during five days in the palace at the king's expense ;
but whether they carried home many presents with them or
not, it seems superfluous to inquire. The same year died
Joceline bishop of Sahsbury.
How the Saracens attacked the Christians in Spain, but retreated in
confusion.
In these days, about the feast of St. John the Baptist,
Gamius king of the Saracens in Spain, conducted the king of
. kings of the Saracens named Macemunt, at the head *>f thirty-
seven other kings, into the territories of the Christians.
They first besieged St. Irenaeus and after a fight of three
days and three nights made a breach in the waUs and entered
the town: but the garrison escaped into the citadel. The
following night the bishop of Portugal with the king's son
came upon the Saracens and slew king Gamius, with fifteen
thousand of his men, whose bodies they piled up in place of

54 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1184.
the walls which had been broken down. The next day,
being the festival of St. John and St. Paul,* the archbishop
of St. lago assembled twenty thousand men, and at dawn of
day slew thirty thousand Saracens. On the foUowing day,
which was the feast of St. Margaret's, the Saracens destroyed
at Alcubaz ten thousand women and infants ; but those who
were in the town of Alcubaz sallied out and slew three kings
with all their army. Afterwards, on the eve of St. James's,
king Macemunt heard that the king of GaUicia was come to
fight him in single combat ; and when he wished to mount
his horse, he fell off three times and died ; upon which all his
army fled, leaving behind them all their money. The king
of Portugal gave some of the Saracen prisoners as slaves to
serve the masons in rebuilding the churches, and with the
money he made a golden shrine for St. Vincent. Afterwards
came numerous galleys of the Saracens to Lisbon, bringing
with them a dromund,'in which there was a machine of such
a nature that the Saracens could issue forth upon it in arms
beyond the city walls and again return. By God's providence,*
however, some one dived into the water under the vessel, and
bored a hole in her bottom, which caused her to sink. The
Saracens, perceiving that they were baffled, took to flight,
leaving behind them all their baggage.
How Guy de Lusignan was made protector of the kingdom of Jerusalem.
In these days reigned at Jerusalem Baldwin, son of king
Amalric. From the very beginning of his reign he was
afflicted with elephantiasis, which had already deprived him
of sight, and of the use of his feet and hands. But, not
withstanding his weakness of body, he was strong in mind,
and endeavoured, even beyond his strength, to discharge his
royal duties. To this end he convoked the nobles of his
kingdom, and in presence of his mother and the patriarch,
he appointed Guy of Lusignan, count of Joppaand Ascalonj
to be regent of the kingdom. This Guy had married the
king's sister Sibylla, formerly wife of the marquis of Mont-
ferrat, by whom she had Baldwin ; but when he had been
some time regent, and the kingdom of Jerusalem did not-
prosper, the king removed Guy, and appointed Eaymund
count of Tripoli in his place.
* The 26th of June.

A.D. 1184.] SALADIN RAVAGES SEVERAL CITIES. 55
How Saladin the sultan of Babylon, destroyed several cities of the
Christians.
At this time, Saladin sultan of Damascus had subdued all
the Saracenic kings throughout the east, so that he might
truly be called king of kings and lord of lords, and now
purposing to subdue all Christendom also, he passed the
river Jordan at the beginning of July, and foraged for pro
visions the country round the castle of Crach, formerly called
Petra in the desert. He then passed on to the town of
Neapolis, which he plundered, and afterwards burned. At
Sebastasa, the bishop ransomed the city and church by
giving up to him eighty captives ; and Saladin, proceeding
into Arabia, devastated that country, and carried off both
men and women for slaves. From thence he proceeded to
the castle of Great Gerin, which he destroyed, and, except
a few whom he made prisoners, he slew both men and women.
Little Gerin, a viUage belonging to the temple, shared the
same fate, after which the Saracenic army retired by way of
Belvere, a castle belonging to the temple, slaying some of the
people, and carrying off the others as captives.
The king of England elected king of Jerusalem.
Baldwin, the leprous king of Jerusalem, being at last
dead, Baldwin, a boy of five years old, reigned in his place.
He was nephew to the late king, by Sibylla his sister, and
William marquis of Montferrat," and immediately after his
coronation was placed under the tuition of Eaymund count of
Tripolis. But the clergy and people, seeing the kingdom now
reduced to a state which could not long be maintained, began
seriously to consider what steps were to be taken ; and, as
they entertained suspicions that Saladin would not long
remain inactive, and had little to hope from the tender years
of the king, they all agreed to send ambassadors to Henry
king of England, and offer to him the kingdom of Jerusalem,
with the keys of the holy city and of our Lord's tomb.
Heraclius the patriarch, at their request, undertook this
embassy, and in company with the master of the temple and
some others, crossed the Mediterranean sea, and arriving^ at
Eome, obtained letters from pope Lucius, praying the king
of England to grant their request.

56 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1185.
Heraclius the natriarch comes to England, and notifies to king Henry his
election.
A.D. 1185. Heraclius patriarch of the holy resurrection,
and the lord Eoger master of the hospital of Jerusalem,
came to king Henry at Beading, and deUvering to him the
pope's letter, explained the object of their journey, and the
desolate condition of the city and whole country of Jeru
salem. The recital moved the king and aU the assembly to
tears ; for their petition took notice of our Lord's nativity,
his passion, resurrection, the tower of David, the keys of the
holy sepulchre, and the banner of the kingdom, aU of which
the king respected beyond measure. The pope's letter,
among other subjects, contained the following :
The letter of pope Lucius to the king of England.
"Lucius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, eye.
Whereas all your predecessors have been famous, above all
the other princes of the world, for valour in arms and
nobility of mind, and the people of the faithful have been
taught to look on them as patrons in their adversity, it is
not without propriety that application is made to you, who
inherit all your father's virtues as weU as his kingdom, at a
moment when not only danger but even imminent destruction
hangs over the Christian people ; to the end that your royal
power may protect the members of that Christ, who has
mercifuUy allowed you to reach your present height of
glory, and made you a waU of defence against those who
wickedly assail his name. Be it known, moreover, to .your
highness, that Saladin, the wicked persecutor of the holy
name of the Crucified, has now prevaUed to such an extent
in his fury against the Christians of the Holy Land, that,
unless his fierce rage is checked, he already confidently
looks forward to the whole of Jordan flowing into his
mouth," &c. King Henry refuses the kingdom of Jerusalem.
The king of England having received this communication,
convoked the clergy, people, and nobiUty of his dominions,
on the 18th of March, at ClerkenweU, in London, where the
king in the audience of the patriarch and master of the
hospital, solemnly adjured aU his faithful servants to make
pubhc whatever should seem to them to tend to the salvation

A.D. 1186.] HUGH DE LACY SLAIN. 57
of his soul in connexion with the subject before them, adding
that he was strongly disposed in his own mind to abide by
the advice which they should Jjffer. The whole council
then, considering on what they had just heard, deemed it
more sound and salutary to the king's soul that he should
govern his whole kingdom with proper moderation, and
defend it from the irruption of the barbarians, than attend in
his own person to the welfare of the people of thp east ; but
they did not deem it meet to come to any decision respecting
the king's sons, who were absent, one of whom the patriarch
requested might be sent to Jerusalem, if the king should
decUne to go himself.
The same year also, John, the king's son, was made a belted
knight by his father at Windsor, on the last day of March,
after which he crossed into Ireland. The king and the
patriarch then sailed over to Normandy, and celebrated
Easter at Bouen. The king of France hearing of the arrival
of the king of England, came with aU speed to Vaudreuil,
where the two kings passed three days in familiar converse,
and many noblemen took the cross in their presence, but the
kings themselves only promised that they would both send
speedy help to the Holy Land, for they did not think it an
easy matter to carry on so important an enterprise from the
remote bounds of the west ; and the patriarch, disappointed
in the object of his commission, and with baffled hopes,
returned to his own country.
The same year, Hugh de Lacy, lord of the province caUed
Media,* was slain on the 25th of July. At the same time,
the earl of Huntingdon having died without children, the
king gave that earldom with its purtenances to William
king of Scotland. Also, Gilbert de Glanville archdeacon of
Lisieux was consecrated bishop of Bochester on the 29th of
September, ¦(¦ and Henry duke of Saxony, with the emperor's
permission, returned home and contented himself with his
own paternal inheritance.
Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury receives the pall and the legatine
authority.
A.D. 1186. Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury received
* Meath, in Ireland.
t " The same year died pope Lucius, and, according to some accounts,
was succeeded by Urban." — M. Paeis.

58 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1180.
the pall, with the legatine commission, in the province over
which he presided. Also, William de Vere, on the festival
of St. Lawrence, was consecrated bishop of Hereford. The
same year Geoffrey count of Brittany, and son of the king
of England, died on the 19th of August, and was buried at
Paris, in the church of Notre Dame, in the choir of the canons.
He left two daughters, by his wife Constance, the daughter
of Conan formerly count of Brittany, and his wife, after his
death, gave birth to a son, called Arthur. The same year,
Hugh of Burgundy, and prior of the Carthusian order in
England, was consecrated bishop of Lincoln on the feast of
St. Matthew ; upon which day, also, WiUiam de Norhale was
consecrated bishop of Worcester. Pope Lucius died, and
was succeeded by Urban, and John precentor of Exeter was
consecrated bishop of that church.
Pope Urban grants permission to Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury lo
build a church at Akington.
About the same time, pope Urban wrote to Baldwin arch
bishop of Canterbury as follows : " We notify to you by
these presents, that you have leave to build a church in
honour of the blessed martyrs Stephen and Thomas, and to
provide proper persons to be attached to it, to whom you
shall assign benefices for their maintenance, according as
you shall appoint : also, that of all oblations which are made
at the relics of St. Thomas the martyr, one-fourth part shall
be devoted to the use of the monks, one-fourth to the fabric
of the church, one-fourth to the poor, and the remaining fourth
to such uses as you shall think proper.*
Sibylla is crowned queen of Jerusalem.
About this time, Baldwin the young king of Jerusalem
died, and there was no one to succeed him on the throne,
except Sibylla, wife of Guy count of Joppa, sister of the
leprous king, and mother of the boy-king, just deceased ;
* " About this time died that most illustrious of ladies, the empress
Matilda, daughter of king Henry the First, wife of the Roman emperor
Henry and mother of Henry the Second, the greatest of the English
kings. Hence that epitaph which was written on her: —
Great was her birth, her husband greater, greatest was her son,
Here lieth Henry's daughter, wife, and mother, all in one !"

A.D. 1180.] SYBIL QUEEN OF JERUSALEM. 59
but as the truce between Saladin and the Christians was
just upon the point of expiring, the protection of the king
dom was in a critical state, which would brook no longer of
delay. A council of the nobles was therefore held, and it
was agreed that Sibylla, wife of Guy, as heiress of the king
dom, should be crowned queen, and repudiate Guy, as
unequal to the government. Sibylla, rejected the sovereignty
on these terms, until the nobles, in granting it to her, bound
themselves by oath to obey as king the man whom she
should choose as her husband. Guy also himself entreated
her not to neglect the care of the kingdom on his account.
Thus, after some delay. SibyUa acquiesced in tears, and being
solemnly crowned queen, received the homage of all the
people, whilst Guy her husband, deprived at the same
moment of his bride and his crown, returned to his own
people. Meanwhile, a report was spread, and soon confirmed
by facts, of the hostile approach of Saladin ; upon which
the queen, convoking her ecclesiastic and temporal nobles,
deliberated with them about choosing a- king ; and, whereas
they had all previously allowed her to choose whomsoever she
pleased, and now anxiously looked to the choice which she
should make, she said to Guy, who was standing by among
the others, " My lord Guy, I choose you for my husband,
and give up myself and my kingdom to you as the future
king." All were astonished at her words, and wondered
that so simple a woman had baffled so many wise councillors.
Her conduct was in fact worthy of great praise, both in
point of modesty and discretion ; for she saved the crown for
her husband, and her husband for herself. About this time,
there happened so dreadful an earthquake, that even in
England, where such things rarely occur, several houses
were thrown down. Also, the mother of Saladin, on her
way from Egypt to Damascus with a large and splendid
retinue, passed through the Christian territories which lie
on the other side of Jordan, trusting to the truce; but
Eeginald de Castiglione, assaulting the company, carried off
all their valuables, but Saladin's mother saved herself by
flight. Saladin, aroused by this injury, demanded restitution
and satisfaction, according to the terms of the treaty, and
Eeginald, when called upon to give it, returned a harsh and
insulting reply. Upon this, Saladin rejoiced beyond measure

60 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1187.
that the Christians had first infringed the treaty, and pre
pared himself for war and for revenge.*
Saladin lays waste the Holy Land.
A. D. 1187. Saladin, inflamed with anger against the
Christians, summoned the Parthians, Bedouins, Turks,
Saracens, Arabs, Medes, Curds, and Egyptians, and at the
head of these nations invaded and laid waste all the Holy
Land. Not content with occupying some minor fortresses
in Galilee, he prepared to besiege mount Calvary ; and
proceeding thither with a variety of warlike engines, he, on
his way, defeated a large body of Christians, slew the grand
master of the temple and sixty of the brethren, and elated
with this success, pressed forwards to the siege. When the
king of Jerusalem heard that the city was besieged, and the
inhabitants hard-pressed, he summoned by proclamation aU
the strength of his kingdom, leaving none but those who
were incapacitated for battle, by their age or sex, to garrison
the fortresses. The rendezvous was the fountain of Sephor,
and, when they marched thence, they amounted to twenty
thousand warriors. Baymund count of Tripolis was ap
pointed their commander-in-chief ; and they set out towards
Tiberias, and when the fatal day of battle approached, the
king's chamberlain dreamed that an eagle flew over the
Christian camp, bearing in his talons seven missiles, and
crying aloud, " Woe to you of Jerusalem ! woe to you of
Jerusalem !" In explanation of this vision, it is sufficient to
remember the words which the Holy Spirit spake by the
prophet, " The Lord hath bent Ms bow, and in it hath pre
pared the vessels of death."
Saladin takes the city of Jerusalem and the king's person.
Saladin hearing that the king was approaching to raise the
siege, bravely marched to meet them, and perceiving that the
Christians were hemmed in by the narrow and precipitous
rocks, not far from Tiberias, at a place caUed Mareschallia, he
rushed with confidence of success upon the king's army, who
nevertheless received them bravely as well as the nature of
the ground would permit. The battle raged with fury, and
* Matthew Paris adds that, "the kings of France and England took the
cross on the 20th of January ; and that the city and cathedral of Chichester
were burned on the 19th of October."

A.D.1186.] SALADLN TAKES THE HOLY CITY. 61
numbers feU on both sides ; but, at length, for the sins of the
Christians, the enemy prevailed ; for, as they say, the count of
Tripolis, who commanded the army, treacherously lowered his
banner, and caused his men to think of flying, though they had
no way of escape, except through the enemy. King Guy was
made prisoner, the holy cross captured, and the whole army
either slain with the sword or taken by the enemy, except
the count of Tripoli who was suspected of having betrayed
them, the lord Eeginald governor of Sidon, and the lord
Balian with a few brethren of the temple. This disastrous
battle was fought on the 3rd and 4th days of July, within the
octaves of the apostles Paul and Peter. The master of the
temple also, named Theodoric, escaped from this disaster, but
with the loss of two hundred and thirty of the brethren. The
count of Tripoli having escaped without a wound was
assumed as a proof of his having betrayed the army.
Together with the holy cross, the bishop of Acre, and
the precentor of our Lord's sepulchre, were overpowered by
the enemy : the former was slain, and the latter made prisoner :
and in this manner the holy cross, which formerly redeemed
us from the yoke of captivity, was now made captive for our
sins, and profaned by the hands of the infidels.
How the holy city and almost all the kingdom was subdued by Saladin.
Saladin, having obtained this victory, returned to Tiberias,
and when he had reduced the only fortress which remained,
he sent the king and his prisoners to Damascus. Then
entering Galilee he found no one to oppose him, and coming
to Ptolemais took it without bloodshed. From thence he
proceeded to Jerusalem, and planted his machines on all sides
round the waUs : the citizens erected such defences as they
were able, but their bows, cross-bows, and stone-engines
were plied in vain : the people, in terror, flocked round the
patriarch and the queen, who at that time governed the city,
and entreated that terms might be entered into with Saladin
for a surrender. A capitulation was in consequence effected,
more worthy to be lamented than to be described ; that every
man should pay a ransom of ten bezants, a woman five, and a
child one ; but in the whole city there were fourteen thousand
of both sexes, who, being unable to pay this ransom, were
reduced to perpetual slavery. Thus the holy city was

62 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A..D. 1186.
surrendered to the enemies of Christ: the sepulchre fell iuto
the hands of those who persecuted Him that was buried
therein, and those who blaspheme the Crucified are in posses
sion of His cross ! Saladin entered the city with the sound of
timbrels and trumpets, and hastening to the temple removed
the cross erected there, and all the other objects which
Christians held in veneration. He then caused the temple to
be sprinkled within and without with rose-water, and the
superstitions which belong to his religion to be proclaimed in
all its four corners ; the church of the resurrection and the
tomb of our Lord was let to certain Syrians at a stipulated
tribute ; after which Saladin salUed forth and reduced all the
other cities and towns except Ascalon, Tyre, and Crach
beyond Jordan, otherwise called Mount Boyal.
The pope forbids the building of Akington church.
The same year pope Urban wrote to Baldwin archbishop of
Canterbury in these terms: — " Our dear sons, the prior and
convent of your church, have sent us messengers bearing
letters on the subject of the church which you have begun to
build, stating that unless the work is discontinued, the credit
and condition of their own church wiU be much impaired :
we therefore wishing to make careful provision that no dis
cord may arise between you and your brethren, since you
cannot properly attend to your sacred duties when quarrelling
amongst yourselves, by the advice of our brethren, warn and
strictly enjoin your brotherhood, that, until from known
reasons we determine what ought to be done in the matter,
you put off all occasion of appeal, and desist from building
that church, until letters be granted from the apostolic see
not opposing it." In the same year pope Urban dying,
Gregory succeeded him, and he also after holding the see
two months, died, and Clement the third was appointed on
the. 20th of December. In this year, too, Gilbert bishop ol
London paid the debt of nature. In the same year Eichard
count of Poictou, hearing of the disaster in the Holy Land
and the capture of the cross, without waiting for any one's
proposing it, and against the advice and will of his father, was
the first of the transmarine nobles who took the sign of the.
cross, which he received at the hands of the archbishop of
Tours.

A.D. 1188.] WEARING OF THE CROSS. 63
How at the preaching of the crusade many took the cross.
a.d. 1 188. Frederic the Boman emperor took the cross on
the preaching of Henry bishop of Alba, a legate of the
apostolic see, who had been sent by pope Clement, and at the
same time Phihp king of the French and Henry king of the
Enghsh came to a conference in Normandy, betwen Trie and
Gisors, for the purpose of rendering assistance to the Holy
Land, where, after long deliberations, they in the presence of
Phihp count of Flanders mutually agreed to take the sign of
the cross, and to hasten their journey in company to Jerusa
lem. Thereupon the king of the English first took the sign
of the cross at the hands of the archbishop of Eheims and
Wilham of Tyre, the latter of whom had been entrusted by
our lord the pope with the office of legate in the affairs of the
crusade in the western part of Europe. After this the king
of the French and Philip count of Flanders also took the
cross ; and the example thus shown was so powerful, that
throughout the kingdoms and dominions of the two above
named kings, the cross was eagerly assumed by archbishops,
bishops, dukes, marquises, counts, barons, and soldiers, as
weU as by the middle and lower classes of the people pro
miscuously. It was agreed between the princes that the
French should aU wear red, the EngUsh white, and the
followers of the count of Flanders green, crosses. Concerning
their dominions, fortresses, and all their possessions, it was
agreed that, until their pilgrimage was accomphshed, and
each of them had passed forty days in his own country, all
things should remain as they were before their taking the
cross. How the affection of 'Richard count of Poiclou was estranged from his
father.
About this time, Geoffrey of Liziniac by treachery slew
a certain friend of Eichard count of Poictou ; and to
punish such a crime the court was provoked to resort to
arms, but remembering the sign of the cross which he wore,
he spared those followers of Geoffrey who were willing to
take the sign, others he slew, and subdued several fortresses.
Geoffrey, relying on the money and assistance, as was said,
of the king of England, made resistance against count
Eichard, but with little success, and this circumstance

64 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1188.
estranged the count's mind from his father. After Geoffrey
was subdued, the count having received injury at the hands
of the count of Toulouse, invaded that noble's territory, and in
a short time reduced seventeen of his castles. The French
king, being offended at count Eichard's having attacked the
count of Toulouse's territories without his knowledge, se
cretly attacked the castle of Ealph, and compeUed aU whom
he found there to make their fealty to him. This seemed to
be a most dishonourable act on the part of so great a prince,
especially as the king of England, when about to cross over
to England, had entrusted the care of aU his territory to the
king of the French. Afterwards, the French king, partly by
threats, and partly by promises, brought over to himself
the friendship of some of the holders of castles which were
in subjection to the king of England. Thus, at the prompting
of the devil, disagreements arose between the two kings, who
even after their taking the cross inflicted mutual injuries on
each other, and at length the king of England invaded the
French kingdom, and burned the whole country from Ver-
neuil to Meudan. In this year, Eichard bishop of Winches
ter died on the twenty -second of December, and was buried
at Winchester. Letter of Frederic the Roman emperor to Saladin.
In the same year, Frederic emperor of the Eomans, wrote
to Saladin concerning the Holy Land, to the foUowing pur
port : — *
[ We,~\ Frederic, by the grace of God, emperor of the Romans,
ever august, the magnificent triumpher over the enemies of
the empire, \and the fortunate governor of the whole
monarchy^ to the illustrious Saladin, governor of the Sara
cens. May he take warning from Pharaoh, and touch not
Jerusalem !
[The letters which your devotion sent to us a long time
ago, on weighty and important matters, and which would
have benefited you if reUance could have been placed on
your words, we received, as became the magnificence of our
majesty, and deemed it meet to communicate by letter with
your greatness.] But now that you have profaned the Holy
* This letters occurs more complete in Vinsauf than in Wendover.
The passages in brackets have been introduced from Vinesauf.

A.D. 1188.] FREDERIC'S LETTER TO SALAMN. 65
Land, over which we, by the authority of the Eternal King,
bear rule, as guardian of Judae, Samaria, and Palestine,
soUcitude for our imperial office admonishes us to proceed
with due rigour against such presumptuous and criminal
audacity. Wherefore, unless, before all things, you restore
the land which you have seized, and give due satisfaction, to
be adjudged according to the holy constitutions, for such ne
farious excesses, that we may not appear to wage unlawful
war against you, we give you from the first of November, a
period of twelve months, after which you shall try the
fortune of war, in the field of Zoan,* by the virtue of the
vivifying cross, and in the name of the true Joseph. For
we can scarcely believe that you are ignorant of that which
all antiquity and the writings of the ancients testify. Do
you pretend not to know that both the JEthiopias, Mauritania,
Persia, Scythia, Parthia, where our general Marcus Crassus
met with a premature death, Judea, Samaria, Arabia,
Maritima, and Chaldasa, Egypt, where, [shame to say ! a
Boman citizen, Antony, a man endowed with signal virtues,
passing the bounds of temperance, and acting otherwise than
as became a soldier sent from so great a state, submitted
to the unchaste love of Cleopatra ; do you pretend not to
know that] Armenia, and other innumerable countries,
are subject to our sway? This is weU known to those
kings in whose blood the Eoman sword has been so often
steeped; and you, God willing, shall learn by experience
the might of our victorious eagles, and be made acquainted
with our troops of many nations — the anger of Germany —
the untamed head of the Bhine — the youth from the banks
of the Danube, who know not how to flee — the towering
Bavarian — the cunning Suabian — the cautious Franconian —
Saxony, that sports with the sword — Thuringia — Westphalia
— the active Brabantine — the Lorrainer, unused to peace —
the fiery Burgundian — the nimble mountaineer of the Alps
— the Frison with his javeUn and thong — the Bohemian ever
ready to brave death — Polonia, fiercer than her own fierce
beasts — Austria — Styria — Euwennia — Istria — Eocumphia
— Blyria — Lombardy — Tuscany — the march of Ancona — the
resolute Venetian and the Pisan sailor — and lastly, also, you
* The allusion is to Psalm lxxviii, 12. The emperor seems to mean
that he will attack Saladin in Egypt.
Vol. ii. f

66 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1188.
shaU assuredly be taught how our own right hand, which you
suppose to be enfeebled by old age, can stiU wield the sword
upon that day of reverence and gladness which has been
appointed for the triumph of Christ's cause.
Saladin's answer to the emperor Frederic.
To the great king, his sincere friend, the illustrious Frederic,
king of Germany: — In the name of ' God the merciful:
by the grace of the one God, the powerful, the surpassing,
the victorious, the everlasting, of whose kingdom there is
no end.
We give continual thanks to Him, whose grace is over all
the world : we pray that he may pour out his inspiration
over all his prophets, and especiaUy on our teacher, his mes
senger, the prophet Mahomet, whom he sent to teach the true
law, which he will make to appear above aU laws. But we
make it known to the sincere and powerful king, our great,
amicable friend, the king of Germany, that a certain man,
named Henry, came to us, professing to be your envoy, and
he gave us a letter, which he said was from your hand. We
caused the letter to be read, and we heard him speak by word
of mouth, and to the words which he spake by word of
mouth we answered also in words. But this is the answer
to your letter : — You enumerate those who are leagued with
you to come against us, and you name them and say — the
king of this land and the king of that land — this count and
that count, and such archbishops, marquises, and knights.
But if we wished to enumerate those who are in our service,
and who listen to our commands, and obey our words, and
would fight for us, this is a list which could not be reduced
to Writing. If you reckon up the names of the Christians,
the Saracens are more numerous, and many times more
numerous than the Christians. If the sea lies between us
and those whom you name Christians, there is no sea to
separate the Saracens, who cannot be numbered ; between us
and those who will eome to aid us, there is no impediment.
With us are the Bedouins, who would be quite sufficient singly
to oppose our enemies ; and the Turkomans, who, unaided,
could destroy them : even our peasants, if we were to bid
them, would fight bravely against the nations which should
come to invade our country, and would despoil them of their

A.D. 1188.] SAXADDS'S ANSWER TO FREDERIC. 67
riches and exterminate them. What ! have we not on our
side the warhke Soldarii, by whom we have opened and
gained the land, and driven out our enemies ? These, and
all the kings of Paganism will not be slow when we shaU
summon them, nor delay when we shall call them. And
whenever your armies shall be assembled, according to the
import of your letter, and you shaU lead them, as your
messenger teUs us, we will then meet you in the power of
God. Nor wiU we be satisfied with the land which is on the
sea-coast, but we will cross over with God's good pleasure,
and will take from you all your lands, in the strength of the
Lord. For if you come, you will come with all your forces,
and wiU be present with all your people, and we know that there
will remain none at home to defend themselves or fight for
their country. And when the Lord, by his power, shall
have given us victory over you, nothing wiU remain for us
to do but freely to take your lands, by His power, and with
His good pleasure. For the union of the Christian faith
has twice come against us in Babylon ; once at Damietta, and
again at Alexandria : [it was also in the coast of the land of
Jerusalem in the hand of the Christians, in the land of
Damascus, and in the land of the Saracens ; in each fortress
there was a lord who studied his own interests.] You know
how the Christians each time returned, and to what an issue
they came. But these our people are assembled together
with their countries, and the Lord has associated with us
countries in abundance, and united them far and wide under
our power. Babylon, with its dependencies, and the land of
Damascus, and Jerusalem on the sea-coast, and the land of
Gesireh with its castles, and the land of Eoasia with its
dependencies, and the land of India with its dependencies —
by the grace of God, aU this is in our hands, and the residue
of the Saracenic kings is in our empire. For if we were to
command the illustrious kings of the Saracens, they would
not withdraw themselves from us. And if we were to ad
monish the caliph of Bagdad (whom God preserve) to come
to our aid, he would rise from the throne of his great empire,
and would come to help our excellence. We have obtained,
also, by the virtue and power of God, Jerusalem and its
territory ; and of the three cities which still remain in the
hands of the Christians, Tyre, Tripoli, and Antioch, nothing
f2

68 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1188.
remains but that we should occupy them also. But, if you
wish for war, and ii God so will of his good pleasure that we
occupy the whole land of the Christians, we will meet you in
the power of the Lord, as is written in this our letter. But,
if you ask us for the boon of peace, you wiU command the
warders of the three places above mentioned to deUver them
up to us without resistance ; and we wiU restore to you the
holy cross, and will liberate aU the Christian captives who
are in all our territories ; and we wiU be at peace with you,
and wUl allow you to have one priest at the sepulchre, and
wo wiU restore the abbeys which used to be in the time of
paganism,* and will do good to them, and wiU permit the
pilgrims to come during aU our hfe, and we will be at peace
with you. But if the letter which came to us by the hand
of Henry be the letter of the king, we have written this letter
for answer, and may God give us counsel according to his
wiU. This letter is written in the year of the coming of
our prophet Mahomet, 584, by the grace of the only God.
[And may God save our prophet Mahomet and his race, and
may he save the salvation of our Saviour, illustrious Lord,
and victorious King ; the giver of unity ; the true word ;
the adorner of the standard of truth; the corrector of the
world and of the law ; soldan of the Saracens and pagans ;
the servitor of the two holy houses, and of the holy house of
Jerusalem; the father of victors; Joseph the son of Job;
the reviver of the progeny of Murmuraenus !]
How Guy king of Jerusalem was released from prison.
In the same year, Guy king of Jerusalem, after being
kept prisoner for a year, was released from prison by
Saladin, on condition of his abdicating his sovereignty, and
going immediately into exile beyond sea ; but the clergy of
the kingdom were of opinion that this agreement ought
to be nuUified, and that faith was not to be kept in a case
where religion was endangered, as long as the land of promisS
was destitute of all security in having no head or ruler, and
pilgrims who might arrive had no leader, and the people
had no protector. Therefore, on the release of the king,
* This letter has evidently been translated out of the original Saracenic
with reference to Christian notions : a Saracen would hardly have described
his own faith by the word " paganism."

A.D. 1188.] saladin's retreat from ACRE. 69
many pilgrims, lately arrived, flocked to him together with
the people of the country, and formed a large army ; these
wished to enter Tyre, but the marquis refused to admit
them, although the city had been entrusted to him on
condition that it should, on the request of the king and
the heirs to the kingdom, be restored to them ; however, on
the death of the marquis a few days afterwards, this trouble
ceased. At the same time, also, died Baymund count of
Tripoli, to whom was imputed the whole of the disaster
at the land of promise, for which, as is said, he did not
receive the last rites of Christianity at the hour of death.
After these occurrences the king, with his army, consisting
of the barons of the kingdom, who stiU adhered to him,
in conjunction with the templars and hospitaUers, the
Venetians who had lately arrived, and pilgrims from Genoa,
took his route towards the city of Ptolemais, otherwise called
Acre ; the whole force of his armed troops exceeding nine
thousand men. The king of Jerusalem on arriving near the
city, ordered aU his followers to ascend a mountain in the
neighbourhood, which from its rotundity and tower-Uke form
at the top, was commonly called Turon ; this mountain rises
loftily on the east side of the city, and extending in
a circuit spreads itself over the plain. On the third
day after their arrival, the Christians laid siege to the
city, which never afterwards was relaxed until the time
when it was taken by Philip king of France, and Eichard
king of England. The common soldiers were inspired with
such zeal that they did not wait for the kings, but flocked
together from all parts to serve in the Lord's army.
How Saladin retired from Acre in confusion.
The king of Jerusalem, surrounded by his vast multitude
of pilgrims, ordered aU his troops to descend from Turon, and
with them pitched his camp before the city. After a few
days, however, Saladin came against them, and with a strong
force made a fierce attack on the Christians, as if he thought
to conquer them in one onset ; but the army of the faithful
being in one close mass, as if fighting for their souls, bravely
opposed them, and Saladin, in giving orders to surround them,
judged it impossible for a single one of them to escape : but
it was otherwise decreed by Him, who puts to confusion the

70 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1189.
plans of the wicked ; for after enduring for three days the
attacks of the infidels, who harassed them on aU sides, when
they had begun to fail from being weakened by the enemy's
attacks, they beheld a fleet with twelve thousand Danes
and Frisians under fuU sail entering the harbour, which
by God's assistance they had reached after a prosperous
voyage. Saladin, being alarmed at this sight and other hke
events, retired in confusion to the lower parts of his country.
Of the great hindrance to the cause of the Holy Land.
At this time there was a great drawback to the cause of
the Holy Land in the differences which had lately, even since
their taking the sign of the cross, arisen between the king of
the French and Eichard count of Poictou on the one part,
and Henry king of the EngUsh on the other; so great indeed
was their quarrel, that they took castles from one another,
and committed many excesses by slaughter and rapine ; at
length for the sake of peace they came to a conference in
Normandy, but the devil sowed tares amongst the wheat, so
that they separated stiU at enmity.
How John, cardinal of Anagnia, endeavoured to make peace between the
kings Philip and Henry.
a.d. 1189. King Henry, whilst staying in the country
beyond sea, was grievously harassed by the annoyances which
Philip king of the French, and Eichard his son count of
Poictou, caused him; at Christmas he was at Saumur in
Anjou, keeping that festival there, although several of his
counts and barons had left him and gone over to the side of
Eichard his son. After the feast of St. Hilary, the treaties
which had existed between the two kings, were broken off,
and the French king Phihp, and count Eichard, entered the
territories of the king of England and ravaged them; the
Bretons, too, left him and went over to count Eichard ; but
pope Clement, wondering that peace had not as yet been
made between the kings, sent John cardinal of Anagnia,
with fuU power to settle the disputes between them.
This prelate endeavoured to bring them to terms of amity at
one time by reproaches, at another by mild arguments, tiU at
length the kings gave security, and swore to abide by the
arbitration of the archbishops of Bourges, Eouen, and Can-

A.D. 1189.] OPPRESSION OF THE HOLY LAND. 7l
terbury ; so that if either of them should fail in his compact
so as to render the peace between them less firm, or to delay
the expedition to Jerusalem, against that one should the sen
tence of excommunication be promulgated by authority of
our lord the pope, as against a subverter of our Lord's cross
and of the whole Christian reUgion; and immediately the
cardinal took the opinion of all, priests as well as laymen, to
determine who it was that caused the breach between the
kings, saving the persons of the said kings.
Letter of the marquis's son concerning the oppression of the Holy Land.
" Conrad, son of the marquis of Mont-Ferrat, to Baldwin
archbishop of Canterbury, greeting. — The elements are dis
turbed, and it is derogatory to the cathoUc faith that the see
of Jerusalem should be separated from the apostolic see.
Jerusalem has become extinct, and the inactivity of the
Christians is most contemptibly spoken of by the Saracens ;
they are poUuting our Lord's sepulchre, they are destroying
Calvary, they despise the birth-place of Christ, and are
utterly destroying the sepulchre of the blessed virgin Mary ;
the see of Constantinople shows no reverence for that of
Borne. Antioch, too, is known to be in its last extremity.
AU these things are known to have happened through the
idleness of the Cliristians. But the holy city of Jerusalem
is much to be wept for and lamented, since it is deprived of
its worshippers, and where once Christ spent daily and
nightly hours in prayer, there the name of Mahomet is now
worshipped aloud. To your highness, therefore, I put forth
my prayers mingled with tears, that you will deign to com
miserate the sufferings of the Holy Land, that you wiU
comfort kings, and admonish those of the true faith, that by
expelling these dogs from the patrimony of Jesus Christ,
they may out of charity assist to free it from bondage, and
so deUver from the -dominion of the infidels the land which
has been trodden by'the holy feet of our Saviour. In ad
dition to this mass of iniquity and desolation of Christianity,
a friendship is cherished between Saladin and the emperor
of Constantinople, to whom the said Saladin has delivered
aU the churches of the land of promise that sacred rites may
be performed in them by his followers after the Greek cus
tom. Moreover Saladin also by consent of that emperor sent

72 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1189.
his idol to Constantinople to be pubUcly worshipped there,
but by the grace of God it was captured at sea by the
Genoese, and brought, with the ship which carried it, to
Tyre. Lately, too, an army was supphed by the emperor
before Antioch, and he promised Saladin a hundred gaUeys ;
and Saladin has given him the whole land of promise, if he
wiU prevent the march of the French to the assistance of the
Holy Land ; every one at Constantinople who would take the
cross, is immediately taken and thrown into prison. But we
have this one consolation, that the brother of Saladin, and
also his son, were lately taken prisoners before Antioch, and
are handed over to safe custody. FareweU."
Of the causes which led Richard to rebel against his father.
The same year, after Easter, a conference was held
between the kings at Ferte-Bernard, and at last they met in
Whitsun-week and the French king demanded that his
daughter Alice, whom Henry had under his charge, should
be given in marriage to count Eichard, together with a
guarantee of the crown of' England after his own death ; also
that his son John should embrace the crusade, for Eichard
would not go without him : but the king of England would
not give his consent to these proposals, and the two kings
parted in anger. In this conference the cardinal aforesaid
positively threatened, if the king of France and count Eichard
would not make peace with the king of England, to lay
their dominions under an interdict. The king of France
rephed that he had no fear of so unjust a sentence ; that it was
not in the power of the church of Eome to pass judgment on
the king or kingdom of France, for taking arms to punish
rebeUious subjects; that the cardinal had smelt the king of
England's pounds sterling, and that he suspected his judg
ment had been perverted thereby. On the other hand, the
archbishops and the nobles advised the king of England to
agree to his son's demands, saying that it was right to give
so noble a son and brave knight some security of obtaining
the kingdom after his father's death : but the king refused to
do so in the existing state of things, lest he should be said to
have done so by constraint and not of his own free wiU.
Count Eichard, having heard this reply, did homage to the
French king, before them aU, for the whole territory of his

A.D. 1189.] CONQUESTS OF THE KING OF FRANCE. 73
father which belonged to the crown of France, saving the
tenure to his father as long as he Uved, and saving the
allegiance due to his father. Thus the conference ended, and
the kings and all the people separated.
How the king of France took four castles from the king of England, and
drove away the king himself from the city of Mans.
The French king, departing from the conference in com
pany with count Eichard, took Ferte-Bernard, Montfort, and
Baalverque, fortresses belonging to the king of England, and
after taking them, remained there four days. Thence pro
ceeding to Maine, and pretending to go to Tours, on the fol
lowing Monday, whilst the king of England and his men
thought themselves in safety there, he disposed his forces to
make an attack on the city of Mans ; and Stephen de
Turnham, the king of England's seneschal of Anjou, set fire
to the suburbs, but the flames passing the waUs, reduced
almost all the city to ashes. The French upon this pro
ceeded to a stone bridge, where Geoffrey de Biurlun and
many others with him from the king of England met them,
and endeavoured to break down the bridge : a severe conflict
took place, and many fell on both sides. Geoffrey, after
having received a wound in the neck, was taken with many
others : the rest essaying to escape into the city, the French
entered with them, and the king of England, despairing of
resistance, fled with seven hundred horsemen. The French
king and count Eichard pursued him for three miles, and if
the stream, which they forded, had not been wide and deep,
aU the knights of the king of England's household would have
been taken prisoners. Many Welshmen fell in that battle.
The king of England, at the head of a small party, took
refuge in the castle of Tours, and the rest of his men in the
tower of Mans. The king of France immediately besieged
the tower, and partly by his engines and partly by his miners,
reduced the garrison, consisting of thirty knights, #nd sixty
men-at-arms, to surrender. Marching thence he reduced
Mont-Double, Trou, de Eocher, Montoire, Carciere, Chateau-
du-Loir, Chaumont, Amboise, Eoche-corbon, and Beaumont.
The city of Seville is captured.
The same year many ships passing through the British

74 ROGER OF WENDOVER. ][A.D. 1189.
seas, entered into an agreement with the pilgrims of England,
and, by common consent, leaving Dartmouth on the 18th of
May thirty-seven vessels, deeply laden, put to sea, and after
various adventures arrived at Lisbon. The king of Portugal
seeing that they carried arms and soldiers weU equipped for
battle, entreated them to assist him in reducing the city of
SeviUe, promising to lend them thirty-seven gaUeys and many
other ships : he also entered into a treaty with them on oath
that they should keep aU the gold, sUver, and other spoil,
which they should find in the city, when they had taken it,
and give up to him only the city itself. They therefore left
Lisbon with a favourable wind, and soon reached the port of
Seville, where they brought their ships to land, pitched their
camp, and laid siege straightway to the city. The number of
their men fit for battle was three thousand five hundred. On
the third day they made a fierce assault on the walls and forced
their way into the suburbs, where there was a fountain
surrounded by a double wall, and having a barbican defended
by nine towers, from which the inhabitants of the city got
water. This fountain they fiUed with dung and stones. The
gentiles were now alarmed at being cut off from their supply
of water ; and Alchad the prince of the city, going to the
king of Portugal, surrendered the city to him without the
knowledge of the Christians. Thus the crusaders took the
city in this wonderful manner, and found in it sixty thousand
people, all of whom, except only thirteen thousand of both sexes,
were put to the sword. By the mercy of God, this victory
was obtained without loss to the Christians, and when the
city had been cleansed from its impurities, the king of
Portugal dedicated the great mosque to the honour of the
mother of God, and made bishop of it one of the pilgrims who
had come thither from Flanders.
How king Henry was compelled to make peace with Richard his son.
The same year, on the day after the feast of St Peter and
St. Paul, Phihp count of Flanders, William archbishop of
Eheims, and Hugh duke of Burgundy, came to Saumur for
the purpose of making peace between the French king and
count Eichard of Poictou. Now count Eichard had joined the
Bretons to the men of Poictou, and they had obtained letters
patent from the king of France, to the effect that he would

A.D. 1189.] PEACE BETWEEN HENRY AND RICHARD. 75
never make peace with king Henry without comprehending
them also in the treaty. Meanwhile the king of France and
Eichard count of Poictou laid siege to Tours, and on the next
Monday after the festival aforesaid, they applied their scaUng
ladders to the walls on the side of the Loire, which contained
very Uttie water, and took the city, with its garrison of sixty-
nine knights and a hundred men-at-arms. Then the king of
England was compeUed to make a discreditable peace, on the
foUowing terms : — " The king of England places himself
whoUy under the counsel of the king of France, so that what
soever the latter shall think proper to be done, the king of
England wiU fulfil without gainsaying." The king of
England then did homage to the king of France as he had
formerly done in the beginning of the war. It was also pro
vided that Alice the French king's sister should be given into
the charge of count Eichard until his return from the
pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and that she should then
become his wife. It was also provided that count Eichard
should receive the homage of all his father's subjects on both
sides of the sea, and that none of the barons or knights, who
in this war had adhered to count Eichard, should return to
England, except in the last month before the departure of the
kings towards the Holy Land, the term of which will be in
the middle of Lent. Moreover that he should pay the king
of France twenty thousand marks of silver for his services in
assisting count Eichard; and that the king of France and
count Eichard should hold the cities of Mans and Tours,
with Chateau du Loir and Trou, until all the aforesaid condi
tions should be fulfiUed. By this transaction the prophecy of
Merlin seems to have been fulfiUed that a bit fabricated in
the coasts of Armorica should be put into his jaws : for a bit
was now put into the jaws of the king of England, by reason
that the dominions, which his predecessors had acquired in
Auvergne, had become the property of another, for he now
was obhged to give up to his son Eichard, whether He would
or no, those who had deserted from him, namely Geoffry de
Meduan, Guy du Vai, Ealph de Fulcher, all residing within
the coasts of Armorica, i. e. Brittany, through which is a
peaceable passage between Britain and France, without
trespassing on the coasts of Normandy.

76 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1189.
Of the Roman emperor's departure on pilgrimage.
About this time, on the feast of St. George, Frederic the
Eoman emperor set out on pilgrimage from Eemesburg,
intending to march through Hungary and Bulgaria.
Of the death of king Henry.
King Henry returned to Chinon from the conference much
dejected, and cursed the day on which he was born: three
days after, he was no more. He died on the octaves of the
apostles St. Peter and St. Paul after a reign of thirty-four
years, seven months, and five days. On the morrow, as they
were carrying him to be buried, arrayed in his royal robes,
his crown, gloves, shoes, ring, sceptre, and sword, he lay with
his face uncovered ; and when Eichard, hearing the news of
his death, came to meet the convoy, blood flowed from the
nostrils of the deceased, as if he was indignant at the presence
of one who was beheved to have caused his death. Count
Eichard, seeing this, shed tears bitterly, and foUowed his
father's corpse in much tribulation to Font-Evraud, where
he '"fused it to be buried with honours by the archbishops of
Tours and Treves. And whereas the deceased monarch had
often said that the whole world ought not to suffice for the
ambition of one king, there was an inscription put upon his
tomb of the following import : —
" Here lies King Henry, I, who many realms
Did erst subdue, and was both count and king.
Though all the regions of the earth could not
Suffice me once, eight feet of ground are now
Sufficient for me. Reader, think of death,
And look on me as what all men must come to.''
I would also add in this place the laws which king Henry
made for the good of his kingdom, if I did not fear to weary
the patience of my readers. About the same time died
Matilda, Henry's daughter and wife of Henry duke of
Saxony. How earl Richard obtained the duchy of Normandy.
When king Henry therefore was dead, his son Eichard
immediately laid hands on Stephen de Turnham,* the senes
chal of Anjou, and committing him to custody required him
* More properly of Tours.

A.D. 1189.] RELEASE OF QUEEN ELEANOR. 77
to dehver up the castles and treasures which were in his hands
belonging to his father. He next honourably retained with
him all those who had served his father and on whose fideUty
he could reckon, and recompensed each according to his de
serts for the long services which he had rendered to his
father. Moreover, when John his brother came to see him,
he received him with due honour. He then proceeded to
Eouen in Normandy, and on the 13 th before the kalends of
August,* in presence of the bishops, earls, barons and knights,
he took the sword of the duchy of Normandy, by the minis
try of the archbishop, from the altar of the blessed virgin
Mary : and having received the aUegiance both of the clergy
and the people, he abundantly confirmed to his brother John
aU the lands which his father had given him in England,
namely, an estate of 4000 marks, and the whole county of
Mortaigne. He also granted to his brother Geoffrey, for
merly bishop elect of Lincoln, the archbishopric of York ; and
Geoffrey, immediately sending his clerks with the duke's
letters, took the archbishopric into his own hands, having
expeUed the guards of the king and of Hubert Walter, dean
of that same church, who had also been elected bishop by some
of the canons. On the third day of his reign the duke had
an interview with the French king between Chaumont and
Trie, wherein the king of the French demanded the castle of
Gisors and all the neighbouring province; but because the
duke was about to take the king's sister Alice in marriage,
he forbode to press his demand for a time, and the duke on
his part promised to pay 4000 marks more than the sum
which his father had promised.
How king Richard released his mother from her long confinement.
Meanwhile his mother queen Eleanor, who for sixteen
years had been removed from his father's bed, and kept in
close confinement, received her son's permission tokmanage
matters in the kingdom according to her own pleasure, and
the nobles were instructed to obey her in every respect.
The queen, with these powers, released all those who were
in prison throughout all England, knowing from her own
experience how painful to mankind is imprisonment. In
these days was fulfilled the prophecy of Merlin, which says,
• Julv 20.

78 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1189.
" The eagle of the broken treaty shall rejoice in her third
nestling." The queen is meant by the eagle, because she
stretches out her two wings over two kingdoms, France and
England. She was separated from the- king of the French
by divorce on account of consanguinity, and from the king of
the English by suspicion and imprisonment ; and so she was
on both sides the eagle of a broken treaty. The next part
of the sentence, " shall rejoice in her third nestUng," may be
understood in this way : — The queen's first-born son, named
WiUiam, died when he was a boy ; Henry her second
son, was raised to the rank of king, and paid the debt of
nature, after he had engaged in hostiUties with his father ;
and Eichard his third son, who is denoted by the " third
nestUng," was a source of joy to his mother, and released her,
as I have said, from the misery of confinement.
King Richard comes to England to be crowned.
When all these things were arranged, duke Eichard, ad
ministering due justice to aU his subjects, arrived at Barbe-
fleuve, where he took ships and landed at Portsmouth on the
ides of August [Aug. 13]. His arrival was soon blazoned
through England, and caused much joy to both clergy and
people ; for although some grieved for the death of his father,
yet they took consolation from those words of the poet : —
" Wonders I sing : the sun withdrew his light,
And yet no darkness followed."
Immediately therefore after his arrival, the duke proceeded
to Winchester, where he caused all his father's treasures to
be weighed and an inventory of them to be made ; there
were found to be nine hundred thousand pounds in gold and
silver, besides precious stones. From thence he proceeded to
Salisbury, and thence from one place to another granting to aU
the objects of their petitions, and bestowing lands on many
who before had none. Moreover he gave to his brother
John the daughter of Bobert earl of Gloucester, together with
that earldom and the castles of Marlborough, Lutegareshale,
Bolsover, Nottingham, and Lancaster, with the honours
belonging to it, and the honour of WiUiam Peverel. All
these possessions he confirmed to his brother John, who
afterwards espoused the aforesaid earl's daughter, contrary
to the prohibition of Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury,

A.D. 1189.] CORONATION OF RICHARD I. 79
because their parents were in the third degree of consan
guinity. About the same time certain of the canons of
York elected Geoffrey the duke's brother, and, having sun°-
a hymn, solemnly confirmed the election by affixing their
seals ; but master Bartholomew, the official of Hubert Walter
dean of that church, unwilling that this should take place in
the absence of the bishop of Durham and of Hubert Walter
the dean, both of whom had a right to be present at the
election, appealed to our lord the pope against it.
Geoffrey of Ely dies intestate.
At the same time, Geoffrey bishop of Ely died intestate on
the 12th before the kalendsof September (Aug. 21.); wherefore
out of what he left behind him, three thousand marks of silver
and two thousand marks of gold were confiscated to the king ;
and the quantity of his furniture and stuff in rings, gold and
silver plate, corn, rich garments, and other things, was im
mense. Of the coronation of king Richard the first.
Duke Eichard, when all the preparations for his coronation
were complete, came to London, where were assembled the
archbishops of Canterbury, Eouen, and Treves, by whom he
had been absolved for having carried arms against his father
after he had taken the cross. The archbishop of Dubhn was
also there, with all the bishops, earls, barons, and nobles of
the kingdom. When all were assembled, he received the
crown of the kingdom in the order following : — First came
the archbishops, bishops, abbats, and clerks, wearing their
caps, preceded by the cross, the holy water, and the censers,
as far as the door of the inner chamber, where they received
the duke, and conducted him to the church of Westminster,
as far as the high altar, in a solemn procession. In the
midst of the bishops and clerks went four barons carrying
candlesticks with wax candles, after whom came two earls,
the first of whom carried the royal sceptre, having on its top
a golden cross ; the other carried the royal sceptre, having a
dove on its top. Next to these came two earls with a third
between them, carrying three swords with golden sheaths,
taken out of the king's treasury. Behind these came six
earls and barons carrying a chequer, over which were

80 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1189.
placed the royal arms and robes, whUst another earl foUowed
them carrying aloft a golden crown. Last of aU came duke
Eichard, having a bishop on the right hand, and a bishop on
the left, and over them was held a silk awning. Proceeding
to the altar, as we have said, the holy gospels were placed
before him together with the rehcs of some of the saints, and
he swore, in presence of the clergy and people that he
would observe peace, honour, and reverence, aU his Ufe,
towards God, the holy church and its ordinances : he swore
also that he would exercise true justice towards the people
committed to his charge, and abrogating aU bad laws and un
just customs, if any such might be found in his dominions,
would steadily observe those which were good. After this
they stripped him of all his clothes except his breeches and
shirt, which had been ripped apart over his shoulders to
receive the unction. He was then shod with sandals inter
woven with gold thread, and Baldwin archbishop of Canter
bury anointed him king in three places, namely, on his head,
his shoulders, and his right arm, using prayers composed for
the occasion : then a consecrated Unen cloth was placed on
his head, over which was put a hat, and when they had
again clothed him in his royal robes with the tunic and gown,
the archbishop gave into his hand a sword wherewith to
crush all the enemies of the church: this done, two earls
placed his shoes upon his feet, and when he had received the
mantle, he was adjured by the archbishop, in the name of
God, not to presume to accept these honours unless his mind
was steadily purposed to observe the oaths which he had made :
and he answered that, with God's assistance, he would faith
fully observe every thing which he had promised. Then the
king taking the crown from the altar gave it to the arch
bishop, who placed it upon the king's head, with the sceptre
in his right hand and the royal wand in his left ; and so, with
his crown on, he was led away by the bishops and barons,
preceded by the candles, the cross, and the three swords afore
said. When they came to the offertory of the mass, the two
bishops aforesaid led him forwards and again led him back.
At length, when the mass was chanted, and every thing
finished in the proper manner, the two bishops aforesaid led
him away with his crown on, and bearing in his right hand
the sceptre, in his left the royal wand, and so they returned

A.D. 1189.] PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS. 81
in procession into the choir, where the king put off his royal
robes, and taking others of less weight, and a lighter crown
also, he proceeded to the dinner-table, at which the arch
bishops, bishops, earls, and barons, with the clergy and
people, were placed, each according to his rank and dignity,
and feasted splendidly, so that the wine flowed along the
pavement and waUs of the palace. All this took place on
Sunday the third before the nones of September.*
Of the persecution of the Jews.
Many Jews were present at this coronation, contrary to the
king's command ; for he had caused proclamation to be made
the day before, that no Jews or women should attend, on ac
count of the magical incantations which take place sometimes
at royal coronations. But the courtiers laid hands on them,
although they came in secret, and when they had robbed and
scourged them dreadfully, they cast them out of the church ;
some of them died, and others could hardly be said to have
life left in them. The populace of the city hearing of this
attack of the courtiers on the Jews, made a similar assault
on those who remained in the city, and, after they had put
to death numbers of both sexes, and rased to the ground or
burned their houses, they plundered their gold and silver, their
writings and valuable garments. Those of the Jews who
escaped being put to death, took refuge in the tower of
London, and afterwards, by taking up their residence se
cretly here and there among their friends, they caused others
to become rich by their own losses. This persecution began
in the year of their jubilee, which they call the year of
remission, and it hardly ceased before the end of the year, so
that what ought to have been to them a year of remission,
was turned into a jubilee of confusion. On the morrow
when the king heard of the wrong that had been done them,
he chose to consider it as a wrong done to himself; wherefore,
he caused three of them to be apprehended, trier? by the
judges of his court, and hanged one of them because he had
stolen something belonging to a Christian; and the other
two, because they had kindled a fire in the city, by which
* Vinesauf [Itiner. Rich.] agrees with Wendover in this date ; which
makes it probable that Gervase, who fixes it on the 1 1th, is in error, for the
l!th of September in that year fell on a Monday.
VOL. H. G

82 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1189.
the house of a Christian citizen had been consumed. When
the English people throughout the country heard of this attack
on the Jews in London, they assailed them with one consent,
and made a perfect havoc of them, slaughtering their persons
and plundering their goods. But on the day after the coro
nation, king Eichard, having received nomage and the oath
of fidelity from the nobles, gave orders that no Jews should
suffer forfeiture, but that they should live in peace throughout
all the cities of England. Of king Richard's munificence.
When the Cistercian monks came together from different
parts of the world to a general chapter of their order, king
Eichard gave them every year a hundred marks of sUver^
and confirmed it by a charter.
How king Richard bestowed pastors on the churches which were vacant
throughout England.
On the morrow of the elevation of the holy cross,* king
Eichard was at PipeweU,f where, by the advice, of his arch
bishops and bishops he convened a large council, and gave
to his brother Geoffrey the archbishopric of York ; whUst he
appointed Godfrey de Lucy to the bishopric of Winchester,
Eichard archdeacon of Ely to that of London, Hubert
Walter to Salisbury, and WiUiam de Longchamp to Ely :
but Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury, after the elections
were made, forbade Geoffrey archbishop elect of York, to
receive sacerdotal orders or episcopal consecration from any
other hands than his own, and on this behalf he appealed to
the apostohc see.
How Hugh bishop of Durham obtained the title of earl for money.
At this time, king Eichard deposed from his office of bailiff,
Ealph de Glanville, justiciary of England, together with
almost aU the EngUsh sheriffs and their officers, compelling
aU of them to pay a heavy fine of redemption ; and to raise
funds for the recovery of the Holy Land from the dominion
of the infidels, he set every thing up for sale ; lordships,
castles, townships, woods, farms, shrievalties, and such hke.
Whereupon Hugh de Pusaz, bishop of Durham, bought for
• The 17th of September. t In Northamptonshire.

A.D. 1189.] BISHOP HUGH BUYS THE TITLE OF EARL. 83
himself and his see, the king's township of Segesfeld,
together with the wapentake and all its appurtenances, and
the earldom of Northumberland during his own life ; and
when the king girded on him the sword which entitled him
to claim the name of earl, he said to the attendants with a
laugh, " I have made a young earl out of an old bishop."
But the bishop went still further, for to complete the ridi
culousness of the thing, he gave the king ten marks of silver,
that he might be made justiciary of England, and not go to
the Holy Land : and as a precaution against aU gainsayers,
he gave a considerable bribe to the apostolic see, which is
never backward to meet a person's views, and so obtained a
licence to remain. In this manner worldly ambition led him
to lay aside the sign of the cross, which, as preachers tell
us, ought to be borne by all men, and especially by bishops.
By this conduct of the bishop was fulfiUed a prophecy of St.
Godric the hermit, who, when the bishop came at the
beginning of his promotion, to ask the hermit about his
future prospects, and the length of time he should live, used
these words to him, " Of your future prospects and the num
ber of years you have to Uve, you must inquire from the
holy apostles and others hke them, but not from me ; for I
am here doing penance for my sins, and grieve to say that I
am stiU a wretched sinner: but this I tell you, that for seven
years before your death you shall suffer from a most lament
able blindness !" The bishop left the man of God, revolving
in his mind the words which he had heard ; and as he had
the most implicit confidence in the hermit, he paid great
attention to his eyes, and consulted several physicians, that
he might preserve his sight as long as he lived. But when
many years had passed away, and he was seized with the
sickness of which he died, he asked the physicians with
much anxiety what he had best do, upon which all of them
with one voice advised him to think in time of the state of
his soul, and the more so, as he would soon be.obUged to
leave this world. The bishop, hearing these words, said,
" Godric deceived me ; he promised me seven years of
blindness before my death !" Now, surely we are justified
in saying that he was blind, for by bribes he usurped to
himself the empty title of earl and justiciary, mixed himself
up with secular affairs, put off his pilgrimage to the Holy
G 2

84 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1189.
Land, and paying httle regard to the care of the inward
soul and the duties of a pastor, was not only deprived of his
eye-sight, but was sunk in total darkness ; and thus this
bishop, according to the sentence of the man of God, died
at the end of seven years. At this time, earl WiUiam of
MagnaviUe died at Eouen.
Of a glorious battle fought by the Christians against the pagans.
On the 4th of October in this year a battle was fought at
Antioch between the Christians and the Saracens in the
manner foUowing : — on the side of the Christians were the
king of Jerusalem, the templars, the hospitaUers, the marquis
of Montferrat, the French, Theobald the prefect, and Peter
Leonis the Landegrave, who, with the Teutons and Pisans,
coUected together an army of four thousand cavalry and a
hundred thousand foot. The pagan army under Saladin
consisted of a hundred thousand horse and an immense
multitude of foot soldiers. The Christians, bearing the sign
of the cross on their armour, began the battle about the
third hour in the morning, and, having God on their side,
drove the pagans to their camp, and pursuing them at the
sword's point, attacked and destroyed seven battalions of the
infidels, slew five hundred of Saladin's knights, amongst
whom were Baldwin, Saladin's son, and mortally wounded
his brother Thacaldine. Whilst they were thus gloriously
fighting, five thousand Saracen soldiers made a sudden sally,
and attacked the Christians ; on seeing which Saladin roused
all his strength. The Christians, pressed on both sides,
forced their way in retreat through the pagans to their camp,
but with the loss of the master of the templars and many
others, who were slain on that day.
Ambassadors on the part of the French king come to king Richard to ask
him to hasten his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in company with the king
of the French.
In the same month of October Eotrod, count of Perche,
came as ambassador on the part of the king of the French to
England, to tell king Eichard and the barons of England, that
he with the nobles of the kingdom of France, at a general
assembly at Paris, had sworn that he would without fail, God
willing, come with his barons to Vizelai, after Easter, thence to
set out for Jerusalem ; and in proof of this oath the French

A.T3. 1189.] COUNCIL AT WESTMINSTER. 85
king had sent a letter to the king of England, asking him like
wise to give him a guarantee at the same term for the prosecu
tion of his j ourney. On this the king of England assembled the
bishops and nobles of the kingdom at Westminster ; and, after
hearing the oath of the king of the French, to the effect that he
would hasten his departure without fail, he ordered William
his earl marshal to make oath by his own soul, that he, Eichard
would, at the time previously fixed on, meet the king of the
French at Vizelai in order to start together from that place
for the land of promise. The ambassadors, having fulfiUed
the object of their mission, returned to their own country.
On the 1st of November in this year Godfrey de Lucy of
Winchester, and Hubert Walter bishop of Salisbury elect,
received consecration at the hands of Baldwin archbishop
of Canterbury, in the chapel of St. Catherine at West
minster. Of a conversation made between the archbishop of Canterbury and the
monks of that place, and other matters.
In the same month of November, John cardinal of Anagni,
arrived in England at Dover ; and as the king was in the
northern part of the kingdom, he was forbidden by queen
Eleanor to proceed farther without an order from the king ;
on which he spent thirteen days there at the expense of the
archbishop, until peace should be made between the arch
bishop and the monks of Canterbury concerning the chapel of
Akington. But Eichard, who was a very wise king, being
appealed to on both sides, came and in the same month of
November arranged final terms of peace between them, as
follows : — First, that Eoger the prior, whom the archbishop
had installed in that office in opposition to the wishes of the
monks, should be deposed ; that the chapel, which the arch
bishop had buUt in the suburb without their consent, should
be destroyed ; that the monks aforesaid should, according to
the rule of St. Benedict, show canonical obedience and sub
jection to the archbishop ; as they had been accustomed to do
to his predecessors ; and at the request of the archbishop the
king gave to the deposed prior the abbacy of Evesham. It
was also provided that the chapel aforesaid should not have
the privilege of baptism or burial, nor the administering of
any sacred rites, except such as could be discharged by one
secular priest.

86 ROGER OF WENDOVER. \_A.D. 1189.
How William king of Scots did homage lo king Richard at Canterbury.
At the same time Wilham king of Scots, did homage to the
king of the Enghsh for his rights in England, and king
Eichard restored to him the castles of Eoxburghe and
Berwick ; for the redemption of which fortresses, and as a
quit-claim for his fealty and allegiance concerning the king
dom of Scotland, and the confirmation of his charter, he paid
to the king of England ten thousand marks of sUver.
Of ths liberality of king Richard.
At this time king Eichard gave to his brother John the
counties of CornwaU, Devon, Somerset, and Dorset ; he also
gave to his mother Eleanor her usual dowry, with lands and
honours in addition to it.
How king Richard crossed Hie sea to Normandy.
On the 5th of December* in the same year, king Eichard
set out from the city of Canterbury for Dover; thence to
cross the sea, and accordingly, on the eve of the feast of
St. Lucy the virgin, he sailed for Flanders, where he was
joyfuUy received by count Phihp, who also accompanied him
into Normandy. The king appointed Hugh bishop of
Durham, and WiUiam bishop of Ely, his chanceUor Hugh
Bardulph, and William Briwere, guardians of the kingdom of
England, to keep the laws and customs of the kingdom in
observance, and to administer justice to those who required
it ; but distinction was made between these guardians in
favour of Hiigh bishop of Durham, and WiUiam bishop of
Ely, to the former of whom was entrusted the administration
of justice in that part of the country extending from the great
river Humber to the Scotch sea ; whilst the latter obtained
the judgeship of the country from the before-mentioned river
to the Gallic sea. This much annoyed Hugh bishop of
* Instead of this sentence, Matthew Paris has as follows : — " About the
same time, on the 5th day ot December, king Richard, when he had finished
his praying, fasting, and almsgiving, left the city of Canterbury, promising to
do all that the martyr could wish for touching those things for which the
saint had contended so gloriously. He started for Dover on the eve of
St. Lucy, and crossed over to Flanders the same day. Whilst he was at
sea, he made a vow to build a chapel to the martyr in the Holy Land,
where the iwint should be his guide and protector, both by sea and land.
This vow he fulfilled at Acre as shall be said hereafter."

A.D. 1190.] TAXES LEVIED FOR THE HOLY LAND. 87
Durham, who then, for the first time, learnt that the king had
made a justiciary of him, not from regard to justice, but that
he might extort money, as has been before mentioned, from
him ; for this reason he and the chancellor were seldom
agreed, as the saying is,
. . . * For every power
Is jealous of a rival.'
How the archbishop laid an interdict on the lands of John the king's
brother, but the cardinal reversed it.
About this time John, the king's brother, laid a grievous
complaint before the legate and the bishops, that the arch
bishop, even after an appeal made to the apostohc see, had
laid an interdict on all his lands, because he had espoused
the daughter of the earl of Gloucester, who was related to
him in the third degree of consanguinity ; and on hearing this
complaint the legate confirmed his appeal, and released his
lands from the interdict.
How the tenth part of property in England was given to assist the
Holy Land.
At this time a tax of the tenth part of all moveables was
generaUy levied throughout England, and collected for send
ing assistance to the Holy Land, and this violent extortion,
which veiled the vice of rapacity * under the name of charity,
alarmed the priesthood as well as the people. In this year
Eichard bishop of London, and William of Ely, were elected
and consecrated at Lambeth on the last day of December.
How the confederate kings determined to depart together to the Holy Land.
a.d. 1190. At Christmas, Eichard king of the English
was at Bure in Normandy, and passed the time of that solemn
festival there with the primates of that country. After
Christmas, at an interview between the kings of England and
France in the ford of St. Bemy, it was agreed that they
* " Besides the oppression which England thus endured, the king, eager
to acquire money, pretended that he had lost his seal, and commanded a
new one to he made, and ordered it to be proclaimed in every county, that
whoever desired to give greater validity to their charters should come with
out delay and have the new seal affixed to them. Many persons therefore,
not finding the king in England, were obliged to cross the sea, and to pay
whatever fine he imposed for having the new seal affixed to their charters." —
M. Paris.

88 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1190.
should, under the Lord's guidance, hasten their departure for
Jerusalem at the same time. A form of agreement for the
preservation of peace between the two countries was, at the
feast of St. Hilary, made in the presence of the bishops and
nobles of both kingdoms, and having been confirmed by oath
between the two sovereigns, it was committed to writing as
follows, " I, Philip, king of the French, will keep good faith
with Eichard king of the English, as my friend and ally for
life, for limb, and worldly honour ; and I, Eichard, king of the
English, promise to keep the same good faith with the king of
the French as my lord and friend, for life, and for hmb. We
also agree to lend aid each of us, if necessary, in defending
the territories of the other as zealously as if they were his
own possessions." The nobles and barons of both kingdoms
swore not to depart from their fealty to their kings, or to
make war, till forty days should have passed in peace after
the return of the sovereigns, and both of the kings joined in
this oath. The archbishops and bishops of both kingdoms
swore to promulgate the sentence of excommunication against
those who should break through this compact. It was also
determined that if either king should die on the expedition,
the survivor should take charge of the treasure and forces
of the deceased, to fulfil the service which they owed to
God. As they were not able to settle this treaty definitively
they delayed the business tiU the feast of St. John's nativity,
in order that the sovereigns and aU the crusaders might
assemble without fail at Vizelai, to enter upon their pilgri
mage to the Holy Land. " And if any shall attempt to con
travene," such were the words of the treaty, "this our
agreement, their lands shall be laid under the interdict of the
church, and their persons be excommunicated. Having thus
arranged matters they broke up the conference.*
How William bishop of Ely was appointed chancellor.
Eichard king of England, sent ambassadors, in conjunction
with others sent by William bishop of Ely, to pope Clement,
and obtained from that pontiff a decree as follows. " We
Clement the pope, greeting, — The laudable request of our well
* "About the same time Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury held a
council at Westminster, at which he bade farewell to his brethren and set
out for the Holy Land, in magnificent array." — M. Paris.

A.D. 1190.] MASSACRE OF JEWS. 89
beloved son in the Lord, Eichard the renowned king of the
English, we in our apostoUc office, have decreed to entrust to
thy brotherly care the duty of chancellor in all England,
Wales, in the archbishoprics of Canterbury and York, and in
those parts of Ireland in which John earl of Moreton, brother
of the king, holds power and authority given this 2nd of
June, in the third year of our pontificate."
How the archbishop of Canterbury suspended bishop Hugh.
In this year, Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury wrote to
Eichard bishop of London as follows : " Whilst we were at
Eouen, we suspended from the performance of his sacred duties,
our brother Hugh of Coventry, for having, without regard
to the dignity of his episcopal rank, usurped the office of
sheriff ; but on his faithfully promising to resign into our
hands the charge of the sheriff's office, and never again to
busy himself with affairs of this kind, we thought him
deserving of absolution. We, therefore, send this same
bishop to you with this our letter, ordering you, in con
junction with the bishop of Bochester and our clerks,
without fail, to appoint a time and place to hear and make
a just decision concerning the charges for which that prelate
was suspended by us.
Of the massacre of the Jews in sundry places.
In this same year, many persons throughout England who
were about to journey to Jerusalem, determined previous to
their departure, to cause a rising against the Jews. This
first broke out at Norwich, where the Jews, as many as
could be found, were slain in their own houses ; some few,
however, escaped, and took refuge in the castle at that place.
After this, on the 7th of March, many were slain at Stamford
on market day ; on the 18th day of March fifty-seven were
said to have been slaughtered at St. Edmund's ; thus,
wherever the Jews were found they were slain by the hands
of the crusaders, except those who were protected by the
municipal officers. But we must not believe that such a
massacre of the Jews was pleasing to wise men, since it is
written, " Do not kill them, lest my people should forget."
Of the dreadful slaughter of the Jews at York.
In the same year, during Lent, that is, on the 15th of

90 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1190.
March, the Jews of the city of York, to the number of five
hundred, besides women and children, through fear of an
attack on the part of the Christians, by permission of the
sheriff and the governor of the castle, shut themselves up in
that fortress, and when the garrison required them to give
up possession of it, they refused to do so. On this refusal,
repeated attacks were made both by day and night, and at
length the Jews after reflecting, offered a large sum of money
for their lives, but this was refused by the people. Then
one of them skilled in the law, rose and addressed his com
panions thus, " Oh, men of Israel, hear my counsel. It is
better, as our law instructs us, to die for our law than to faU
into the hands of our enemies." This being agreed to by
all, each head of a family came with a sharp razor, and cut
the throats first of 'his wife, sons, and daughters, and after
wards of aU his family, and threw the dead bodies, which
they considered as sacrificed to devils, on the Christians
outside the castle ; they then shut themselves up in the
king's house, and setting fire to it, both hving and dead were
burned together with the buildings. After this the citizens
and soldiers burned the Jews' houses, with the papers of their
debtors, but retained their money for their own use.
Geoffrey, archbishop elect of York, is ordained a priest.
At that time, bishop Wilham, the king's chanceUor and
justiciary of England, levied a tax of two palfreys and two
chargers on each city of England, and of one palfrey and
one charger on each of the abbacies. At this time, too,
John bishop of Whithern, a suffragan of the church of
York, ordained Geoffrey archbishop of York elect, to the
priesthood. At the same time, the election of the aforesaid
Geoffrey was confirmed by pope Clement, who, amongst
other things, in a letter which he wrote to the chapter ot
York, added these words, "We therefore admonish the
whole brotherhood of you, and command you by these our
apostolic writings, that you pay reverence and honour to
him as your prelate, that you may thereby prove yourselves
praiseworthy in the sight both of God and man. Given at
the Lateran, on the 7th of March, in the third year of our
pontificate."

A.D. 1190.] BUILDING OF A CHAPEL AT ACRE. 91
Of the array of the Christian army at the siege of Acre. '
The army of the Christians at this time before Acre was
disposed as follows : — In front of mount Musardus, near the
sea, were the Genoese ; after them came the hospitallers and
the marquis of Montferrat ; next in succession were Henry
count of Champagne, Guy of Duinperc, and the count of
Brenner next came the counts of Bar and Chalons, and after
them, Eobert of Dreux and the bishop of Beauvais ; then
foUowed the bishop of Besancon, and near him towards the
plain were count Theobald, the count of Claremont, Hugh
de Gournay, Otho de Treson, Florentius de Haugi, and
Walkeline de Ferrars : then came the Florentines, next the
bishop of Cambray, near whom was the bishop of Salisbury,
with all the English force ; then came the steward of
Flanders, with John de Neele, Odo de Ham, and the
Flemings ; after them were the lord of Hissoldone and the
viscount of Tours, and near them the king of Jerusalem, and
Hugh of Tabaria, with their kinsmen ; next were the templars
and James d'Avennes, besides whom, were the Landegrave
and the count of Geldres, with the Germans, Dacians,
Teutons, and Frieslanders, between whom the duke of
Suabia had pitched his camp in the neighbourhood of a
mosque ; following them, near a tower, were stationed the
patriarch and bishop of Acre, the bishop of Bethlehem, the
viscount of Chatel-Herault, with Eeginald de Fleche, and
Humphry of Tours, and the money changers under Turon ; at
the extremity, near the port, was the archbishop of Pisa,
with the Pisans ; lastly came the Lombards.
A chapel is built at Acre in honour of the blessed martyr Thomas.
About this time, a certain Enghsh chaplain, named
WiUiam, a familiar of Ealph de Diceto, dean of London,
when on his voyage to Jerusalem, made a vow, that on his
safe arrival at the port of Acre, he would, at his own
expence, buUd a chapel in honour of the blessed martyr
Thomas, and would cause a cemetery to be consecrated to
that saint, which vow he fulfilled. Many from all directions
flocked together to the service of this chapel, and William, by
the decision of all the Christians, took the name of prior,
and to show his devotion as a soldier of Christ, made it his
business to attend to the poor, and especiaUy to the burial of
the bodies of those who perished from disease, as weU as
those slain in battle.

92 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1190.
Of the chiefs of Saladin's army.
The chiefs in Acre under Saladin were as follow : — ¦
Caracos, who had been made a knight by Corboran at the
siege of Antioch, and who had also brought up Saladin, and
with him Gemaladin, Gurgi, Suchar, Simcordoedar, Bel-
hagessemin, Fecardincer, and Cerantegadin. The chiefs of
the army were these : his four brothers, Saphadin, Felkedin,
Sefelselem, Melkalade ; his three sons, MiraUs, Melcaleth,
Melcalezis; his two nephews, Techaedin and Benesemedin,
and the chiefs Coulin, Elaisar, Bederim, and Mustop
Hazadinnersel. All these chiefs held authority over the
provinces of Joramma, Botassia, Bira, the Persians, the
Turks, the Hemsiensians, Alexandria, Damietta, Aleppo, and
Damascus, and of all the country beyond the Euphrates, ex
tending to the Bed Sea, and beyond it towards Barbary.
Metalech ruled over Babylon, and to the four brothers of
Saladin were entrusted the provinces of Abesia, Leeman, the
Moors, Nubia, Cassarea, Ascalon, Amira, Bedreddin, Ami-
rasen, Nazareth, Neopolis, Camele, Mustoplice, and Maruch ;
Hazadinneassar had charge of Mount Eoyal, Crach, Corisin,
and part of Armenia, but Saladin was the sovereign ruler
over all of them.
How the battering engines of the Christians were burned by the Saracens.
In the same year, Greek fire was hurled by the Saracens
who were blockaded in the city of Acre, upon the engines
which the Christians at great expense had constructed for
subduing the city, and this instantly spreading abroad, re
duced them all to ashes ; this took place on the fifth of May.
How traitors were discovered among the Christians.
At this same time, Anser of Mount Eoyal revealed a con
spiracy which he in conjunction with the bishop of Beauvais,
count Bobert his brother, Guy of Duinperc, the Landegrave,
and the count of Geldres, had entered into with Saladin,
and for which they had received from that prince thirty
thousand bezants and a hundred marks of gold, besides a
bribe of four camels, two leopards, and four falcons received
by the Landegrave, for which and for other gifts they had
agreed to put off the attack on the city, and had aUowed
their battering forts to be burned.

a.d. 1190.] of king Richard's navy. 93
King Ricnard's letter on behalf of his chancellor.
At this same time, Eichard king of England issued letters
to all his liege subjects throughout England, as follows :
" Eichard, by the grace of God, &c. We command and
enjoin you, that as you regard us and our kingdom, as well
as yourselves and your possessions, ye be in aU things
obedient to our friend and well-beloved chancellor, the
bishop of Ely, in aU things which tend to our welfare, and
that ye act for him in all his commands on our behalf, as if
we ourselves were in the kingdom. Witness myself at
Bayonne." Of the commanders of king Richard's navy, and the laws made against
malefactors.
About that time, king Eichard, in a council of nobles,
chose and appointed Gerard archbishop of Auxienne, Bernard
bishop of Barvia, Bobert des Sables, Eichard de Can ville, and
WiUiam de Fore't, to be justiciaries over the combined navy
of England, Normandy, Brittany, and Poictou, which was
about to sail for the Holy Land, and delivered letters patent
to them as follow • " Eichard, by the grace of God, king of
England, to aU his subjects about to sail to the Holy Land,
greeting : Know all men, that we by the advice of our good
council, have made these laws : — Whoever on . board ship
shall slay another shall be bound to the dead man, and cast
into the sea with him ; if any one shall kiU another on land,
he shall be bound to the dead man and buried with him ; if
any one shall be convicted of having drawn a knife to strike
another, or shall draw blood from another, he shall lose his
hand ; if any one strikes another, he shaU be dipped three
times in the sea; whoever shall offer insult, or reproach,
or curse his companion, shaU be fined as many ounces of
silver as times he shall have so insulted him ; a robber con
victed of theft shall have boiling pitch poured on. his head,
and a shower of ashes scattered thereon to know him, and
he shall be set adrift at the first place the ships touch at."
He caused an oath to be administered to each and all, that
they would keep these laws, and would obey the before-
named justiciaries; after which he ordered the commanders
of his navy to set sail and meet him at MarseiUes.

94 ROGER OF WENDOVER. | A.D. 1190.
How king Richard received the scrip and staff at Vizelai.
In this year the French and Enghsh kings met on the
octaves of St. John the Baptist at Vizelai, where the body
of St. Mary Magdalene is buried, and stayed there two days ;
here the king of the Enghsh received the staff and scrip in
the church of St. Denis. After this the kings with all their
forces set out for Lyons, on the Bhone, where, when they
and a great part of their armies had crossed the bridge,
it broke, and many of both sexes were drowned. After this
the kings separated, because one place was not large enough
to hold such large forces when united; the king of the
French took the road to the city of Genoa, and the king of
England towards Messina ; and on the arrival of the latter
at that place he found there many pilgrims who, owing to
their long stay there, had spent all their money : of these,
king Eichard kept many and united them to his army.
After having stayed at this place eight days in expectation of
the arrival of his navy, finding himself deceived in his hopes,
he collected together ten large busses, and nine weU armed
galleys, and embarked in these vessels, being anxious on account
of the delay of his fleet ; and in the mean time, that he might
not appear inactive, he sailed with a strong armed force,
passing by the island of St. Stephen, AquUeia and the Black
Mountain, the island of St. Honoratus, the city of Meis,
and a city called WintiUmine. Thence he made his journey
to the castle of Seine, and on the day he reached it he had an
interview with the king of the French, who was lying ill
there. On the 14th of August the king of the Enghsh
reached the port of Dauphin, and stayed there five days.
Whilst at this place the king of the French sent to ask him
to supply him with five gaUeys ; the Enghsh king offered
him three, but they were refused by the French king. On
the 24th of August the king came to the harbour of Portes-
weire, which is half way between MarseUles and Messina,
and so passing different places he entered the river Tiber,
near the mouth of which there is a fine tower. At this place
he was met by Octavian bishop of Ostia, with a message on
behalf of the pope, that the king would visit him : this the
king refused, upbraiding the bishop for the simony and
greediness of the Bomish priests, and many other charges,

A.D. 1190.] KING RICHARD EMBARKS. 95
adding, that they had been paid seven hundred marks for
the consecration of the bishop of Maine, that they had
received fifteen hundred marks of silver for granting the
legateship to WiUiam bishop of Ely, and moreover of having
received a large sum of money from the archbishop of Bour-
deaux, who was accused of a crime by his clerks, and so
after his refusal to visit Eome, he entered Apuleia near the
town of Capua.
How king Richard appointed his nephew Arthur to, be his heir.
At this time Tancred king of Sicily (who had succeeded
to king WUUam), in order to keep on peaceable terms with
king Eichard, gave to that king twenty thousand ounces of
silver in discharge of all his claims against him, and the same
quantity of gold as a quit-claim of the will, which king
Wilham had made in favour of king Henry, Eichard's father,
and in consideration of the marriage which had been agreed
to be contracted between Arthur duke of Brittany and the
daughter of king Tancred ; on which king Eichard appointed
the before named Arthur his heir, in case of his dying with
out any lawful heir, after which he set out on his pilgrimage.
How queen Eleanor, on leaving her son, left Berengaria with him.
At this time queen Eleanor, determined to follow the route
of her son the king, and crossing mount Janus and the plains
of Italy, she at length came up with him ; and after spending
four days with him, she by his permission, returned to Eng
land, leaving with her son, Berengaria daughter of the king
of Navarre, whom Eichard was about to marry; for king
Eichard had given to the king of the French ten thousand
pounds as a quit-claim for his marriage with that monarch's
sister ; and, by that agreement too, the king of the French
had ever resigned all his claim to the castle of Gisors and
the whole of the Vexin. In this same year too Frederic, the
Eoman emperor, in the fortieth year of his reign, passed
through Bulgaria on his way to Jerusalem, and in marching
from Iconium to Antioch, whilst his army safely passed the
river Saphet, the emperor fell from his horse into the stream
and was drowned.

96 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1190.
How the blessed martyr Thomas appeared to the commanders of king
Richard's navy.
In the same year the king of England's fleet was exposed
to many dangers : on their voyage towards Lisbon they had
doubled the promontory called Godesterre, and having passed
Brittany with St. Matthew of Finisterre on their left, and the
ocean, on which was their route to Jerusalem, on the right,
they left Poictou and Gascony on their left. On the day of
our Lord s ascension they were in the Spanish sea, when a
dreadful tempest came on them, which dispersed the fleet
immediately. In the raging of the storm, whilst aU in their
alarm were caUing on the Lord, the blessed martyr Thomas
archbishop of Canterbury, appeared at three different times
to three different persons who were on board the ship of the
Londoners, and said to them, " Be not afraid, for I, and the
blessed martyr Edmund, and St. Nicholas the confessor, have
been appointed by the Lord, guardians of the king of Eng
land's fleet; and if the crews and commanders of the fleet
will guard themselves against sin, and repent of their former
offences, God will grant them a prosperous voyage and direct
their ways in his paths." These words were heard to be
thrice repeated, after which the blessed Thomas disappeared
and the storm forthwith ceased. Amongst the crew of that
ship were, one called William with the beard, WiUiam Fitz
Osbert, and Geoffrey the gold-worker, and with them
many citizens of London. These had now passed Lisbon
and Cape St. Vincent, and had neared the city of Sevule,
which was then the extreme of Christendom in Spain ; in
deed the Christian faith was as yet in its infancy there, for it
was only the year before that it became Christian, and had
been wrested from the power of the pagans. The crew of
the London ship, steering near the city, found by certain
indications that Christians dwelt there; they therefore put
in, and were received with much honour by the bishop and
all the rest of the inhabitants. There were on board this
ship more than eighty well armed youths, whom the people
of the city and the king of Portugal retained in their service
for fear of the emperor of Morocco, giving them every kind
of security for the pay they required, and a promise of large
gifts in addition. Besides this ship, ten more of the English

A.D. 1190.] PHILIP AND RICHARD AT MESSINA. 97
fleet which, with their crews, had been dispersed here and
there, at length, by the grace of God, arrived at the city of
Lisbon by way of the river Tagus. Afterwards the arch
bishop of Auxia, Eobert des Sables, Eichard de CanviUe,
and WiUiam de Fortz, taking their course between Africa
and Spain, after many storms, arrived, on the octaves of
St. Mary, at MarseiUes, with the whole of the fleet which was
under their charge, and, finding the king there, they stopped
to attend to the necessary repairs of the ships.
How Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury, and some others landed at Tyre.
About the same time Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury,
Hubert bishop of Salisbury, and Ealph de Glanville, formerly
justiciaries of England, who had preceded the king of
England on the voyage to Jerusalem, making a direct course,
left Sicily on the left hand, and, after experiencing many
dangers, arrived at Tyre about Michaelmas. John bishop of
Norwich, however, went to the pope, and having obtained
his permission, there laid aside the cross of the Lord, and so
having cleared out his baggage, he returned to England
absolved from his vows.*
Of a quarrel between the kings at Messina.
On the 16th of September in this same year Philip the
French king arrived at Messina, and was entertained in king
Tancred's palace ; king Eichard arrived on the 23rd of
the same month, but was not allowed ingress to the city, for
the French were afraid that the provisions would not suffice
for the multitudes who foUowed the two kings. Eichard, on
learning this, sent his marshals to the elders of the city,
requesting them to seU provisions to his army that they
might not be pressed by want ; the citizens wished to open
their gates and to treat such a great prince hospitably, but
the French would not permit them, but climbed the walls
in arms and resolved to defend the gates. At .this king
Eichard ordered his troops to fly to arms, and to force an
* M. Paris amplifies this sentence as follows : " He also offered money,
which the pope received with avidity. Thus he easily obtained licence to
depart, and emptying his baggage, that it might not be too heavy for him,
he returned to England absolved from his vow, leaving behind him a dis
graceful example to the army."
VOL. H. H

98 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1190.
entrance for himself and his foUowers, in spite of their
enemies. The troops obeyed the king's commands, attacked
the gates, forced their way into the city, and, after slaying
many of the French, they, with the king at their head, put
the rest to flight. When this event came to the ears of the
French king he conceived the most violent indignation
against the king of the Enghsh, and he never dispossessed
himself of it as long as he lived ; nevertheless the two kings
had a peaceable interview on the same day and made no
mention of what had taken place.
How king Richard subdued some fortresses.
On the 24th of September in this year, the king of the
French embarked, but as the wind was unfavourable he
returned the same day to Messina. On the 30th of Septem
ber king Eichard crossed the river Var, and took a very
strongly fortified place in Calabria, caUed Labamare, and,
putting in it his sister Joanna, formerly queen of SicUy, he
returned to Messina. The next day he took a fortress caUed
the monastery of the Griffones, between Messina and Calabria;
at this place the Griffones making an attack on Hugh Brun
earl of March, were driven back by king Eichard, on which
they closed the gates of the city, and betook themselves to
the ramparts, and from thence slew and wounded several of
the king's men and horses. The king, enraged at this,
attacked and forced the gates, and took the city, and on the
4th of October placed foUowers of his own in it, and on the
following day the elders of the city gave hostages for the
due observance of peace by them ; after this he there built
a castle which was called Mate-Griffon. At this time a
provincial council, of which William bishop of Ely, the legate
of the apostolic see, was president, was held at Westminster
on the 15th of October, but at this Uttie or nothing was done
for the edification of the English church.
How the Norman church was freed from the yoke of slavery.
At this time the church of God in Normandy, with king
Eichard's consent, was freed from its long endured yoke of
slavery. In the first place it was determined and granted by
the king, with regard to clerks, that on no occasion should
they be taken by the secular authority, as had been the

i.D. 1190.] DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP BALDWIN. 99
custom, unless for murder, theft, arson, or crimes of the like
enormity ; but that, immediately on the requisition of the
ecclesiastical judges, they should be handed over for judgment
in the ecclesiastical courts. Also that in general, all questions
of breach of faith or breaking an oath should be decided on
in the ecclesiastical court. Also all questions of dowry, or
marriage gifts, where goods or Uve stock were claimed, were
to be referred to the church's arbitration. Also that in con
ventual establishments the election of abbats, priors, and
abbesses should be with the consent of their bishop. Also
that the secular courts should have no cognizance where
ecclesiastics could prove that, by deed or otherwise the estate
was eleemosynary, but that it should be referred to the
decision of ecclesiastic judges. Also that the disposal of pro
perty bequeathed by will should rest with the church autho
rities ; and that no tenth part, as heretofore, should be
deducted. Also with regard to the goods of clerks, although
they were said to be usurers, that, however they might die, the
secular authorities should have no power, but that their pro
perty should be distributed by the episcopal authority in
works of piety. Also that whatever property laymen might
have disposed of in their life time, by whatsoever title they
had aliened it, although they might be caUed usurious, the
same should not be revoked after their death ; but that what
ever should be found unaliened after their death, if it could
be proved that they were usurious at the time of their death,
should be confiscated. Also that if a person deceased should
have any pledge by which he had gained any interest, his
portion should revert to the depositor of the pledge, or to his
heirs ; the same should be done with the portions of his wife
and children after their death. If any one should be over
taken by sudden death or by any event, so that he could not
dispose of his property, the distribution of it should rest with
the church authorities.
Of the death of Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury.
At this time Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury, being at
the point of death at Acre, bequeathed all his property to
assist the crusade in the Holy Land, and after his decease
Hubert bishop of Salisbury, who had been appointed by the
archbishop, his executor, faithfully distributed his property
H 2

100 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1190.
on pious uses. Being chiefly anxious about the sentries of
the camp, he paid, as the archbishop had in his hfe time
determined to do, fixed salaries for several days to twenty
knights and fifty of their attendants ; he always took on him
self the care of the poor, casting the eye of compassion on the
helpless, and in all respects fulfilling the duties of a good pre
late. But the city of Acre, notwithstanding the numerous
assaults of the Christians, resolutely held out, for it was
surrounded by strong walls, and was weU garrisoned and
supphed with warlike engines ; moreover Saladin's army
surrounded the besiegers on aU sides, from which cause as
well by the withdrawal of some of the Christians as by the
numbers who were slain, the army of Christ was much
diminished; nevertheless the Christians, having confidence
in the consolation of Christ, were in hopes of being able to
endure the hardships and toils of the siege until the arrival
of the kings, if they should reach them by the ensuing
Easter, but if not, then their money would fail, and aU hope
of earthly assistance would vanish.*
Of the pride of William bishop of Ely, and chancellor of England.
At this time Wilham, justiciary of England and legate of
the apostolic see, caused a deep trench to be dug round the
tower of London, hoping to be able to bring the waters of the
Thames into the city, but after expending much from the
treasury his labour proved fruitless. Moreover this same
chanceUor had become very great amongst all the people of
the west, in England he was both a king and priest, and he
paid no regard to anything, whilst he was not contented with
the episcopal dignity alone, but showed that his thoughts were
bent on things too high for him ; for he showed his vanity
and haughtiness by saying at the beginning of aU his letters
" We, William, by the grace of God bishop of Ely, chanceUor
of our lord the king, justiciary of aU England, and legate of
* " Saladin continually hovered over the besieging army, and did them as
much harm as he could, and the Christians received much damage at his
hands. If we may believe the report, Richard then received privately
many presents from Saladin, namely, precious jewels, gold of the finest
quality, and the most valuable of all, a coat of mail which no spear could
penetrate. Richard, excusing his prodigality and veiling his own avarice,
said to his men, ' Let him give away what is Mb own, if he likes to do so."'

A.D. 1191.] MORTALITY AT ACRE. 101
the apostolic see, greeting, &c." He exercised to an immo
derate excess the dignities which he had obtained by bribery,
endeavouring to repair the sacred establishments which he
had despoiled for the sake of acquiring his honours. He dis
tributed money at his tables, so that he might come again
and extort the same with interest, for he performed the duty
of the legateship, which he had acquired at the expense of a
thousand pounds of silver, so immoderately that he became
burdensome to all the establishments of England, both con
ventual and cathedral ; indeed he travelled through England
with an array of fifteen hundred attendants, and accompanied
by crowds of clerks, and surrounded by a troop of soldiers,
neglecting aU things which belonged to the dignity of his
episcopal station. He was waited on at his table by all the
sons of the nobility whom he had married to his nieces and
female relatives, and all those whom he kept as his attendants
thought themselves lucky. Never was there land for sale,
which he did not purchase, never was there a church or
abbacy vacant which he did not dispose of or retain for him
self, nor any castles or towns of which he would not either by
threats or bribes obtain the guardianship ; by these acts and
many others of like character he struck terror into the
people. The kingdom of England was silent in his presence,
and no one murmured, for there remained in England no
power to resist him. His train was composed of —
" Ambubaiarum collegia, pharmacopolse,
Mendici, mimae, balatrones, hoc genus omne."
So that he on earth was followed by all kinds of music and
singing, as the holy angels follow the all-powerful God in
heaven. He acted entirely in such a way that he seemed to
strive to put himself on a level with God, but the end of all
this wUl be related in the subsequent history in due time.*
Of the mortality at Acre.
a.d. 1191. After the death of the venerable Baldwin
archbishop of Canterbury, nobles and knights of weU-tried
powers died at the siege of Acre, as was said, from the
unhealthiness of the atmosphere ; amongst these were Ealph
* " Having obtained the legatine power from the pope, he held a council
at Westminster. W. bishop of Worcester, and W. abbat of Westminster,
died on the 28th of March." — M. Paris.

102 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1191.
de Fulcher, count Eobert of Perche, Theobald of Blois,
count Stephen, his brother, the count and son of the emperor
Frederick, the earl of Ferrars, earl Eobert of Leicester;
Ealph de GlanviUe, Ealph Hauterive, the archdeacon of
Colchester, and innumerable others besides. The French
and English kings, in the meantime, were waiting in Sicily
the arrival of spring to avoid the dangers of a voyage by
winter. In this year too, pope Clement, after fining the
apostolic chair for fourteen months, died, and was succeeded
by Celestine, formerly called Hyacinthus.
How Philip king of the French, and Richard king of the English,
embarked at Messina.
On the 29th of March in this year, the French king
embarked at Messina and made sail direct for Jerusalem.
On the 10th of April he was foUowed by king Eichard in
great pomp with a fleet consisting of thirteen busses with
three masts besides a hundred transports and fifty triple
banked galleys ; after a passage of twenty days they neared
the island of Bhodes, and ten days after they put into
Cyprus. But Cursac, the ruler of the island, who had
assumed the title of emperor, came with a strong armed
force to prevent the king's entering the harbour, and made
prisoners several of his followers who were shipwrecked,
robbed them, and cast them into prison to die of hunger.
The English king, burning with rage, attacked this enemy
and soon defeating him, took and detained him prisoner, and
reduced to submission his only daughter and the whole of the
island with all the fortified places. Cursac made an agree
ment with the king that he was not to be kept in iron chains,
and the king to keep his word caused him to be bound in
chains of silver, and ordered him to be placed in a castle
near Tripoli, caUed Margeth ; but his daughter with the two
queens he kept honourably guarded in his own house. King
Eichard had, for the sake of refreshing himself and his
followers after their tedious voyage, and of procuring an
increase of fresh provisions, determined to stop at this island,
without doing damage to any one, but the above named
Cursac forbade him to attempt entering his territories ; more
than this he had forbidden any of his subjects to sell provi
sions to the English king's army, or to expose articles to

A.D. 1191.] THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK IMPRISONED. 103
them for sale, and by these means he roused the mind of the
king to anger, and forced him to inflict on him the before
named injury. When at length the king had obtained
possession of all the money of the island, and had arranged
all matters to his satisfaction ; he there married Berengaria,
daughter of the queen of Navarre, the same whom queen
Eleanor had brought to him whilst he was staying in Sicily.
On the 4th day of Easter week in this year, pope Celestine
consecrated as emperor, Henry son of the emperor Frederick.
In this year too, Phihp count of Flanders, who had sailed for
the Holy Land with the king of the French, died without
leaving any chUdren.
How Geoffrey, archbishop of York, was imprisoned at Dover.
About this same time, by command of the supreme pontiff,
Bartholomew, archbishop of Tours, ordained Geoffrey, elect
of York, a bishop, and he, after his consecration, set out for
England, and arrived with his followers at Dover. Matthew
de Clere sheriff of that county had shortly before received a
letter from William bishop of Ely, to this effect, " We order
you that if the bishop elect of York shaU arrive at any port
in your jurisdiction, or any messengers of his, you cause him
to be detained until you receive orders from us regarding
him ; we likewise order you that you cause to be detained all
letters of our lord the pope or of any great man, which may
come to those parts." Matthew therefore, on learning the
arrival of the archbishop, with the advice of the bishop of
Ely's sister, who then had the charge of the castle, was not
slow to fulfil his instructions ; for six days he with a band
of armed men besieged him in the priory of St. Martin, and
reduced him to such straits that in the meantime it was with
difficulty that provisions which he obtained from charity
could be brought to him ; for the treachery of the disaffected
increased daily, and the soldiers of the bishop of Ely came to
the above named church with staves, and rushing armed into
the archbishop's presence peremptorily ordered him to leave
the kingdom without delay and to sail, for Flanders. On his
refusal to obey this mandate, with his robe over his shoulders,
and the cross in his hands, he was violently dragged from
before the altar by his feet, arms, and legs, with his head
beating against the ground, and, together with his clerks and

104 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1191-
rehgious men, who had come to see him from many quarters,
was taken to the castle and thrown into a dungeon, where he
was kept close prisoner for eight days. This treatment
coming to the knowledge of the bishop of London, that
prelate immediately went to the chancellor, and with much
difficulty after many entreaties obtained the archbishop's
release, being obliged to give his whole bishopric as security
for him. The archbishop therefore, released from prison,
came to London, where he was received by the bishop, clergy,
and people, with aU honours and in solemn procession. This
rash presumption, as the following history wiU show, after
wards redounded very much to the disgrace of the chanceUor.
A remarkable eclipse of the sun.
In the month of June in the same year, on Sunday, the
eve of St. John the Baptist, there appeared about the sixth
hour of the day, an eclipse of the sun, which lasted tiU the
eighth hour, the moon being twenty seven days old and the
sun being in the sign of Cancer.
How king Richard took a ship called a dromund.
On the 21st of March* in that year, Phihp king of the
French landed at Acre, and Eichard foUowing him, embarked
at Cyprus with a large stock of provisions. He heard that
the French king's army was suffering at Acre from hunger
and scarcity to such a degree, that a quart of corn cost sixty
marks, and he therefore hastened to the reUef of such distress
and misery with his ships loaded with large quantities of
corn. Whilst he was sailing with a fair wind towards Acre,
which city was formerly caUed Ptolemais, there came in
sight on the 6th of June, a very large ship, caUed a dromund,
which had been sent loaded with an immense sum of monev
from the city of Baruch, by Saladin's brother, Salahadin,
Soldan of Babylon, to carry assistance to the pagans who
were besieged in Acre. On board this vessel they had Greek
fire, and many pots of fiery serpents ; and the crew consisted
of fifteen hundred warriors, besides fifteen hundred strong
men by whose aid the ship might be strengthened. Kino-
Eichard immediately ordered his followers to prepare for
* Some mistake in date here : Philip only left Messina on the 29th of
March.

A.D. 1191.] THE CAPTURE OF ACRE. 105
action, and on the gaUeys nearing one another a fierce attack
commenced on both sides, but the hostile ship became help
less on account of the wind failing. At length one of the
king's rowers, who was a skilful diver, approached the pagan
vessel under water, and bored a hole in it, after doing which,
under Christ's protection, he returned to his own ship and
told the king what he had done. The water entering in a
short time rose over the deck of the ship, and the crew, who
before trusted to their bulwarks, soon lost all hope of escape ;
thirteen hundred of these were drowned by king Eichard's
order, the surviving two hundred he kept as hostages.
Of king Richard's arrival at Acre, and the capture of that city.
King Eichard, after collecting all the spoils of the pagan
ship approached the port of Acre, whither he was bound,
with a favouring wind. At length on the 8 th of June the
king entered the harbour, and the shrill sound of clarions, the
braying of trumpets, with the horrid din of the horns filled
the air near the shore, and resounded for a distance round
inland; this event animated the Christians to battle, but
struck terror into the besieged Saracens, for it proclaimed
the arrival of this great chief. King Eichard showed his
generous feelings to all by supplying food to the famished
army. The two kings then, attended by crowds of knights
and soldiers, arranged stone engines and other machines
around the city, and by the weight of their missiles, and con
stant use of these engines day and night, they battered the
waUs of the city so that the infidels were panic-struck, lost
all confidence in their power of resistance, and at length held
a council, and began to treat of peace. The conditions of
the agreement were, that, for the ransom of the garrison,
Saladin should restore the true cross, which he had taken in
battle, and should release fifteen hundred captive Christians,
to be chosen by them, and in addition to the above stated
agreement should pay seven thousand bezants. Thus the
city, with the arms and everything in it, excepting only the
persons of the Saracens, was happily surrendered to the two
kings on the 12th of July. When the appointed day of pay
ment arrived Saladin did not fulfil his agreement. To punish
this great transgression, therefore, about two thousand six

106 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 119-1.
hundred were beheaded, only a few of the most noble were
saved and placed in prison at the disposal of the kings.
How the French king through envy returned to his own country.
After the city was subdued, the king of the French made
arrangements to return home, as though the war was entirely
an end ; for he was annoyed beyond measure at aU the credit
of the success of the Christian army being given to king
Eichard. Pleading, therefore, want of money and poverty
as his excuses, he said he could not stay there any longer ;
but the English king Eichard, who had a burning desire to
promote the cause of the crusade, on hearing this, promised
that he would supply the king of the French with a share of
all he possessed, in money as weU as in his supphes of pro
visions, horses, arms, and ships, in order that they might
unitedly endeavour to drive the enemies of Christ from the
Holy Land. But in as much as the French king had sworn
to return, and determinately arranged for it, notwithstanding
that his followers loudly exclaimed against it, and the whole
army was greatly excited; he embarked to return to his
country with only a few in his company. Moreover there
had arisen between the two kings a secret disagreement, so
that the king of France proposed to dehver the city of Acre,
and the other cities, castles, and districts, which they might
take, to the marquis of Montferrat, and to appoint him king
of the Holy Land; for this same marquis had married the
daughter of king Ahneric, sister of the queen of Jerusalem,
who was lately deceased. King Eichard was throughout
opposed to this wish, and plainly proved that it would be
more consistent with right to restore to king Guy his king
dom, of which he had been some while since deprived, than
to appoint another whilst he yet lived; since it appeared
that he had lost his sovereignty, not through his own indo
lence, but that, through his boldness in a fierce war, owing
to the number of his enemies, and the weakness of his own
army, he had been taken at the same time as the cross by the
Saracens. This is known to have been the original cause of
discord between the before-named princes, although a differ
ence had sprung up in the first place, though concealed, at
Messina in Sicily, when king Eichard had obtained posses
sion of the city with an armed force, and destroyed many of

a.d. 1191.] Richard's military success. 107
the foUowers of the French king, on account of the abuse
and harassing treatment of the English by his army. The
king of the French, therefore, seeing that the people of differ
ent countries, who had flocked to the Holy Land, placed
themselves under the command of king Eichard, and that the
fame of the latter's prowess increased daily, because he was
better supphed with money, more profuse in bestowing gifts,
possessed of a larger army, and was braver in attacking his
enemies, thought that the fame of his own prowess was
dimmed by that of another's, and was therefore in greater
haste to embark. In addition to these reasons, he wished to
possess himself of the territory of the count of Flanders,
who had lately died : therefore after he had pledged his oath
not to invade the territories of the English king or of the
chiefs, who remained with him, he took his departure. King
Eichard then caused the trenches and breaches in the walls
of Acre to be repaired, and fortified it with men and arms.
Of king Richard's progress.
After these events, on the eve of the assumption of the
blessed Mary, king Eichard, with his fellow warriors, led the
way from the gates of Acre, and boldly set out on his march
to besiege and take the cities on the sea coast ; and he
ordered his camp to be pitched near and in sight of Saladin's
army, at the place where he had caused the two thousand six
hundred of the Saracens, whom the two kings had taken
prisoners at Ptolemais, to be beheaded, as has been before
related. When the report of this event reached the Saracens,
who occupied the maritime cities, they were alarmed lest the
king in his anger should inflict on them a similar punishment
to that of the Ptolemaidans, and having no confidence in
Saladin's assisting them, since he had refused to pay what
was demanded of him for the ransom of the others, they
evacuated their cities and fled immediately on hearing of the
approach of the king. This was the case with the inhabit
ants of Caiphas, Caesarea, Assur, Joppa, Gaza, and Ascalon,
and thus, by the will of God, aU the maritime district in that
part of the country fell into the hands of the Christians.
This did not however result without some severe fighting ;
for the army of Saladin followed closely on the Christian
flanks, and in the defiles dreadfully harassed the out-po3ts,

108 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 119-1.
from which cause great slaughter often ensued in both
armies. King Eichard, therefore, after he had fortified the
cities above named, returned in triumph to Acre.*
But this account which we have given wiU be more clearly
understood by our giving the letter which Eichard sent to
Walter archbishop of Eouen, on this same subject. "Eichard,
by the grace of God, king of England, &c. — Know that
our lord the king of the French, has returned home; and
we, after repairing the damage and breaches of the city of
Acre, in order to promote the Christian cause, and to fulfil
the purpose of our vow, marched to Joppa, in company with
the duke of Burgundy and his French foUowers, count Henry
and his troops, and many other counts and barons. Whereas
between Acre and Joppa the country is extensive and the
way long; we at length, with much sweat and toU, came
down to Csesarea ; Saladin too lost several of his foUowers in
this same march. When the army of God had rested some
time at Joppa, we set out again on our proposed march ; and
when our advanced guard had gone forward and was pitching
the camp near Assur, Saladin, with a large host of pagans,
made an attack on our rear guard ; but, by the divine favour,
though only four battalions were opposed to him face to face,
he was put to flight ; they pursued him for one league, and
made such a slaughter of the Saracen nobles on that day,
St. Mary's eve, at Assur, as Saladin for forty years past has
not in one day sustained. After this, under God's guidance,
we came to the city of Joppa, and strengthened it with
trenches and walls ; it being our purpose, wherever we could
reach, to promote the cause of Christianity as much as lay in
our power. Saladin, indeed, since the day of the above
mentioned discomfiture, has not dared to come to a close
engagement with the Christians, but secretly lays snares for
destroying the friends of the cross, as a hon in his den awaits
* Matthew Paris gives this sentence as follows : — " Severe conflicts how
ever continually took place, in consequence of Saladin's continually hover
ing on the Christian army. Thus the king returned triumphant to Acre,
and after a few days went to Joppa, not far from Csesarea, where he gave
Saladin a disgraceful defeat, and obtained a glorious victory. He then
bestowed the kingdom of Jerusalem on his nephew Henry, together with
the widow of the marquis of Montferrat for a wife. At the same time he
redeemed for a large sum of money the relics of many saints, which Saladin
had taken."

A.D. 1191.] HENRY KING OF JERUSALEM. 109
sheep destined for the slaughter. On hearing, however, that
we were marching with haste on Ascalon, he razed that city
to the ground, and now, as if deprived of all plan and delibe
ration, he leaves all Syria to its fate ; on which account we
take courage, being in good hopes that in a short time the
inheritance of our Lord wiU be entirely regained. — Farewell,
FareweU." How king Richard gave the kingdom of Jerusalem to his nephew Henry.
On king Bichard's return, as has been mentioned, to
Ptolemais, he gave to his nephew Henry the kingdom of
Jerusalem, with the wife of the marquis of Montferrat, as
she was the heiress to the kingdom, since the death of her
sister the queen of Jerusalem. This arrangement was wil-
Ungly agreed to by Guy of Lusignan, formerly the sovereign
of that kingdom, and for securing peace he received the
island of Cyprus, which in the late war had been taken from
the king of that island by the Enghsh king, to whom Guy
did homage for it. The marquis had been lately slain at
Tyre by the Saracen assassins ; and at his death, the kingdom
of Jerusalem, as has been said, belonged by hereditary right
to his wife.
How king Richard redeemed all the relics of the Holy Land.
Saladin had some time before made prisoner Guy king
of Jerusalem, and taken the cross of our Lord, soon after
which he laid siege to Jerusalem. The inhabitants, who had
remained in the city, being in consternation at their reverses,
and despairing of being able to resist Saladin, at once sur
rendered the city to him; but he aUowed none to depart
from it unless they paid ten bezants each as a ransom. The
rich at once ransomed themselves, but seven thousand men
were found in the city, who had not the means of payment ;
but their feUow citizens compassionating their misfortune,
by unanimous consent, took the gold and silver crosses, the
cups and phylacteries, stripped our Lord's sepulchre of its
metal, and the other ornaments found in the churches, and
redeemed their poor townsmen. They also collected all the
reUcs of the saints which could be found in the sanctuaries,
and put them in four large ivory coffers. Saladin, on the
surrender of the city, amongst other things which he had

UO ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1191.
seized, had seen these, and making earnest inquiries what
they contained, he ordered them to be taken to Baldach, and
to be delivered to the caliph, that the Christians might no
longer boast of the bones of dead men, nor believe that they
had, as interceders for them in heaven, those whose bones
they worshipped on earth. But the chief and patriarch of
Antioch and others of the faith, by no means wishing to
be despoiled of such a store of treasure, promised on oath to
pay fifty-two thousand bezants to redeem these same rehcs,
and if they should fail in payment of the aforesaid money on
the day agreed on, that they would resign the said rehcs to
him. According to this agreement, the chief of Antioch
took the relics away with him under seal ; and now all the
foUowers of Christianity were overcome with grief and alarm
because the time for payment fixed by Saladin was approach
ing, and the beforenamed chief had taken the rehcs away
with him to restore them sealed, as he received them, to that
prince. But the English king Eichard, who was at Furbie,
heard of this, and knowing that the thing had been done in
all due order, at once paid the prearranged sum to Saladin
for the sacred relics, and piously retained the pledges of the
saints, that these men of God, whose bones he had redeemed
from impious hands on earth, might, by their intercession,
assist his soul in heaven. Each coffer was of such a size and
weight that four men could hardly carry it for any length of
time. The discovery of Arthur, the most famous king of the Britons.
In the same year the bones of Arthur, a renowned king of
Britain, were found buried at Glastonbury, in a very old sarco
phagus, near which two pyramids stood, and on these, letters
had been carved out, but which were scarcely legible on ac
count of their roughness and shapelessness. The occasion of
their being found was as follows : — Certain people who were
digging a grave in the same place to bury there a monk,
who had during his life earnestly desired to be buried there,
found a kind of sarcophagus, on which was placed a leaden
cross with these words carved on it : " Here lies the re
nowned Arthur, king of the Britons, buried in the island of
Avalon." The place is surrounded on all sides by marshes,
and was formerly called the " island of Avalon," that is, the
isle of apples. In this year too, Bobert, a canon of the

A.D. 1191.] DISHONESTY OF THE CHANCELLOR. Ill
church of Lincoln, and son of William, seneschal of Nor
mandy, was at Canterbury consecrated bishop of Winchester,
by WiUiam, legate of the apostoUc see.
How king Richard had suspicions regarding the chancellor.
At this time the most serious complaints came from day to
day to the king of the pride of his chancellor, and the inju
ries he inflicted on many ; he therefore wrote to the nobles
of England as foUows : — " We Eichard, king of England, to
WiUiam our marshal, G. Fitz-Peter, H. Bardolph, and
W. Bruyere, &c. If by chance our chancellor, to whom
we entrusted the management of affairs in our kingdom,
shall not have faithfully performed his duties, we order
you to take measures for managing the affairs of the king
dom at your own discretion, both as regards escheats and
fortresses. At this same time WiUiam archbishop of Bouen,
came to England, bearing letters from the king to this effect :
" We Eichard, by the grace of God, king of England, to
WiUiam, marshal, and others his compeers, greeting. — Know
that we have thought fit, for the defence and arrangement of
our kingdom, to send to you our beloved father William
archbishop of Eouen, who has been recalled from his pil
grimage by the consent of the supreme pontiff; wherefore
we command and strictly enjoin you that, in the management
of our affairs, you order all things with his advice ; and it is
our will that, as long as we are on our pilgrimage, you
mutually take counsel together in arranging all matters, — he
with you, and you with him." *
Of the disgraceful fall of the chancellor.
In this same year on the Saturday next after Michaelmas,
at the request of earl John, brother of the king of England,
the English nobles assembled near the bridge of the Loddon,
between Beading and Windsor, to hold a conference on
matters of importance to the king and kingdom. But on the
day after the conference, the archbishop of Eouen, as well
as the archbishop of York, and all the bishops who had as
sembled at Beading to be present at the conference, in
* " This year died pope Clement, and was succeeded by Celestine, by
whom the emperor Henry was crowned on the eve of saint John the Bap
tist." — M. Paris.

112 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1191.
solemn form, with lighted candles, excommunicated aU those
who had advised, aided, or commanded the abduction from
the church, and the unworthy treatment and imprisonment of
the archbishop of York, especially naming Albert de Marines,
and Alexander Puintil. On the Monday following, the
before mentioned earl, knowing that the chancellor feared an
attack from him, proposed to him, in order to luU aU suspi
cion, to come to a conference at a safe place near Windsor
Castle, as the chanceUor had requested, and gave him a
guarantee for his safety by the bishop of London ; the chan
cellor, however, not satisfied with this security, fled imme
diately, and took refuge in the tower of London. The earl
on learning the . flight of the chanceUor, came himself to
London, but as he was about to enter the city, he was met by
a body of the chanceUor's knights, who with drawn swords
made a fierce attack on him and his foUowers, and slew a
nobleman caUed Boger de Planes. On the foUowing day,
Tuesday, the said earl with the archbishops, bishops, knights
and barons, assembled in the chapter-house of St. Paul's,
and in the chanceUor's presence, after a long discussion,
swore fealty to king Eichard; earl John first took the oath, and
was followed by the two archbishops, and aU the bishops,
and the knights and barons assembled. On the Thursday
following this meeting, another conference, at which the
before mentioned nobles were present, was held in the
eastern part of the Tower of London, at which it was defini
tively determined, by unanimous consent, that the kingdom
of England should not again be under the rule of a man,
by whose conduct the church was degraded, and the people
reduced to want ; for this same chanceUor and his satellites
had so exhausted all the wealth of the kingdom, that they
did not even leave a man a silver belt, a woman her necklace,
or a nobleman a ring, or money, or any thing of value to a
Jew ; they had Ukewise so emptied the king's treasury, that,
after the lapse of two years, nothing could be found in his
coffers except keys and empty vessels. It was also provided,
that all the fortresses, which the chanceUor had at wiU en
trusted to the charge of his followers, should be given up,
and in the first place the Tower of London ; and these reso
lutions the chancellor swore he would comply with. In pur
suance of this, on the following Tuesday he left the Tower

A.D. 1191.] THE CHANCELLOR IN WOMAN'S CLOTHES. 113
with aU his household, and crossed the river Thames to
Bermondsey, leaving his brothers Henry and Osbert as se
curity for the restoration of the castles ; for he had sworn
too that he would not leave the kingdom till the fortresses
had been given up. He thence went to Canterbury, and
took the cross of the holy pilgrimage, laying aside that of the
legateship, which he had borne for a year and a half after the
death of' pope Clement, to the detriment as weU of the Boman
as the EngUsh church. After doing this he went to Dover,
attended by Gilbert bishop of Bochester, and Henry de
CornhiU, sheriff of Kent, and thinking he could blind the
eyes of the sailors there, he invented a new kind of fraud ;
he converted the man into the woman, inasmuch as he ex
changed the priest's robe for the harlot's gown. He clothed
himself in a woman's green gown, with a cape of the same
colour, and with a hood over his head, he went down to the
beach carrying some linen cloth as if for sale. As the priest
thus disguised was sitting on a rock near the shore waiting
for a fair wind, a sailor who wished for some sport with the
woman, was astonished to find breeches on a female, and im
mediately shouted aloud, " Come here, aU of you, come here ! "
said he, " and look at a man in woman's dress ! " A number
of idle women assembled, and eagerly inquired the price of
the cloth which he carried for sale : he made them no answer,
as not understanding the EngUsh language, on which they
consulted amongst themselves ; and suspecting him to be an
impostor, they laid hands on the veil which covered his
mouth, and puUing it down from his nose backward, they
discovered the features of a man, dark, and lately shaved.
Immediately they shouted to each other, saying, " Come, let
us stone this monster who is a disgrace to both sexes." A
crowd of men and women got together there, and, tearing
the hood from his head, they threw him down and dragged
him ignominiously by his sleeves and cape over the sand and
stones, injuring the prelate much. At length his followers
came up to release him, but without success, for the people
foUowed him up with insatiable eagerness, reviled him,
assailed him with blows, spat on him, and after dragging
him through the streets, shut him up as a prisoner in a
cellar. And thus he became an object of derision to the
populace, and would that he had only disgraced himself and
VOL. IL I

114 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1192.
not the whole priesthood; he who had dragged the arch
bishop of York to prison was himself dragged to prison, —
the captor was made captive, the binder was himself bound,
the incarcerator was incarcerated; so that the degree of
punishment may be considered as commensurate with that of
the offence. At length, regardless of the hostages he had
left, and the oath he had made not to leave the kingdom of
England before the castles were surrendered, the said chan
cellor crossed sea into Normandy on the 29th of October.
An unheard-of event.
In the same year, a young man of the bishop of London's
household, taught a hawk especiaUy to hunt teals ; and
once, at the sound of the instrument caUed a tabor by
those who dwelt on the river's bank, a teal suddenly flew
quickly away; but the hawk baffled of his booty, inter
cepted a pike swimming in the water, seized him, and carried
him apparently forty feet on dry land. The bishop, astonished
at this singular circumstance, sent the hawk and pike, as
a curiosity to future times, to earl John, on the 22nd of
October. Of the death of Reginald, archbishop elect of Canterbury.
a.d. 1192. Eeginald bishop of Bath, who had been
elected to the archbishopric by the monks of Canterbury,
died on Christmas day, twenty-nine days after his appoint
ment, and was buried in his own church at Bath, near the
great altar.
The king of the French arrived at Paris from his pilgrimage.
About this time the king of the French returned from his
pilgrimage, and was received at Paris in solemn procession,
on the 27th of December.
Of the capture of Darum by king Richard.
After Easter in this same year, king Bichard came to
Darum, the last fort of Christendom next to Babylon, and
after a siege of five days took it, and aUowed the garrison to
depart on payment of a heavy ransom.
How king Richard took seven thousand camels laden with treasure.
After this victory, the duke of Burgundy came to king
Eichard with the French troops, of whom he had, by the

A.D. 1192.] CONQUESTS OF KING RICHARD. 115
authority of the king of the French, been appointed leader
and commander-in-chief ; to this duke, king Bichard had at
the preceding festival, given thirty thousand bezants, on
condition of his faithfully standing by him in attacking the
enemies of Christ, and, at a council held by them, they
determined to go without fail to Jerusalem. When king
Eichard, with all his army, had reached Castle-Ernald and
Bethonople, near Emaus, some Bedouins, who were under
obligations to the king, brought him news that a large com
pany of merchants were on their way from Babylon to
Jerusalem, with seven thousand camels, laden with mer
chandize of various kinds, and that this company was under
the convoy of some of the bravest picked troops of Saladin's
army. The king marched with a few soldiers to meet this
company, and near the Bed Well he surprised them all, and
carrying off the camels with their burdens, he liberally dis
tributed his prize amongst his army. He afterwards returned
to the before mentioned camp, and prudently placed armed
garrisons in each city and castle. *
Of a certain woman who was friendly to the Christians, especially to
king Richard.
King Bichard returned victoriously with all his spoil to
Castle-Ernald, which is three miles distant from Jerusalem,
and earnestly exhorted each of the chiefs to march and lay
* " About this time, the duke of Austria came to discharge his vow of
pilgrimage by serving in the Christian army, and to adore the places where
our Saviour had trodden. When his marshals had engaged a lodging for
him, and made the necessary preparations, a Norman knight, of king
Richard's household, came in haste, and beginning foolishly to bluster after
the manner of his nation, asserted that he had the greatest right to those
quarters, by having them assigned to him as first comer. The quarrel
began, and the noise reached the ears of the king, who, showing himself
favourable to the Norman, was inflamed with anger against the duke's
men, and not heeding our Lord's admonition to go and see how matters
were, gave hasty and unbecoming orders that the duke's flag, which had
been erected over his lodgings, should be thrown into a ditch. The duke
thus deprived of a lodging, went, amid the taunt3 of the Normans, to com
plain of it to the king, but he gained nothing but sneers for his pains ; and
thus, being slighted by the king, he with tears invoked the King of kings
to avenge his wrong, according as it is written, ' Vengeance is mine, I will
repay, saith the Lord.' The duke soon after this, returned in confusion to
his own country, and king Richard afterwards blushed with shame at the
deed." I 2

116 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1192.
siege to Jerusalem, whilst they had such a plentiful sup
ply of everything, namely, of provisions and beasts of
burden, and reminded them of the great benefits conferred
on them in their pilgrimage by the divine clemency. More
over, the king was encouraged to this in no slight degree by
a rehgious woman, a Syrian by country, who dwelt in the
city of Jerusalem. This woman had communicated to him
all the secrets of the city, how frightened and spiritless the
Saracens were become on account of his arrival; she also
told him that aU the gates of the city were locked except
St. Stephen's gate, at the north side of the city, near which
she advised him to station his army, and also sent him a key
by means of which he could unlock the gates. After, how
ever, it had been determined by aU to lay siege to Jerusalem,
the duke of Burgundy, taking counsel with the templars and
the French chiefs, was induced to revoke his determination;
they asserted that the duke with aU the French, would
incur their lord the French king's severest displeasure, if, by
their aid, king Bichard should triumph over so great and re
nowned a city, and none of the credit of the victory were
ascribed to the duke himself, or to the French, although it
was by them that such a great city was taken.
How the duke of Burgundy was bribed by Saladin, and departed from
the Holy Land.
In the meantime, messengers were sent by the duke to
Saladin, but for what end past and future events wiU show.
One night, whilst the English king was staying at the before
named camp, and the duke with his foUowers was at Betho
nople, a spy of king Eichard's, by name Jumaus, heard the
noise of camels and men in motion coming down the moun
tain : he stealthily foUowed them, and found that they were
people sent by Saladin to the duke's camp, with five camels
laden with gold, silver, and merchandize, and with silk
stuffs, and many other presents. The spy hurried back to
his master, and told him aU these circumstances, and then
taking some of the king's attendants, set out cautiously on the
road by which the messengers would return, to lie in wait
for them ; and as they were on their way back he took them
prisoners, and brought them into the presence of the king :
one of them, after being put to torture, unwillingly revealed

A.D. 1192.] PROPHECY OF A HERMIT. 117
all that had passed between Saladin and the duke. At day
light, the king, after removing the messengers out of sight,
ordered the duke as well as the patriarch and prior of
Bethlehem to be sent for ; and when they were together in
a private place, he immediately made oath in their presence
upon the sacred relics, that he stood prepared, as had been
agreed between them, and confirmed by oath, to march with
his army to the attack of Jerusalem and the city of Baroch,
without possession of which the king of Jerusalem could not
be crowned. After he had sworn thus, the king called on the
duke to take an oath to the same effect ; this the duke
refused to do, at which the king was greatly enraged, and at
once caUed him a traitor, and reproached him with receiving
various presents from Saladin, and concerning the secret
messengers and communications which had passed between
them. The duke denied, and endeavoured to defend himself
against these accusations, but the king ordered the mes
sengers whom the spy had made prisoners, to be brought
before them : after they had been brought in, and had
revealed all the secret proceedings, the king ordered his
servants to shoot them in sight of the whole army, although
both armies were ignorant of the reason for such cruelty,
and did not know what those men had done, or whence they
had come. As for the duke, he was so overcome with
shame and rage at being proved a traitor, that, as soon as he
could, he left with the French army, and set out for Acre ;
but the king learning his intention, sent word to the com
manders of that city not to allow a man of them to enter it,
so they pitched their camp outside the place.
Of a certain hermit, who prophesied that Jerusalem would not be subdued.
On the night after the duke's departure in the manner
described, there came to the king a devotee, who brought
him a message from a holy hermit, to the effect that he
should hasten to see him. The king rose, although it was
night, and taking five hundred attendants with him, went to
the man of God. This holy man had lived for a long time
on the mountain at St. Samuel's, and was endowed with the
spirit of prophecy ; from the day of the capture of our
Lord's cross and the taking of the holy place, he had eaten,
nothing but herbs and roots, and wore no other covering than

118 ROGER OF WF.NDOVER. [A.D. 1192.
that of his hair and lengthened beard. The king gazed for
some time in astonishment at the hermit, and then asked him
what he wanted with him. The holy man, dehghted at the
king's arrival, took him with him into his oratory, and there
removing a stone from the waU, he drew forth a wooden
cross, and devoutly held it out to the king, declaring that
without doubt this cross was made from the wood of our
Lord's cross. He also, amongst other things, told the king
that he would not by any means obtain possession of that
country at present, although he had acted most perseveringly,
and, in order that the king might the more readily put faith
in what he said, he declared that he should himself depart
this life on the seventh day from that time. The king, in
order to prove the event of his words, took the hermit with
him to his camp, and, as he had foretold, he died on the
seventh day after.
Of the miserable death of the duke of Burgundy.
On the day after these events the king moved his camp,
and, following the route of the duke of Burgundy, pitched
his camp near that chief outside the city of Acre ; but
scarcely had he and his weary army rested for three days,
when there came to him in alarm some messengers, who had
been sent from Joppa with the news that Saladin with his
whole army had laid siege to that city, which they said
would soon be captured, and the knights and soldiers, whom
he had placed there as a garrison, be slain, unless he could
soon bring assistance to the besieged. At receipt of this
intelligence the whole Christian army was thrown into great
alarm and sorrow : amongst the rest king Bichard in a state
of great anxiety endeavoured both by his own exertions and
those of others to bring back the offended duke of Burgundy
to terms of agreement and peace, and earnestly begged him
to give his assistance to prevent such a great calamity. That
chief, however, disdained to listen to their entreaties, and not
wishing to be annoyed by their requests, set out with his
followers that night towards Tyre ; but immediately on his
arrival there he was struck by a visitation of God, and
becoming insane, terminated his life by*a miserable death.

A.D. 1192.] RAISING THE SIEGE OF JOPPA. 119
How king Richard forced Saladin to raise the siege of Joppa.
King Eichard, after the death of the duke of Burgundy,
embarked on board his ships of war with a smaU force,
and hastened to Joppa to render assistance to the besieged ;
but owing to the violence of the winds and the heavy sea his
ships were driven in a contrary direction towards Cyprus,
and the inhabitants of Acre, seeing this, suspected that the
king was returning home. But the king and those with him,
in spite of the fury of the winds, by means of strong rowing,
made an oblique course, and on the third day, at ghmmer of
dawn, they arrived with but three ships at Joppa. In the
meantime Saladin, after frequent assaults, had now taken the
city, and had slain aU the infirm and wounded soldiers, who,
on account of their weakness remained there; but five of
them bolder than the rest, whom Eichard had placed there
in charge of the city ; left it and betook themselves to the
castle, where they were debating about surrendering the castle
before they should be compelled to do so by assaults of the
enemy. This they would quickly have done had they not been
forewarned by the patriarch, who was allowed free passage
between the two armies, that the army of Saladin had, to
avenge the deaths of their friends and relatives whom the
Enghsh king had beheaded without mercy in many places,
sworn to slay them all, notwithstanding they should have
Saladin's free permission to depart. Thus they were in
great danger of death, and were in doubt as to what they
should do, considering the number and ferocity of their
enemies, and the few there were of themselves, and having
no confidence in the king's coming to assist them ; when
however, they learned that the king had arrived they became
bolder and defended themselves courageously. The king,
knowing from the fierce struggles both of besiegers and
besieged, that the castle of the city was not yet taken, leaped
nimbly into the sea armed as he was, and with his followers,
boldly threw himself like a raging lion into the thickest of the
enemy's troops, hewing them down right and left. The
Turks being unable to endure this sudden attack, and think
ing that he had brought a more numerous army with him,
soon abandoned the siege, exhorting each other to fly, and
announcing the inbpportune arrival of the king ; and their
panic was such that their flight could not be checked till they

120 - ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1192.
entered the city of Eamula, Saladin all the time leading
their rapid flight in his chariot. King Eichard having thus
put the enemy to flight, pitched his camp in the plain outside
the city, to the great and unexpected joy of the besieged.
How king Richard with a small force defeated sixty-two thousand pagans
at Joppa.
On the day after his defeat Saladin was told that the king
had come with only a very small army, and that he had no
more than eighty knights, besides four hundred of his cross-
bowmen in company with him, on hearing which he was
greatly enraged and indignant with his army, because they,
so many thousands, had been put to the rout by such a few.
He thereupon, to the confusion of his army, there counted
them out, and issued his imperial edict that sixty-two
thousand of them should return immediately to Joppa, take
the king himself prisoner, and bring him aUve on the foUow
ing day into his presence. The king and his army were
resting that night in security, and without fear of any in
opportune attack, when at daybreak the whole army of the
infidels came up and entirely surrounded the king's camp,
and, that they might have no chance of escaping into the
city, an immense force had stationed themselves between it
and the royal camp. The king and all the Christian forces,
aroused by their bustle and shouting, were wonder-struck at
seeing themselves hemmed in on every side by the enemies of
Christ. The king, however, perceiving their imminent
dangers, immediately armed himself, and mounted his horse as
if he flew with wings, and laying aside all fear of death, as if
he wese emboldened by the number of his enemies, encouraged
by his voice his men to the combat ; he himself with eleven
knights, who alone out of the whole number were mounted,
boldly broke through the ranks of the enemy, with his drawn
sword and quivering lance, and dealt thundering blows
with his clashing sword on the helmed heads of the enemy,
and freeing the Arab horses from their proper riders, he
distributed them to his own knights, who were on foot.
They, nimbly mounting them, with the king always leading
the way, dispersed the troops of the enemy on aU sides, and
put to death without mercy aU that came in their way. The
pagans falling under the strokes of the enemy uttered

A.D. 1192.] ARRIVAL OF THE CHRISTIAN ARMY. 121
miserable cries and yielded their souls to Tartarus. In this
battle the crossbowmen took the lead, and behaved most
praiseworthily, for by their incomparable valour especially the
enemy's attack was repelled, and their fierce audacity
humbled. How much the king's valour shone in this battle,.
and how much the prowess of his men, how many thousands
of the enemy he put to flight, would seem incredible, were it
not that the divine hand protected him. For who would
ever believe that eighty knights could so invincibly cope with
sixty-two thousand men for almost an entire day, could
endure the showers of their missiles, and the attacks of their
javelins without retreating a foot from their first position,
but could moreover disperse their adversaries in all directions,
and after putting them to flight, have thus gained a joyful
and unlooked-for victory over them, unless they relied on the
assistance of God, and believed that they were under the
protection of Heaven? At length the garrison of Joppa,
beholding the invincible bravery of the king and his followers,
boldly salhed forth, and suddenly falling upon the enemy in
the rear, by repeated attacks on their part as well as on that of
the king, the infidels turned their backs and fled in con
fusion, with great loss, taking to woods and caves for safety.
How the army of the Christians arrived to the assistance of king Richard.
In the meantime news had reached the army, which had
been left at Ptolemais by the king, that he was hemmed in
on all sides at Joppa by the enemy, and was placed in great
peril, unless they speedily went to his succour. This news
struck fear and grief into all, and they all had thoughts of
flight ; but the more courageous part of the army assembled
to deliberate on the chances of their being able to render the
king any assistance. They therefore by common consent
marched to Caesarea, not daring to go further for fear of the
enemy ; and being there told of the unexpected victory of the
king, they were overcome with joy, and gave praise* to God
as the preserver of them aU. This battle took place at the
feast of St. Peter ad vinculo.*
* Matthew Paris adds here : — " When Saladin heard these things he
was compelled to glorify Christ the Lord and God of the Christians, adding
that king Richard was the most wonderful prince in the world, if he would
only be less prodigal of his life, for, said he, it did not become a king to

122 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1192.
How king Richard determined to return home.
After this unequalled victory the king remained seven
weeks at Joppa, during which time a deadly disease, caused
by the unwholesome atmosphere, made destructive attacks on
him and his foUowers, and aU who were seized with this
disease perished, with the exception of the king, who was
preserved in health by divine favour. Moreover the king at
this time discovered that his money was by degrees falling
short, owing to the bountiful distributions he had unadvisedly
made amongst his soldiers, and finding that the French army,
and others, whom, on the duke of Burgundy's death, he had
at great expense kept together and retained with him, were
anxious to leave him, and that his own army was diminished
in number by the deadly disease and by conflicts with the
enemy, whilst their numbers daily increased, he took counsel
with the templars, hospitaUers, and the chiefs who were with
him, and made arrangements to return home immediately,
binding himself by oath to return to the siege of the holy
city as soon as he had reinforced his army, and suppUed
himself with money. Besides the foregoing reasons for his
departure, what had much the most weight with him was,
that he had been told that his brother John, whom he had
left in England, was conspiring to bring England to subjec
tion to him, and the result proved that he wished to do so. As
it was evident that the departure of such a great army, and
such a prince as Bichard, could not but expose those who re-
expose himself to such dangers ; but any king who had a thousand such
warriors under him, might soon vanquish the whole world." At the same
time also Saladin, for vengeance' sake, commanded a captive, who had once
been prince of Antioch, and had now been worn down by long confinement,
to be brought before him. " What would you do," said he looking grimly on
him, "to me, if you had me prisoner as I have you?" The captive
remained silent, and Saladin adjured him to speak the truth. " Then,"
said the prisoner, " you should be capitally punished, and no gold should
ransom you, because you are an enemy to our Lord : though you are a
king as I am, I would cut off your head, because you persist in your own
houndish laws." To which Saladin replied, " I think you will never have
such power over me. Out of your own mouth mil I judge you, for I will
cut off your head." He then ordered a sword to be brought, and the
captive offering his neck, exclaimed, " This is what I always prayed for,
and I am glad to receive death at your hands." His hands were then
bound and Saladin cut off his head. Who will deny that this was glorious
martyrdom ? — See Passio Rcginaldi in Petri Blesensis Opera, vol. iii.

A.D. 1192.] RETURN OF KING RICHARD. 123
mained there to great danger, and hazard the loss of the
country they had subdued, a truce was, at the request and by
the advice of both armies, agreed on between the Christians
and pagans for a period of three years, to commence from
the ensuing Easter.
How king Richard returned from his pilgrimage.
Accordingly in the autumn, when his ships were ready
and all his arrangements made, king Bichard with his queen,
and her sister Johanna the queen of Sicily, and his nobles,
set sail to cross the Mediterranean. Whilst on their voyage
unusual storms arose, and they suffered many hardships in
reaching land, some suffered shipwreck, some, after being
shipwrecked, escaped to shore, almost naked, and with loss of
their property ; but a few reached the destined port in safety.
Those however, who escaped the dangers of the sea, found
themselves everywhere set upon by bands of enemies on
shore, by whom they were made prisoners and robbed, and
some were obliged to pay heavy ransoms ; there was no place
of refuge for them, as if both land and sea had conspired
against the retreating crusaders. From this it is sufficiently
evident that their departure, before the object of their
pilgrimage was accomphshed, was by no means pleasing to
God, who had determined after a short time to enrich them
in that country, by bringing their enemies into subjection to
them, and bestowing on them the land on behalf of which
they had undertaken such a toilsome pilgrimage. For while
they were thus absent, that invader of the Holy Land,
Saladin, in Lent following closed a wicked life by a miserable
death, and they, if they had been present at that time, would
have very easily obtained possession of the Holy Land, whilst
the sons and relatives of the same Saladin were disputing
amongst themselves and contending for their father's king
dom.
How the said king escaped from many snares laid for him by his enemies.
King Bichard with some of his followers, after being
harassed by storms for six weeks, approached the coast of
Barbary, about three days' sail from Marseilles, where, from
an increasing report, he learned that the count of St. Giles,
and all the other princes, through whose territories he was
about to travel, had unanimously conspired against him, and

124 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1192.
everywhere laid snares for him ; he therefore arranged to
return secretly by way of Germany. He accordingly put
back with a few of his followers, amongst whom were
Baldwin of Bethune, and Master Philip, his clerk, Anselm*
his chaplain, and some brothers of the templars ; this party
put into a town in Slavonia called Gazara, and thence they
immediately sent a messenger to the nearest castle to ask for
peace and safe conduct from the lord of that province, who
was nephew of the marquis. The king had on his return
purchased of a Pisan merchant, for nine hundred bezants,
three jewels, called carbuncles, or more commonly "rubies;"
one of these he had, whilst on board ship, enclosed in a gold
ring, and this he sent by the said messenger to the governor
of the castle. When the messenger was asked by the
governor who they were that requested safe conduct, he
answered that they were pilgrims returning from Jerusalem.
The governor then asked what their names were, to which
the messenger repUed, " One of them is called Baldwin de
Bethune, the other Hugh, a merchant, who has also sent you
a ring." The lord of the castle looking more attentively at
the ring said, " He is not called Hugh, but king Bichard,"
and then added, " Although I have sworn to seize all
pilgrims coming from those parts, and not to accept of any
gift from them, nevertheless for the worthiness of the gift
and also of the sender, to him who has so honoured me a
stranger to him, I both return his present and grant him free
permission to depart." With this the messenger returned
and told the king all that had passed. In alarm at this dis
covery, the party procured horses, and in the middle of the
night set .out secretly from the above-named town, and for
some time proceeded without interruption through that
country ; but that same governor had sent a scout after them
to his brother, telling him to seize the king when he came
into his territory. When therefore the king had arrived
there, and had got into the city where the before-mentioned
lord's brother lived, the latter immediately sent for a trusty
friend of his, called Boger, of Norman race, an inhabitant of
Argenton, who had lived with him for twenty years, and
whose niece he had married, and ordered him carefuUy to
search all houses where pilgrims were lodged, and if possible
* Who saw and heard all these things and told them to us. — M. Paris.

A.D. 1192.] IMPRISONMENT OF KING RICHARD. 125
to find out the king either by his language or any other sign,
promising to give him half the city if he should take the
king. This messenger, by inquiring at the dwellings of the
pUgrims separately, at last found the king, who, after long
dissembling, was compeUed by the entreaties and tears of the
faithful inquirer to acknowledge who he was, on which he
with tears besought the king to take instantly to flight, and
gave him a very exceUent horse. After this he returned to
his master and told him, that, what he had heard of the
king's arrival was untrue, but that they were Baldwin de
Bethune and his companions returning from their pilgrimage.
His master, however, flew into a rage, and ordered them all
to be seized; but the king with WiUiam D'Estaing and a
boy, who understood the German language, escaped from the
city by stealth, and remained on the road for three days and
nights without food, when, driven by the caUs of hunger, he
diverged to a viUage, caUed Gynatia, on the Danube, where
at that time, to complete his misfortunes, the duke of Austria
was stopping.
How king Richard was taken by the duke, and thrown into prison.
King Eichard having thus landed in Austria, he sent his
boy to the town of Gynatia to market, to buy food for his
hungry attendants. The boy, on going to the market, made
a show of several bezants, and behaved in a haughty and
pompous manner, on which he was seized by the citizens,
who asked who he was, to which he repUed that he was the
servant of a rich merchant, who had arrived at that town
after a three days' journey : they on this let him go, and he
went stealthily to the secret dwelling of the king, and advised
him to fly at once, telling what had happened to him. The
king, however, wished, after his harassing voyage, to rest
for a few days in the above-named town, and, having occa
sion to purchase necessaries, this same boy often went to the
pubhc market : and on one occasion, on St. Thomas the
apostle's day, he happened incautiously to carry his master
the king's gloves under his belt. The magistrates of the
place seeing them, had him again apprehended, and after
inflicting various tortures on him, and beating him, threatened
to pull out his tongue and cut it off, if he did not at once
confess the truth. The boy at length was compeUed by

126 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1193.
these tortures to teU them how the matter stood. The
magistrates immediately sent word to the duke, and sur
rounded the king's house, insultingly ordering him to give
himself up quietly ; the king, however, undismayed by their
tumultuous shouts, and seeing that even his prowess could
be of no avail against such a number of barbarians, ordered
the duke to be fetched, promising to give himself up to him
alone ; and on the latter coming up, he surrendered himself
with his sword. The duke, deUghted at this, took the king
with him in an honourable way, but afterwards dehvered
him to the custody of his soldiers, with orders that they
were to keep a most strict guard over him, with drawn
swords day and night. Now, it must not be considered that
this dreadful misfortune came to pass without the decree of
the Almighty, although it is not revealed to us ; whether it
was to punish the king's own errors in his youth, or to
punish the faults of his subjects, or that even the said king
might be recalled to repentance and a just atonement for his
crime, in having, by the assistance and advice of the French
king, besieged his father in the flesh, king Henry, when iU
in his bed, at the city of Maine; for although he did not
slay him with his sword, yet, by frequent attacks he forced
him to leave that place, and it cannot be doubted but that aU
these circumstances were the cause of his death. In this
year too, Savary, archdeacon of Northampton, was elected
bishop of Bath ; he then went to Eome, and was there
ordained a priest, and on the 19th of September he received
consecration from Alban bishop of Albano.
How the duke of Austria sold the king of England to the emperor.
a.d. 1193, King Eichard remained a prisoner of the
duke of Austria till that prince sold him to the Boman
emperor for sixty thousand pounds of silver, Cologne weight,
and then on the Tuesday after Palm Sunday he caused him
to be carefully guarded ; and that he might compel the
king to pay an immoderate sum for his ransom, he ordered
him to be imprisoned in Trivallis (Treves), from which
prison no one who had entered there up to that time had
ever come out again, and of which place Aristotle says
in his fifth book, " Bonum est mactare. parentes in
Trivallis," and elsewhere it is said, " Sunt loca, sunt gentes,
quibus est mactare parentes." Into this place was the

A.D. 1193.] ACCUSATIONS AGAINST RICHARD. 127
king put under a strong guard of soldiers and attendants,
who accompanied him wherever he went with drawn swords,
day and night, and even kept guard by turns round his
couch, not allowing any of his own followers to remain with
him at night. None of these circumstances could ever
cloud the calm countenance of the king, but he always
seemed cheerful and agreeable in his conversation, and brave
and daring in his acts, as time, place, cause, or person
required. To others I leave the relation of his jokes to his
guards ; how he made them drunk, and assaulted their huge
persons by way of amusement.
How the emperor accused king Richard in many things, and how the king
prudently replied to them.
The emperor for a long time cherished feelings of anger
and mahce against the king, and did not even deign to receive
him into his presence, or even to speak to him ; for he com
plained that the king had offended him and his friends in
many things, and pretended that he had many charges
against him. At length, after the interposition of friends
from time to time, especially of the abbat of Cluni, and
WiUiam the king's chancellor, the emperor caUed together
his bishops, dukes, and knights, and ordered the king to be
brought into his presence, and there accused him of many
offences before aU of them. In the first place, to wit, that it
was by Bichard's advice and assistance that he, the emperor,
had lost the kingdom of Sicily and Apulia, which of right
belonged to him on the death of king Wilham, and to obtain
which he had coUected a very large army, and spent an
endless sum of money, he, the said king, faithfuUy pro
mising him his assistance to obtain that kingdom from
Tancred. He next, with regard to the king of Cyprus,
a relation of his own, accused Bichard of having unjustly
dethroned and imprisoned that monarch, and of having
forcibly invaded his country, robbed his treasury, and sold
the island to a foreigner. He next accused him of the
death of the marquis of Montferrat, his heir, asserting that it
was owing to his treachery and machinations that that noble
man had been slain by the Assassins ; and that he had also
sent the same people to slay his lord the king of the French,
with whom he had, during their pilgrimage, kept no faith in

128 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1193.
common, as had been agreed, and confirmed by oath, between
them. Lastly, he complained that he had at Joppa thrown
into the dirt the flag of his relation, the duke of Austria, in
contempt of him, and had always insulted his Germans in
the Holy Land by offensive words and conduct.
After these and the Uke charges had been made by the
emperor, the English king at once stood forth in the midst
of the assembly ; and replying to the charges one by one,
spoke so clearly and convincingly, that he was looked upon
with admiration and respect by all and no suspicion of his
boing guilty of the offences imputed to him any longer
remained in the minds of his hearers. For he plainly proved
the truth and order of his words by veritable assertions and
Ukely argument of the case, so that he quashed aU the
charges, and did not withhold the truth of what had happened.
He firmly disavowed the accusation of treachery, or of his
being the plotter of any prince's murder, asserting that he
would prove his innocence of such charges as the court of
the emperor should decide. After he had for a long time
pleaded before the emperor and his nobles, in answer to the
charges most ably, the emperor, admiring his eloquence, rose,
and sending for the king to come to him, he embraced him,
and from that time behaved with kindness and leniency
towards him, and treated him with the greatest famiharity.*
How king Richard paid a fine of a hundred and forty thousand pounds
for his ransom.
After these events, on the mediation of friends from time
to time, the ransom of the king was for a long time discussed;
and at length the result was, that a hundred and forty thou
sand marks of silver, Cologne weight, were to be paid to the
emperor for his ransom money before they could come to any
agreement. Accordingly on St. Peter and St. Paul the
apostles' day, the bishops, dukes, and barons, made oath that,
as soon as the king should have paid the above-named sum,
he should be at liberty to return to his own kingdom. The
news of this treaty was brought to England by the king's
chanceUor, Wilham bishop of Ely, who brought with him
* " The duke of Austria was afterwards excommunicated by our lord the
pope and all his cardinals : but on his death-bed, though he did not give
satisfaction ; yet, lest he should fall into desperation, he was absolved by his
bishops, and died horribly." — M. Paris.

a.d. 1193.] king Richard's innocence. 129
letters from our lord the king, and also the golden bull of the
emperor ; and a warrant was immediately issued by the justi
ciaries of the king, that all bishops, priests, earls, and barons,
abbacies and priories, should contribute a fourth part of their
incomes towards the king's ransom, and moreover they gave
their gold and silver vessels for that work of piety. But
John bishop of Norwich took half the value of the vessels
throughout the whole of his diocese, and gave half to the king.
The Cistertian order, which, up to that time, had been free
from all tax, gave all their wool for the ransom of the king.
Indeed, no church, no order, rank, or sex, was passed over with
out being compelled to aid in releasing him. Forewarnings
of this calamity had appeared in unusual seasons — inundations
of rivers, awful storms of thunder and rain three or four
times in each month, with dreadful lightning throughout the
whole year; all which caused a scantiness in the crops of
fruit and corn.
Exculpation of king Richard from the charge of the murder of the
marquis.
The English king, when he was unjustly, as has been said,
accused of the murder of the marquis, sent messengers to the
chief of the assassins, asking him to write to the duke or the
emperor of Austria to prove his innocence ; and from him the
king obtained the following letter : — " The old man of the
mountain to Leopold duke of Austria, greeting. Whereas
several kings and princes beyond sea have accused our lord
Bichard king of the English, of the murder of the marquis ;
I swear by the God who reigns eternally, and by the law which
we observe, that no blame attaches to him in regard of the
death of that noble. The cause of the marquis's death was
as follows: — One of our brotherhood was coming in a vessel
from Salteleia to our part of the country, when a storm drove
him into Tyre, where the marquis took him prisoner, mur
dered him, an d took possession of a large sum of money belong
ing to him. We sent messengers to the marquis, asking him to
restore to us our brother's money, and to make reparation to
us for his murder, which he would not do, but insulted our
messengers and charged the murder of our brother on Eegi
nald lord of Sidon, yet we, by means of friends, ascertained
of a truth that it was the marquis himself who caused the
VOL. II. K

130 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1193,
man to be murdered and robbed. We again sent another
messenger, named Edrisus, to him, and this one he wished
to throw into the sea; but our friends hastened his de
parture from Tyre, and he returned at once and told us these
tilings. From that hour we desired the death of the mar
quis, and accordingly sent two of our brothers to Tyre, and
they there openly, and almost in the face of all the inhabit
ants, slew him. This was the cause of the marquis's death*
and we indeed speak truly in saying that our lord king
Eichard had no hand in the death of that noble, on whose
account he has suffered injury unjustly and without cause.
Also be assured that we do not kill any man in this way for
the sake of reward or for money, but only when he hast first
inflicted an injury on us. And know that we have written
this letter in our house, at our fort of Messiac, in the pre
sence of our brethren, and sealed it with our seal, in the
middle of September, in the year one thousand five hundred
from the time of Alexander.
How Hugh bishop of Chester was robbed of all his goods.
About this time, Hugh bishop of Chester was hastening
with large presents, which he had procured with the greatest
trouble, to see the king ; but as he was stopping a night near
Canterbury to rest, he was seized and robbed of aU he had
with him. Matthew de Clera, casteUan of Dover, showed
favour to the robbers, for which he was excommunicated by
the archbishop, but it is not known whether he atoned for it.
Of the death of Saladin, and succession of Saphadin.
About this same time Saladin, the pubhc enemy of truth
and the cross, was struck by the visitation of God at a feast
at Nazareth, and expired suddenly, whereupon his brother
Saphadin usurped the sovereignty there. But there were
with him the seven sons of Saladin, against whom the sons
of Nouredin, who had been expelled from his father's kingdom
by Saladin, marched with a host of Persians. Of these two
brothers, namely, Saladin and Saphadin, and their offspring,
and the succession of their sons, little need be said for the
elucidation of this history, except that they were pre-eminent
in every science of paganism. Saladin, at his death, which
has been mentioned, left nine sons heirs to his kingdom, but

a.d. 1193.] saphadin's fifteen sons. 131
Saphadin, his younger brother, slew all his nephews except
one named Nouradin ; he held possession of Aleppo, with all
the neighbouring cities, castles, towns, and other fortified
places, which were more than two hundred in number.
Saphadin, who made himself master of his brother's king
dom, and slew his nephews, had fifteen sons, seven of whom
he made his heirs in the kingdoms which he had acquired by
murder. The first of the sons was named Meleahm, and for
his inheritance he had the government of Alexandria, Baby
lon, Cairo, Damietta, and Canisia, with the whole country of
Egypt ; his son Coradin has Damascus, Jerusalem, and
all the country of the Christians, containing above three
hundred cities, fortifications, and castles, besides villages.
His third son Melchiphais, holds the district caUed Gemella,
with the whole of the province, in which there are more than
four hundred cities, fortifications, and castles, besides vil
lages. His fourth son, Mehemodain by name, has possession
of the kingdom of Asia, which contains more than six hun
dred cities, fortifications and castles, besides villages. His
fifth son Mechisemaphat, holds the country of Sarcho, where
Abel was killed; this kingdom contains nine hundred and
more places, including cities, fortifications, and : castles, be
sides viUages. His sixth son, named Machinoth, rules the
country of Baldach, where resides the pope of the Saracens,
called the caliph, and who is feared and reverenced in their
law as the Eoman pontiff is amongst Surselves: this priest
can only be seen twice a month, when he goes forth with his
disciples, whom he keeps hke a pope or cardinal, to the
mosque, where Mahomet the god of the Agarenes is said to
be, and there, after he has bowed his head and made a prayer
according to their law, all present before they go forth from
the temple, eat and drink, after which he returns to his
palace. That Mahomet is visited and worshipped there, as
a Christian nation worships Christ crucified ; moreover the
city of Baldach, where Mahomet and the caliph are, is the
capital of the nation of the Agarenes, as Borne is of Chris
tian nations. Saphadin's seventh son, named Salaphat, has
no country for his inheritance, but dwells with his brother
Meleahm, and is his standard-bearer ; and to the same Mele-
aUm, each of his brothers sends yearly a thousand Saracens;
a hundred bezants, and two chargers well equipped. Sapha
din their father, when he used to visit his sons, came with his
k2

132 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1193.
head covered with a red silk hood, and all his sons went to
meet him bowing their heads four times to the earth, and
kissed his feet; he then embraced and shook hands with
them, and stayed with each of his sons three days once a year :
each of his sons wore a ring with his father's likeness carved
on it. And whenever this said Saphadin rode out, he did
not show his face, except ten times in the year ; and when he
received messengers from any prince, he received them in
his palace by means of his armed attendants on the first day,
on the second his answer was told them as occasion required,
but he did not give them permission to approach him tiU the
third day. His eight sons, according to their father's arrange
ment, live in the following manner : two of them have charge
of the sepulchre of Christ, and to them are paid the offerings
which are made at the sepulchre, which they divide between
them ; their income is more than twenty thousand Saracens ;
four other sons receive the duties arising from the Nile, and
their incomes are worth more than forty thousand Saracens ;
the two other younger sons stand daily before Mahomet, and
to them are paid the offerings which are made at the feet of
the prophet, which are worth more than thirty thousand
Saracens. Saphadin has fifteen wives, and the same number
of heirs ; he is used to sleep with his wives each in turn, and
when one of them is with child by him, he sleeps with her
in the presence of all the rest ; and when any of those fifteen
dies, he, according to the custom of their law, introduces
another in her place. These people too have a written law
given to them by Mahomet, which is called the Alcoran, and
the commands of that book are kept by that impious race of
people as inviolably as we Christians observe the text of the
gospel.How John, the king's brother, wished to obtain the government of England.
Whilst king Eichard, as has been related, was detained by
the emperor, earl John, his brother, hearing of his mis
fortune, and thinking he would not return, entered into a
friendly alliance with Philip king of the French, and by
that monarch's pernicious counsel, made arrangements to be
crowned in his brother's place, but the English with a
laudable fidelity would not permit it.

A.D. 1194.] RELEASE OF RICHARD! 133
How the king of the French endeavoured to seize on Normandy.
Philip, the French king, now gave vent to his hatred
against the king of the English, and with a very large army
invaded Normandy, sparing neither rank, sex, or age. Gil
bert de Wascuil sent for the aforesaid king and treacherously
surrendered Gisors to him, as had been agreed on between
them. After this the said king, partly through treachery
and partly by force, subdued all the Vexin of Normandy, and
the county of Aumarle, as far as Dieppe and valley of Euil,
with the principal fortresses ; he also conquered the country
of Hugh de Gournai, who with some others had surrendered
to the French king. He moreover besieged Eouen, but by
the valour of the earl of Leicester and the prowess of the
inhabitants, he was driven from that city in confusion, and
with loss of some of his troops. The said king also took
the city of Evreux, and delivered it over to the guardianship
of the said earl.*
How the French king married the sister of the king of Denmark, and
immediately divorced her.
About this time the French king espoused the sister of the
king of Denmark, named Ingelburg, a lady of remarkable
.beauty ; but after the marriage he divorced her and placed
her amongst the nuns at Soissons, at the same time ordering
aU the Danes who had come with her to return to their own
country. In this same year, Hubert Walter, bishop of Salis
bury, was canonically elected to the archbishopric of Canter
bury, and, on the day after the feast of St. Leonard, was
installed in his see ; and to his care, by command of king
Eichard, was entrusted the kingdom of England and the ad ¦
ministration of affairs there, Walter archbishop of Bouen,
having been sent for by the king into Germany, whither he
went accompanied also by Eleanor the king's mother, who
was anxious to see her son.
How king Richard was released, and came to England.
a.d. 1194, The greatest part of the ransom money having
been paid, and hostages having been given as security for
what remained unpaid, king Eichard was, on the day of the
* EarlJohn.

134 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1194.
blessed Mary's purification, set free, and permitted to return
to his kingdom. He accordingly, with his mother and the
chancellor, set out through the territory of the duke of Lou
vain, and reached the British channel, and on the Sunday
after the feast of St. Gregory he arrived in England at the
port of Sandwich, to the great joy of all classes. At the
very hour in which the king with his attendants landed,
which was the second hour of the day, when the sun was
shining clearly, there appeared a briUiant and unusual splen
dor in the heavens, extending about the length and breadth
of the hun an body from the sun, of a very bright white and
red colour, as if a sort of rainbow ; and several people who
saw this brightness declared that the king was about to
arrive in England. Immediately on his arrival, the king set
out for Canterbury to pay his devotions at the blessed
Thomas's shrine ; from that place he went to London, and
was received with the most joyous pomp, the whole city
being profusely decorated and adorned against the king's
arrival with every variety of ornament that wealth could
produce. When his arrival was known, nobles and com
moners alike went to meet him on the way with great eager
ness, being most anxious to see him returned from captivity
who they had feared would never return.* The king
stopped scarcely one day at Westminster before he started to
St. Edmund's to return thanks ; and from thence he hurried
to Nottingham to besiege and take those who had conspired
against him and joined earl John. The army of England
had already taken every castle, belonging to the before-named
earl, with the exception of this one alone, which still held
out and was bravely defended : but when the king laid siege
to it, and had made one assault, the besieged were assured of
his unhoped-for arrival, and surrendered the castle to him,
placing themselves at the king's pleasure, and trusting to his
mercy; some of these he imprisoned, others he set free on
* Matthew Paris adds : — " On his arrival at Westminster, he was met
by Geoffrey Hakesalt, a servant of Warin abbat of St. Alban's, with
large gifts of gold and silver, sufficient not only to propitiate but to re
joice the heart of the king's majesty. The king weighing his good-will by
his gifts, gave the abbat abundant thanks as a friend and father who did
not forget his son ; for he called the abbat his dearest father on account of
his great friendship. From that time their union was even closer than
before, and the king favoured the abbat in every thing."

A.D. 1194.] RICHARD CROWNED AT WINCHESTER. 135
receiving a fitting ransom, as he was greedily anxious after
the money of each and all of them in his then state of neces
sity. Two reasons principally urged him to take this course,
which were, that he might release the hostages who had
been given to the emperor for him, and that he might get
together a very large army against the king of the French, who
was every where ravaging his dominions with fire and pil
lage. On this account, although he exacted money for his
prisoners more greedily than was compatible with his kingly
dignity, yet it ought to be pardoned rather than throw a
stain on the king on account of his necessities.
How king Richard was crowned, and immediately crossed the sea to
Normandy.
After all his adversaries in England were thus quickly sub -
dued, king Eichard, by the advice of his nobles, although it
could add but Uttie to his renown, was crowned at Winches
ter in Easter week ; at which ceremony Hubert archbishop
of Canterbury performed mass, and William king of Scots
attended. Afterwards, at the feast of the saints Nereus and
AchiUes,* he embarked at Portsmouth and sailed to Nor
mandy, and on his arrival there he stopped that night at
Barfleur to rest ; at that place his brother earl John came to
him as a suppliant, and, with many of his soldiers, threw
himself at the feet of the king, asking his brother's mercy
with tears, and accusing himself for his folly in many re
spects. The king, affectionate as he was, could not refrain
from tears, and pitying his brother's misfortunes, raised him
from the ground and restored him to his former favour.
How king Richard forced the king of the French to fly from Verneuil.
King Eichard being informed that the king of the French
had laid siege to Verneuil, and had been employed for eight
days unceasingly in erecting stone engines, in bringing up
large stones, undermining the walls, and harassing the be
sieged garrison, took his way to that place with all speed.
The great day of Whitsuntide was at hand, and that the
French might not have to boast of gaining a victory on that
sacred day, they heard a little before dark that the English
king was prepared for battle, and would arrive at daybreak.
* 12th May.

136 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1194.
The French were panic-struck by this report, as they nad
often had experience of the king's bravery : they therefore
chose to fly rather than to fight, and retreated from their
camp, to their eternal disgrace and infamy.
How Hereberl the Poor was made bishop of Salisbury.
About this same time, Herebert surnamed the Poor, arch
deacon of Canterbury, being canonically elected to the
bishopric of Salisbury, was ordained a priest at Whitsuntide,
and on the day after was consecrated a bishop by Hubert
archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminter. At the same time
the French king in his retreat from Verneuil, in order that
he might not appear to have effected nothing, in his anger
destroyed a little fort called Fountains, and thus with some
thing having the appearance of a victory he returned to his
own dominions. Of the capture of Loches by king Richard.
King Eichard, after these events, came to Tours, and
received two thousand marks of silver by way of presents,
from the burgesses of Neufchatel, where the body of
St. Martin reposes. He then marched within the boundaries
of Tours, and laid siege to the castle of Loches, which he
took by storm after a few days ; this castle the king of the
French had received from the lieutenants of the English
king, when the latter was a prisoner, as a kind of security
that they would not break the treaty which had been made
between the monarchs, and had given it, well stored with
provisions, into the charge of fifteen knights and eighty
soldiers. At this time the son of the king of Navarre came
to assist the English king, with a large army, and having
amongst his followers fifty arbalesters, besides a hundred
others ; this prince laid waste the territory of Geoffrey de
Eavenne, and that of the count of Angouleme.
How king Richard drove the French king out of Touraine.
At this time also Philip king of the French, entered the
confines of Tours, and pitched his camp near Vindome; but
finding by means of his scouts that the king of the Eno-lish
was marching upon him, he early in the morning struck his
camp and made all haste to Freitval ; but the king of ths

A.D. 1194.] TOURNAMENTS IN ENGLAND. 137
English pursued him, and captured all his teams as well as
those of the counts and barons fighting under him, and all
their baggage ; he also took gold and silver, crossbows and
tents, and other things innumerable, and brought them away
with him. He in this way crossed into Poictou, and within
a few days had reduced to submission the castle of Taileburc
and the country of his adversaries, namely, the count of
Angouleme, and Geoffrey de Eavenne, so that there did not
exist a single rebel against him from the castle of Verneuil
to Charlecroix. How the French king endeavoured to impose on king Richard.
About this time the French king sent four messengers to
the king of the English, deceitfully making use of friendly
speeches, to propose, that, in order to save the subjects of
each, whose coffers they in their wars had emptied of gold and
silver and to spare the effusion of the noble blood of each
kingdom, the claims of both should be determined by a
combat of five men on each side, the chiefs of each kingdom to
await the issue of the combat, until after it was over they
could adjudge what ought by right to fall to each king.
This proposal pleased the EngUsh king beyond measure,
provided that the French king should be the fifth man on his
side; and he, the English king, likewise be the fifth on
the English side, and that they should preserve an equality
in men and arms, and engage with equal odds ; this the king
of the French to the scorn of many refused to agree to.*
After this on the mediation of some religious men a truce
was agreed on between the French and English kings, but
all intercourse of traders was forbidden on both sides.
How king Richard established tournaments throughout England.
At this time king Eichard crossed to England and
appointed tournaments to be held in certain places, being
induced to do so perhaps for this reason, that the soldiers of
the kingdom might meet from all quarters and prove their
* " This year also, Robert earl of Leicester was taken prisoner by the
king of France and the count de Perche. Henry Marshal, also, brother of
William Marshal the elder, was made bishop of Exeter."— Matthew
Paris.

138 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1195.
strength by manoeuvring their horses in the ring, and thus
be more nimble and practised for battle against the enemies
of the cross, or even against their neighbours. At this time,
too, one Alexius, son of Manuel, formerly emperor of Con
stantinople, assembled an army, amd having made prisoner
Cursac the present emperor, who had attacked him, he
deprived him of his eyesight, and at length, after having
ei r asculated him, condemned him to perpetual imprisonment
and seized on his empire.
How the king of the English laid a complaint before our lord the pope
against the duke of Austria for imprisoning him.
a.d. 1 195. King Eichard sent messengers to the apostolic,
see with instructions to lay the following complaint before our
lord the pope. " Holy father, our lord Eichard king of the
English salutes your excellency, and asks for justice to be
shown to him against the duke of Austria, who made prisoner
of him when on his return from a toilsome pilgrimage,
harassed him in a way not becoming so great a prince, and
afterwards sold him as though he were a bull or an ass, to
the emperor, after which the two of them consumed the
substance of his kingdom by demanding an intolerable sum
for his ransom. Moreover they, who were no strangers to
the laws of Christianity, visited him with more severe judg
ments in such a case, than even Saladin would have done, if
by a similar misfortune he had fallen into the hands of that
infidel himself, to fight against whom the said king had
travelled from his territories, leaving his lately acquired
kingdom, his country, relations, and friends. He would
perhaps know how to pay respect to the nobleness, valour, or
majesty of a king, whom that barbarous and stiff-necked gene
ration did not know how to appreciate, but perhaps they did
this that the capture of such a great prince might be attributed
as a praiseworthy victory to them, although they would never
have dared to seek him in open fight, had he been surrounded
by his valiant army. And let them not think that the dis
grace of the king is to be imputed to them, but rather to the
dispensation of God, at whose will the wheel of fortune
humbles one and exalts another, casts down one and raises
up another. It also greatly vexes our lord the king, that, in1

A.D. 1195.] DEATH OF THE DUKE OF AUSTRIA. 139
a time of peace, and when your protection was granted to all
pilgrims for a period of three years, the same being enforced
and confirmed on penalty of excommunication, they made a
prisoner of him as he came from his pilgrimage, and was
making arrangements to return again, and threw him into
prison, compeUing him to pay a heavy sum for his ransom.
May your excellency therefore give orders for that duke to
permit the hostages for our lord the king, who are as yet
detained as prisoners for the portion of the ransom which
remains unpaid, to depart free, and also for him to restore
entire the money which he, the excommunicated man, has
received from our lord, as well as make a fitting atonement
for the injury inflicted on him and his subjects."
Of the excommunication of the duke on account of king Richard.
After the messengers of the king had pleaded these and
many other complaints before the supreme pontiff; our lord
the pope then rose with his cardinals and excommunicated
the duke himself by name, and in general all those who had
laid violent hands on the king and his men ; he also put the
whole of the duke's territory under an interdict, giving orders
to the bishop of Verona to publish this sentence of excom
munication throughout the whole duchy of Austria on every
Sunday and feast-day, as follows : " That, if the said duke
shaU determine to obey our mandates, you enjoin him by the
virtue of God, to release the whole of the king of England's
hostages, to cancel all agreements, and restore the property
taken from them by him and his followers, as well as what
he has received as an unjust ransom for the said king
himself, and also shall send the said hostages in security to
their own country, and for the future never venture on such
things again, but make due compensation for the injury and
wrongs inflicted. Of the wretched death of the duke of Austria.
AU this was denounced against the duke by the bishop of
Verona, but he persisted in contemning the apostolic man
date, at a time too when his country was struck by an
unheard-of sterUity as well as by famine and disease ; the
river Danube, too, at this time overflowed unusually in some
part of the country, and by that unexpected event ten

140 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1105.
thousand persons were drowned. But notwithstanding all
these things the duke's anger was not averted, but rather
was increased, and at length he himself was struck by a
dreadful divine visitation ; for on St. Stephen's day as he
was taking recreation on horseback with his attendants, the
horse on which he rode kicked violently and inflicted an
incurable wound with its foot on the leg of the rider, for
immediately the leg and foot together turned black and rose
to a swelling, which no physician's poulticing could reduce,
and the duke was most unbearably tortured by the infernal
fire, as it is called, in addition to the swelling. At length
being unable to endure this torture he ordered his foot to be
amputated, he himself at the same time taking an axe, every
one else refusing with horror ; but he did not by this escape
the agonies of pain, for by and by his thigh with the rest of
his body was eaten away by the same fire. At length, how
ever, he acknowledged the wicked crime which he had com
mitted out of maUce against the king and his followers, and
on the persuasion of the bishops who came to him, he
gave up the hostages, and the remainder of the money due
for the ransom of the king, and gave his word that he would
also return what he had received, and promised henceforward
to be obedient to the judgment of the church. The bishops
on this seeing him in such a state of misery and suffering
absolved him from the ban of excommunication, and admitted
him to the communion of the faithful, after which he expired
in dreadful agony. For a long while his body remained un-
buried, until it swarmed with horrible worms, because his
son refused to fulfil his father's command, but at length being
forced to do so by his friends he released the hostages, and
aUowed them to return to their own country.
How the emperor Henry, subdued the kingdom of Apulia.
About this time the emperor Henry obtained possession of
the kingdom of Apulia and Sicily, Tancred, who had unjustly
succeeded king William, being dead ; for this same emperor
had married king William's sister, and to her the kingdom of
right belonged at her brother's death.
Of the fearful invasion of Spain by the Saracens.
At this time the king of Morocco, with thirty chiefs, and

A.D. 1195.] DEATH OF ABBAT WARIN. 141
an innumerable army of pagans, burst forth from Africa on
Spain, to take possession of the king of Spain's territories,
and ravaged several other provinces with fire and pillage,
sparing neither sex, rank, nor age, except those who gave
themselves up to his anger : his army consisted of six million
fighting men, and all Christendom was dreadfully alarmed at
their unexpected invasion.*
Of the death of abbat Warin, and the succession of John to the abbacy.
On the 29th of April in the same year Warin, abbat of the
church of St. Alban's, died after having held that see for
eleven years, eight months and eight days ; he was succeeded
by John a monk of the same establishment, who was elected
abbat on the 21st of August, and on the 30th of the same
month received the benediction from Eichard bishop of
London. Of the legateship of Hubert archbishop of Canterbury.
About the same time pope Caslestine wrote to all the
prelates of England to this effect, " Caslestine, to our
venerable brothers the archbishop of York, and all bishops,
abbats, priors, and other appointed prelates of the churches
throughout the kingdom of England, greeting &c. Since
we by our commission are enjoined to provide for the
pastoral care of all churches, we now, looking with the eye of
our fatherly regard especially to the English church, have, for
the safety of that establishment, by the common advice of our
brethren, decreed, that our venerable brother Hubert arch
bishop of Canterbury, in whose merits, and virtue, wisdom,
and learning, the whole church rejoices, shall take on himself
the management of the legateship and perform at will all our
functions, to the honour of the church, and the peace and
safety of the whole kingdom, throughout the whole of
* Some of the MSS. give the paragraph as follows : " About this time
the king of Morocco invaded Spain with thirty chieftains and six millions
of pagans, as they have been reckoned ; and when they had devastated the
provinces of Spain, they heard that the pope proposed to call a general
council and institute a crusade against them, to be led by Richard the mag
nificent king of England, whose fame had already filled the East and
caused alarm over great part of Africa. They had also heard of his
imprisonment and delivery, and how he had since compelled the king of
France to yield. All the unbelievers therefore returned to their own
country."

142 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A D. 1195.
England, without any privilege or exception to you or your
church, brother archbishop, or to any other person. By the
authority of these presents we therefore command aU your
community to pay all due reverence and honour to the said
Hubert, as legate of the apostoUc see."
The pope's reproof to the king of the French for his divorce of his wife.
At this time pope Celestine wrote amongst other things to
the archbishop of Seine as follows, " Since we, in our bowels
of affection, especially regard the king of the French, we
have by our beloved son the subdeacon, a legate of the
apostolic see sent especiaUy for the purpose, required of the
said king that he should treat with the affection of a husband
his wife, whom he by evil counsel has put away from him,
and not give ear to those persons, who consider it as gain
to sow the seeds of hatred and discord between people when
they can. Therefore we, by the advice of our brethren,
entirely annul that sentence of divorce, which was passed con
trary to law, and by these our apostohc letters command and
strictly enjoin your brotherhood, that, if the aforesaid king
shall, during her hfe, wish to espouse another in her place,
ye take care to forbid him from the same, by our apostohcal
authority." The pope's bull to the bishops of England on behalf of the Holy Land.
At this time pope Celestine wrote to Hubert, archbishop
of Canterbury, and to his suffragan priests, amongst other
subjects on behalf of the Holy Land to the foUowing pur
port : — " My brethren, archbishops and bishops, to whom is
entrusted the care of souls, make urgent and incessant prayers
to God that you may induce the people, subject to your rule,
to take the cross, and stir themselves to put to confusion the
persecutors of Christianity, for as much as we hope, and you
ought to hope also, that the Lord, by your preaching and
prayers, wiU let down your net for a draught, and wiU arouse
such men to the defence of the eastern land, by whose merits
rather than their prowess in arms, God will arise and his
enemies will be scattered, and those who hate him shall flee
before him. But we, in regard to those who undertake this
pilgrimage for the love of God, and endeavour to the utmost
of their power to fulfil it, by virtue of our offii-e entrusted

A.D. 1195.] THE TOPE'S BULL. 143
to us by God's authority, grant the same remission of any
penance imposed on them by the priesthood, as our predeces
sors are known to have granted in their times ; namely, that
those who shall undertake the toils of this pilgrimage with a
contrite heart and humble sprit, and shall set out on this
journey as a penance for their sins shaU, if they die in the
faith, obtain fuU remission of their offences, and eternal life.
Let their goods also from the time of their taking the cross,
together with their families, be considered under the protec
tion of the church of Borne, and also of the archbishops and
other prelates of the church ; and let there be no dispute as
to the property they had peaceable possession of at the time
of their taking the cross, until their return or death shall be
known for certain, but let their goods in the mean time re
main untouched and undisturbed ; but those who have, for
the assistance of that land, sent their property there, shall
obtain pardon for their sins according to the jurisdiction of
the bishops. But to you, brother archbishop, we have
thought fit to entrust the labour of this work, commanding
you to use your influence with our beloved son in Christ, the
illustrious king of the English, who has arranged a truce for
three years at the Holy Land, that he may send weU-equip-
ped knights and soldiers to defend that country. We also
order you to traverse England, and by continual exhortations,
by opportune and inopportune preaching, to urge the people
to take the cross and journey to the country beyond sea, to
defend the Holy Land."*
• Matthew Paris inserts here, — " When these things reached the king's
ears he was zealous in the work of the cross, and exhorted others, princi
pally those whom he had exalted in many ways, to be zealous also, as well
for the sake of his soul as for the advancement of the cross and the salva
tion of their own souls. That he might the more civilly reprove certain
who were disobedient to these salutary admonitions, he assumed the form
of a preacher, and frequently repeated the advice to those around him.
" About this time a remarkable circumstance happened to a rich and
miserly Venetian, which we think it worth while to insert in this .place : his
name was Vitalis ; and when he was on the point of giving his daughter in
marriage, he went into a large forest near the sea to provide delicacies for
the table. As he wandered alone through the forest, with his bow and
arrows ready, and intent on taking venison, he suddenly fell into a pit-fall
which had been cunningly set for the lions, bears, and wolves, out of which
he found it impossible to escape, because the bottom of it was so wide and
the mouth so narrow. Here he found two fierce animals, a lion and a
serpent, which had also by accident fallen in ; and Vitalis signing himself

144 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
Of a treaty made between the kings of France and England.
a.d. 1196. King Eichard spent Christmas at the city of
Poictiers ; and after the feast of St. Hilary, Philip king of the
French, and Bichard king of the English, met at a conference at
Louviers, where the following treaty was made between them.
The king of the French quitted claim to king Bichard and
his heirs, of Isoudun with the appurtenances, and of all right
which he had in Berry, Auvergne, and Gascony, and gave
him quiet possession of the castle of Arches, and the counties
of Auches and Aumarle, and many other fortresses which
the French monarch had seized on since his return from his
pilgrimage to the Holy Land ; and the English king quitted
claim to the king of the French of the castle of Gisors, and
the whole of Norman Vexin ; and in order that all these
terms might be ratified and confirmed, they mutuaUy found
with the cross, neither of them, though fierce and hungry, ventured to at
tack him. All that night he spent in this pit, crying and moaning, and
expecting with lamentations the approach of so base a death. A poor
wood-cutter, passing by chance that way to cdlect faggots, heard his cries,
which seemed to come from beneath the ground, and following the sound
till he came to the pit's mouth, he looked in and called out, " Who is
there ?'' Vitalis sprang up, rejoiced Veyond measure, and eagerly replied,
" It is I, Vitalis, a Venetian, who knowing nothing of these pit-falls, fell in,
and shall be devoured by wild beasts, besides which 1 am dying of hunger
and terror. There are two fierce animals here, a lion and a serpent, but,
by God's protection and the sign of the cross, they have not yet hurt me,
and it remains for you to save me, that I may afterwards show you my
gratitude. If you will save me, I will give you half of all my property,
namely, five hundred talents ; for I am worth a thousand." The poor man
answered, " I will do as you request, if you will be as good as your word."
Upon this Vitalis pledged himself on oath to do as he had promised.
Whilst they were speaking, the lion by a bland movement of his tail, and
the serpent by a gentle hissing, signified to the poor man their approbation,
and Bemed to join in Vitalis's request to be delivered. The poor man im
mediately went home for a ladder and ropes, with which he returned and
let the ladder down into the pit, without any one to help him. Imme
diately the lion and serpent, striving which should be first, mounted by the
rounds of the ladder and gave thanks to the poor man, crouching at his
feet, for their deliverance. The wond-cutter, approaching Vitalis, kissed
his hand, saying, " Long live this hand ! I am glad to say that I have earned
my bargain," and with these words he conducted Vitalis until they came to
a road with which he was acquainted. When they parted, the poor man
asked when and where Vitalis would discharge his promise ? " Within four
days," said Vitalis. " in Venice, in my own palace, which is well known and
easy to find." The countryman returned home to dinner, and as he was
sitting at table, the lion entered with a dead goat, as a present in return far

A.D. 1196.] VIOLATION OF A TREATY. 145
sureties, and determined a penalty of fifteen thousand marks
of silver in case of a breach of the treaty by. either party.
But in course of time, after Eichard had received possession
of the above-mentioned places, the French king repented
having made such a bargain, and collecting a large army he
laid siege to Aumarle ; on this the English king ordered a
seizure to be made of all the goods and possessions which
were in his dominions belonging to the abbats of Marmontier,
Cluni, St. Denis, and Charite, who were the French king's
securities on the above-named treaty, and had bound them
selves to pay the before-mentioned money to the king of the
English if the former king should not stand to his agreement.
In the meantime the French king took the castle of Au
marle by assault and destroyed it, and the king of England
gave him three thousand marks of silver of the above-
mentioned money as a ransom for the knights of that garrison
and their followers, that they might be permitted to depart,
saving their horses and arms. Afterwards the king of the
French took Nonancourt, and king Eichard took the castle
Gameges, and so the two kings played at castle-taking.
his deliverance, and having laid it down, took his leave without doing any
hurt. The countryman, however, wishing to see where so tame an animal
lay, followed him to his den, the lion all the time licking his feet, and then
came back to his dinner. The serpent now came also, and brought with
him in his mouth a precious stone which he laid in the countryman's plate.
The same proceedings again took place as before. After two or three days
the rustic, carrying the jewel with him, went to Venice, to claim from Vitalis
his promise. He found him feasting with his neighbours in joy for his
deliverance and said to him, " Friend, pay me what you owe me." " Who
art thou ? " replied Vitalis, " and what dost thou want 1 " "I want the
five hundred talents you promised me." "Do you expect," replied
Vitalis, " to get so easily the money which I have had so much difficulty to
amass?" and, as he said these words, he ordered his servants to cast the
rash man into prison. But the rustic by a sudden spring escaped out of
the house and told what had happened to the judges of the city. When,
however, they were a little incredulous, he showed them the jewel which the
serpent had given him, and immediately one of them, perceiving that it was
of great value, bought it of the man at a high price. But the countryman
further proved the truth of his words by conducting some of the citizens to
the dens of the lion and the serpent, when the animals again fawned on
him as before. The judges were thus convinced of his truth, and com
pelled Vitalis to fulfil the promise which he had given, and to make com
pensation for the injury which he had done the poor man. This story was
told by king Richard to expose the conduct of ungrateful men.
VOL. H. L

146 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
Of the death of William, formerly a citizen of London .
At this time there arose in the city of London a dispute
and difference between the rich and poor, about the aUot-
ment of the taxes to be paid into the exchequer, and which
were often, as they said, unequaUy levied. The cause of
this disagreement was WilUani Fitz-Osbert, who, in con
tempt of the king's majesty, convoked assembhes of people,
and binding many to him by oath at their meetings, perse
cuted even unto death his own brother, and two other honest
men, as if they were guilty of treason towards the king, and
at last raised a sedition and disturbance in St. Paul's church.
When at length he learned that for his crimes the anger of
the king was seriously aroused against him, he shut himself
up in a tower of a church, which was the especial property
of the archbishop, thus making a castle of a sacred edifice.
But seeing at length that a band of armed men were assembled,
he, in order to avoid the death with which he was menaced, set
fire to the temple of the blessed virgin, and partly consumed a
place consecrated to God. At last he was dragged forth from
the church, and carried to the tower of London, where having
received final sentence, in order that the punishment of one
might strike terror into the many, he was deprived of his
long garments, and, with his hands tied behind his back,
and his feet fastened together, was drawn through the midst
of the city by horses to the gaUows at Tyburn ; he was
there hung in chains, and nine of his feUow conspirators with
him, in order to show that a similar punishment would await
those who were guilty of a similar offence. On the twentieth
of October* in the same year, John dean of Bouen was
consecrated to the bishopric of Winchester. In this year,
too, king Eichard built a new castle in the isle of Andelys,
against the wish of Walter archbishop of Eouen ; and after
he had been repeatedly warned to desist from the under
taking, the aforesaid archbishop put the whole of Normandy
under a ban, and thus went to the court of Eome.f
* November.
+ " About this time there arose a dispute in the city of London between
the poor and the rich on account of the talliage, which was exacted by the
king's agents for the benefit of the exchequer : for the principal men of the
city, whom we call mayors and aldermen, having held a deliberation at their
hustings, wiBhed to preserve themselves free from the burden, and to oppress

A.D. 1196.] IMPRISONMENT OF HUGH DE CHAUMONT. 147
Of the capture of Hugh de Chaumont.
In the same year a battle was fought between the fol
lowers of the French and English kings, in which Hugh de
Chaumont, a great friend of the former monarch, was taken
prisoner, and brought before the king of the English, who
gave him into the custody of Eobert de Eos ; that knight
deUvered him to the care of WUUam d'Epinay, an attendant
of his, owing to whose treachery he escaped, for he obtained
the poorer classes. Wherefore William Fitz- Robert, surnamed ' with the
beard,' because his ancestors in anger against the Normans never shaved,
made opposition to the same, and called the mayors of the city traitors to
our lord the king for the cause above-named ; and the disturbances were so
great in the city that recourse was had to arms. William stirred up a
large number of the middle and lower classes against the mayors and alder
men, but by their pusillanimity and cowardice the plans of William's con
federates in resisting the injury done them were dissipated and defeated:
the middle and lower classes were repressed, and the king, his ministers,
and the chief men of the city, charged the whole crime on William. As
the king's party were about to arrest him, he, being a distinguished character
in the city, tall of stature and of great personal strength, escaped, notwith
standing their exertions, defending himself with nothing but a knife, and
flying into the church of St. Mary of the Arches, demanded the protection
of our Lord, St. Mary and her church, saying that he had resisted an
unjust decree for no other purpose than that all might bear an equal share
of the public burden, and contribute according to their means. His expos
tulations, however, were not listened to, the majority prevailed, and the
archbishop, to the surprise of many, ordered that he should be dragged
from the church to take his trial, because he had created a sedition and
made such a disturbance among the people of the city. When this was
told to William, he took refuge in the tower of the church, for he knew
that the mayors, whom he had contradicted, sought to take away his life. In
their obstinacy they applied fire, and sacrilegiously burnt down great part of
the church. Thus William was forced to leave the tower, almost suffocated
with the heat and smoke. He was then seized, dragged out of the church,
stripped, and, with his hands tied behind his back, conveyed away to the
tower of London. Soon after, at the instigation of the archbishop, the
principal citizens, and the king's ministers, he was taken from the Tower,
and dragged, tied to a horse's tail, through the middle of London to Ulmet,
a pitiable sight to the citizens and to his own respectable relations in the
city : after which he was hung in chains on a gallows. Thus William of
the Beard was shamefully put to death by his fellow citizens for asserting
the truth and defending the cause of the poor : and if the justice of one's
cause constitutes a martyr, we may surely set him down as one. With him
also were hanged nine of his neighbours or of his family, who espoused his
cause. The same year, John dean of Rouen, was made bishop of Worces
ter, and consecrated by the archbishop of Canterbury on the 30th of
October." — M. Paris. 12

148 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
the permission of the aforesaid William, and let himself down
from the wall of the castle of Bonville, on the Tuke, where
he was confined, and thus took his leave of them. The king
of England was greatly enraged against Eobert de Eos for
this, and took from him a thousand two hundred marks of
silver for his offence, and ordered WUUam d'Epinay to be
hung on a gibbet.
Of the capture of the bishop of Beauvais and William de Merle.
After this event, as John, the king's brother, and Merca-
deus prince of Brabant, were making an excursion before
the city of Beauvais, intent on the capture of booty, Phihp,
the bishop of that place, and William de Merle, with his son
and several knights and some soldiers, came out of the city
on them, but were in a short time aU taken prisoners, and a
great number of the soldiers slain. The same day, after this
capture, the same English nobles proceeded to Milli, a castle
belonging to the before-named bishop, took it by assault, and
afterwards destroyed it, and then returned in triumph, and
deUvered all their captives to the EngUsh king ; the bishops,
on account of being taken in arms, was imprisoned, and heavily
loaded with chains.* In this same year a sudden and rapid
inundation of the waters of the Seine involved the adjacent
buildings both wood and stone in destruction, which greatly
alarmed the king of the French, and Maurice the bishop of
Perche, who were staying at Paris ; the lung left his palace,
and, taking his son Louis with him, went to pass the night
at St. Genevieve, and the bishop fled to Saint Victor's.
Of a vision which was seen by a certain monk, of purgatory and the places
of punishment ; the reading of which is very useful.
In those days a certain monk, belonging to the convent of
Evesham, fell ill, and for fifteen months was afflicted with
* This affair is given rather more in detail by Matthew Paris, who con
cludes his narrative as follows : — " The chapter of Beauvais laid a grave
complaint about the capture of their bishop and archdeacon before the
pope, who wrote a friendly letter to king Richard, requesting him to set his
dear son, and the son of the church, at liberty. The king, in respect
towards the pope, ordered the bishop's coat of mail to be carried to his
holiness, with a request that he would see whether it was his son's coat or
not. To which the pope replied, ' He is no son of mine nor of the church;
let him be ransomed at the king's pleasure, for he is a soldier of Mars
rather than of Christ!'"

A.D. 1196.] VISIONS OF THE MONK OF EVESHAM. 149
grievous bodily pain, taking such a nausea of food and drink,
that sometimes for nine days and more he would take nothing
but the least drop of cold water ; no skill of the physician
could cure him, but whatever was offered him by any one by
way of reheving him, had the contrary effect. Thus he lay
languishing on his bed deprived altogether of bodily strength;
he could not even move from the spot unless carried by the
servants. As the day of our Lord's resurrection drew near,
he began to feel easier, and walked about his cell leaning on
his stick; and at length on the night next preceding the
day of our Lord's supper, he went leaning on his stick into
the large hall, instigated by devotion, not knowing whether
he was in the body or in the spirit, and there, whilst the
assembled monks were paying their accustomed nightly de
votions to the Lord, he felt such an impression of the divine
mercy and heavenly grace, that his own holy devotion
seemed to exceed measure, and from the middle of that
night to the sixth hour of the following day he could not
restrain himself from tears and giving praise to God. He
then sent for two of the brotherhood, called by religious men
' confessors,' one after the other, and there with tears and in
all purity and contrition of heart, he made to each of them a
confession of all his faults, even the smallest of them, whether
against disciphne or the commandments of God: he then
asked for and obtained absolution ; and thus in devotion and
giving praise to God he passed the whole day.
How the same monk was found lying as if dead.
On the foUowing night he obtained a httle sleep, and
when the beU for matins rang, he rose from his couch and
took his way to the church ; but what happened there the
foUowing narrative will tell. On the morning of the follow
ing day, which was the day of the Preparation, when the
brotherhood had risen to primes, and were crossing before
the chapter-house on their way to the church, they beheld
this same brother lying prostrate and with naked feet before
the abbat's chair, where the brothers were accustomed to
crave pardon, and with his face close to the ground as if he
was asking pardon of some one sitting before him ; the
brothers, astonished at this sight ran up, and, trying to raise
him, they found him breathless and motionless, with his eyes

150 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
turned up, and the balls of the eyes and the nose wet with a
quantity of blood. They aU together cried out that he was
dead, finding that he had lost aU motion of the veins for a
length of time ; but at length discovering that he breathed,
although but slightly, they washed his neck, breast, and
hands, with cold water. In the first place they saw him
tremble slightly throughout his whole body, but he soon
became quiet and remained without motion ; for a long time
they were in doubt how to act, not knowing for certain
whether he was dead or had got better ; at length, after a
debate, they carried him into the infirmary, and placing him
on a bed, appointed some persons to keep a careful watch
over him ; they next applied plasters to his chest, and
pricked the souls of his feet with needles, but could find no
signs of hfe in him. In this manner, then, lying on his bed
altogether motionless, he remained for two days, that is,
from midnight of the Preparation, tiU midnight of the foUow
ing sabbath; but on the great sabbath, when the monks
were about to assemble for midnight mass, the eyehds of the
aforesaid brother began to quiver slightly, and after a while
a moisture, hke tears, began to flow gently over his cheeks,
and, as any one would lament in his sleep, he seemed to
utter frequent sighs, and after a while he. seemed to be
uttering words in his throat with a deep though scarcely
audible sound : at length as his breath by degrees returned,
he began to caU upon Saint Mary, saying, " 0 holy Mary !
O holy Mary ! for what crime am I deprived of joy so im
mense?" In this manner, often repeating these and other
words, he made known to the bystanders his deprivation of
some great joy. After this, as if awaking out of a deep
sleep, he shook his head, and, weeping bitterly, he began to
sob, his tears flowing unceasingly; then, with his hands
clasped and his fingers hitched together he raised himself
suddenly to a sitting posture, and placing his head covered
with his hands on his knees, he continued unceasingly, as he
had begun, his lamentable moanings. After many entreaties
by the brethren that he would, after such a long fasting and
suffering, take something to eat, he took a smaU piece of
bread, and then continued awake in prayer ; on being asked
if he expected to escape from his sickness, he answered, " I
shaU live long enough, because I have entirely recovered

A.D. 1196. J RELATION OF THE VISION. 151
from my weakness." On the night foUowing, that is, of our
Lord's resurrection, when the bell was ringing for matins,
he went to church without any support, and, what he had
not done for eleven months before, entered the choir. On
the day after, when his rehgious rites were duly performed,
he was deemed worthy to be refreshed by a participation in
the holy communion.
How the aforesaid monk related the vision that he had seen.
After this the same brother eagerly joined in the rehgious
duties of the other monks ; and they earnestly entreated him
to relate for their edification what had happened to him and
aU that he had seen in his sleep ; for they were convinced
that many things had been shown him, by evident signs, and
from having heard his words and beheld his unceasing lamen
tations when he awoke on the previous day. After putting
them off for some time, they became urgent in their request,
and at length with incessant tears and groans, choking his
voice, he related the circumstances in order as follow: —
" When," said he, " I was, as you know, failing from severe
and lengthened bodily infirmity, and was blessing God ver-
baUy and mentally, and was returning him thanks for deign
ing to chasten his unworthy servant with his fatherly rod,
after I had given up aU hope of recovery, I began, as much
as I could, to prepare myself, in order that I might escape
the punishments of the future state, as I was on the point of
being called from the body. Whilst I was dihgently thinking
on these things, I fell into temptation to ask of God that
he would in some manner deign to reveal to me what was
the state of the life to come, and what was the condition after
this hfe, of souls released from the body ; that, by learning
this, I might more clearly ascertain what I, who was about, as
I thought, to depart this life shortly, had to hope for and what
to fear, that I might thus gain as much as I could on God's
affection, whilst I was wavering in this precarious state.
Desiring, then, to be satisfied on this, I with incessant sup
plications kept invoking, at one time our Lord the Saviour
of the world, at another time the glorious virgin, his mother,
at another I called on all the elect people of God ; but it was
especially through the intercession of the most pious and
holy saint Nicholas the confessor, that I hope to gain the

152 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
end of my pious request; and behold, one night near the
commencement of the Lent which we have just passed over,
as I was sleeping a little, there appeared to me a venerable
and altogether comely personage, who in most pleasant words
addressed me as follows : — ' Most beloved son, great is your
devotion in prayer, and great perseverance have you in your
purpose, nor will the continual aim of your prayer be fruit
less through the clemency of the Bedeemer; henceforward
be of calm mind, and continue devout in prayer, for without
doubt you will soon attain the object of your petition.'
Having thus spoken, the image of the speaker vanished and
I awoke."
How the same monk, as he was worshipping our Lord's cross, saw ii
become bloody.
"But, although awake, I stiU kept this vision steadily in
mind, and, after six weeks had passed, when on the night
of our Lord's supper I had risen to matins, and received, as
you remember, discipline at your hands, I felt in the midst
of it such a sweetness of mind diffused over me, that on the
day following I felt it most pleasant to weep incessantly, as
with your own eyes you saw. On the next night after this,
which was the Preparation, as the hour approached for
rising to matins, I sank into a calm sleep ; then again I
heard the same voice, but by whose agency it was conveyed to
my ears, I know not ; 'Arise,' it said, 'go into the oratory, and
approach the altar consecrated to the worship of St. Laurence,
and behind that altar you will find the cross, which it is the
custom of the convent to worship on the day of the Preparation ;
for unless you do thus, nothing can be fulfilled by you on the
morrow ; for a long journey remains to you ; wherefore,
adore our Lord's cross in memory of himself, and offer the
sacrifice of a humble and contrite heart, knowing for certain,
that the offering of your devotion wiU be acceptable to the
Lord, and that you shaU hereafter rejoice abundantly in its
richness.' After this I awoke from sleep, and proceeded, as
it seemed to me, with the brethren, to hear matins ; which
being commenced, I met in the vestibule of the church, an
old man clothed in white garments, that one from whom
on the preceding night, I had received discipline. I then
beckoned him by the usual nod to give me discipline, on which
we went into the chaptei-uouse, and after having effected

A.D. 1196.] VISIONS OF PURGATORY. 153
my purpose, we returned to the oratory. I then went alone
to the altar mentioned to me in my sleep, took off my shoes,
and crawhng on my knees, made for the place where I had
been told the cross of our Saviour would be found. As had
been foretold to me, I found it there, and shortly I became
entirely dissolved in tears, and throwing myself on the
ground at full length, I most devoutly worshipped it ; as I
was thus kneeling before the face of the image, and was
kissing it on the mouth and eyes, I felt some drops falling
gently on my forehead, and on removing my fingers, I, from
their colour, discovered it to be blood ; moreover, I saw the
blood flowing from the side of the image on the cross, as it
does from a Uving man's veins when cut for letting blood.
1 caught in my hand I know not how many drops as they
feU, and with it I devoutly anointed my eyes, ears, and
nostrils ; afterwards, if I sinned in this I know not, I
swaUowed one drop of it in my zeal, but the rest which I
had caught in my hand I determined to keep.
How the same monk was separated from the body, and entered the first
place of punishment.
" When I had thus worshipped our Lord's cross, I, after a
time, heard behind me the voice of the venerable man from
whom, on the preceding night, I had received disciphne.
Then, leaving my shoes and staff near the altar, I know not
how, I went to the chapter-house, and after receiving dis
cipline, six several times, as I had done before, I received
absolution. This same old man was seated in the abbat's
chair, and I prostrated myself before him, but he approached
me, saying these words only, ' Follow me.' After he had
raised me up, he took hold of my right hand firmly, yet
gently, and we remained aU the time with our hands linked
together, and at that time I was deprived of aU sense of
body and mind. We then walked on a smooth road,
straight towards the east, until we arrived in a large
tract of country, dreadful to look at, in a marshy situation,
and deformed with hard thickened mud. In this place were
such a multitude of men, or spirits, that no one could count
them, who were exposed to various and unmentionable tor
tures ; in this place was a great crowd of both sexes, of
every condition, profession, and rank, and all kinds of sin
ners condemned to torments according to the variety of their

154 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
professions, and the degrees of their •ffences. Throughout
the broad extent of that plain, beyond the extremities of
which no eye-sight could reach, I saw and heard crowds of
wretched beings coUected in miserable troops, and bound
in flocks according to the similarity of their crimes and
professions, whilst they all were equally burning, though
their cries were different. Whatsoever people I saw, and
for whatsoever sins they were punished, I noticed clearly
both the nature of their sin, and the degree of their punish
ment, whereby, atoning for their crimes, or by the inter
cession of others, they might in that place of exUe and punish
ment, earn admission into the heavenly country. But some
I saw endure more severe torments with a calm mind, and,
as if conscious of a reward laid up for them, thinking lightly
of the horrible agonies they endured. Some I beheld leap
suddenly forth from their place of torture, and make their
way as fast as they could to the extremities of the place ;
and when they, dreadfully burned as they were, were
emerging from the pits, the torturers ran to them with forks,
torches, and every sort of instrument of torture, and restored
them back to their punishments again, to inflict every kind of
cruelty on them ; nevertheless, though thus wounded, thus
burned, and pierced to the heart by their lashes, they at
length came forth, always going in regular gradation from
the most severe to more tolerable sufferings ; for some of the
most atrocious there remained a most horrible death, without
proceeding to more severe tortures : each of them was
treated according as they were benefited or impeded by their
former actions, or by the good works of their friends.
Endless were the kinds of punishment whish I saw ; some
were roasted before fire ; others were fried in pans ; red hot
nails were driven into some to their bones ; others were
tortured with a horrid stench in baths of pitch and sulphur,
mixed with molten lead, brass, and other kinds of metal ;
immense worms with poisonous teeth gnawed some ; others,
in thick ranks, were transfixed on stakes with fiery thorns ;
the torturers tore them with their nails, flogged them with
dreadful scourges, and lacerated them in dreadful agonies.
I saw in that place many who were known to me, and who
had been intimate with me in this hfe, tortured in various
ways, some of whom were bishops, some abbats, and some of

A.D. 1196.] VISIONS OF PURGATORY. 155
other stations ; some in the ecclesiastic, some in the secular
forum, some in the cloister. I saw all these ; and the less
that they were in their former life supported by the privi
leges of honour, the more lenient were the punishments
inflicted on them there. As a truth I now tell what I par
ticularly noticed, which was that all those whom I knew to
have been the judges of others or prelates in this life, were
tormented more than the rest with an increased degree of
severity. It would be too tedious for me to speak of what
they severally received as their deserts, or what they suf
fered, however conspicuous aU things were to me ; but God is
my witness, that if I saw any one, even had he slain all my
friends and relatives, condemned to such torture, I would,
were it possible, endure a temporal death a thousand times
to snatch him from them, especially since aU things which
are there penal, exceed all measure of pain, bitterness, and
misery. Of the second place of punishment in purgatory, and the variety of
punishments.
"After we had gone beyond this place of punishment, I and
my guide passed onwards unhurt, as we did also other places
of'torment, which I shall relate below. After this then we
arrived at another place of torment; the two places were
separated by a mountain almost touching the clouds, over
the top of which we passed easily and quickly. Under the
farther side of this mountain was a very deep and dark
vaUey, girt round on either side by ridges of lofty rocks, over
which the sight could not extend ; the bottom of the valley
itgelf contained a piece of water, whether flowing or stag
nant I know not, very wide and dreadful, owing to its
stinking water, which continually sent forth a vapour of
intolerable odour. The side of the mountain overhanging
one part of the lake sent forth fire to the heavens ; on the
opposite promontory of the same hiU there was such an
intense cold, caused by snow, hail, and raging storms, that I
thought I had never before seen anything more torturing than
the cold at that place. The region of the above-mentioned
valley, and the sides of both mountains, which bore this
dreadful appearance of heat and cold, were occupied by a
crowd of spirits, as numerous as bees at the time of swarm
ing ; and their punishment in general was at one time to be

156 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
dipped in the foetid lake ; at another, breaking forth from
thence, they were devoured by the volumes of flame which
met them, and at length, in fluctuating balls of fire, as if
sparks from a furnace were tossed on high, and fell to the
bottom of the other bank ; they were again restored to the
whirlings of the winds, the cold of the snow* and the
asperity of the hail ; then, thrown forth from thence, and as
if flying from the violence of the storms, they were again
thrust back into the stench of the lake, and the burnings of
the raging fire. Some were tortured by the cold, some by
the heat, for a long time, and some were kept for a long
period in the stink of the lake. I saw others, Uke oUves in
a press, pressed and jammed together in the midst of the
flames so incessantly, that it is horrible to relate. Of aU
those then who were there tortured, the condition was this,
that for the fulfilment of their purification they were com
peUed to pass through the whole surface of that lake from
the beginning to the end. There was, however, a very
great and manifold distinction amongst those who were
tortured in this place, for some of them were aUowed an easy
and quick transit, according to their merits, and the assist
ance rendered to them after their death ; whilst those guilty
of greater crimes, or less assisted by the masses of their
friends, were punished more severely and for a longer time :
but to all of them, the nearer they approached the end of the
lake the less severe was the torture remaining to be endured,
for those who were placed at the beginning, felt the punish
ment most severely, although all did not suffer alike; and
the lightest torments of that place were more cruel than the
most severe ones of the place we saw before. In this place
of punishment I found and recognised many more acquaint
ances than I had seen in the first purgatory, and with some
indeed I conversed. Amongst them I recognized a certain
goldsmith who had been well known to me in life ; but my
guide, seeing me look at him earnestly, inquired if I knew
him, and on his learning that he had been well known to me,
he said, " If you know him, speak to him." But the spirit
looking at us, and recognizing us with a gesture of unspeak
able delight, gave praise to the man, my guide, and with
out-stretched hands, and by a frequent bending of the whole
of its body, worshipped him, and making obeisance, thanked

A.D. 1196.] VISIONS OF TUUGATORY. 157
him much for kindnesses conferred on him. As he frequently
cried out, ' Holy Nicholas, have pity on me,' I was pleased
to recognize the name of my dear protector, St. Nicholas,
from whom I hoped to obtain salvation both of body and
soul. On my then asking the goldsmith how he had thus
quickly gone through the cruel torments I had seen him
suffering, he answered, ' You, my friend,' said he, ' and aU
my acquaintances, who, during my Ufe, saw that all the
supports of the Christian faith were denied me, such as con
fession and the viaticum, considered me a lost man, not
knowing the mercy of my lord, who is with me, namely,
St. Nicholas, who did not suffer me, his unhappy servant, to
undergo the death of everlasting damnation ; for now and
ever, since I have been consigned to this place of punish
ment, when I was suffering under a severe torture, I have
been refreshed by the visitation of his compassion. For in
gold working, in which art I, in my Ufe-time, committed
many frauds, I now make most severe atonement, since I am
frequently thrown into a heap of burning money, and most
intolerably scorched ; being often compeUed to swaUow with
gaping mouth those very coins, which consume my internal
parts ; and moreover, am often obUged to count these coins,
and feel my hands and fingers consumed and burned by
them.' I then asked him, if men could by any remedy
avoid such a dreadful torture ; to which he replied with a
sigh, ' If men were daily to write with the finger on their
foreheads and on the parts near their heart, "Jesus of
Nazareth, king of the Jews," those of the faith would doubt
lessly be preserved harmless, and, after their death, those very
places would shine with a bright splendour.' These and
many other things I heard from him ; but let us hasten to
describe other things, and let what has been said suffice.
Of the third place of punishment, and the manifold variety of torments.
" I and my guide, then, having left this truly caUed valley
of tears which we got to in the second place, we arrived at a
large plain situated low down in the bosom of the earth, and
which seemed inaccessible to all except to torturing devils,
and tortured spirits. The surface of that plain was covered
by a great and horrible chaos, mixed with a sulphureous
smoke, and a cloud of intolerable stench, with a flame of a

158 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
pitchy blackness, and this rising from all directions was
diffused in a dreadful way, through the whole of that void
space. The surface of the place abounded with a multitude
of worms in the same way as the court-yards of houses are
covered with rushes ; and these, dreadful beyond conception,
of a monstrous size and deformed, with a dreadful 'gaping of
their jaws, and exhahng execrable fire from their nostrils,
lacerated the crowds of wretched beings with a voracity not
to be escaped from ; and the devils running in all directions,
raging Uke mad creatures, took the wretched beings and at
one time were cutting them up piece by piece with their
fiery prongs, at another time were tearing aU their flesh off
to the bone, at another time threw them into the fire, melted
them hke metals, and restored them in the shape of burning
flame. Little it is, I caU God to witness, yea nothing, that I
recollect of the punishments of that place ; for God knows
that, in a very brief space of time I saw those wretched
beings destroyed by a hundred or more different kinds of
torture, and soon afterwards restored again, and again
reduced almost to nothing, and then again renewed; for a
lost life caused them to be tortured in that place, and owing
to the different kinds of punishment there was no end to
their sufferings. For the flame of that fire was so devouring,
that you would think an ordinary fire or fever to be luke
warm in comparison with it ; dead worms torn in pieces were
collected in heaps beneath the wretches, filling every thing
with an intolerable stench which surpassed aU other suffering.
The most loathsome and severe of aU remains yet to be told ;
for all who were punished there had, in their hfe, been guilty
of wickedness which is unmentionable by a Christian, or
even by a heathen or a pagan. Those therefore were con
tinually attacked by huge monsters of a fiery appearance and
horrible beyond description, which, notwithstanding their
opposition, committed on them the damnable crimes of which
they had been guilty on earth ; and their cries were horrid
until they fainted apparently dead, when they again revived
to be exposed to fresh torments. I tremble while relating it,
and am beyond measure confounded at the filthiness of their
crime, for tiU that time I had never heard or thought that
both sexes could have been corrupted by such filthiness, and,
oh shame ! such an innumerable crowd of such wretches as

A.D. 1196.] VISIONS OF PURGATORY. 159
was there found most pitiably to be pitied. The figures of
many in that place I neither saw nor recognized, for I was
overcome with horror by the enormity of the torments and
obscenity, and by the filthy stench ; so that it was beyond
measure offensive to me either to stop there a moment, or to
look at what was being done there. Lastly amid the dread
ful din one of them cried out, ' Alas ! why did I not repent ?'
so loud was their grief that you would have thought all the
sufferers in the world were there lamenting.
Of a certain lawyer and his punishments.
" Although I avoided as much as I could to look at what
Was passing there, I could not escape seeing a certain clerk,
whom I had once known ; he, in his Ufe, was considered a
most skilful man, of those who are styled lawyers and
decretaUsts, wherefore in ecclesiastical revenues he was every
day getting richer than the rest. I was astonished at the
weight of his sufferings, and on my asking whether he
expected to obtain mercy at all, he answered, crying out,
' Alas, alas, woe is me, I know, I know that I shall not receive
mercy this side of the day of judgment, and even then I
think it is uncertain, for ever since I have been subjected to
these sufferings, my punishment grows worse, dragging me
on from bad to worse.' I said to him, ' Why then did you
not at the last confess your sins and repent.' He answered,
* Because I had hopes of recovering, the devil beguiling me, I
was ashamed to confess such disgraceful crimes, lest I should
seem to be unrespected by them to whom I appeared
renowned and noble. Some of my slighter offences I did
however confess to the priest, and on his asking me, if I was
conscious of any other sins, I asked him to leave me then,
promising to let him know again if any should occur to my
memory. When he had departed, and had gone a httle way,
I felt myself dying ; and when he was fetched back by my
servants he found that I was dead. Therefore none of the
thousand kinds of torments which I daily endure, tortures
me so much as the recollection of my fault, because I am
actually compeUed to be a slave to the baseness of my
former weakness, for besides the greatness of this unspeak
able punishment, I am oppressed with intolerable shame,
when I appear as one to be execrated for such great offences."

160 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
At the moment he was thus speaking to me, I saw him
tortured in numberless ways, and in the midst of them to be
reduced as it were to nothing, and to be dissolved by the
force of the heat like melted lead. I also asked St. Nicholas,
who stood by me, if such torments could be alleviated by
any kind of remedy ; and he answered ' When the day of
judgment arrives, then will be accompUshed the will of
Christ, for he alone knows the hearts of aU, and then he
will afford to all a just retribution.' Afterwards when I had
returned to the body, that priest, to whom the lawyer had
confessed only his light offences, came to me, and called God
to witness in the presence of many, that what I said was
true, since no one but himself knew these things. Of the
punishments of many, which I saw, I omit to make mention,
fearing lest, if I should speak further of them, I should
create a loathing in my readers, but let these few chosen
from the many suffice.
Of the vision which the same monk saw of the eternal glory of the blessed.
" Having thus in part described the things which we saw of
the punishment and penal places of the wretched, it now
remains for us to speak of the consolations of those at rest.
and of the eternal glory of the blessed, which we beheld with
our own eyes. After we had walked for a long time, amidst
the different kinds of punishment which I have mentioned
above, and had beheld the various sufferings of the wretched,
as we made our way towards the inner regions, the light
began by degrees to appear more pleasant ; here the fragrance
of a sweet odour, there the richness of a plain flourishing
with many kinds of flowers afforded us incredible pleasure.
In this plain we found endless thousands of men or spirits
who, after passing through their punishments, were enjoying
the happy rest of the blessed. Those whom we found in the
first portion of this plain, had garments white indeed, but
not shining, but there did not appear any blackness or stain
in them, although they shone in an inferior degree of white
ness. Amongst these I saw several who had been known to
me formerly, for I recognized there a certain abbess who
had lately come from the places of punishment, who was
clothed in garments unstained, though not very bright ; I
also saw and recognized there a certain prior who after being

A.D. 1196.] THE SECOND PLACE OF REST. 161
freed from all punishment was rejoicing in happy peace with
the spirits of the just, in sure hope of the divine vision with
which he was about to be rewarded. In that same place too
I saw a priest, who having been possessed of the grace of
preaching united to the example of a good hfe, had
reclaimed from deadly sin the people not only of the parishes
of which he had the pastoral care, but also those who were
at a distance from him, and by the Lerd's co-operation, an
inexpressible glory rested on many by his means as on him
self. Of the second place of rest, and the glory of those dwelling there.
" As we proceeded from thence to the interior of this region
of sweetness, the clearness of the light and the sweetness of
the odour smiled on us more. But all whom this place con
tained were enroUed as inhabitants of the Upper Jerusalem,
who had passed through all their punishments so easily, since
they had been less ensnared by the vices of the world. And
what we saw as we went on, the tongue cannot reveal or human
weakness worthily describe ; for who by words could worthily
explain how, in the midst of blessed spirits of whom endless
thousands stood round, as if present at the sacred solemnity
of our Lord's passion, himself the pious Eedeemer of the
human race appeared as it were hanging on the cross, with
his whole body bloody from scourgings, insulted by spitting,
crowned with thorns, with nails driven into him, pierced
with the lance, while streams of blood flowed over his hands
and feet, and blood and water dropped from Ms holy side !
Near him stood his mother, not anxious and sorrowful now,
but rejoicing and looking with a most calm countenance on
such an indescribable sight. Can any one indeed imagine
with what eagerness aU ran together to this spectacle, what
devotion there was amongst those who beheld it, what a con
course of worshippers there was, how many were their
indications of thanks for such great kindness? As I thought
more profoundly of these things I know not whether it was
grief or devotion which distracted my unhappy mind, but
astonishment and admiration deprived me of sense. But what
devotion is it, that the devil should be conquered by this
contumely, and hell be defeated and robbed of its weapons
and spoils, the lost man be recovered, and the prey of devils
VOL. II. m

162 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1196.
be snatched from their infernal prison-hou3e and placed in
heaven amongst the choir of angels ? Many things, which I
saw and heard here, I fear to relate, lest they should appear
unusual and incredible to many. At length, after a length of
time spent in looking at this blessed vision, the vision itself
suddenly disappeared ; and in the hallowed place, where the
glory of such a mystery had existed, they all returned with
delight, each to his appointed place, and I followed my guide,
full of admiration, to the inner regions into the abodes of the
blessed; here was the brightness of those assembled, here
the fragrance of sweet smell, here the harmony of those
singing praises to God.
Of the third place of happiness and the visions of God.
'After proceeding for some distance, and as the pleasantness
of the places before us increased, I saw what appeared a waU
of crystal, which was so high that no one could look over it,
and to the extent of which there was no end, and on our
approaching it, I saw it glittered with a most shining bright
ness from within, I also saw the entrance to it open, but
marked with the protecting sign of the cross ; thither ap
proached crowds of those who being near were very
anxious to enter, and the cross in the middle of the gate now
raising itself on high, opened an entrance to those who
approached ; afterwards, falling again, it denied admittance to
those who wished to enter. How joyfuUy those who were
admitted went in, or how reverently those who remained
shut out watted for the next raising of the cross, I can
not describe. Here my guide > stopped with me some time,
but a3 We at length went forward the cross was raised and
the entrance was opened for us to enter; my companion
entered without hindrance, and I was foUowing, when on a
sudden the cross descended upon our hands and was about to
prevent me from following my guide ; on seeing which I was
in great alarm, but heard these words proceed from him,
' Fear not,' said he, ' only put your trust in the Lord and
enter in safety ;' on this my confidence returned, and when
the cross granted an entrance I went in. But how glittering
was the inconceivable brightness, or how strong was the
light which filled all those places, let no one ask of me, for
this I am not able to express in words, nor even to recoUect

A.D. 1196.] THE MONK RESTORED TO HIS BODY. 163
in my mind. That soft and glittering splendour so dazzled
my eyes, that I could think of nothing to be compared to it
which I had ever seen before; for that brightness, incon
ceivable as it was, did not blind the eye-sight, but rather
sharpened it; and as I looked on it, nothing else met my
sight than the light and the wall of crystal before mentioned.
Moreover from the bottom to the top of it steps of a wonder
ful beauty were arranged, by means of which the crowds of
rejoicing spirits ascended as soon as they were let in at the
door; there was no toil to those who went up, no difficulty,
and no delay in the ascent, for the step above was always
ascended more easily than the one below had been. And
when I directed my eyes above, I beheld, sitting on a throne
of glory, our Lord and Saviour in human form, and, as it
seemed to me, the spirits of five or seven hundred blessed
beings, who had lately ascended by the before-mentioned
road to the place of the throne, coming round him in a circle,
and with signs of thanksgiving worshipping him. But it
was most evident to me, that the place which I saw was not
the heaven of heavens, where the Lord of lords will appear
in Sion, as if he were in his majesty ; but that from thence,
after all difficulty and delay is removed, spirits ascend to
that heaven which is blessed by the presence of the eternal
Deity. In this vision, however, I conceived in my mind so
much deUght and joy, so much happiness and exultation, that
whatever can be explained by human ingenuity would fail to
express the delight of my heart which I there felt.
How the said monk was restored to his body.
" After I had seen and heard these and numberless
other things, St. Nicholas briefly spoke to me, 'Lo! my son,'
said he, 'thou hast now as thou wishedst, as far as was
possible for thee, in part beheld the condition of the life to
come, the dangers of sinners, the punishment of the wicked,
the rest of the purified, the joys of those who ^t length
reach the court of heaven, and the mysteries of our Lord's
suffering. You must now return to your mortal struggles ;
but you will receive, if you persevere in the fear of God, the
things which you have with your own eyes beheld, and
much greater than these, if you endeavour with an immacu
late body and innocent heart to await the day of your last
m 2

164 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1197.
calling.' Whilst he was thus speaking to me, I suddenly
heard a note of wondrous sweetness, as if the bells of all the
world, or everything that is musical, were all sounding
together. In this sound there was a wonderful sweetness
and a various mixture of melody, and I know not whether it
was most to be admired for its grandeur or its sweetness.
Whilst I was anxiously listening to such an unusual sound,
and had lost my recollection, I found myself, as soon as it
ceased, deprived of the company of my guide; and the
strength of my body returning, and my eyes being restored to
the faculty of sight, the pain of my former sickness was
destroyed ; and being altogether freed from my weakness, I
sat amongst you strong and healthy, although anxious and
sorrowful. Being therefore restored to myself, as soon as I
heard from the brothers that the festival of Easter was
approaching, I considered that the music I had heard was a
sign, that even amongst the inhabitants of heaven the mystery
of the salvation of the human race is observed with joy and
festivity by the inhabitants of heaven, even as it was wrought
on earth by Him who created the world and the heavens out
of nothing, Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory world without
end. Amen." Of the death of Henry king of Jerusalem.
At this same time Henry of Champagne, who had suc
ceeded Guy as king of Jerusalem, fell from the upper window
of a house into the street, and, breaking his neck, was killed ;
he was a nephew of the kings of France and England, Phihp
and Eichard, being a son of the daughter of Louis king of the
French, Philip's father, whom he had by Eleanor, his queen,
afterwards married to king Henry, father of king Eichard.
When therefore the above-named king died, the condition of
the Holy Land necessarily required a new one ; on which, by
the unanimous consent of the priests and people, the election
fell on an illustrious Frenchman, John de Brienne, a man
well skilled in warfare, who was at once crowned king, and
under his rule the affairs of the kingdom prospered.
King Richard sent messengers to Rome to complain of tlte archbishop of
Rouen.
a.d. 1197. King Eichard was at Bare, in Normandy,

A.D. 1197.] DEATH OF THE BISHOP OF ELY. 165
and was in great trouble because the archbishop of Eouen
had placed Normandy under an interdict, for the bodies of
the dead were lying unburied in the squares and streets of the
cities, which caused a great stench amongst the living. He
therefore sent William bishop of Ely, his chancellor, with the
bishops of Durham and Lisieux, to the court of Eome, to
plead his cause against the said archbishop; but William
bishop of Ely died on his way to Eome, at Poictiers, and
was buried in the Cistercian convent of Dispin, on the 29th
of January. The before-named bishops, however, his com
panions, proceeded on their journey and. arrived at Eome.
When the parties were convened in presence of our lord the
pope, and had been heard carefuUy, our lord the pope and his
cardinals after long deliberation, considering the damage and
trouble which might accrue to the king in Normandy unless
that castle was built in Andelys, advised the archbishop to
come to an amicable arrangement with their lord the king,
and to accept from him an adequate compensation in the
estimation of wise men for what he had lost;* for they
declared that it was quite lawful for any one who was able to
do so, like the king of England, to strengthen the weaker parts
of his kingdom that he might not suffer any loss or injury
therefrom. With these terms of peace the messengers of
both parties returned, and procured a reversion of the
sentence of interdict.
Form of the agreement which was made between king Richard and the
archbishop of Rouen.
The form of peace and agreement made between the king
of England and the archbishop of Eouen was as follows :
" Eichard, by the grace of God, king of England, &c.
Since the holy church is the spouse of the Eternal King,
and the only beloved of Him by whom kings do reign and
princes hold their authority, we wish to pay it the more
reverence and devotion, the more firm we are in jpur belief
that not only the kingly but all power is from the Lord
God ; wherefore, as the holy church of Eouen, which is
* "For the village of Andelys and some adjoining places, which the
king had taken from the archbishop, that he might strengthen the weak
points of his territories, he gave the archbishop in exchange all the royal
mills at Rouen with their appurtenances, the villages of Dieppe and Buceles
with all their liberties." — Matthew Paris.

166 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1197.
known to be most celebrated among3t all our dominions,
deems it meet carefully to consult our interests according to
the necessities of time and other circumstances, so we have
thought fit to pay a meet compensation for the advantage and
increase of the same church, our mother. Since the town of
Andelys and some other adjacent places, which belonged to
the church of Bouen, were not sufficiently fortified, and
there was a way of ingress opened to our enemies into our
country of .Normandy, through those same places, by means
of which they sometimes insultingly assailed the same
country with fire and rapine, and other cruelties of warfare.
Wherefore, the right worshipful Walter our father, the
archbishop and the chapter of Eouen, having due regard
to our losses in the before-named country, an exchange has
been made between the church of Eouen and archbishop
Walter of the one part, and ourselves of the other part, con
cerning the manor of Andelys, as follows : to wit, that the
said archbishop, with the consent and by the wish of our
lord the pope, Celestine the third, and with the consent of the
chapter of the church of Eouen, hath granted, and for ever
quit-claimed to us and our heirs, the aforesaid manor of Andelys,
with the new castle of ' the Bock,' the forest, and all other its
appurtenances and liberties, except the churches and the
necessaries for soldiers, and except the manor of Freisnas,
with its appurtenances, all which the said archbishop retains,
the church of Eouen, himself and his heirs, with all their
Uberties and free customs, and in all their entirety for ever.
But in exchange for the aforesaid manor of Andelys with
its appurtenances, we have granted, and for ever quit
claimed to the church of Eouen, the aforesaid archbishop and
his successors, all the mills which we possessed at Eouen
when this exchange was made, together with all appurte
nances and grinding instruments, without any reserve of the
things which appertain to the mill or to grinding, and with
all liberties and free customs which they are accustomed or
ought to have ; and it shall not be lawful for any one to
build a mill at that place, to the detriment of the mills afore
said. We have, moreover, also granted to them the towns ot
Dieppe and Buceles, with their appurtenances and liberties,
also the manor of Loures, and the forest of Haliermunt, with
the wild beasts and all other its appurtenances and Uberties.

A.D. 1197-3 ALLIANCE OF RICHARD AND BALDWIN. 167
And the church of Bouen and the aforesaid archbishop,
and his successors will hold all these places in exchange for
the aforesaid manor of Andeleys for ever, as witness these
names  * This exchange has been effected at Bouen
in the year of grace 1197, and in the eighth year of our
reign."f How king Richard carried the body of St. Yalery to Normandy, and there
burned several ships.
At this time a hint was given to king Eichard that ships
were in the habit of coming from England to St. Valery to
bring provisions to the king of the French and his other
enemies ; he therefore marched to that place, burned the
town, destroyed the monks, and carried away the coffin of
St. Valery, with his bones, into Normandy. In the harbour
there he found some English ships laden with corn and pro
visions ; whereupon he ordered their crews to be hung, and
after burning the ships, bestowed the provisions on his
soldiers. How king Richard secured the alliance of the count of Flanders.
About this same time king Eichard, by presents, enticed
all who were powerful in the French kingdom, into friendship
with him : he gave five thousand marks of silver to Baldwin
count of Flanders for his assistance, and that prince gave
hostages to the king as a security that he would not make
any terms with the king of the French without his consent.
The inhabitants of Champagne, with those also of Brittany,
left the king of the French and joined the side of king
Eichard. WiUiam Crepin, constable of Auge, being com
pelled by force, surrendered the same castle to the English
king, who immediately garrisoned it ; and the French king
assembled an army and laid siege to it. Whilst this was
going on, the king of the English made a hostile descent
* The names are omitted.
+ " In those days there arose in France a famous preacher, by whom God
wrought miracles openly ; he endeavoured to eradicate usury among the
French, who had imbibed that vice from the Italians, and were much con
taminated by it. This preacher, whose name was Fulk, sent a certain
priest, namely, the abbat de Flai, into England, to put down the horrors of
traffic on Sunday, and the abbat, on his arrival, eradicated this unseemly
practice in many places. At this time, Robert of Shrewsbury was conse
crated bishop of Bangor." — M. Paris.

168 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1197.
on Auvergne, and took ten of the French king's castles, and
a great number of his foUowers ; but before the former could
return into Normandy, the French king had taken the
castle of Anjou,* but on the receipt of fifty marks of silver,
he gave up the soldiers of the garrison, safe in hfe and
limb, and with their horses and arms, but the king retained
the castle and strengthened it.
How the French king was close pressed in Flanders.
In the meantime, Baldwin count of Flanders besieged the
castle of Arras, and the king of the French hearing of this,
came thither with a large army ; but on his arrival the count
raised the siege and departed for his own dominions, with
the king of France in pursuit. But when the latter monarch
had advanced a good way amongst the lakes and inlets of the
sea, the count of Flanders caused aU the bridges to be
broken, and the aqueducts to be opened, both in the front and
rear of the French king, so that he could neither advance or
retreat, nor could any provisions be brought to him. The
king, being in this dilemma, sent word to the count that he
had come there with the intention of making amicable
arrangements with him, or of recaUing him from his fealty
to the English king ; he, moreover, told the count that he
was his liege subject, on which account he ought not, nor
did it become him, to fight against his crown. The count,
however, before he permitted the king of the French to
depart, made him swear that he would restore both to him
self, the count, and to the king of the English, all the castles
and other their rights, which he had taken possession of
during the war, and he appointed a day for the performance
of this agreement, arranging that he himself as weU as the
English king should come to a conference on the Wednesday
after the exaltation of the holy cross, between GaiUon and
Andelys ; and then the French king, thus escaping capture
by the duke, returned to his own dominions. But after he
had got back to Paris he took counsel with his nobles in
order to break from his agreement ; for he did not consider
himself bound to keep an oath which he had made on com
pulsion. = Dangu in the original.

A.D. 1198.] OTHO, KING OF GERMANY. 169
Of certain useful laws enacted by king Richard.
In the same year, on the day of St. Edmund the king and
martyr, king Eichard, at the instance of Hubert archbishop
of Canterbury and justiciary of England, made a decree at
Westminster, that, throughout England aU measures of corn
and pulse, both in cities and other places, should be of the
same size, and especiaUy the measure of ale, wine, and the
weights of merchants. It was also decreed that wooUen
cloths in aU parts of the kingdom should be two ells
wide, within the borders, and should be as good in the middle
as they were at the sides. It was, moreover, decreed that
no trader should hang up before his shop red or black cloths,
or anything else by which the sight of purchasers should be
deceived in choosing a good cloth. A decree was also
passed that no dye, except black, should be anywhere made
use of in the kingdom, except in the capital cities or the
boroughs ; and if any one should be convicted of transgress
ing any of these laws, that his body should be imprisoned,
and his goods confiscated to the revenue. In this same
year, Philip, a clerk of the king's, of the country of Poictou,
was elected, bishop of Durham, and was consecrated at the
Lateran by pope Celestine.
Of the coronation of Otho, as king of Germany.
a.d. 1198. In the ninth year of king Eichard's reign, on
the recommendation of the same monarch, his nephew Otho
was crowned king of Alemaine or Germany; he directly
married the daughter of the duke of Louvain, and on the
day of his coronation sat at table in the church with her,
though she was not crowned at that time. In the same year,
on the death of pope Celestine, Innocent the Third succeeded
him, and on St. Peter's day was consecrated pope and placed
in St. Peter's chair ; under his auspices there sprang up in
Italy a new sect of preachers caUed ' Jacobites,' because they
imitated the life of the apostles. These men went forth
amongst cities, streets, and castles, preaching the word of the
gospel, eating but httle, scantily clothed, and without gold,
silver, or any other property. In a short time these people
multiplied throughout the world on account of their volun
tary poverty, dweUing in the chief cities by sevens and tens,
taking no heed for the future, and retaining nothing for their

170 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1198.
use on the morrow ; they also lived according to the rules of
the apostles, and whatever they had abundance of at their
tables from charitable gifts, this they immediately bestowed
on the poor ; they went about shod in the preaching of the
gospel, slept in their clothes, used hard beds, and put stones
under their heads for pillows.
Of the wonderful penitence of Hugh bishop of Chester.
In the same year Hugh de Nunant, bishop of Coventry
or Chester, fell very ill when on his way to Eome; and
when, by his illness gaining ground, he knew that his death
was approaching, he sent for the religious men of all Nor
mandy, abbats and priors, as many as he could, and in the
hearing of all of tbem, and purely and with a contrite heart,
he in tears confessed aloud all the sins, faults, and offences,
which occurred to his recollection. So great was his peni
tence and contrition, that all those who stood by and looked
at him were moved to tears ; and at length in tears and lamen
tations he with clasped hands besought all the priests, by
God's virtue, to inflict a fitting repentance and atonement on
him, a penitence for the great crimes of which he had been
guilty. But the rehgious men who stood by his bed hearing
of such a wicked life in a bishop, and at the same time be
holding his excessive contrition of heart, looked at one
another and were all silent, not knowing what advice to
give him, or what answer to make on a sudden. The bishop
on seeing this, said to them, "I know, I know, that now
you have heard of such great offences, you are doubting
amongst yourselves as to what you should inflict on me by
way of atonement ; but I beseech you, in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that, by way of penance you adjudge me,
for the remission of my sins, to remain, according to the will
of God, in the tortures of purgatory till the day of judgment,
that, by the mercy of our Eedeemer, whose compassion
always exceeds his judgment, I may then be saved." This
advice pleased them all, except always the divine clemency,
which desires all to be preserved, and not one to be lost.
Then the bishop, in the hearing of them all, acknowledged
with great grief that he had expelled the monks from Coven
try, and, to add to all his faults, had introduced irreligious
priests in their stead ; to atone for which fault, he found no

A.D. 1198.] PENITENCE OF BISHOP HUGH. 171
other kind of correction, unless he died in the habit of those
whom, under the influence of the devil, he had, as long as
he was able, persecuted, reduced to beggary, and, in his
hatred, injured in every possible way. After this confession,
he besought the abbat of Bee, who was standing by him
amongst the rest, out of charity, and to the shame of the
devil, to grant him the habit of a monk, that he might have
as protectors in the life to come those whom he had perse
cuted in this. After this was granted him, he gave all he
possessed in gold and silver, jewels, and precious vessels, to
religious houses and to the poor, and thus died more happily
than was expected amidst the hopes and tears of those who
stood round.
Of the restoration of the conventual church at Coventry, and the expul
sion of the priests.
There was at this time staying at the court of Borne a
certain monk of the convent at Coventry named Thomas,
who had been with the rest of his brethren expelled, as has
been mentioned above, by the before-named bishop, and who
was endeavouring by the authority of the supreme pontiff to
place again in their former condition the monks who were
dispersed in all directions ; some of his brethren had died,
some had left the court weary and impoverished, he alone
persevering in the matter, although on account of his poverty
he was often obliged to beg his bread ; but, having heard the
wished-for news of the death of the bishop of Coventry, his
heart was elated in the Lord, who shows his goodness to
those who trust in him and persevere in well-doing. One day
when the newly created pope Innocent was sitting in council
with his cardinals, the aforesaid monk suddenly burst into
the midst of them, and held out to the pope a petition setting
forth his business ; the latter, after he had read it, replied to
the hasty monk, " Brother, has not this petition been often,
in my sight and hearing, refused by our predecessors Clement
and Celestine ; and do you think, if you could not over
reach them, to do so with me as if I were foolish ?" and
added with anger, "Depart, brother, depart, for you cer
tainly wait here to no purpose." But the monk hearing
these words, replied with bitter tears, saying, " Holy father,
my petition is just, and altogether honourable, and therefore

172 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1198.
I do not wait in vain : for I await your death, as I have the
deaths of your predecessors ; for he who succeeds you will
hear my petition with effect." But the pope hearing these
words, was inexpressibly astonished, and turning to his car
dinals who sat near him, said, " Heard ye what this devil
said ? — ' I await,' says he, ' your death, as I have that of
your predecessors.'" Then turning to the monk he said,
" Brother, by St. Peter, you shall not wait my death here,
for your petition is granted." And immediately before he
took any food, he sent commands to Hubert archbishop of
Canterbury, that, immediately on the receipt of his letters, he
should go in person to the church of Coventry, expel the
priests, and reinstate the monks. The said archbishop, there
fore, supported by the high pontiff's authority, removed the
before-mentioned priests, and on the 18th of January re
introduced the monks in their stead. As the prior of that
place had died when the monks were driven into exile, he
appointed as prior over them a Norman named Joibert, who,
on account of his eminent skiU in secular affairs, had received
the government of the three priories, of Daventry, Wenlock,
and Coventry ; he immediately with the advice of the monks
set about the election of a bishop, and by common consent the
lot fell on Geoffrey de Muschamp. The prior of Bermondsey
dying about this time, too, Hubert archbishop of Canter
bury, to satisfy the avarice of the aforesaid Joibert, added
this fourth priory to his other three.
Of the consecration of certain bishops.
On the fourth Sunday in Lent of the same year, Eustace
dean of Salisbury, was consecrated bishop of Ely, by Hubert
archbishop of Canterbury, in the chapel of St. Catherine at
Westminster. Afterwards, Geoffrey bishop of Coventry
elect, was consecrated by the same archbishop at Canterbury
on the 21st of June. In this year, too, on the 15th of May,
a shower of blood fell on those who were building the castle
at Andelys in Normandy, which was a warning perhaps that
the death of king Bichard would occur shortly. And at this
time, too, Geoffrey archbishop of York, made peace with the
king and his brother in Normandy, for the king was dis
pleased with him on account of the removal of his chanceUor
at the time he was a prisoner of the emperor's.

A.D. 1198.] BATTLE IN WALES. 173
Of the removal of Hubert archbishop of Canterbury from the office of
justiciary.
At that time a difference arose between the archbishop of
Canterbury and the monks of the Holy Trinity at that place,
on account of the new church which the archbishop had
built at Lambeth ; for the monks were afraid* that he
would transfer the cathedral see to the latter place ; they
therefore set out to Borne to complain to pope Innocent, that
the archbishop, contrary to the dignity of his station, was
acting as justiciary of England, and judge in matters of Ufe
and death, and that he paid attention to secular affairs more
than was proper, neglecting the affairs of the church ; they
also charged him with the fact, that it was by his orders that
the church of St. Mary of the Arches, f in London, was
profaned, when Wilham with the Beard was dragged forth
from it, tied to horses' tails, dragged through the streets of
the city, and finally hung on the gallows ; and in this way
the monks, spending a great deal of money about it, greatly
dimmed the archbishop's fame. The pope, on hearing these
things, commanded the king of England, immediately on
receipt of his letters, under penalty of an interdict, to dismiss
the aforesaid archbishop from the office of justiciary, as it
was especiaUy forbidden bishops to meddle with secular
business. King Bichard, therefore, dismissed the archbishop,
and appointed Geoffrey Fitz-Peter in his place.
Of a battle between the English and Welsh, in which many were slain.
In the same year, whilst king Bichard was staying beyond
sea, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, high justiciary of England, assem
bled a large army and marched into Wales to the assistance
of WUUam de Brause, and his followers, who were besieged
in the castle of Matilda, by Wenunwen king of Wales ; and
on his arrival there a battle took place.J But the Welsh
* " For the monks feared, and indeed it not only was publicjy reported,
but also the archbishop had used threats to the same effect, that he would
transfer thither the episcopal see, and what was still worse, degrade the
monks, and put secular canons in their places. If this should take, effect,
it would redound to the injury of many, together with the ingratitude of
the electors, and of the numerous saints who had been monks in that
church." — M. Paris.
t Bow Church.
j Matthew Paris adds here, " Almost all the Welshmen in Wales were.

174 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D.

1198.

not being able to resist the English, were put to flight, and
throwing away their arms in order to fly better, gave courage
to the English ; more than three thousand seven hundred
of their soldiers were said to have been slain, besides those
who were taken prisoners, and those mortally wounded ; but
of the English only one man was killed, and he was pierced
by an arrow which was carelessly discharged by one of his
feUow soldiers.
How king Richard, in a battle with the French king, took twenty knights.
About the same time, Phihp king of the French, and the
English king Bichard, met in battle between Jumieges and
Vernon ; in this conflict the French king and his foUowers
took to flight, and retreated to Vernon for safety, but before
they could get into the castle, king Eichard, who was pur
suing them at the sword's point, made prisoners of twenty
knights, and more than sixty soldiers. On the tenth of
September in this year, Eichard bishop of London paid
the debt of nature. Of a glorious victory gained by king Richard.
About that time, king Eichard assembled aU his forces,
and, supported by the valour of his English troops, took by
assault three of the French king's castles, namely, Sirefontan,
Burs, and the fortress of Curcel. The French king, who
believed that the castle of Curcel was not yet taken, came
from Nantes to render assistance to that place, with four
assembled together, sworn to oppose the unjust invasion of the English as
long as they had breath in their bodies. When they were drawn out in
battle array against the English army, Peter the justiciary, a brave and
prudent knight, came up with his people in battle array against them, and
exhorted his men to fight bravely and manfully. One of them, named
Walter de Hame, a native of Trumpington, replied, ' God forbid, my lord,
that any nobleman should be prodigal of his own life : I am but a poor man,
and my life is of no value, nor will the enemy have much cause to triumph
in my death.' With these words, he did not wait for a reply, but furiously
spurred against one of the foremost of the enemy, leaving him on the ground
grievously wounded, charged a second, whom he served in the same
manner, and then assailed a third, whom he seized by the helmet, and
nearly shook the breath out of his body. Then looking back upon his own
army, he exclaimed, ' Hurra ! king's men, come on, and charge them, the
victory is oursl' Before he had spoken these words, the Welsh army was
broken ; the right wing of the English came up, and the enemy were
routed right and left."

a.d. 1198.] king Richard's conquests. 175
hundred knights and a number of attendants, and all his
soldiers ; king Bichard learning this by means of his scouts,
came in an opposite direction to meet them, and fought a
pitched battle with them, between Curcel and Gisors. In
this conflict the French king, unable to sustain the shock of
the battle, fled with his attendants to the castle of Gisors.
As the fugitives were retreating over the bridge of that
town, it broke down on account of the multitude who im
petuously rushed on it, and the king himself with his horse
and armour fell into the river Ethe, with innumerable others
of the French, and, as he lay there, was rolled over and over
in the mud, and with difficulty saved from death. In the
meantime, a picked body of the French troops, in order to
assist the flight of their sovereign, and to save him from
falling into the hands of the pursuing king, faced about
against king Bichard, and made a fierce attack on him,
thus exposing themselves to death for the preservation of
their sovereign. Then the battle raged on both sides, swords
thundered on helmeted heads, and drew fire by quickly re
peated blows, and the stiff lances knocked down enemies in
all directions ; but I have no time for the relation ; — their
rage did not cease till the king of the English had captured
the whole of the resisting band. In this battle king Eichard
unhorsed and made prisoners of three chosen knights,
Matthew de Montmorenci, Alan de Eusci, and Fulk de
Gilernalles ; and with" them were taken the following men of
rank in the French kingdom; Gallis de Porta, Gerard de
Chori, Philip de Nanteuil, Peter d'Eschans, Bobert de St.
Denys, Theobald de Wallengard, Cedunal de Trie, Boger de
Meetlent, Aim Triers, Eeginald d'Asci, Baldwin de Leisni,
Thomas d'Asgent, Ferrius de Paris, Peter de Latonia, Guy
de Nevers, Frumentin of Champagne, Theodoric d'Anceis,
Anfric de Baalim, Eborard de Montigny, Odo de Muntciun,
Funcard de Boche, Walter Bufus, Arnulph de Leini,
William de Banceto, Joken de Bray, Peter de Pine?, Denbert
d'Augi, Puncard du Chatel, William de Merllon, John de
Granges, Theobald de Breun, Eoger de Beaumont, Gilbert
de Braye, Peter de Maidul, John de Cerni, Alard de Loviers,
Ealph de Valencel, Ferri de Brunaye, Thomas de Castele,
William de Eochemont, Theobald de Misci; and besides
these already mentioned the said king took a hundred

176 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1198.
knights and two hundred horses, covered with armour ; of
soldiers, horse and foot, and arbalesters, he took an
immense number. After this, the victorious Bichard sent
letters to all his friends in England, such as the archbishops,
bishops, abbats, earls, and barons, earnestly and devoutly
begging of them to join him in glorifying God for having
granted him such a triumph over his enemies.
Of a treaty made between the kings of France and England.
Philip the French king, therefore, seeing that the power
of the king of England daily increased whilst his own
gradually grew deficient, yielded to necessity, and secretly
sent messengers to the supreme pontiff, setting forth by his
pleaders that he was willingly to come to an arrangement
with the king of England, or by a truce to put off fighting
for a time, in order that, after the truce was confirmed by
the authority of the pope himself, the monarchs of both
kingdoms might, by his co-operation, be able to fulfil the
vows of their pilgrimage, and to release the land of promise
from the power of the enemies of Christ; and that this
might be made secure and binding, the king asked the pope
to send some cardinal with plenary powers to the western
parts, who could, if necessary, pronounce sentence of inter
dict against whichever of them should be found averse to
peace and amity. With these and many other similar re
quests, pope Innocent, who was most anxious to forward the
cause of the crusade, was induced to comply, more by money
than the king's entreaties, and he accordingly sent Peter
of Capua, one of his cardinals, to make peace between the
two kings. He. on his arrival at the French king's do
minions, by advice of that monarch, took with him some
bishops of both kingdoms, and, on coming to the king of
England, he explained to him what great calamities were
happening and would continue to happen to the kingdoms of
the two monarchs unless peace was soon made between
them. King Bichard, however, answered with indignation,
saying that he was not bound by law to do anything at the
pope's command, especiaUy as he had often asked him to
compel the French king by the church's censure to restore to
him the territories and castles which the said king, in dis
regard of his oath, had#unjustly seized on when he himself

a.d. 1199.] king Richard's death. 177
was, in the land of promise, expeUing the enemies of the
cross, and endeavouring to restore the Holy Land to a proper
state. Wherefore, he had been compelled, by the fault of
the pope himself, to spend a very large sum of money in
regaining his own inheritance ; by which the aforesaid king
had not only committed perjury, but had also incurred the
sentence of excommunication ; and moreover, he did not
know whether the French king would agree to the truce.
The cardinal then called the English king aside, and told
him under a pledge of secresy, that it was at the instance
of that very monarch that he had been sent by the pope to
make peace between them ; and he advised the king also this
once to acquiesce in the pope's wish, and to rest assured that
the pope would listen to him concerning the king of the
French, as weU as concerning any other matters. On this
king Eichard, who beyond measure desired the welfare of
his nephew Otho, the lately crowned king of Germany, in
order to obtain from the pope easier approach to the imperial
consecration, was overcome by the entreaties of aU, and
acquiesced in the arrangements. The two kings then met
together, and swore to keep a truce for five years, with the
condition that the subjects and merchants of both kings
should be allowed to pass and repass at will, for the purpose
of buying or seUing, through the territories and markets of
either kingdom. After this was done, the king of England
sent the abbat of Chertsey and Baymond, a monk of St.
Alban's, who had been sent into Normandy to the king, about
the affairs of his church to Eome, to carry the above-men
tioned treaty into effect ; and, to effect aU this, the king
levied a tax of five shillings on every ploughed hide of land
throughout all England by way of aiding him.
How Hubert archbishop of Canterbury destroyed the church al Lambeth.
a.d. 1199. Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, at his own
expense, and to the disgrace of himself and many others, at
the request of the monks of Canterbury and by the order of
the supreme pontiff, destroyed the church of Lambeth, which
his predecessor Baldwin had founded and almost finished
himself. Of king Richard's death.
In the same year, after the truce had been arranged
VOL. II. jN

178 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1199.
between Philip and Eichard, the kings of France and
England, the latter king turned his arms against some of the
rebel barons of Poictou, and carrying fire and sword into their
cities and towns, cut down their vineyards and orchards, and
slew some of his enemies without pity. At length he arrived
in the duchy of Aquitaine, and laid siege to the castle of
Chalus, in the Limosin where, on the 26th of March, he
was wounded by one Peter Basilii, with a poisoned weapon,
as was said, but of this wound he thought nothing. At
length in the twelve days which he survived, he fiercely
attacked and took the castle, and committing the knights and
their followers to close imprisonment, put his own foUowers in
the castle, at the same time strengthening the fortifications.
But the wound which he had received at this place, having
been aU this time unattended to, began to sweU, and a sort of
blackness overspreading the place of the wound, mixed with
the sweUing, and caused him intolerable pain. At length
when he perceived that his danger was imminent, the king
prepared for his end by contrition of heart, by pure verbal
confession and by the communion of the body and blood of
our Lord ; he forgave the author of his death, namely Peter,
who had wounded him, and ordered him to be released from
his chains and to depart. He ordered his body to be buried
at Font-Evrault near the feet of his father, whose destroyer
he confessed himself to be, and bequeathed his invincible
heart to the church of Bouen; his entrails he ordered to be
buried in the church at the above-named castle, thus giving
Jhem as a present to the inhabitants of Poictou. To some of
his intimate foUowers he, under a promise of secresy, revealed
his reasons for making such a distribution of his body ; for
the reason above-assigned he gave his body to his father ; he
sent his heart as a present to the inhabitants of Eouen on
account of the incomparable fideUty which he" had always
experienced in them ; but to the inhabitants of Pioctou, for
their known treachery, he left his entrails, not considering
them worthy of any other part of him. After he had spoken
thus the swelhng suddenly reached the parts about his heart,
and on Tuesday the 6th of April this warhke man gave
up his spirit at the above-mentioned castle, after reigning
nine years and a half. He was buried, according to his
orders whilst living, at Font-Evrault, and with him, in the

a.d. 1199.] Richard's epitaph. 179
opinion of many, were buried alike the pride and honour of
the chivalry of the West ; of his death and burial some one
has published the foUowing epitaph.
His entrails given to Poictou — Lie buried near to Fort Chalus ;
His body lies entombed below — A marble slab at Font-Evraut ;
And Neustria thou hast thy part — The unconquerable hero's heart.
And thus through cities three are spread — The ashes of the mighty dead,
But this a funeral cannot be — Instead of one this king has three.
Here begins about king John, and other things that happened at that lime.
After the victorious king Eichard had, as has been
mentioned, gone the way of all flesh, John earl of Mortaigne,
his brother, honourably retained all those who had served his
brother as weU as the mercenary knights, promising them
large presents ; and forthwith he sent Hubert archbishop of
Canterbury, and WiUiam Marshal into England, to make his
peace there, and to take charge of the kingdom, together
with Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, who was then justiciary, and other
nobles of the kingdom. On their arrival there they made
the people swear fealty to earl John, and meeting with
Geoffrey Fitz-Peter they called together all the nobles of
whom they had the most doubts ; to them they promised that
earl John would restore their rights to them all ; on which
condition then the earls and barons swore fealty to the said
earl, in opposition to all others. But to William king of
Scots, they sent word by Eustace de Vesci, that earl John,
on his return, would satisfy him for all his rights in England,
if in the meantime he would keep faith and peace with the
earl ; and thus all strife and contention in England was set
at rest.
How some of the nobles united themselves to earl John, and others to
Arthur.
Whilst these events were passing in England, earl John
went to Chinon, where the treasure of the deceased king was
deposited, which John de Turnham, who had charge of it,
gave up to him with the castles of Saumur and Chinon, and
other fortresses, which had been entrusted to his care ; but
Thomas de Furneis, nephew of the said Eobert, delivered the
city and castle of Anjou, to Arthur count of Brittany, and
joined the said Arthur. The chiefs of Anjou, Maine, and
Tours also adhered to the party of Arthur as their liege lord,
n 2

180 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1199.
saying that it was the opinion and the custom of those
countries that Arthur, who was the son of the elder brother,
should succeed his uncle in the patrimony and inheritance,
which Geoffrey, father of this same Arthur would have had,
if he had survived king Bichard. Moreover Constance,
Arthur's mother, went to Tours, to the French king, and
delivered the said Arthur to him ; that king at once sent
him to Paris under .charge of a guard, and received into his
care all the cities and castles which belonged to Arthur. But
earl John, and his mother queen Eleanor, came attended by
a large army to Maine, took the city and castle, destroyed
the stone houses in it, because the inhabitants had taken the
side of Arthur, and, making prisoners of the citizens, incar
cerated them. How earl John assumed the duchy of Normandy.
After these events earl John spent Easter day at Bamfort
in Anjou, and on the day after sent queen Eleanor with
Marcadeus, to the city of Anjou, which they attacked and
destroyed, making prisoners of the citizens. Earl John, in
the meantime, came to Eouen, and on the octaves of Easter
day,* was girt with the sword of the duchy of Normandy in
the mother church, by Walter archbishop of Eouen, and the
same archbishop before the great altar placed on his head the
golden circle with rosettes of gold artificiaUy worked in a
circle on the top of it ; the duke then in the presence of the
clergy and people, swore, on the relics of the saints and by
the holy gospels, that he would in good faith and without
evil practices defend the holy church, and its dignity, and
honour the ordained priests of it ; he moreover swore to do
away with bad laws, if there were any, and to make others
in lieu of them. On the 23rd of May in this year, WiUiam, of
Norman race, and a canon of St. Paul's church at London,
was consecrated bishop of London in the chapel of St.
Catherine, at Westminster by Hubert archbishop of Canter
bury. Of king John's coronation.
About this time John duke of Normandy came over into
England, and landed at Shoreham on the 25th of May ; on
• 25th of April.

A.D. 1199.] CORONATION OF KING JOHN. 181
the day after, which was the eve of our Lord's ascension, he
went to London to be crowned there. On his arrival there
fore, the archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, and all others,
whose duty it was to be present at his coronation, assembled
together in the church of the chief of the apostles at
Westminster, on the 27th of May, and there Hubert arch
bishop of Canterbury placed the crown on his head,* and
anointed him king ; Philip bishop of iDurham, made an
appeal to prevent this coronation taking place in the absence
of Geoffrey archbishop of York, but did not obtain his wish.
At this coronation king John bound himself by a triple oath,
namely, to love the holy church and its ordained priests, and
to , preserve it harmless from the attacks of evil designers,
and to do away with bad laws, substituting good ones in their
stead, and to see justice rightly administered throughout
England. He was afterwards adjured by the same arch
bishop on behalf of God, and strictly forbidden to presume to
accept this honour, unless he purposed in his mind, to fulfil in
deed, what he had sworn to; in reply to this the king
promised that, by God's assistance, he would in all good
* Matthew Paris adds as follows : — " The archbishop, standing in the
midst, addressed them thus, ' Hear, all of you, and be it known that no one
has an antecedent right to succeed another in the kingdom, unless he shall
have been unanimously elected, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, on
account of the superior merits of his character, after the example of Saul
the first anointed king, whom the Lord set over his people, not as the son
of a king, nor as born of royal ancestry. In the same manner, after
Saul came David, son of Jesse. Saul was chosen because he was a brave
man, and suited for the royal dignity: David, because he was holy and
humble. Thus those who excelled in vigour are elevated to kingly dignity.
But, if any relations of a deceased king excel others in merit, all should the
more readily and zealously consent to his election. We have said this to
maintain the cause of earl John, who is here present, brother of our illus
trious king Richard, lately deceased without heirs of his body, and as the
said earl John is prudent, active, and indubitably noble, we have, under
God's Holy Spirit, unanimously elected him for his merits and his royal
blood.' Now the archbishop was a man of bold character and*a support to
the kingdom by his steadiness and incomparable wisdom, no one, therefore,
dared to dispute what he said, as knowing that he had good cause for what
he did. Earl John and all who were present acquiesced, and they unani
mously elected the earl, crying out, ' God save the king ! ' Archbishop
Hubert was afterwards asked why he acted in this manner, to which he
replied that he knew John would one day or other bring the kingdom into
great confusion, wherefore he determined that he should owe his elevation
to election and not to hereditary right."

182 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1199.
faith keep the oath which he had made. On the following
day, after he had received the homage and fealty of his sub
jects, he went to St. Alban's, the proto-martyr of England, to
pray ; and so, making but a very short stay in England, he
with the advice of the nobles duly settled everything that
required his attention.
How king John crossed over into Normandy and reconciled many of the
** nobles to himself.
On the day of St. John the Baptist's nativity the king
crossed sea to Normandy, and on his arrival at Eouen a
number of soldiers, both horse and foot, flocked together to
him, and these he gladly retained in his service. Afterwards
he had an interview with the king of the French, when a
truce was agreed on till the day after the assumption of the
blessed Mary, in order that they might in the meantime
arrange terms of peace. In the meantime the count of
Flanders and many other nobles of the French kingdom
came to king John at Eouen, and made a treaty of aUiance
with him, as they had done with king Eichard, against the
king of the French ; and after mutually giving security, each
returned to his own territories.
How the kings met at a conference, but went away at variance with one
another.
In this same year, on the day after the assumption of the
blessed Mary, the French king conferred the knight's belt on
Arthur count of Brittany ; and the said Arthur at once did
homage to the French king for Anjou, Poictou, Tours,
Maine, Brittany, and Normandy; and the king promised
Arthur his assistance in gaining possession of all these places.
On the day after the two kings held a conference between
the castle of Butavant and Gaillon, at which they, apart
from the nobles of both kingdoms, conversed face to face for
an hour, no one except themselves being within hearing.
At this interview the French king required for his own use
the whole of the Vexin, that is, the country contained be
tween the forest of Lyons and the Seine on one side, and the
rivers Andelys and Ethe on the other side ; and said that
Geoffrey Plantagenet count of Anjou, John's grandfather, had
given it to Louis le Gros for the assistance afforded him by

A.D. 1199.] OTHO EMPEROR OF ROME. 183
that monarch in gaining possession of Normandy in oppo
sition to king Stephen. He moreover demanded for Arthur
the countries of Poictou, Anjou, Maine, Tours, and Nor
mandy, and many other things, which John would not and
ought not to grant ; and so, breaking off the interview,
they departed mutually at variance. The king of the French
being asked by his nobles why he was so inimically disposed
towards king John, who had never done him an injury,
repUed that the latter had seized on Normandy and the
above-named other countries without his permission, whereas
he ought, at king Bichard's death, in the first place to have
come to him, and done homage to him for his right. The
king of the French thus departed ; but WiUiam de Bupibus, a
nobleman, cunningly took Arthur away from the care of the
French king, and made peace between him and the king of
England, at the same time giving up to the latter the city of
Mans, which the French king had entrusted together
with Arthur to the care of the aforesaid William ; but on the
same day it was told Arthur that the king of the English
would take him and consign him to perpetual imprisonment ;
on which he secretly made his escape and returned to the
king of the French again.
How king Otho went to Rome, and obtained the title of emperor there •
At that time the election of Philip duke of Suabia, and
many others, was annulled, and Otho king of Germany was
elected and admitted emperor of Eome by pope Innocent
and aU the Eoman people. After this election was confirmed
by the pope, Philip duke of Suabia, and all his supporters,
were threatened with excommunication, unless they desisted
from their persecution of Otho; and in the capital, and
throughout the whole city of Eome, the cry was raised of
' Life and health to the emperor Otho.' Being thus con
firmed in his title by all, he recollected that it was by king
Eichard's means that he had been advanced to such a great
dignity, he therefore sent word to king John to put off
coming to terms of friendship with the French king, because
he the emperor would, God willing, in a short time provide
him with such assistance as became the imperial dignity to
give.

184 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1199.
The French kingdom is laid under interdict.
About this time, Peter of Capua, a cardinal and legate of
the apostolic see, laid the kingdom of France under an inter
dict, on account of the imprisonment of his brother Peter de
Douay, bishop-elect of Cambray; but the king of the
French released the said bishop-elect before the sentence was
withdrawn. In the same year, too, the same legate came to
the king of the EngUsh and demanded, under pain of inter
dict, the release of the bishop of Beauvais, who had now been
most cruelly detained in prison for two years, and the
king's free permission for that prelate to depart ; but since
the said bishop had, in disregard of the dignity of his order,
been taken in arms hke a soldier or routier, he was not
allowed to depart before he had satisfied the rapacity of the
king by paying six thousand mark3 of silver sterling weight
into his treasury ; after which the said bishop swore that he
would never again during his Ufe carry arms against the
Christians. Of the decision of the old cause between the churches of Tours ami Dol.
In this year a very old cause between the churches of
Tours and Dol, was decided at Eome by a definitive de
cree of pope Innocent ; the archbishop of Tours requiring
submission from the bishop of Dol, and the bishop of Dol
opposing it. The church of Dol was the head of Lesser
Brittany, and the high priests of that church, as well as all
the other prelates of Lesser Brittany, had in the time of
St. Martin, and before and long since that time, been suffra
gans of the church of Tours, but they afterwards revolted
from their allegiance to that church; the reason of which
was this. When the English came into the Greater Britain
to subdue it, and Uterpendragon, king of the Britons, being
taken seriously ill, was confined to his bed at Verulamium, so
that he was able neither to help himself nor to defend his
kingdom against the rage of the barbarians of the country,
the superstition of the English ( Saxons) is said to have prevailed
to such an extent, that the whole island almost was laid
waste from sea to sea, and the holy churches leveUed to the
ground. On this, the pontiffs and prelates of the churches,
seeing the desolation of the country and the subversion of the

A.D. 1200.] CHURCHES OF TOURS AND DOL. 185
holy church, retreated to places of greater safety, agreeing
unanimously, that it was wiser to avoid the rage of the bar
barians for a time, than to dwell fruitlessly amongst those
who rebelled against the Christian faith. Amongst these,
St. Sampson, archbishop of York, a man of unparalleled
sanctity, fled to his fellow countrymen in Lesser Brittany (for
they were of the same extraction and country), and carried
with him the paU, which he had received from the Boman
pontiff ; and on his arrival in that country, he was received
with honour by his fellow citizens, and by the common con
sent of aU, was elected to the bishopric of the church of Dol,
which had been lately deprived of its pastor, and the king's
permission having been obtained, he was enthroned in that
office, although much against his wiU ; and in that church he,
as long as he lived, and after him, many of his successors
always wore that paU, which he had brought from the
monastery of York. But afterwards, the kings of that
province, when they had had an archbishop in their own
kingdom, did not aUow their bishops, although they had
always been formerly suffragans of the church of Tours, to
pay due obedience to the before-mentioned archbishop of
Tours ; and they determined that the bishops of Lesser Brit
tany should not again have any other metropolitan than the
archbishop of Dol. After the lapse, however, of three hun
dred years or more from that time, pope Nicholas, at the
instance of the archbishop of Tours, endeavoured to revoke
this error, and wrote a letter to Salamon king of the Britons,
which is contained in the decretals of Gratian, Caus. 3,
Quest, 6, as foUows : —
Letter of pope Nicholas on the same matter.
" This is the decree of your said father, and this is the
law of the church your mother, to wit, that you send all the
bishops of your kingdom to the archbishop of Tours, and ask
his judgment ; for he is the metropolitan, and all the bishops
of your kingdom are his suffragans, as the writings of my
predecessors plainly show ; and they strongly rebuked your
predecessors for having withdrawn themselves from the juris
diction of that archbishop, although our own letters also to
you on this matter seem not to be deficient." And in another
part, " But whereas there is a great contention amongst the

186 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1200.
Britons, as to who is the metropolitan bishop, and no man's
recollection holds that you ever had any metropolitan church
in your own district ; however, if it pleases you, you will be
able easily to perceive the truth of my words, since Almighty
God has made peace between you and our beloved son, the
renowned king Charles ; but if you intend to proceed con-
tentiously, endeavour to bring the matter before our apostohc
see, that, by our judgment, it may be more clearly known
which was formerly the archiepiscopal church amongst you,
and that, all doubt being thus dispeUed, your bishops may
know without hesitation what course they ought to pursue."
However, notwithstanding that the above-mentioned admoni
tion was given te the said king, he did not desist from his pur
pose, but ever afterwards both he and his successors persisted
in their disobedience, and a continual strife and disagreement
existed between the bishops of Tours and Dol, until in the
present year, as has been stated above, it was definitively
decided by the pope, that, not only the bishop of DoL but
also all the other bishops of Brittany, should be subject to the
archbishop of Eouen, and acquiesce in his canonical injunc
tions for ever. The said pope in pronouncing definitive
judgment in this matter, as one who is great in knowledge,
and bold, and at the same time skilled in law, rose, and thus
spoke: — "Let Dol grieve, and Tours rejoice."
Hew queen Eleanor was sent for the lady Blanche, to be married to Louis.
a.d. 1200. After the feast of St. Hilary, the French and
English kings, Philip and John, held a conference at a place
between the castles of Gaillon and Butavant, at which it was
agreed between the said kings with the advice of the chief
nobles of each kingdom, that Louis, the son and heir of the
French king, should espouse the daughter of Alphonso king
of Castile, who was also niece of king John, and that the
English king should, when this marriage was contracted,
give to Louis as a marriage portion with his niece Blanche,
the city of Evreux, with the whole of that county, and
thirty thousand marks of silver besides. Moreover, the
French king asked the EngUsh monarch to give him security
that he would afford no assistance, either in soldiers or in
money, to his nephew Otho, in obtaining the Eoman empire.
It has been said that PhiUp duke of Suabia, by the French

A.D. 1200.] MARRIAGE OF KING JOHN. 187
king's connivance and assistance, was grievously harassing
Otho ; indeed he did not cease his persecution, notwithstand
ing the sentence of excommunication with which he had
been bound by the pope. The treaty above-mentioned
having been finaUy confirmed between the kings, they ap
pointed the ensuing feast of St. John the Baptist to carry
into effect, without fail, the terms of the above-mentioned
agreement ; and after the conference was broken up, king
John, who hoped by this marriage to enjoy a lengthened
peace, sent his mother queen Eleanor to fetch the said lady
Blanche, that the latter might return with her in safe con
duct at the time pre-agreed on. The king of the English in
the mean time sailed to England, and levied a tax of three
shillings on each hide of land throughout aU England, and,
after settling some other business, he again crossed sea into
Normandy. Of the marriage of Louis with the daughter of Alphonso king of Castile.
Soon after these events, queen Eleanor returned with the
aforesaid lady who was to be married to Louis, and presented
her to the king of the English. Afterwards, on the 21st of
June, the kings held a conference at a place between Gule-
tuhe and Butavant, at which the king of the French gave up
to the EngUsh king the city of Evreux, together with the
whole county, and all the lands in Normandy, and the
other dominions of the EngUsh king, which he had taken
possession of during the war; king John immediately did
homage to the French king for them, and then gave them all
up to Louis as a marriage portion with his niece, and re
ceived the homage of Louis for the same. On the day
following the lady Blanche was married to Louis at Portmort
in Normandy, by the archbishop of Bourdeaux ; for the king
dom of France was at that time under an interdict on
account of queen Botilda,* whom the French king had di
vorced. Immediately after his marriage, Louis brought his
wife to Paris, to the great joy and exultation of the clergy
and people of both kingdoms.
How king John married queen Isabel.
In the same year a divorce having been effected between
* Before called " Ingelburg," daughter of the king of Denmark.

188 ROGER OF WENDOVER. Ta.D. 1200.
the king of the English and his wife Hawisa, daughter of
the earl of Gloucester, because they were related in the
third degree of affinity, the said king, by the advice of the
king of the French, espoused Isabel, daughter of the count of
Angouleme, formerly wife of Hugh, surnamed "le Brun,"
earl of March: this marriage was afterwards very injurious
to the king as well as the kingdom of England. Not long
after this the kings held a conference at Vernon, and there
Arthur did homage to the king of England for Brittany and
his other possessions; but as he feared treachery on the part
of king John, he still remained under the care of the French
king. Command of the Lord, which came from heaven to Jerusalem, concerning
the observance of the sabbath.
About that time a letter came from heaven to Jerusalem
and was hung up over the altar of St. Simeon, in Golgotha,
where Christ was crucified for the redemption of the world ;
this letter hung for three days and nights, and those who
beheld it fell to the earth, asking mercy of God, and beseech
ing him to show them his will ; but on the third day, after
the third hour of the day, the patriarch, and the archbishop
Zachariah, raised themselves from their prayers, and, opening
the fillet over the high-altar, took the sacred letter of God,
and after inspecting it, found this inscription on it : — " I am
the Lord, who have ordered you to keep holy the day of the
sabbath, on which I rested from my labours, that aU mortals
might on that day rest for ever ; and ye have not kept it, nor
have ye repented of your sins. As I spake by my gospel, —
' The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my word
shall not pass away.' I caused repentance of life to be
preached to you, and ye did not believe ; I sent upon you
pagans, and gentiles, who shed your blood upon the earth,
and stiU ye did not beheve ; and, because ye did not keep
holy the Lord's day, for a few days ye endured famine ; but
I soon gave you plenty, and ye afterwards did worse : there
fore it is my will that, from the ninth hour of the sabbath
till sunrise on Monday, no one shall do any work, except
that which is good, and whoever shaU do so, shaU atone for
it ; and if ye obey not this my command, verily I say unto
you, and I swear by my seat and my throne, and by the
cherubims which guard my holy seat, that I wiU not send

A.D. 1200.] CONSECRATION OF THE SABBATH. 189
you any orders by another letter, but I will open the heavens
and, instead of rain, I wiU shower on you stones, and wood,
and hot water, by night, such that no man can avoid, since
I will destroy aU evil-doers. This I say unto you, ye shall
die. the death, on account of the holy day of the Lord and the
other festivals of my saints which ye have not observed. I
will send on you beasts with the heads of lions, the hair of
women, and the tails of camels, and they shall be so hungry,
that they will devour your flesh, and ye shall desire to fly to
the sepulchres of the dead to hide yourselves for fear of these
beasts ; and I will take away the Ught of the sun, and send
darkness on you, so that not seeing, ye shall slay one another;
and I will turn my face from you, and will show you no
mercy, for I will burn your bodies, and the hearts of those,
who do not keep the Lord's day holy. Hear then my voice,
lest ye perish on the earth on account of the sacred day of
the Lord ; depart from evil and repent of your sins, which if
ye do not, ye wiU perish like Sodom and Gomorrah. Know
now, that ye are safe through the prayers of my most holy
mother Mary, and of my holy angels who pray daily for you.
I gave you corn and wine in abundance, and then ye obeyed
me not, for daily do widows and orphans cry unto you, to
whom ye show no compassion; pagans have pity, but ye
have none. Trees which bring forth fruit will I cause to
rot, for your sins : and rivers and fountains shall not give
you water. On the mount of Sinai I gave you a law, which
ye have not observed ; after that, I myself gave you a law,
which ye kept not. Wicked men that ye are, ye have not
kept holy the Sunday of my resurrection ; ye take away the
property of others and treat the matter with no considera
tion : for this wiU I send on you worse beasts, who will
devour the breasts of your women. Them will I curse who
act unjustly towards their brethren ; them will I curse who
evilly judge the poor and the orphan : but ye have deserted
me, and are following the prince of this life. Hear my voice,
and ye will receive mercy ; but ye cease not from your evil
deeds, nor from the works of the devil, inasmuch as ye
commit perjury and adultery, and so nations wiU surround
you and devour you Uke wild beasts."

190 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D 1200.
Of the preaching of Eustace abbat of Flaye, on the said mandate.
But when the patriarch and all the clergy of the Holy
Land had carefully examined into the tenor of this letter,
and beheld the words of it with mixed admiration and fear,
it was determined by the common opinion of all, that it
should be transmitted for the consideration of the Boman
pontiff, that all might be satisfied with whatever he deter
mined ought to be done. The letter having at length been
brought under the notice of our lord the pope, he imme
diately ordained priests, who were sent out into every
quarter of the world to preach the purport of the letter, the
Lord co-operating with them, and confirming their discourse
by miracles resulting therefrom. Amongst these the abbat
of Flaye, Eustace by name, a rehgious and learned man, set
out for England, and there shone forth in performing many
miracles ; he landed near the city of Dover, and commenced
the duty of his preaching at a town caUed Wi. In the neigh
bourhood of that place he bestowed his blessing on a certain
spring, which by his merits was so endowed with the Lord's
favour, that, from the taste of it alone, the blind recovered
sight, the lame their power of walking, the dumb their
speech, and the deaf their hearing ; and whatever sick person
drank of it in faith, at once enjoyed renewed health. A
certain woman who was attacked by devils, and swoUen up
as it were by dropsy, came to him there, seeking to be
restored to health by him ; he said to her, " Have confidence,
my daughter, go to the spring at Wi, which the Lord hath
blessed, drink of it, and there you wiU recover health." The
woman departed, and, according to the advice of the man of
God, drank, and she immediately broke out into a fit of
vomiting ; and, in the sight of all who were at the fountain
for the recovery of their health, there came from her two
large black toads, which, in order to show that they were
devils, were immediately transformed to great black dogs, and
after a short time took the forms of asses. The woman stood
astonished, but shortly ran after them in a rage, wishing to
catch them ; but a man who had been appointed to take
charge of the spring, sprinkled some of the water between
the woman and the monsters, on which they flew up into the
air and vanished, leaving behind them traces of their foulness.

A.D. 1200.] MIRACLE ON A SABBATH-BREAKER. 191
How the aforesaid abbat caused a fountain of sweet water to spring forth.
This same man of God came to the town of Eumesnel to
preach, at which place there was a deficiency of fresh water,
and at the request of the people of the place, he, with his
staff, struck a stone in the church there, on which, water in
abundance flowed forth, and many who drank of it were
cured of various sicknesses. Afterwards going about from
place to place, from province to province, from city to city,
he, by his preaching, induced many to relax in usurious
habits, admonished them to assume the Lord's cross, and
turned the hearts of many to works of piety ; he also forbade
markets and traffic on Sundays, so that all the business which
used to be transacted throughout England on Sundays was
now arranged on one of the days of the following week, and
thus the people of the faith employed their leisure on
Sundays in their duties to God, and refrained altogether from
toil on that day ; as time, however, went on many returned
to their old customs, like dogs to their vomit. He forbade the
rectors of the churches and the priests, with the persons
subject to them, to keep a light constantly burning before
the eucharist, in order that He who enlightens every man
that comes into the world, might give the eternal for the
temporal Ught. To aU the rich and to the upper ranks,
especiaUy to merchants and citizens, he gave the injunction
always to have at their table the dish of Christ for the poor,
that by taking from their accustomed abundance, they might
aUeviate the necessities of the indigent. He also commanded
the Saturday after three o'clock to be kept holy from all
servile work the same as Sunday, and also the whole of
Sunday and the night foUowing, which forms one natural
day, and represents figuratively the repose of our everlasting
rest. Of a dreadful miracle wrought on a certain woman.
About this same time a certain woman of the county of
Norfolk, despite of the warnings of this man of God, went
one day to wash clothes after three o'clock of Saturday ; and,
whilst she was busily at work, a man of venerable appear
ance, unknown to her, approached her, and reproachingly
inquired the reason of her rashness in thus daring, after the
prohibition of the man of God, to wash clothes after three

192 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1200.
o'clock, and thus by unlawful work to profane the holy
Sabbath day; he moreover added, that unless she at once
desisted from her work, she would, without doubt, incur the
anger of God and the vengeance of Heaven. But she, in
answer to her rebuker, pleaded urgent poverty, and said that
she had till then dragged on a wretched life by toil of that
kind, and if she should desist from her accustomed labour,
she doubted her ability to procure the means of subsistence.
After a while the man vanished suddenly from her presence,
and she renewed her labour of washing the clothes and dry
ing them in the sun with more energy than before. But for
all this the vengeance of God was not wanting ; for, on the
spot, a kind of small pig of a black colour suddenly adhered
to the woman's left breast and could not by any effort be
torn away, but, by continual sucking, drew blood, and in a
short time almost consumed all the bodUy strength of the
wretched woman ; at length being reduced to the greatest
necessity, she was compelled for a long time to beg her bread
from door to door, until, in the sight of many who wondered
at the vengeance of God, she terminated her wretched life by
a miserable death.
Of another miracle which was wrought on the cutting of a loaf of bread.
About this same time, a certain labourer in the county of
Northumberland ordered his wife to bake some bread on the
Saturday for eating on the morrow ; the woman obeyed the
commands of her husband, and when on the morrow, she had
set the bread before her husband, and he began to cut it,
there occurred a wonderful and unheard-of event ; for warm
blood followed the knife as he cut the bread, as if it flowed
from an animal just slain. This circumstance, after it came
to the knowledge of the people, hindered many from labour
on that day.
How Geoffrey archbishop of York, was deprived of ail his goods.
About that time, Geoffrey archbishop of York, was, by
command of king John, deprived of all the emoluments of
his archbishopric ; for James sheriff of York, and his attend
ants, had presumed to attack with violence his manors, and
the property of the clerks and other religious men, and to
make a division of their goods ; on which the said archbishop

A.D. 1200.] HUGH BISHOP OF LINCOLN. 193
excommunicated the aforesaid James by name, and in general
aU the other authors of this violence, for which the latter had
excited the king's anger and indignation against the prelate.
But the cause of the king's anger against him was manifold ;
in the first place, because he did not permit the aforesaid
sheriff to collect in his diocese the tax for the king's use, as
had been generally permitted throughout England ; secondly,
because he would not accompany him into Normandy, to
perform the marriage ceremony between Louis and his niece,
and to make terms with the French king ; thirdly, because
he had excommunicated the said sheriff, and laid the whole
county of York under an interdict.
Of the coronation of king John and queen Isabel at London.
In this year, king John, after settling his affairs on the
other side of the water crossed over into England bringing
his wife with him, and on the 8th of October landed at
Dover ; thence they came to London, and were both crowned
at Westminster by Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, in the
presence of the nobles of the kingdom ; Geoffrey archbishop
of York, who had made his peace with the king, was also
present at this ceremony. About this time too, John sent
word to William king of Scots to come to him at Lincoln, on.
the day after St. Edmund's day, to satisfy him for his rights
in England. Of the life of St. Hugh bishop of Lincoln, before his obtaining the
bishopric.
At this time Hugh bishop of Lincoln, of reverend memory,
came from the continent, and being attacked by the quartan
ague at the Old Temple in London, closed his laudable life
by a glorious death on the 16th of November; his holy con
versation in his hfe, which was to all men an instruction in
morals, and an example of good works, compels us to insert
a few things about him in this work. This holy 'man was
born in a remote district of Burgundy, but was more refined
in manners than his family, and was much devoted to literary
pursuits from his youth, and when he was ten years old he
was entrusted to the regular canons to be instructed in divine
learning, amongst whom he was regularly instructed both in
morals and in learning, and after spending sixteen years in
VOL. H. o

194 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1200.
the cell he obtained the office of prior, and in that station all
things went on prosperously with him ; then, determining to
put a stronger check on the dangerous passions of the flesh,
he by the Lord's will went over to the Carthusian order.
Amongst them he showed himself so kind and affable to aU,
yet still preserving his reUgious seriousness, that after a very
short time had elapsed he was appointed manager of aU that
house. In course of time, when a house of the Carthusian
order had been established in England by the Ulustrious
Henry king of England, who burnt with an ardent desire to
promote the cause of God, he was prevailed on by the entreaties
of the monarch to direct his attention to the government of that
house, and, after he was called to the duties of the priorship,
he made it his daily study to increase his former sanctity, for
which, and by his holy conversation, he gained great favour
with the king, who often enjoyed discourse with him. The
king had held in his own hands the church of Lincoln, which
had been for some years deprived of the care of a bishop ; to
atone for which offence as well as he could, he procured the
appointment by election of the aforesaid man, Hugh, to the
government of that church. Afterwards when his election
was announced to the man of God, he repUed that he would
not accept the dignity of the pontifical station, unless it was
first made clear to him that he did so by the common consent
of the church of Lincoln, as well as with the permission of
the Carthusian prior. After he had been perfectly satisfied
on these points, the dean of Lincoln with the elders of that
church came to the man of God, and he at the first interview
so gained on their regard that they wished for him as their
pastor and spiritual father with devout and sincere affection; but
in order that their consent might be more surely made known
to him they elected him there, and then he for the first time
agreed to it. Afterwards, when he had been consecrated, on
the first night in which he slept in his bishopric, after pay
ing his devotions he heard a voice saying to him, " Thou
hast gone forth to the safety of thy people to safety with
Christ." Of the virtues of the holy man in his episcopacy.
This consecrated servant of God, Hugh, so illuminated his
church by his merits, so instructed the people committed to
his charge by his words and his example, that he showed that

A.D. 1200.] SANCTITY OF BISHOP HUGH. 195
the name of bishop rightly belonged to him, and putting
chosen persons into the cathedral church he built a temple to
God out of those living stones : he also constantly checked the
attacks of the secular power in matters relating to the church,
for he seemed to despise the danger to his goods or body, in
which course he made such progress that he restored many
rights which had been lost, and liberated his church from a
most severe servitude. Besides this holy man was accus
tomed to enter the houses of leprous people, which he passed
by, and to kiss all afflicted with leprosy however deformed,
and to bestow charity on them with liberaUty; on this
William, of good memory, chanceUor of the same church,
wishing to try if his mind, was affected by pride on account
of this, said to him, " Martin, by his kisses, healed the leper,
you do not heal the lepers whom you kiss." The bishop
immediately said to him in reply, " Martin's kiss healed the
leper's flesh, but the leper's kiss heals my spirit." In burying
the dead he so diligently fulfilled the duties of humanity, that
he never neglected any dead body, to whose burial he
thought it his duty to attend. Once, when this holy man
was attending to the care of his flock, visiting some parishes,
and amongst others had arrived at a town called Alcmunde-
beri, the parents of a certain child came to him, bringing
their almost lifeless httle one with them, and with tears
besought his assistance. On the bishop asking what they
wanted, the child's mother replied, " This our little boy took
in his hand a piece of iron more than an inch in length and
thickness, and, as a child does, put it into his mouth and
swallowed it, but it stuck fast in his throat and is killing the
child : wherefore, holy father, the Lord has sent you to restore
to us our child, who is now panting' at the point of death.
The bishop looking on the child touched his tongue, and pro
nouncing a blessing, breathed on it, and after marking it with
the sign of the cross, gave him back to his parents ; and on
their taking him from the bishop the iron leaped forth aU
bloody, and the boy was cured from that hour. On another
occasion too, when the holy man was passing through a town
called Cestrehuntc, the relatives of a certain madman, who
had been for three weeks obUged to be restrained by bonds,
begged of him to visit and bless him ; on hearing which the
holy man dismounted from his horse and went to the mad-
o2

196 ROGER OF WENDOVER. . [A.D. 1200.
man, who had his head bound to a post, and his hands and
feet on each side made fast to stakes. The bishop blessed
some water which was brought him, and when the insane
man put out his tongue as if deriding him, he sprinkled some
of the water on it ; he then read over the madman the part
of the Gospel, " In the beginning was the word," and after
giving him his blessing departed. When he was gone, the
diseased man began to sleep, and when he awoke he was
restored to his former state of health. About this time this
pious priest happened to be at Lincoln, assisting in the work
of the mother church there, which he had nobly built from
its foundations ; and whilst he was carrying stones and
mortar in a hod on his shoulders, as was often his custom, a
certain man, lame in both legs, came leaning on two sticks,
and most earnestly begged to carry the same hod, hoping to
recover his soundness of limb by the merits of this blessed
man ; at length he obtained permission from the master of
the work for the hod to be given to him, and, leaning on his
sticks, he began to carry stones and mortar in it. But after
a few days had elapsed, he gave up one stick, and soon after
wards the other, and after a little while, becoming strong and
upright, he carried the same hod in working at the church
without the support of any stick ; and after he was well he
so loved that hod, that he declared that it should never be
taken away from him. At another time in the same city it
happened that a certain citizen fell into such a state of
insanity that eight men were appointed to take charge of
him, and he was confined by bonds, for he was excited by
such frenzy, that he threatened to tear his wife and his own
children to pieces with his teeth ; at length he was brought
tied in a cart to the man of God, who, on seeing him,
immediately sprinkled holy water on him, and adjured the
evil spirit to come out of him and not to trouble him any
more. The insane man suddenly fell to the ground like one'
dying, and the holy man then poured the blessed water on
him in large quantities. Immediately afterwards the mad
man got up, and, raising his tied hands towards heaven, gave
thanks to God, and to the blessed priest, on which the bonds
were taken off him and he went away a sound man. Also a
certain woman of Lincoln had two sons, one of whom whilst
he was yet a boy had a large sweUing in his side ; his mother,

A.D. 1200.] DEATH OF SAINT HUGH. 197
despairing of his health, went to this holy bishop and
obtained his promise to bless her son. The bishop accord
ingly laid his hands on the diseased part, blessed him, and
sent him away ; after which the tumour was so suddenly
assuaged, that from that hour it neither troubled the boy, nor
did the mother see anything further of it. At another time
it happened that this same woman's other son was hopelessly
suffering from jaundice ; but she, remembering her former
refuge, brought him also before the holy bishop to be blessed
by him, and this one too, after receiving his blessing, was
restored to his former state of health within three days' time.
How Saint Hugh departed this life.
At the end of the fourteenth year of his episcopacy, the
holy bishop Hugh, on his return to England from the prin
cipal house of the Carthusian order, where he had been to
visit the prior and brothers of that house, at their long-
expressed desire, was taken seriously ill of the quartan ague,
at the old Temple, in the city of London. There king John
came to see him ; but before he left him he confirmed his
will, at the exhortation of the man of God, and promised in
the Lord that he would for the future ratify the reasonable
testaments of prelates. Although his sickness daily gained
ground, he would not at any one's recommendation lay aside,
even for a short time, the hair-cloth garment which he
always wore ; but being the more determined as his death
approached to abide by the rigorous rules of the Car
thusian order, he, at the call of God, departed happily from
this hfe to him. When this holy man's body was being
carried by the citizens of London to be buried at Lincoln, a
wonderful circumstance ocourred ; for the tapers which had
been lighted before the body on leaving London, burnt con
tinually during four days' journey, so that they were not at
any time without the light of one of the tapers, although the
weather was often unusually bad, on account of the wind
and rain ; from this circumstance there is no doubt but that
the Lord had prepared eternal light for his soul, since, out of
regard for his body, he did not permit the temporal light to
be extinguished. This servant of God, Hugh, bishop of
Lincoln, died in the year of the incarnate Word 1200, on
the 17th of November.

198 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1200.
How the body of St. Hugh was carried to Lincoln to be buried.
On the 21st of November, John king of the English and
William king of Scots met in conference together with aU
the nobiUty, both clergy and laity of both kingdoms. In
opposition to the advice of many, king John entered the city
(Lincoln) boldly, which none of his predecessors had dared to
attempt, and, on arriving at the cathedral church, he offered
a golden cup on the altar of St. John the Baptist, which was
in the new building erected from the foundation by the
before-mentioned St. Hugh. On the same day, he and the
king of Scots met on a hill outside the city, and there, in
sight of all the people, Wilham king of Scots did homage
to king John for all his right, and afterwards, in the presence
of all the nobles of the kingdom, swore fealty to him, on the
cross of Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, for hfe, for Umb,
and earthly honour, against aU men. On this same day the
body of the most holy bishop Hugh was brought there to be
buried ; and the said two kings went out to meet it, accom
panied by three archbishops, namely, Hubert of Canterbury,
Geoffrey of York, and Bernard of Eagua,* thirteen bishops,
earls, barons, and priests without end, and received his most
sacred body ; and the kings themselves, with the earls and
other nobles, carried it on their shoulders to the haU of the
cathedral church. But at the door of the church, the above-
named archbishops and bishops received it, and by these
priests it was carried into the choir, where it was honourably
laid out for the night. This bishop was accustomed in his
life-time so diligently to perform the duties of humanity in
burying the dead, that he never neglected any dead body
whose burial he thought it his duty to attend to ; for which
reason the Lord, who knows how to reward the merits of the
just by a fitting recompence, allowed him such a distinguished
burial, that he might seem to be recompensing him by the
honour of it for his above-mentioned merit. Before the
burial, however, of this man of God, whilst the funeral
ceremonies for him were being performed, and he himself
was, as was the custom with high priests, lying with his face
uncovered, wearing the mitre on his head, gloves on his
hands, and a ring on his finger, with other pontifical orna-
* It is not known who is here meant.

A.D. 1200.] FUNERAL OF ST. HUGH. 199
ments, a certain soldier, well known to the canons of the
church, whose arm was eaten away by a cancer till the bone
appeared deprived of flesh, placed his arm over the body of
the bishop, and frequently wetted his face with his tears to
heal his diseased limb, and immediately the flesh and skin of
his arm were compassionately restored by the Lord, through
the merits of his saint ; for which the soldier returned
thanks to God and to the holy prelate, and often showed
himself to the deacon of the church, and other credible
persons. At the same time a certain woman, who had been for
seven years bUnd of one eye, in the sight and to the wonder
of all, recovered her sight. At the same time, a certain
cut-purse, in the press and crowd of people which was
assembled around this servant of God, cut away a woman's
purse ; but, by the merits of the blessed bishop, who showed
that he was not dead but alive, both hands of the wicked
thief were so contracted, and his fingers became so firmly
fixed to the palms of his hands, that not being able to hold
the property he had stolen, he threw it down on the pave
ment of the church, and, looking like a madman, he became
an object of derision to the people; and so, after he had
been disturbed by an evil spirit for a length of time, he
came to himself, and stood motionless : at length he began
to weep bitterly, and in the hearing of all, he then confessed
his most base crime to all who would listen to him. At
length, when he had no other means of escape, he turned to
a priest, saying, " Pity me, pity me, ye friends of God ; for
I renounce Satan and his works, to whom I have till now
been a slave ; and pray to the Lord for me, that he may not
confound me in my penitence, but may rather deal com
passionately with me." And immediately, after a prayer had
been uttered on his behalf to God, the chains of Satan, by
which his hands had been bound, were loosed, and, becoming
sound, he returned thanks to God and the blessed bishop.
Of the burial of St. Hugh.
When the vigils over the body of the bishop had been
duly observed, at day-light on the following day, the arch
bishops with the above-mentioned bishops, after performing
mass in the new church which he himself had buUt in honour
of Mary, the mother of God, duly consigned his holy body

200 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1200.
to the tomb near the altar of St. John the Baptist ; and they
performed this duty with such distinction, that it might seem
ordained by God for them to assemble for this especial
purpose. He was buried on the 24th of November, and
miracles continue to be wrought at his tomb, for those
who sought after them with faith. For after his glorious
death, a certain boy in some part of Lincoln, who had been
ill for fifteen days, was, by the increasing power of his
disease, brought to death's door, and his body suddenly
became stiff, as though he had been dead for several days ;
on seeing which, a woman who was by him closed his eyes
and laid out his limbs, as is the custom with the dead.
After he had lain in this manner from the time of cock-
crowing till day-break, his mother, whose faith even amidst
her tears had not died with her son, approached the body
with confidence, and, taking a thread used for making
candle-wicks, measured the boy's body all over, after which,
she said with confidence, even amidst her tears, " Even
though my son had been buried, the Lord could restore him
through the merits of St. Hugh. As day drew on, they
prayed and gave alms on behalf of the child's soul, and sent for
a priest to bury him, although his mother constantly cried
against it; but before the priest who was sent for had
arrived, the mother, anxious for the preservation of her
child, discovered life in him, whereupon she glorified God
and the blessed bishop, to whose merits she ascribed this
miracle. Let these few circumstances concerning the hfe of
this man of God, suffice out of many which tend to other
matters.* Of the appearance of five moons.
In this same month, a little before Christmas, about the
first watch of the night, five moons appeared in the heavens ;
the first appeared in the north, the second in the south, the
third in the west, and the fourth in the east, the fifth ap
peared in the middle of the first four, with several stars
round it ; and this last one, with its accompanying stars,
* Matthew Paris adds : " Gilo de Brause was consecrated bishop ot
Hereford on the 24th of September, at Westminster. Mauger also was
made bishop of Worcester, and John de Grim of Norwich."

A.D, 1201.] JOHN CROWNED AT CANTERBURY. 201
made the circuit of the other four moons five times or more.
This phenomenon lasted for about an hour, to the wonder of
many who beheld it.
How the king and queen of the English were crowned at Canterbury.
a.d. 1201. King John kept Christmas at Guilford, and
there he distributed a number of festive garments amongst
his knights ; and Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, striving
to make himself on a level with the king, did the same at
Canterbury, by which he roused the indignation of the king
in no shght degree. Afterwards the king set out to North
umberland, and exacted a very large sum of money from
the inhabitants of that county. He then returned to Can
terbury in company with his queen, and on the following
Easter-day they were both crowned at that place ; and at the
ceremony the archbishop of Canterbury was at great, not to
say superfluous, expense, in entertaining them. On the
following Ascension-day at Tewkesbury the king issued a
proclamation, that the earls and barons, and aU who owed
mUitary service to him, should be ready with horses and
arms at Portsmouth, to set out with him for his transmarine
provinces at the ensuing Whitsuntide; but when the ap
pointed day came, many of them obtained permission to
remain behind, paying to the king two marks of silver foi
each scutcheon.*
* Matthew Paris adds : — " In these days a schoolmaster of Paris, by
birth a Frenchman, named Simon Churnay, a man of extensive talent and
gTeat memory, after having successfully conducted schools ten years in the
irivium and the quadrivium which make up the seven liberal arts, turned
his attention to theology, in which he, after a few years, made such progress,
that he was thought worthy of the professorial chair : whereupon he gave
lectures, and held subtle disputations, wherein he ably solved and elucidated
the most difficult questions ; and he was attended by so many hearers that
the most ample palace could scarcely contain them. One day when he had
publicly disputed, using the most subtle arguments about the Trinity, and
the settlement of the disputation was put off till the next day, all the theolo
gical students in the city, forewarned to hear so many solutions of difficult
questions, flocked together in numbers and filled the school. The professor
then resolved all the aforesaid questions, inexplicable though they appeared
to the audience, so plainly and elegantly, and in so catholic a sense, that
all were struck with astonishment. Some of his more familiar scholars who
were the most eager to learn, came to him when the lecture was over and
requested him to dictate to them, that they might make notes of his solu
tions, which they said were too valuable to be lost to posterity. Elated at

202 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1201.
How king John and his queen crossed the sea to Normandy.
After keeping the festival of Whitsuntide at Portsmouth,
the king with his queen embarked on the following day, and,
after much trouble, arrived in Normandy. Shortly after
wards the English and French kings held a conference near
the isle of Andelys, where terms of peace were agreed on ;
and three days after king John, at the invitation of the
French king, went to Paris, and was entertained in the
palace of that monarch there, who himself took up his resi
dence elsewhere. After being entertained there honourably
and as became a king, he left and went to Chinon. At the
same time, in order that the peace between the kings might
be more firmly secured, it was determined and confirmed by
writings, that, if the French king should in any way violate
the terms of the before-mentioned peace, the barons of the
French kingdom, whom he had found as sureties for him,
should be absolved of aU fealty to him, and should join the
king of the English in attacking the French king, and com
pelling him to keep the said peace. The same agreement
was made on the part of the king of England. In this year
dreadful storms of thunder, lightning, and hail, with deluges
of rain, alarmed men's minds and did great injury in many
parts. About this time too, at the instance of pope Innocent,
the fortieth portion of the incomes of aU churches was given
in aid of the land of promise ; and the nobles and commoners
alike, who had laid aside the symbol of the cross, were with
apostohc severity compelled to resume it.
this, the professor swelled with pride, and, with eyes uplifted, laughed
aloud. 'O my little Jesus, my little Jesus, how have I exalted and con
firmed your law in this disputation ! Truly, if I wished to act the malignant
and attack your doctrines, I could find still more powerful arguments to
weaken and impugn them.' He had no sooner said these words than he
became dumb, and not only dumb, but ridiculously idiotic, and never read
or disputed afterwards, and 60 he became a laughing-stock to his former
auditors. Within two years afterwards he learned to distinguish the letters,
and his punishment was a little mitigated, so that he could with difficulty
learn to repeat the Lord's Prayer and the Creed, and not forget them.
This miracle checked the arrogance of many of the scholars. Nicholas de
Fuley, afterwards bishop of Durham, witnessed this fact, and communi
cated it to me. From his high authority I have set it down in writing, that
the memory of so great a miracle might not be lost to posterity. It is a
story altogether worthy to be received."

A.D. 1202.] ANIMOSITY OF THE TWO KINGS. 203
Of a disagreement which arose between the French and English kings.
A.D. 1202. King John kept the festival of Christmas at
Argentan in Normandy ; and in the following Lent, a con
ference was held between the French and English kings
near the castle of Guletune. At this interview the French
king, urged by deadly hatred against the king of England,
indignantly ordered him immediately to give up to Arthur
count of Brittany, aU the possessions which he held on that
side of the sea, namely, Normandy, Tours, Anjou, and
Poictou, and required many otehr things from him, which
the EngUsh king refused to comply with. The French king,
not succeeding in his purpose at the interview, on the follow
ing day made a sudden attack on the castle of Butavant, and
levelled it with the ground ; and marching on from thence he
by force took possession of the town of Augi, with the castle
of Liuns, and several other fortresses ; he also besieged the
castle of Eadepunt for eight days, but, on the king of the
English coming upon him, he retired from that place in con
fusion. But after a few days he turned off to Gournaye, and
by breaking through the lake, caused such a rush of water,
that a great part of the walls which surrounded the city were
knocked down ; on this all the garrison fled, and the king of
the French entered and subdued the city without any one to
oppose him. He then returned to Paris, and placed Arthur
in charge of safe persons, giving him two hundred French
soldiers to accompany him into Poictou, that by warlike in
cursions they might snbdue those districts for Arthur. But
as this troop was marching forth with a pompous noise, word
was brought them that queen Eleanor was staying in the
castle of Mirabeau, attended by a small garrison ; they there
fore by common consent directed the fury of their attacks
against that castle, and laid siege to it; as there was not
strength in the garrison to resist them, the castle was sur
rendered to them except a tower into which queen Eleanor
had thrown herself with a few soldiers, and this they could
not gain possession of. They therefore directed their attacks
against the tower ; and at this place there came to the assist
ance of Arthur all the nobles and soldiers of rank in Poictou,
and one in particular was Hugh, surnamed Le Brun, earl of
March, who was a declared enemy of the English king, on

204 ROGER OF WENDOVER- [A.D. 1202.
account of queen Isabel, whom the said earl had engaged as
his wife by word of mouth before she was married to king
John ; and thus they formed a large force there, and con
tinued the most fierce assaults on the castle in order to gain
possession of it as soon as possible.
Of a glorious victory gained by king John at Mirabeau.
The queen being placed in this predicament, sent mes
sengers with orders to use all speed, to the king, who was
then in Normandy, earnestly beseeching him by his filial
affection to come to her assistance ; on receipt of this
intelhgence, the king hastily set out with a strong force, and
travelling night and day, he accompUshed the long distance
quicker than is to be beUeved, and arrived at Mirabeau.
When the French and the people of Poictou learned that
the king was on his way, they went out with a pompous
array to meet him, and give him battle ; but when they met
each other in battle order, and had engaged, the king
bravely withstood their turbulent attacks, and at length put
them to flight, pursuing them so quickly with his cavalry,
that he entered the castle at the same time as the fugitives.
Then a most severe conflict took place inside the walls of
the castle, but was soon determined by the laudable valour
of the English ; in the conflict there two hundred French
knights were taken prisoners, and all the nobles in Poictou
and Anjou, together with Arthur himself, so that not one
out of the whole number escaped who could return and teU
the misfortune to the rest of their countrymen. Having
therefore, secured his prisoners in fetters and shackles, and
placed them in cars, a new and unusual mode of convey
ance, the king sent some of them to Normandy, and some
to England, to be imprisoned in strong castles, whence there
would be no fear of their escape ; but Arthur was kept at
Falaise under close custody.
' How the French king retired in confusion from the siege of the castle
of Arques.
Whilst these events were passing at the castle of Mirabeau,
the French king with a large army marched against the
castle of Arques, and laid siege to it. So arranging his
engines all round it, he for fifteen days endeavoured, by

A.D. 1202.] DEATH OF ARTHUR. 205
means of petrariae, and baUstse, to break through the walls ;
the garrison, on the other hand, resisting bravely, en
deavoured by a continued discharge of stones and arrows
to drive the enemy to a greater distance ; but as soon as
the report of the capture of Arthur and his own followers
reached the ears of the French king, he retired from
the siege in vexation. In his retreat he destroyed and
burned every place he came to, and even reduced the
monasteries of the religious men to ashes : at length he
reached Paris, and remained inactive there for the rest of
that year. Of the death of Arthur, count of Brittany.
After some lapse of time, king John came to the castle of
Falaise, and ordered his nephew Arthur to be brought into
his presence ; when he appeared, the king addressed him
kindly, and promised him many honours, asking him to
separate himself from the French king, and to adhere to the
side of himself, as his lord and uncle. But Arthur Un
advisedly rephed to him with indignation and threats, and
demanded of the king that he should give up to him the
kingdom of England, with all the territories, which king
Eichard possessed at the time of his death ; and, since aU
those possessions belonged to him by hereditary right, he
affirmed with an oath, that unless king John quickly restored
the aforesaid territories to him, he should never enjoy peace
for any length of time. The king was much troubled at
hearing his words, and gave orders that Arthur should be
sent to Eouen, to be imprisoned in the new tower there, and
kept closely guarded ; but shortly afterwards the said
Arthur suddenly disappeared.* In this same year, king
John came to England, and was crowned at Canterbury by
Hubert archbishop of that place, on the 1-ith of April, and
after this he again sailed for Normandy. On his arrival
* " The same year pope Innocent proposed to exact a large sum of
money from the Cistertian order, for the use of the crusade, as he professed,
but in reality to gratify his own avarice. He was, however, admonished by
the holy Virgin, and in alarm, ceased from his intention. He had also
ordered the fortieth part of all rents to be collected throughout all
England, for the use of the crusaders. About this time died the nobleman,
William de Stuteville." — M. Paris.

206 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1203.
there an opinion about the death of Arthur gained ground
throughout the French kingdom and the continent in general,
by which it seemed that John was suspected by aU of having
slain him with his own hand ; for which reason many turned
their affections from the king from that time forward where-
cver they dared, and entertained the deepest enmity against
him.* How the nobles of England deserted king John in Normandy.
A. d. 1203. King John spent Christmas at Caen in
Normandy, where, laying aside aU thoughts of war, he
feasted sumptuously with his queen daily, and prolonged his
sleep in the morning till breakfast time. But after the
solemnities of Easter had been observed, the French king,
having collected a large army, took several castles belonging
to the king of England, some of which he leveUed to the
* "The same year, the king caused proclamation to be made that the
legal assize of bread should be observed, under severe penalty. The
assize was proved by the baker of Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, justiciary of
England, and the baker of R. de Thurnam ; so that the bakers might
make a profit of threepence on the sale of every quarter, besides the bran,
and two loaves for the oven, four oboli for four servants, a farthing for two
boys, an obolus for salt, an obolus for yeast, a farthing for the candle,
three pence for the wood (fuel), and an obolus for the refuse. When corn is
sold for six shillings, then the bread from the quartern, white and well-
baked, shall weigh sixteen shillings of twenty {lord) ; and the bread from
the whole corn shall be good and well-baked, so that nothing shall be
deducted, and it shall weigh twenty-four shillings. When corn is sold for
five shillings and sixpence, the white bread shall weigh twenty shillings,
and from all the corn twenty-eight shillings. When corn is sold for five
shillings, the white bread shall weigh twenty-four shillings, and the bread
from the whole corn, thirty-two shillings. When corn is sold for four
shillings and sixpence, the white bread shall be at thirty-two shillings, and
from all the corn, forty-two shillings. When corn is sold at four shillings,
the white bread shall weigh thirty-six shillings, and from all the corn, forty-
six shillings. When corn is sold at three shillings and sixpence, the white
bread shall weigh forty-two shillings, and from all the corn, forty-four
shillings. When corn is sold for three shillings, the white loaf shall
weigh forty-eight shillings, and from the whole corn sixty-four shillings.
When corn is sold "for two shillings and sixpence, the white bread shall
weigh fifty-four shillings, and from all the corn, seventy-two shillings.
When corn is sold for two shillings, the white bread shall be at sixty
shillings, and from all the corn at four pounds. When corn is sold at
eighteen pence, the white loaf shall weigh seventy-seven shillings, and from
all the corn at four pounds eight shillings. This proclamation was made
throughout the whole kingdom." — M. Paris.

A.D. 1203.] SLOTHFULNESS OF KING JOHN. 207
ground, but the stronger ones he kept entire. At length
messengers came to king John with the news, saying, the
king of the French has entered your territories as an enemy,
has taken such and such castles, carries off the governors of
them ignominiously bound to their horses' tails, and disposes
of your property at will, without any one gainsaying him.
In reply to this news, king John said, " Let him do so ;
whatever he now seizes on I will one day recover :" and
neither these messengers, nor others who brought him the
hke news, could obtain any other answer. But the earls and
barons, and other nobles of the kingdom of England, who
had tiU that time firmly adhered to him, when they heard
his words and saw his incorrigible idleness, obtained his
permission and returned home, pretending that they would
come back to him, and so left the king with only a few
soldiers in Normandy. Hugh de Gournaye, to whom king
John had in all honour entrusted the castle of Montfort,
deUvered it up to the king of the French, and admitted his
soldiers into it by night, and in this manner, renouncing
himself his fealty to his liege lord, fled to the king of France.
In the meantime, the king of the English was staying inactive
at Bouen with his queen, so that it was said that he was
infatuated by sorcery or witchcraft ; for, in the midst of all
his losses and disgrace, he showed a cheerful countenance to
aU, as though he had lost nothing. The French king, in the
meantime, with an immense army, came to the town of Euyl,
where there was a noble castle, which he at once surrounded
with his engines of war ; but after he had arranged them in
order, even before he had made one assault, Eobert Fitz-
Walter and Sayer de Quincy, the noblemen to whom the
charge of the castle had been entrusted, delivered it up
uninjured to the French king, and as the least stone of that
castle was not damaged, so not one hair of the heads of the
garrison was hurt; but the king of the French, who was
much enraged against them, ordered them to be chained, and
kept in close confinement at Compiegne, where they were
retained in disgrace till a heavy ransom was paid for their
release. All opposition to him in Normandy and the other
transmarine territories having ceased, the French king
marched through the provinces at will and without hindrance,
and regained possession of several castles ; he also at this

208 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1203.
time laid siege to the fine castle of the Eock of Andelys, which
Eichard had built, but by the prowess and incomparable
fidelity of Eoger de Lacy, to whose care that fortress had
been entrusted, he gained nothing by the siege, except that
by refusing egress to the besieged, he prevented them from
obtaining supplies. Whilst these events were passing, some
of the Normans seceded altogether from the king of the
English, and others only feigned adherence to him.
How king John came to England and exacted large sums of money from
the nobles.
King John at length seeing his fault, and that he was
destitute of all military suppUes, took ship in all haste and on
St. Nicholas's day landed at Portsmouth. Then urging
against the earls and barons as an excuse, that they had left
him in the midst of his enemies on the continent, by which
he had lost his castles and territories through their defection,
he took from them the seventh part of aU their moveable
goods ; and in this act he did not refrain from laying violent
hands on the property of conventual or parochial churches,
inasmuch as he employed Hubert archbishop of Canterbury
as the agent of this robbery in regard to the church property,
and Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, justiciary of England, for the goods
of the laity, and these two spared no one in the execution of
their orders. The French king, when he learnt that the king
of England had left his transmarine territories, went in great
strength to each of the towns and castles of the district,
explaining to the citizens and governors of castles that they
were deserted by their lord. He also said that he was the
principal lord of those provinces, and that if the Enghsh king
should ignominiously abandon them, he had no intention of
losing the superior authority which belonged to him ; where
fore he begged of them as a friend to receive him as their
lord since they had no other ; but he declared with an oath,
that if they did not do this willingly, and dared to contend
against him, he would subdue them as enemies and hang
them all on the gibbet or flay them alive. At length, after
much disputing on both sides, they unanimously agreed to
give hostages to the king of the French, for their keeping a
truce for one year ; after which time, if they did not receive
assistance from the king of the English, they would thence-

A.D. 1204.] IMAGE OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 209
forward acknowledge him as their ruler, and give the cities
and castles up to him ; having effected this the French king
returned to his own territories.
The promotion of William bishop of Lincoln.
In the same year Master William, precentor and canon of
the church of Lincoln, was consecrated bishop of the same
church at Westminster, on St. Bartholomew the apostle's
day, by William bishop of London. Gilbert bishop of
Eochester appealed in favour of his own claim, but did not
succeed; for Hubert archbishop of Canterbury was lying
very iU at the time.
How subsidies for war were generally granted to the king.
A.D. 1204. Bang John kept Christmas at Canterbury,
Hubert, archbishop of that place, supplying aU necessaries for
the festivity to the king. After which, on the day after the
circumcision, the king and the nobles of England met at
Oxford at a conference, when supphes for war were granted
to the king, two marks and a half from each scutcheon ; nor
did the bishops and abbats depart without giving a promise
to the same effect.
How the oil of the image of the mother of God wonderfully became flesh.
In the same year, on the third day before Easter, there
happened a most wonderful miracle concerning the oil of the
image of the mother of God at Sardenai, which was as
follows : it happened in the prison of the Christian soldiers,
in the castle of Damascus, that a certain soldier took from his
box a phial, in which he had put some of the oil which drops
from the image of the mother of God at Sardenai ; but as he
looked carefully at the bottle, in' which the oil had been put
as clear and transparent as water, the oil in it appeared to
become fleshy, but divided into two parts, for one portion
adhered to the lower part of the phial, and the other ^portion
to the upper part. The soldier then took his knife and
endeavoured to join the upper part to the lower, but as soon
as the edge of the knife touched the incarnate oil, drops of
blood flowed from it to the astonishment of the chaplains,
knights, and all the other prisoners who were looking on at
it ; and since many are ignorant of the truth concerning this
VOL. H. p

210 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1204.
image of the mother of God, it is most proper that we should
relate the origin of it, to those who do not know it, to the
praise of the said mother of God.
Of the origin of the said image, and some of ils miracles.
There Uved at Damascus, the capital city of Syria, a
certain venerable matron, who took the habit of a nun and
made it her business to serve God most devoutly ; and, that
she might be more at liberty to perform her religious duties,
and to avoid the noise of the city, she retired to a place called
Sardenai, six miles from the above-named city, and there
building for herself a house and oratory in honour of the holy
mother of God, she performed the duties of hospitahty to
pilgrims and the poor. Now it happened that a certain
monk, from the city of Constantinople, came to Jerusalem for
the sake of devotion and of seeing the holy places, and he
was charitably received as a guest by the aforesaid nun ; the
latter, on learning that he was going to the holy city, humbly
and earnestly besought him to bring with him on his return
from Jerusalem some image, that is some painted picture, for
her to put in her oratory, which would show her, when she
prayed, the hkeness of the mother of God, and he faithfully
promised that he would bring her one. After he had reached
Jerusalem, he fulfilled his devotional duties, and when they
were finished he prepared to return, forgetting his promise to
the nun ; and after he had got out of the city on his way
back, a voice came from heaven saying to him, '•' Why dost
thou return thus empty-handed ? Where is the image thou
didst promise to take to the nun?" Being thus reminded of
the thing, the monk returned into the city, and going to a
place where images were sold he bought one which pleased
him, and carried it with him on his return. On his
reaching a place caUed Gith, a fierce lion, which lay concealed
in a den there devouring human beings, came to meet the
monk on his way and began to lick his feet, and thus under
the protection of the divine grace he escaped unhurt. After
wards he feU into the snares of robbers, and when they were
about to lay violent hands on him, they were so frightened by
the voice of some angel which rebuked them, that they could
not speak or move at aU. Then the monk, looking at the
image which he held, knew that some divine virtue lay con-

A.D. 1204.] MIRACLES OF THE IMAGE. 211
cealed in it ; and then he vainly troubled himself in deli
berating how he could cheat the nun, and carry the image
away with him to his own country. On his arrival at the
city of Acre, he went on board a ship, wishing, if possible, to
return home ; but after they had run with full sails for some
days, a sudden storm arose, and they were in such peril, that
every one threw the goods which belonged to him into the
sea. But when the monk amongst the rest was about to
commit his satchel to the waves, the angel of the Lord said to
him, " Do not do thus, but lift the image up in your hands
towards the Lord;" and when he, in obedience to the com
mands of the angel, Ufted the image on high, the storm
immediately ceased; but as the crew did not know where
they were going they returned to the city of Acre. Then
the monk learning God's will from the image and desiring to
fulfil his promise, returned to the nun and again enjoyed her
hospitahty ; she, on account of her frequent guests, did not
know him, and consequently did not ask him for the image,
on seeing which the monk again thought of taking the image
with him on his return home. But early in the morning
when he had obtained leave to depart, he went into the
oratory to pray, and when, after having performed his
devotions, he wanted to go out, he could not find the door ;
he therefore put the image which he held on the altar of the
oratory, on which he beheld the door open ; but when he
again took up the image and endeavoured to go out, he again
could not find the door. At length when he saw that the
divine virtue surrounded the image, he put it on the altar of
the oratory, and going back to the nun, he related in order
aU the wonderful circumstances connected with the image as
has been related above ; he therefore said that it was the will
of God for the image to remain there, and be worshipped
with all due honour. The nun therefore took it, and blessed
God and his mother, for aU that the monk had related to her,
the monk too determined to pass the rest of his life at that
same place, on account of the miracles which he knew the
Lord had effected by means of the image of his mother. The
image then began to be greatly revered by all, and aU admired
the great and wonderful works of God in it.

p2

212 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1204.
How the image of the mother of God emitted oil.
After these events the nun buUt a place, that seemed to
her more honourable in which to put the image, and asked a
priest, as being more worthy than herself and one remarkable
for his sanctity, as she believed, to put on his sacred robes,
and transport the image to the before-mentioned place. He,
however, was afraid to touch it, because when it had been
placed on the altar it had begun to drip, and from that time
it had never ceased to give forth a very clear liquor hke oU ;
the nun had at first wiped this moisture away with a fine
linen cloth, but afterwards she procured a smaU brass vessel
and caught the oil, which she administered to the sick, and
whenever this was done in the name of the Lord and his
mother, they were then cured of their diseases and remain in
health to this time. But when the above-mentioned priest
approached the image carelessly to take it away, as soon as
he touched the Uquor which flowed from it his hands became
withered, and after three days he departed to the Lord.
After this no one presumed to touch the image or to remove it
from its place, except that nun alone. At length the rehgious
woman placed a glass vessel under the image, that the oil
flowing from it might be caught in that vessel, and kept to
supply the wants of the sick.
How the same image gave forth teats of flesh.
In course of time a wonderful and hitherto unheard-of
circumstance happened, for the aforesaid image, in the sight
of all, produced by degrees breasts of flesh, and began to be
clothed with flesh in a wonderful way; so that from the
breasts downwards it seemed entirely covered with flesh, and
from this flesh the liquid dropped incessantly. The brothers
of the temple, during the truce with Saladin, took some of
this oil to their own houses to distribute it to the pilgrims
who came there to pray, that they might with reverence exalt
the honour of the mother of God in the various quarters of
the world. There are indeed monks in some parts of the
monastery who perform rehgious duties, but the dignity and
authority of the nuns is out of respect to the aforesaid
woman who first inhabited that place, and built an oratory
there in honour of the holy Mary, mother of God.

A.n. 1204.] SUBJECTION OF NORMANDY. 213
How a certain sultan recovered his sight by the agency of this image.
It happened at that time that the sultan of Damascus, who
had been bhnd of one eye, was attacked by a disease in the
eye with which he could see, and became totally blind ; and
he, hearing of the aforesaid image by which God wrought
so many miracles, went to the place and entered the oratory ;
and although he was a pagan, he had faith in the Lord, that,
through the image of his mother, his own health might be
restored, and falling to the earth, he remained prostrate in
prayer ; and when he arose from his devotions, he saw the
Ught burning in the lamp which hung before the image of
Mary the mother of God, and found to his joy that he had
recovered his sight. He therefore, and all who were with
him and saw this, gave glory to God ; and because he had
first seen the light burning in the lamp, he made a vow to
the Lord, that he would from that time give annually sixty
measures of oil for the lamps of that oratory, in which he,
through the merits of the blessed Mary, mother of God, had
recovered his sight.
How Normandy with other transmarine possessions yielded to the rule of
the French king.
About that time the French king's army which for almost
a year had been besieging the castle of the Eock of Andelys,
had undermined and knocked down a great part of the walls.
But the noble and warlike Eoger, constable of Chester, still
defended the entrance against the French ; but at length his
provisions failing him, and being reduced to such want, that
no one had a single aUowance of food, he preferred to die in
battle to being starved : on which he and his soldiers armed
themselves, flew to horse, and salhed from the castle : but
after they had slain numbers opposed to them, they were at
length taken prisoners, although with much difficulty. Thus
the castle of the Eock of Andelys fell into the hands of the
French king on the 6th of March, and Eoger de Lacy with all
his followers were taken to France, where, on account of the
bravery which he had shown in defence of his castle, he was
detained prisoner on parole. On this all the holders of castles
in the transmarine territories, with the citizens and other sub
jects of the king of England, sent messengers to England to
tell him in what a precarious situation they were placed, and

214 ROGER OF WENDOVER. - [A.D. 1205.
that the time, according to the terms of the treaty, was near,
when they must either give up the cities and castles to the
king of the French, or consign to destruction the hostages
which they had given him. To which message king John
answered ; and intimated by the same messengers to aU of
them, that they were to expect no assistance from him, but
that they each were to do what seemed best to him. And
thus, all kind of defence failing in those provinces, the whole
of Normandy, Tours, Anjou, and Poictou, with the cities,
castles, and other possessions, except the castles of EocheUe,
Thouars, and Niorz, feU to the dominion of the king of the
French. When this was told to the EngUsh king, he was
enjoying all the pleasures of life with his queen, in whose
company he believed that he possessed everything he wanted;
moreover, he felt confidence in the immensity of the wealth
he had collected, as if by that he could regain the territory
he had lost.
Of the death of Godfrey bishop of Winchester, and the succession of
Peter de Rupibus.
On the 1st of April in this same year, in the first watch of
the night, there appeared in the northern and eastern quar
ters of the heavens such a redness, that it was believed by aU
to be real fire ; and what was to be wondered at most, was
that in the thickest part of this redness there appeared some
glittering stars; this phenomenon lasted tiU midnight. In
the same year Godfrey bishop of Winchester died, and was
succeeded by Peter de Eupibus, a man of knightly rank, and
skiUed in warfare ; he was appointed to the bishopric by the
interest of king John, and set out to Eome ; and, after be
stowing his presents there with great Uberahty, he hastened
to the church at Winchester to be consecrated bishop. In
this year too the last day of Easter feU on the day of the
evangelist St. Mark. Of certain remarkable events.
a.d. 1205. King John kept Christmas at Tewkesbury,
but scarcely stayed there one day ; and in the same month of
January the land was frozen to such a degree that all agri
cultural labour was suspended from the 14th of January till
the 22nd of March, on account of which, in the foUowing

A.D. 1205.] DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP HUBERT. 215
summer a load of corn was sold for fourteen shillings. About
Whitsuntide in this same year king John assembled a large
army, as if he was about to cross the sea, and, although the
archbishop of Canterbury and many others dissuaded him
from it, he ordered a large fleet to be collected at Portsmouth;
he afterwards embarked with only a small company on the
15th of July, and put to sea with all sails spread; but,
changing his purpose, he on the third day landed at Studland
near Warham. On his return he took an immense sum of
money from the earls, barons, knights, and religious men,
accusing them of refusing to accompany him to the continent
to recover his lost inheritance. In this year, on the eve of
St. John the Baptist's day, the castle of Chinon was given
up to the French king.
Of the death of Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, and the election of
the sub-prior of the church at Canterbury.
On the 13th of July in this same year Hubert archbishop
of Canterbury died at Tenham, to the great delight of the
king, by whom he was suspected of being too familiar with
the king of the French. After the death then of the arch
bishop, even before his body was consigned to the tomb,
some of the juniors of the conventual church at Canterbury,
without asking the king's consent, elected Eeginald the sub-
prior, to be their archbishop, and in the middle of the night,
after electing him, they chanted the " Te Deum," and placed
him first upon the great altar, and afterwards in the archi-
episcopal chair; for they were afraid that if this election
without the king's consent should reach his ears, he would
endeavour to prevent their proceeding with it. Therefore in
that same night the said sub-prior having made oath that he
would not consider himself elected without the permission
and special letters of the convent, nor show to any one
the letters which he held, took some monks of the convent
with him, and went to the court of Eome. But all this was
done that that election might be concealed from the king till
they found out whether they could at the court of Borne
carry the election they had commenced into effect. But the
aforesaid archbishop-elect, as soon as he landed in Flanders,
disregarding the oath he had taken, openly declared that
he was elected archbishop of Canterbury, and was going

216 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1205.
to the court of Eome to confirm his election ; he moreover
showed every one the letters of the convent which he held ;
believing that by this he should in no small degree forward the
merits of his cause. Arriving at length at Eome, he forth
with made known his election to our lord the pope and his
cardinals, and openly showing his letters to aU, he boldly
required the pope to confirm his election by the apostolic
benediction : but the pope answering in haste, said that he
would take time to consider of it, in order that he might be
more assured of the truth of the before-named circum
stances.* * " About the same time pope Innocent wrote the following letter to the
suffragans of Canterbury, in defence of the monks of that church : —
" ' Innocent, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable
brothers the suffragans generally of the church of Canterbury, health and
apostolical benediction. — Whereas, in the time of the Jewish law, which,
as we read, never brought any man to that which is perfect, parents after
the flesh were held in such honour by their children after the flesh, that
whoever cursed them was sentenced by the law of God to death, much
more does it become those who are placed under the law of grace, and for
whom the doors of Paradise have been opened through the most precious
blood of Christ, to take heed lest by transgression they incur the sentence
of damnation, seeing that detriment to the soul is more to be feared than
any danger that can happen to the body. If therefore worldly parents are
to be held in so much honour, what shall we say of spiritual parents ? Shall
they not be held superior in honour to earthly parents, in the same propor
tion as the soul surpasses the body? We have premised thus much, my
brethren, inasmuch as, in 0111 care for your salvation, we fear lest the
present tribulation, which has been raised, it is said, by your means, should
be productive of danger to the soul, concerning the church of Canterbury,
which you are bound to reverence as your mother ; and that the detriment
to the said church be such that it may not be remedied for a great length
of time. We therefore exhort your brotherhood in the Lord, by these our
apostolical letters, that you diligently keep in view what concerns your
honour and the salvation of your souls, and not molest the church of Can
terbury your mother, whose privileges you are bound to defend, lest she
have cause to complain of you, and to say she has nourished sous, who
have not only not known her, bat have persecuted her most severely. In
saving these things we have no wish to detract from your rights, but in pious
solicitude to prevent you from injuring others on pretence of asserting
your own claims. May God enlighten your hearts, my brethren, and en
able you without contention to pay all obedience to your mother-church,
and do nothing in defiance of divine or human law, which you would not
wish others to do towards yourselves — Given at Rome, at St. Peter's,
Dec. 8, in the 8th year of our pontificate.' "

A.D. 1205.] ELECTION OF ARCHBISHOP. 217
Of the election of John bishop of Norwich, at the request of the English
king.
The monks of Canterbury in the meantime, as soon as
they heard that their sub-prior had violated his oath, and had,
as soon as he arrived in Flanders, declared that he was
elected, thus revealing their secret, were much enraged
against him, and immediately sent some of the monks from
the convent to the king to ask his permission to choose a
pastor who was suited to them ; the king immediately and with
out any hesitation kindly granted their request, and speaking
confidentially to them, hinted that the bishop of Norwich was
a great friend of his, and that he alone of all the English
prelates was aware of his secrets ; on which account, be
asserted, that it would be to the advantage of himself and the
kingdom, if they could transfer the said prelate to the arch
bishopric. He therefore requested of the monks, that they,
together with his clerks whom he would send to the convent,
would set forth this his request to them, and promised to
confer many honours on the convent if they should determine
to listen to him. The monks on their return home related the
commands of the king to the other inmates of the convent,
and they assembled thereupon in the chapter-house, and in
order to conciliate the king, whom they had offended, they
there unanimously elected John bishop of Norwich, and at
once sent some monks of the convent to the archbishop elect,
who was at York managing the king's business, to tell him to
come with all haste to Canterbury. The messengers hastened
on the prescribed journey, and found the said bishop at
Nottingham ; and he at once settled the king's business and
hurried to the southern provinces, where he met with the
king, and they set out together for Canterbury. On the
following day, a great multitude assembled in the metropolitan
church, and the prior of Canterbury, in the king's presence,
openly announced to all the election of John de Grai bishop
of Norwich ; then the monks taking him up carried* him to
the great altar chanting the " Te Deum," and finally placed
him in the archiepiscopal chair. After all this ceremony the
king put the archbishop elect into possession of all property
belonging to the archbishopric, and all returned to their
homes ; and thus in this election a new kind of error was
made, worse than the former one, as the result plainly shows.

218 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1206.
Of the controversy between the suffragan bishops of the church of Canter
bury and the monks of the same place, about the choice of an archbishop.
a.d. 1206. King John kept Christmas at Oxford; and
about the same time sent some monks of the church of
Canterbury, amongst whom, in particular, was Master Ehas
de Brantfield, to the court of Eome, and supplied them with
large presents from the treasury in order to obtain from our
lord the pope the confirmation of the election of John bishop
of Norwich. At the same time, too, the suffragan bishops of
the church of Canterbury sent agents to Eome to lay a
serious complaint before our lord the pope, namely, that the
monks of Canterbury had audaciously presumed to make
election of an archbishop without them, although they ought.
by common right and ancient custom, to' have been present
at the. election as well as the monks ; the said agents also set
forth decrees and examples on the foregoing matters, bring
ing some witnesses, and producing testimonials, whereby they
endeavoured to show that they, the said suffragans, had
chosen three metropolitans conjointly with the monks. The
monks, on the contrary, asserted, that, by a special privUege
of the Boman pontiffs, and by a proved and old custom, they
had been accustomed to make elections without the bishops,
and promised to prove this by fitting witnesses. After the
allegations on both sides had been heard, and the witnesses
admitted and carefully examined, the 21st of December was
fixed on by our lord the pope for declaring judgment between
the parties, and that they were then to come and hear what
the law appointed.
How king John crossed over to Poictou and took forcible possession of the
castle of Montauban.
At Whitsuntide of this same year king John assembled a
large army at Portsmouth, and taking ship on the 25th of
June, he landed on the 9th of July at Eochelle ; on hearing
which the inhabitants of those provinces were dehghted, and,
instantly flying to the king, gave him sure promises of money
and assistance. After this then he marched forward with
more confidence, and subdued a great portion of that territory.
At length he arrived at the noble castle of Montauban, in
which all the warlike nobles of that district, and especially
his own enemies were shut up, and immediately disposed his

A.D. 1206.] TAKING OF MONTAUBAN CASTLE. 219
engines of war around it. And when, after fifteen days, they
had destroyed a great part of the castle by the incessant
assaults of their petraria?, and the missiles from their
balistas and slings, the EngUsh soldiers, who were greatly
renowned in that kind of warfare, scaled the walls and
exchanged mortal blows with their enemies. After some
time the Enghsh prevailed, and the garrison faihng, the well-
fortified castle of Montauban was taken, a castle which at
one time Charlemagne could not subdue after a seven years'
siege ; and the names of the nobles and illustrious men who
were taken in the castle with their horses, arms, and spoils
innumerable, the English king afterwards mentioned by
letter to the justiciaries, bishops, and other nobles of England.
This castle was taken on the day of St. Peter's " ad vincula."
(August 1.) Of the legateship of John of Ferentino, to England.
In the same year John of Ferentino, legate of the apostolic
see, came into England, and traveUing through it collected
large sums of money, and at length, on the day after St. Luke
the evangelist, he held a council at Beading; after
which the hasty traveUer packed up his baggage and started
for the sea coast, where he bade farewell to England. About
this time, too, some religious men of foreign parts anxiously
interfered to make peace between the kings, and on All
Saints' day they obtained from them a promise to keep a
truce for two years. King John therefore returned to
England, and landed at Portsmouth on the 12th of December.
On the eve of Ascension day in this same year William
bishop of Lincoln departed this Ufe ; and in this year Jocelyn
of WeUs, who had been elected bishop of Bath by the agency
of WiUiam bishop of London, received the blessing of con
secration. The definitive sentence of pope Innocent witk regard to the monks of the
church of Canterbury.
About that time pope Innocent sent his definitive sentence
to the suffragan bishops of the church of Canterbury, to this
effect : " The authority of the church and an approved custom
hands it down to us that the greater questions in church
matters are to be referred to the apostolic see. Since there
fore a controversy has arisen between you and our beloved

220 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1206.
sons, the prior and monks of the church of Canterbury, as to
the right of choosing the archbishop ; you setting forth that,
not only by common right but also by old custom, you ought
to make the election of the archbishop conjointly with them ;
and they, on the contrary, answering that, by a common
right and special privilege, as also by an old and approved
custom, they ought to elect the archbishop of Canterbury
without you ; on the cause of dispute being lawfully argued
by proper agents before us, we have carefuUy heard what both
parties have set forth in our presence. Your party has set forth
both decrees and examples, bringing forward also some wit
nesses, and showing testimonials by which you attempted to
prove that you had chosen three metropohtans conjointly with
them ; whilst it was proved by letters and evidence that you in
another place and at another time had not made elections of
this kind without them. But the witnesses brought forward
on the part of the monks have legitimately proved that the
prior and convent of the church of Canterbury have, from
times long past up to this time, made elections of bishops in
their chapter-house without you, and have obtained con
firmation of those elections from the apostolic see. By us
and our predecessors it is laid down in the book of our
privileges, that, at the decease of an archbishop of Canter
bury, no one should be appointed to his place by any fraud
or violence, but one whom the majority of the monks of
sound judgment shall in the Lord according to the
provisions of the holy canons determine to elect. There
fore, having heard, and clearly understanding all that has
been alleged to us, since it plainly appears by your own
assertions, that you ought not to make an election without
them, and when the monks are excluded from it your election
is not valid ; and also that an election of the monks made
without you, inasmuch as it was worthy of being confirmed
by the apostolic see, was vahd, and since in either case it
must of necessity be confirmed, we, by the common advice of
our brethren, for ever impose silence on you as to the right
of choosing an archbishop, and by this our definitive decree
absolve the monks of Canterbury from all attack and annoy
ance on the part of you and your successors ; and also by our
apostoUc authority, decree that the monks of the church of
Canterbury and their successors shall in future elect an arch-

A.D. 1206.] VISION OF PURGATORY. 221
bishop without you. Given at St. Peter's, at Eome. this
21st day of December, in the ninth year of our pontificate.."
Of a vision of purgatory, the punishment of the wicked, and the glory 0f
the blessed.
In this year, a certain man of simple habits, and hospitable
as far as his humble means would aUow, who lived in a town
caUed Tunsted,* in the bishopric of London, was employed,
after the hour of evening prayer, on the eve of the day of
the apostles St. Simon and St. Jude, in draining his field,
which he had sown that day, when, raising his eyes, he saw a
man hastening to him from a distance ; after looking at him,
he began the Lord's prayer, when the stranger stepping up
to him, asked him to finish his prayer and speak to him :
and, accordingly, as soon as his prayer was ended, they ex
changed mutual greetings. After this, the man who had
come to him asked him where, amongst the neighbours, he
could meet with a suitable lodging for that night ; but when
the questioned person extolled the great hospitality of his
neighbours, the inquirer found fault with the hospitality of
some who were named. The labourer then understanding
that the stranger was acquainted with his neighbours, eagerly
asked him to accept of a lodging with him, on which the
stranger said to him, " Your wife has already received two
poor women to lodge with her, and I too will turn to your
house for to-night, in order that I may lead you to your
lord, namely saint James, to whom thou hast even now
devoutly prayed ; for I am JuUan the entertainer, and have
been sent on your behalf, to disclose to you by divine means
certain things which are hidden from men in the flesh ;
therefore, proceed to your house, and endeavour to prepare
yourself for a journey." After these words, the man who
was conversing with him, disappeared from the spot. But
TurchiU, for that was the labourer's name, hurried home,
washed his head and feet, and found the two women enter
tained there, as St. Juhan had foretold. Afterwards he
threw himself on a bed which he had prepared in his house,
apart from his wife, for the sake of continence, and slept
outside the room ; and as soon as all the members of the
household were asleep, St. Julian woke the man, and said,
* Perhaps " Twinsted " in Essex.

222 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1206.
" Here I am, as I promised ; it is time for us to be going.
Let your body rest on the bed, it is only your spirit which
is to go with me ; and, that your body may not appear to be
dead, I wiU inspire into you the breath of life." In this
way they both left the house, St. Julian leading the way, and
Turchill following.
How the man being released from the body was taken to a certain church,
where there was an assemblage of spirits.
After they had traveUed to the middle of the world,
as the man's guide said it was, towards the east, they
entered a church of wonderful structure, the roof of which was
supported only by three piUars. The church itself was
large and spacious, but without partitions, arched aU round
Uke a monk's cloister ; but on the northern side there was a
wall not more than six feet high, which was joined to the
church which rested on the three pillars. In the middle of
the church there was a large baptistery, from which there
arose a large flame, not burning, yet unceasingly iUuminating
the whole of the church and the places around, hke a
meridian sun ; this brightness proceeded, as he was told by
St. Julian, from the decimation of the just. When they
entered the haU, St. James met them, wearing a priest's
mitre, and seeing the pilgrim for whom he had sent, ordered
St. JuUan and St. Domninus, who were the guardians of the
place, to show to his pilgrim the penal places of the wicked
as well as the mansions of the just, and after speaking thus,
he passed on. Then St. JuUan informed his companion that
this church was the place which received the souls of all those
who had lately died, that there might be assigned to them
the abodes and places, as weU of condemnation as of salva
tion by the atonements of purgatory, which were destined by
God for them. That place, through the intercession of the
glorious virgin Mary, was mercifuUy designed that aU
spirits which were born again in Christ, might, as soon as
they left the body, be there assembled free from the attacks
of devils, and receive judgment according to their works. In
this church, then, which was caUed the "Congregation of
spirits," I saw many spirits of the just, white all over, and
with the faces of youth. After being taken beyond the
northern wall, I saw a great number of spirits, standing near

A.D. 1206.] TORMENTS OF PURGATORY. 223
the wall marked with black and white spots, some of whom
had a greater show of white than black, and others the re
verse ; but those who were of a whiter colour remained
nearer to the waU, aud those who were farthest off had no
appearance of whiteness about them, and appeared deformed
in every part. Of the unjust decimalors.
Near the waU was the entrance to the pit of hell, which
incessantly exhaled a smoke of a most foul stench, through
the surrounding caverns, in the faces of those who stood by,
and this smoke came forth from the tithes unjustly detained,
and the crops unjustly tithed ; and the stink inflicted in
comparable agony on those who were guilty of this crime.
The man, therefore, after twice smeUing this same stink, was
so oppressed by it that he was compeUed to cough twice, and,
as those who stood round his body declared, his body at the
same time coughed twice. St. Julian then said to him, " It
appears that you have not duly tithed your crop, and there
fore have smeUed this stench." On his pleading his poverty
as an excuse, the saint told him that his field would produce
a more abundant crop if he paid his tithes justly ; and
the holy man also told, him to confess this crime in the
church openly to all, and to seek absolution from the priest.
Of the fire, lake, and bridge of purgatory, and of a church situated on
the mount of joy.
On the eastern side of this said church was a very large
purgatorial fire, placed between two walls ; one of these
waUs rose on the north side, and the other on the south, and
they were separated by a large space, which extended a
long way in width on the eastern side, to a very large lake,
in which were immersed the souls of those who were passing
through the purgatorial fire ; and the water of the lake was
incomparably salt and cold, as was afterwards proved to the
man. Over this lake was placed a large bridge, planted all
over with thorns and stakes, over which every one was
obliged to pass before he could arrive at the mount of joy ;
and on this mountain was built a large church, of wonder
ful structure, which was large enough, as it appeared to the
man, to contain aU the inhabitants of the world. Then the

224 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D, 1206.
blessed Julian conducted him altogether unhurt through the
aforesaid fire, to the above-mentioned lake, and the two then
walked together on the road which led from the church
through the midst of the flames ; no wood material supphed
fuel to this said fire, but a sort of flame rising, like what is
seen in a fiercely-heated oven, was diffused over the whole of
that space, and consumed the black and spotted spirits for a
shorter or a longer period, according to the degrees of their
crimes. And the spirits which had got out of the fire de
scended into that cold salt lake at the command of the
blessed Nicholas, who presided over that purgatory ; and
some of these were immersed over head, some up to the
neck, some to the chest and arms, others up to the navel,
some up to the knees, and others scarcely up to the hoUow of
their feet. After the lake, there remained the passing of
the bridge, which is on the western side of the church, in
front of the same ; some of the spirits passed over this
bridge very tediously and slowly, others more easily and
quicker, and some passed over at wiU and fast, experiencing
no delay or trouble in crossing ; for some went through the
lake so slowly that they stayed in it many years ; and those
who were not assisted by any special masses, or who had not
in their life-time endeavoured to redeem their sins by works
of charity towards the poor, those I say, on reaching the
before-mentioned bridge, and desiring to cross over to their
destined place of rest, walked painfully with naked feet
amidst the sharp stakes and thorns which were set on the
bridge; and when they were no longer able to endure the
extreme agony of the pain, they placed their hands on the
stakes to support themselves from faUing, and their hands
being directly pierced through, they, in the violence of their
pain and suffering, roUed on their belly and aU parts of their
bodies upon the stakes, until by degrees they grovelled along
to the further end of the bridge, dreadfully bloody, and
pierced all over; but when they reached the hall of the
aforesaid church, they there obtained a happy entrance, and
recollected little of their vehement tortures.
How St. Michael and the apostles Peter and Paul apportioned the spirits
lo the places ordained for them by God.
After then, having beheld aU these things, St. JuUan and

A.D. 1206] WEIGHING OF GOOD AND EVIL. 225
the man returned through the midst of the flame to the
church of St. Mary, and there stopped with the white spirits
which had lately arrived ; and these spirits were sprinkled
with holy water by St. James and St. Domninus, in order
that they might become whiter. Here at the very first day
light of the sabbath, came St. Michael the archangel and the
apostles Peter and Paul, to allot to the spirits assembled
inside and outside the church the places ordained for them
by God according to their deserts ; for St. Michael gave to
all the white spirits a safe passage through the midst of the
flames of purgatory, and through the other places of punish
ment to the entrance of the large church which was built on
the mount of joy, with a door on the western side always
open ; but the spirits stained with black and white spots,
which were lying outside the hall on the northern side, were,
without any discussion as to their works, brought by St,
Peter through a door on the eastern side into the purgatorial
fire, that they might be cleansed by that raging flame of the
stains of their sins. Of the weighing of good and evil.
The blessed Paul, too, sat inside the church at the end of
the northern wall: and outside the wall, opposite to the
apostle, sat the devil with his sateUites ; and a flame-vomiting
aperture, which was the mouth of the pit of hell, burst out
close to the feet of the devil. On the wall between the
apostle and the devil was fixed a scale hanging on an equal
balance, the middle part of which hung without in front of
the devil ; and the apostle had two weights, a greater and a
lesser one, shining hke gold, and the devil also had two,
sooty and dark. Then the black spirits approached from
all directions with great fear and trembUng, one after the
other, each to try in the scale the weight of their deeds, good
or evil ; for the aforesaid weights estimated the deeds of
each of the spirits according to the good or evil thfey had
done. When, therefore, the balance incUned itself towards the
apostle, he took that spirit and brought it through the eastern
door which was joined to the church, into the purifying fire,
there to expiate its offences ; but when the balance inclined
and preponderated towards the devil, he and his satellites
at once hurried' away that spirit, wailing and cursing the
VOL. II. Q

226 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1206.
father and mother for having begot it, to eternal torment, and,
amidst great grinning, cast it into the deep and fiery furnace,
which was at the feet of the devil who was weighing. Of
the weighing of good and evil in this way, mention is often
made in the writings of the holy fathers.
Of a certain spirit which the devil had changed into the form of a horse.
On the sabbath day near the hour of evening, whilst St.
Domninus and St. Juhan were in the aforesaid church, there
came from the northern part a certain devil riding with
headlong speed a black horse, and urging him through the
many turnings of the place amidst much noise and laughter ;
and many of the evil spirits went forth to meet it, dancing
about and grinning at one another over the prey which was
brought to them. St. Domninus then commanded the devil,
who was riding, to come directly to him and teU him whose
spirit it was that he had brought ; but the devil dissembling
for a long time, for the great delight which he experienced over
the wretched spirit, the saint immediately snatched up a whip
and severely lashed the devil, on which he foUowed the saint
to the northern wall, where stood the scale of the spirits.
The saint then asked the devil whose spirit it was that he
was tormenting so by riding ; to which the latter repUed that
" it was one of the nobles of the kingdom of England, who had
died on the preceding night without confession and without
partaking of the body of the Lord ; and, amongst the other
faults which he had committed, his principal crime was his
cruelty towards his own men, many of whom he had brought to
extreme want, which he had chiefly done at the instigation of
his wife, who always incited him to deeds of cruelty. I have
transformed him into a horse, since we are allowed to turn
the spirits of the condemned into whatever form we please ;
and I should have already descended with him into hell, and
should be consigning him to eternal punishment, if it were
not that Sunday night is at hand, when it is our duty to de
sist from our theatrical sports, and to inflict more severe
tortures on wretched spirits." After he had spoken these
words, he directed his look on the man, and said to the saint,
"Who is that rustic standing with you?" To which the
saint answered, " Do you not know him ?" The demon then
said, " I have seen him at the church of Tidstude in Essex,

A.D. 1206.] SPORTS OF DEVILS. 227
on the feast of its dedication.'' The saint then asked, " In
what dress did you enter the church ?" He replied, " In the
dress of a woman ; but when I had advanced to the font,
meaning to enter the chancel, the deacon met me with the
sprinkler of holy water, and sprinkling me with it, he put
me to flight so precipitately, that I uttered a cry, and leaped
from the church as far as a field two furlongs distant." The
man and several others also of the parishioners bore witness to
this same circumstance, declaring that they had heard that
cry, and were entirely ignorant of the cause of it.
Of the theatrical sports of the devils.
After this, St. Domninus said to the devil, " We wish to
go with you to see your sports." The devil answered, " If
you wish to go with me, do not bring this labourer with you,
for he would on his return amongst his fellow mortals disclose
our acts and secret kinds of punishment to the Uving, and
would reclaim many from serving us." The saint said to
him, '¦ Make haste and go forward, I and St. Juhan will
follow you." The demon therefore went on in advance and
the saints followed him, bringing the man with them by
stealth. They then proceeded to a northern region, as if they
were going up a mountain ; and behold, after descending the
mountain, there was a very large and dark-looking house
surrounded by old walls, and in it there were a great many lanes
(platece) as it were, filled all around with innumerable heated
iron seats. These seats were constructed with iron hoops glow
ing white with heat, and with nails driven in them in every
part, above and below, right and left, and in them there sat
beings of divers conditions and sexes ; these were pierced by
the glowing nails all over their bodies, and were bound on
all sides with fiery hoops. There was such a number of
those seats, and such a multitude of people sitting in them,
that no tongue would be able to reckon them. All around
these courts were black iron walls, and near these walls
were other seats, in which the devils sat in a circle, as if at a
pleasant spectacle, grinning at each other over the tortures
of the wretched beings, and recapitulating to them their
former crimes. Near the entrance of this detestable scene,
on the descent of the mountains, as we have said, there was
a wall five feet high, from which could plainly be seen what-
Q2

228 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1206.
ever was done in that place of punishment. Near this wall,
then, the before-mentioned saints stood outside looking on at
what the wretched beings inside were enduring, and the man
lying concealed between them plainly saw aU that was going
on inside. Of a proud man, and his tortures.
When the servants of heU were aU seated at this shameful
scene, the chief of that wicked troop said to his satellites, "Let
the proud man be violently dragged from his seat, and let
him sport before us." After he had been dragged from his
seat and clothed in a black garment, he, in the presence of
the devils who applauded him in turn imitated aU the
gestures of a man proud beyond measure; he stretched his
neck, elevated his face, cast up his eyes, with the brows
arched, imperiously thundered forth lofty words, shrugged
his shoulders, and scarcely could he bear his arms for
pride : his eyes glowed, he assumed a threatening look,
rising on tiptoe, he stood with crossed legs, expanded his
chest, stretched his neck, glowed in his face, showed signs
of anger in his fiery eyes, and striking his nose with his
finger, gave expression of great threats; and thus sweUing
with inward pride, he afforded ready subject of laughter to
the inhuman spirits. And whilst he was boasting about his
dress, and was fastening gloves by sewing, his garments on
a sudden were turned to fire, which consumed the entire
body of the wretched being ; lastly, the devUs, glowing with
anger, tore the wretch limb from limb with prongs and fiery
iron hooks. But one of them put fat with pitch and other
greasy substances in a glowing pan, and fried each limb as it
was torn away with that boiling grease : and each time the
devil sprinkled them with the grease, the limbs sent, forth a
hissing, like what is caused by pouring cold water on boiUng
blood ; and after his limbs had been thus fried, they were
joined together again, and that proud man returned to his
former shape. Next, there approached to the wretched man
the hammerers of hell, with hammers and three red hot iron
bars nailed together in triple order, and they then applied
two bars at the back part of his body, to the right and the
left, and crueUy drove the hot nails into him with their
hammers; these two bars, beginning at his feet, were brought
up his legs and thighs to his shoulders, and were then bent

A.D. 1206.] OF A PRIEST AND SOLDIER. 229
around his neck; the third bar, beginning at his middle,
passed up his belly, and reached to the top of his head.
After this wretch had been tortured for a length of time in
the manner above described, he was mercilessly thrust back
into his former seat, and when placed there, he was tormented
in all parts by the burning nails, and by having his five
fingers stretched : and after he had been thus taken from this
place of punishment, he was placed in the abode which he
had made for himself when Uving, to await further tortures.
Of. a certain priest.
A priest was next dragged forth with violence from his
fiery seat to the sport, and placed before these inhuman
goblins by the servants of sin, who forthwith, after cutting
his throat in the middle, pulled out his tongue, and cut it off
at the root. This priest had not, when he could, repaid the
people entrusted to his care for their temporal goods which
he had taken from them, by holy exhortation, nor by an
example of good works, and had not given them the support
of prayers or of masses. Afterwards, as we have related of
the proud man, they tore him limb from Umb, and again
restoring him entire, they placed him in a chair of torture.
Of a certain soldier.
After him was brought forward a certain soldier, who had
spent his hfe in slaying harmless people, in tournaments, and
robberies. He sat, accoutred with all his weapons of war,
on a black horse, which, when urged on by the spur, breathed
forth a pitchy flame, with stench and smoke, to the torture
of its rider. The saddle of the horse was pierced all over
with long fiery nails ; the armour and helmet, the shield and
boots covered with flame, severely burdened the rider by
their weight, and at the same time consumed him to the very
marrow with no less torture. After he had, in imitation of
his former custom in war,, urged his horse to headlong speed,
and shaken his spear against the devils who met him and
derided him, he was by them dismounted and torn piecemeal,
and his hmbs were fried in the execrable Uquid above-
mentioned ; and after having been fried, they were again
joined together in the same way as with those who had

230 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1206.
come before, and were fastened by three bars, and when
thus restored he was violently thrust back into his own seat.
Of a certain pleader.
After the soldier, a man well-skilled in worldly law was
dragged forth into the midst with great torture, which he
had brought on himself by a long course of evil living, and
by accepting presents for perverting judgment. This man
was well known throughout the Enghsh territories amongst
the higher ranks, but had closed his hfe miserably in the
year in which this vision was seen ; for, dying suddenly
without executing any will, all the wealth that he had
amassed by his rapacious greediness, was entirely alienated
from him, and spent by strangers to him. He had been
accustomed to sit in the king's exchequer, where he had
oftentimes received presents from both of the litigating
parties. He, too, being dragged forth to the sport, in the
presence of the wicked spirits, was compeUed hy the insult
ing gobUns to imitate the actions of his former life ; for,
turning himself at one time to the right, at another to the
left, he was teaching one party in setting forth a cause, and
another in replying to it ; and whilst doing this, he did not
refrain from accepting presents, but received money at one
time from one party, at another from the other, and after
counting it, put it in his pockets. After the demons had for
a length of time looked on at the gestures of the wretched
man, the money suddenly becoming hot, burned the wretch
in a pitiable manner, and he was forced to put in his mouth
the pieces of money, burning as they were, and afterwards to
swallow them : after swallowing them, two demons came to
him with an iron cart-wheel, studded all round with spikes
and nails, and, placing it on the back of the sinner, they
whirled it round, tearing away his whole back in its quick
and burning revolutions ; and compeUed him to vomit forth
the moneys which he had swallowed with great agony, in still
greater torture ; and after he had vomited them up, the
demon ordered him to collect them again, that he might in
the same way again be fed with them ; afterwards, the
servants of hell becoming enraged, exhausted on him all the
tortures which have been mentioned above. The wife of
this man was sitting in one of the fiery spiked seats, because

A.D. 1206. J OF SLANDERERS, THIEVES, ETC. 231
she had been excommunicated in several churches about a
ring, which she had unknowingly put in her casket, and
declared to have been stolen ; from which decree she had
never been absolved, having been prevented by sudden
death. Of an adulterer and adulteress.
There was now brought into the sight of the furious
demons an adulterer, together with an adulteress, united
together in foul contact, and they repeated in the presence of
all, their disgraceful venereal motions and immodest gestures,
to the confusion of themselves and amid the cursing of the
demons : then, as if smitten with frenzy, they began to tear
one another, changing the outward love, which they before
seemed to entertain towards one another, into cruelty and
hatred : their limbs were then torn in pieces by the furious
crowd around them, and they suffered the same punishment
as those who had preceded them. All the fornicators, also,
who were present, were tormented in like manner, and the
intensity of their sufferings was so great that the pen of the
writer is inadequate to pourtray them.
Of slanderers.
Amongst the other wretched beings, two from a company
of slanderers were brought into the midst, who, with continual
distortions, gaped their mouths open to their ears, and turning
their faces on each other, they gazed at each other with
grim eyes ; in the mouths of both of them were put the
ends of a kind of burning spear, eating and gnawing which
with distorted months, they quickly reached the middle of
the spear, drawing close to each other, and in this manner
they tore each other, and stained their whole faces with
blood. Of thieves and incendiaries.
Amongst others there were brought forth thieves, incen
diaries, and violators of religious places, and these were by
the servants of hell placed on wheels of red hot iron, set
with spikes and nails, which from their excessive heat sent
forth a constant shower of sparks of fire ; on these ' the
wretches were whirled round, and endured horrific tortures.
Of the tradesmen.
Then there came to the spot a tradesman with false scales

232 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1206.
and weights, and also those who stretch the new cloths in
their shops to such a degree in length and breadth, that the
threads are broken, and a hole is made, and afterwards,
cunningly stitching up the holes, seU these same cloths in
dark places ; these were cruelly torn from their seats, and
compelled to repeat the motions of their former sins, to their
disgrace, and as an increase of their punishments; and
afterwards they were tortured by devils, in the way we
have ^related of those before them. Besides this the man
saw, near the entrance of the lower heU, four courts, as it
were ; the first of which contained innumerable furnaces and
large wide caldrons filled to the brim with burning pitch
and other melted substances ; and in each of these the spirits
were heaped together boiUng fiercely, and their heads, hke
those of black fishes, were, from the violence of the boiling,
at one time forced upwards out of the liquid, and at another
times feU downwards. The second court in hke manner
contained caldrons, but fiUed with snow and cold ice, in
which the spirits were tortured by the dreadful cold in
intolerable agony. The caldrons in the third court were
filled with boiling sulphureous water and other things,
which emitted a stench mixed with a foul smoke, in which
the spirits who died in the foulness of their lusts were par
ticularly tormented. The fourth court contained caldrons
fuU of a very black salt water, the bitter saltness of which
would immediately take the bark off any kind of wood
thrown into it. In these caldrons a multitude of sinners,
murderers, thieves, robbers, sorceresses, and rich men, who
by unjust exactions oppressed their feUow men, were in
cessantly boiUng; and the servants of iniquity, standing
all round them, pressed them together inside that they might
not escape the heat of the molten liquid. Those who had
been boiling for seven days in this burning grease, were on
the eighth day plunged into the dreadful cold which was in
the second court, whilst those on the other hand who had
been tortured in the cold, were put into the boiUng Uquor ;
in the same way those, who had been boiling in the salt
water were afterwards tortured in the stench; and they
always observed these changes every eight days.

A.D. 1206.] THE MOUNT OF JOT. 233
Of the church situated on the mount of joy, and of the intercession made
for the spirits.
After having seen these things, when the morn of the
Lord's day was just beginning to appear, the aforesaid saints,
with the man whom they were conducting, proceeded to the
mount of joy through the purifying fire, and the lake, and
over the spiked bridge, until they arrived at a hall on the
western side of the before-mentioned temple, which was
situated on the mount ; and there was a handsome and large
gate always open, through which the spirits, which had been
made entirely white, were brought by St. Michael ; and in
this haU were assembled aU the purified spirits praying with
aU the eagerness of expectation for a happy admission into
the place. In the southern quarter outside the temple the
man beheld an infinite number of spirits, all of which, with
their faces turned to the church, were praying for the assist
ance of their friends who were alive, by which means they
might deserve to gain admission into that church, and the
more especial assistance they received, the nearer they ap
proached to the church. In this place he recognised many
of his acquaintances, and also all those of whom he had
the least knowledge in hfe. And St. Michael informed the
man about aU these spirits, for how many masses each spirit
could be set free and be permitted to enter the temple. The
spirits too which were waiting for admission there suffered
no punishment, unless they were waiting for any special
assistance from their friends; nevertheless, all the spirits
which stood there daily approach the entrance to that church
by the general assistance of the whole church.
Of the various stages of the said church.
This man, being brought into the temple by St. Michael,
there saw many whom he had seen in hfe of both sexes in
white apparel, who were cUmbing up to the temple and en
joying great felicity ; and the further the spirits cUmbed up
the steps of the temple, the more white and shining they
became. In that great church were to be seen many most
beautiful mansions, in which dwelt the spirits of the just,
whiter than snow, and whose faces and crowns glittered Uke
golden hght. At certain hours of each day they hear songs
from heaven, as if all kinds of music were sounding in har-

234 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1206.
monious melody, and this, so soothes and refreshes all the
inhabitants of the temple by its agreeable softness, as if they
were regaled with all kinds of dainty meats ; but the spirits
which stood in the halls outside did not hear anything of this
heavenly song. In this place too several of the saints had
abodes of their own, where they receive with joy those who
especially serve themselves next to the Lord in any thing,
that they might afterwards present them in the sight of God.
Of Paradise, and Adam our first parent.
After this they turned aside to the eastern part of the
aforesaid temple, and came to a most pleasant place, beauti
ful in the variety of its herbs and flowers, and fiUed with the
sweet smell of herbs and trees; there the man beheld a
very clear spring, which sent forth four streams of different
coloured water; over this fountain there was a beautiful
tree of wonderful size and immense height, which abounded
in all kinds of fruits and in the sweet smell of spices.
Under this tree near the fountain there reposed a man of
comely form and gigantic body, who was clothed from
his feet to his breast in a garment of various colours and of
wondrously beautiful texture ; this man seemed to be smiUng
in one eye, and weeping from the other. " This," said
St. Michael, " is the first parent of the human race, Adam,
and by the eye which is smiling, he indicates the joy which
he feels in the glorification of his children who are to be
saved, and by the other eye which is weeping, he expresses
the sorrow he feels for the punishment and just judgment of
God on his children who are to be condemned. The gar
ment with which he is covered, though not entirely, is the
robe of immortality and the garment of glory, of which he
was deprived on his first transgression ; for from the time of
Abel, his just son, he began to regain this garment, and con
tinues to do so throughout the whole succession of his
righteous children, and as the chosen ones shine forth in
their different virtues, so this garment is dyed with its
various colours ; and when the number of his elect children
shall be completed, then Adam will be entirely clothed in the
robe of immortality and glory, and in this way the world will
come to an end."

AD. 1206.] RETURN OF THE MAN TO HIS BODY. 235
How the man returned to his body.
After proceeding a httle way from this place they came to
a most beautiful gate adorned with jewels and precious
stones ; and the wall round it shone as if it were of gold.
As soon as they had entered the gate, there appeared a kind
of golden temple, much more magnificent than the former
in all its beauty, in its pleasant sweetness, and in the splendour
of its glittering light, so that the places which they had seen
before appeared not at all pleasant in comparison with that
place ; and after they had gone into this temple, he beheld on
one side, a kind of chapel, refulgent with wonderful orna
ments, in which there sat three virgins shining in indescri
bable beauty ; these, as the archangel informed him, were St.
Catherine, St. Margaret, and St. Osith. Whilst he was thus
admiringly contemplating their beauty, St. Michael said to
St. Julian, " Eestore this man directly to his body, for un
less he is quickly taken back to it, the cold water which
the bystanders are throwing in his face will altogether
suffocate him ;" and directly after these words had been
spoken, the man, not knowing how, was brought back to his
body and sat up in his bed. He had been lying on his bed,
as it were senseless, for two days and nights, that is, from
the hour of evening of the sixth day of the week, till the
evening of the Sunday following, oppressed as if with
a heavy sleep. As soon as morning came he hastened
to the church, and, after the performance of mass, the priest,
with others of the parishioners, who had seen him as it were
lifeless a short time before, besought him to inform them of
what had been revealed to him ; he however in his great
simpUcity, hesitated to relate his vision, until on the follow
ing night St. Julian appeared to him giving him orders to
reveal all that he had seen, because, he said, that he had
been taken from his body for the purpose of making public
all he had heard. In obedience to the commands of the
saint, he, on All Saints' day, and at times afterwards,"related
his vision plainly and openly in the English tongue, and all
who heard him wondered at the unusual gift of speech of a
man who had formerly, from his great simplicity, appeared
clownish and unable to speak ; and by his continual nar
ration of the vision he had seen, he moved many to tears and
bitter lamentations.

236 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1207.
How Geoffrey archbishop of York went into exile.
A. d. 1207. King John kept Christmas at Winchester in
the company of the nobles of the kingdom. Afterwards, at
the purification of the blessed Mary, he levied a tax through
out England of the thirteenth part of aU moveable and other
goods, on the laity as weU as the ecclesiastics and prelates,
which caused great murmuring amongst all, though they
dared not gainsay it. Geoffrey archbishop of York was the
only one who did not consent to it ; he openly spoke against
it, and departed from England privily ; and at his departure he
anathematized especially all those who were the agents of this
robbery in the archbishopric of York, and in general against
aU the invaders of the church or the church property. In this
same year, on the 27th of February, about midnight, a sud
den and violent storm of wind arose, which destroyed build
ings, tore down trees, and, being attended by immense
falls of snow, caused destruction to flocks and herds of sheep
and cattle. In this same year the emperor Otho came to
England and had an interview with his uncle, after which,
and receiving five thousand marks of silver from the latter,
he returned to his own kingdom.
About this time there sprang up, under the auspices of
pope Innocent, a sect of preachers caUed Minorites, who
filled the earth, dwelling in cities and towns by tens and
sevens, possessing no property at all, hving according to the
gospel, making a show of the greatest poverty, walking with
naked feet, and setting a great example of humility to all
classes. On Sundays and feast days they went forth from
their habitations preaching the word of the gospel in the
parish churches, eating and drinking whatever they found
amongst them to whom they preached ; and they were the
more remarkable for their regard to the business of heaven,
the more they proved themselves unconnected with the
matters of this hfe, and with the pleasures of the flesh. No
sort of food in their possession was kept for the morrow's
use, that their poverty of spirit which reigned in their
minds, might show itself to aU in their dress and actions.
The elections of the bishop of Norwich, and the sub-prior of Canterbury
annulled.
About this time the monks of the church of Canterbury

A.D. 1207.] ELECTIONS ANNULLED. 237
appeared before our lord the pope, to plead a disgraceful
dispute which had arisen between themselves ; for a certain
part of them, by authenticated letters of the convent, pre
sented Eeginald, sub-prior of Canterbury, as they had often
done, to be archbishop-elect, and earnestly required the con
firmation of his election ; the other portion of the same
monks had, by letters ahke authentic, presented John bishop
of Norwich, showing by many arguments that the election of
the sub-prior was null, not only because it had been made
by night, and without the usual ceremonies, and without the
consent of the king, but also because it had not been made
by the older and wiser part of the convent ; and thus setting
forth these reasons, they asked that that election should be
confirmed, which was made before fitting witnesses in open
day and by consent, and in presence of the king. When
this side of the question had been heard and plainly under
stood, the pleader on the part of the sub-prior set forth that
the second election was null and void, inasmuch as, what
ever might have been the nature of the first election, whether
just or unjust, that said first election ought to have been
ammUed before the second was made ; wherefore he firmly
demanded that the first election should be deemed vaUd. At
length, after long arguments on both sides, our lord the pope,
seeing that the parties could not agree in fixing on the same
person, and that both elections had been made irregularly,
and not according to the decrees of the holy canons, by the
advice of his cardinals, annuUed both elections, laying the
apostoUc interdict on the parties, and by definitive judgment
ordering, that neither of them should again aspire to the
honours of the archbishopric*
* M. Paris adds : — " In fine, this was the cause and fertile source of
error. The king had given his word by the mouth of twelve monks of
Canterbury that he would accept whomsoever they should elect. Now it
had been agreed between the king and them, on oath, that they would elect
no other person than John bishop of Norwich ; and to the same effect they
also had letters from the king. But the monks themselves, when they
knew that the election of the aforesaid John was displeasing to the pope,
were induced by the pope and cardinals to affirm that they could elect any
one they pleased, and to elect secretly, provided that they made choice of an
active man, and one who was a genuine Englishman, wherefore they chose,
with the pope's advice, master Stephen Langton, cardinal, and equal, if not
superior, to any in the court for probity and learning. From that time,
therefore, the pope would not desert him in his manifold tribulations."

238 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1207.
Of the promotion and consecration of master Stephen Lang ton.
The aforesaid elections being thus annuUed, our lord the
pope, being unwilhng to permit the Lord's flock to be any
longer without the care of a pastor, persuaded the monks of
Canterbury, who had appeared before him as pleaders in the
matter of the church of Canterbury, to elect master Stephen
Langton, a cardinal priest, a man, as we have said, skiUed in
literary science, and discreet and accompUshed in his man
ners ; and he asserted that the promotion of that person
would be of very great advantage, as weU to the king him
self, as to the whole English church. The monks, however,
in answer to this, declared that they were not aUowed, ex
cept by the king's consent and the choice of the canons, to
consent to any person's election, or to make any election
without them ; but the pope, as if taking the words out of
their mouths, said, " You may think that you have plenary
powers in the church of Canterbury, but it is not the custom
that the consent of princes is to be waited for concerning
elections made at the apostolic see; therefore, by virtue
of your obedience, and under penalty of our anathema, we
command you, who are so many and such, that you fuUy
suffice for making the election, to elect as archbishop the
man whom we give you as a father and as pastor of your
souls." The monks, dreading the sentence of excommuni
cation, although reluctantly and with murmuring, gave their
consent ; the only one out of all of them who would not con
sent being master Elias de Brantfield, who had come on the
part of the king and the bishop of Norwich, the rest of them
chanted the " Te Deum," and carried the said archbishop-
elect to the altar. He afterwards received consecration
from the pope aforesaid at the city of Viterbo, on the 1 7th
of June.*
* M. Paris adds : — " About this time pope Innocent, desiring to gain
John over to favour his plans, and knowing that he was covetous and a
diligent seeker after costly jewels, sent the following letter to him with
such presents as may be seen in the same. ' Pope Innocent the Third, to
John king of the English, greeting, &c. — Amongst the riches of the earth,
which the eye of man desires and longs for as more precious than others,
we believe that pure gold and precious stones hold the first place. Although
perhaps your royal highness may abound in these and other riches, how
ever, as a sign of regard and favour, we send to your highness four gold
rings with divers jewels. We wish you particularly to remark in these, the

A.D. 1207.] STEPHEN LANGTON. 239
How pope Innocent sent letters to the king of England asking him to receive
Stephen Langton, already consecrated, as archbishop.
After this matter was settled, pope Innocent sent letters to
the king of England humbly and earnestly asking him to
receive with kindness master Stephen Langton, a cardinal
priest of St. Chrysogonus, who was canonically elected to the
archbishopric of Canterbury, and who tracing his origin from
his kingdom, had not only gained the title of master in secular
learning, but also that of doctor in theology ; and especially
since his life and morals surpassed the greatness of his learn
ing, his character would be of no small advantage to the
king's soul as well as his temporal affairs. Having by
many arguments of this kind, ahke gentle and persuasive,
done his best to induce the king to consent ; he, by letters
ordered the prior and monks of Canterbury, by virtue of
their obedience, to receive the above-named archbishop as
their pastor, and humbly to obey him in temporal as weU as
shape, number, material, and colour, that you may pay regard to the sig
nification of them rather than to the gift. The rotundity signifies eternity,
which has neither beginning nor end. Therefore your royal discretion may
be led by the form of them, to pray for a passage from earthly to heavenly,
from temporal to eternal things. The number of four, which is a square
number, denotes the firmness of mind which is neither depressed in adver
sity, nor elated in prosperity ; which will then be fulfilled when it is based
on the four principal virtues, namely, — justice, fortitude, prudence, and
temperance. In the first place, understand justice, which is to be shown
in judgment ; in the second, the fortitude which is to be shown in adver
sity ; in the third, prudence, which is to be observed in doubtful circum
stances ; and in the fourth, moderation, which is not to be lost in prosperity.
By the gold, is denoted wisdom : for as gold excels all metals, so wisdom
excels all gifts, as the prophet bears witness, ' The spirit of wisdom shall
rest upon him,' &c. There is nothing which it is more necessary for a king
to possess. Wherefore the peaceful king Solomon asked wisdom only of
the Lord, that by those means he might know how to govern the people en
trusted to him. Moreover the greenness of the emerald denotes faith ; the
clearness of the sapphire hope ; the redness of the pomegranate denotes.
charity ; and the purity of the topaz good works, concerning which the
Lord says, 'Let your light shine,' &c. In the emerald, then, you have
what to believe ; in the sapphire, what to hope for ; in the pomegranate,
what to love ; and in the topaz, what to practise ; that you ascend from
one virtue to another till you see the Lord in Zion.' When these gifts
were brought into the king's presence, he at first was much pleased with
them ; but not many days afterwards the pure gold was turned to dross and
derision, the jewels into groans, and love into hatred, as the following nar
rative will show."

240 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A D. 1207.
spiritual affairs. When at length the letters of our lord the
pope came to the notice of the English king, he was exceed
ingly enraged, as much at the promotion of Stephen Langton
as at the annulling of the election of the bishop of Norwich,
and accused the monks of Canterbury of treachery ; for he
said that they had, to the prejudice of his rights, elected their
sub-prior without his permission, and afterwards, to palUate
their fault by giving satisfaction to him, they chose the
bishop of Norwich ; that they had also received money from
the treasury for their expenses in obtaining the confirmation
of the said bishop's election from the apostolic see; and to
complete their iniquity, they had there elected Stephen
Langton, his open enemy, and had obtained his consecration
to the archbishopric. On this account the said king, in the
fury of his anger and indignation, sent Fulk de Cantelu and
Henry de Cornhill, two most cruel and inhuman knights,
with armed attendants, to expel the monks of Canterbury, as
if they were guilty of a crime against his injured majesty
from England, or else to consign them to capital punish
ment. These knights were not slow to obey the commands
of their lord, but set out for Canterbury, and, entering the
monastery with drawn swords, in the king's name fiercely
ordered the prior and monks to depart immediately from the
kingdom of England as traitors to the king's majesty; and
they affirmed with an oath that, if they (the monks) refused to
do this, they would themselves set fire to the monastery, and
the other offices adjoining it, and would burn aU the monks
themselves with their buildings. The monks, acting un
advisedly, departed without violence or laying hands on any
one ; all of thenq, except thirteen sick men who were lying in
the infirmary unable to walk, they forthwith crossed into
Flanders, and were honourably received at the abbey of
St. Bertinus and other monasteries on the continent. After
wards, by the orders of the king, some monks of the order of
St. Augustine were placed in the church of Canterbury in
their stead to perform the duties there ; the before-mentioned
Fulk managing, and even distributing and confiscating, aU
the property of the same monks, whilst their lands and those
of the archbishop remained uncultivated. The aforesaid
monks were driven from their monastery into exile on the
fourteenth of July.

A.D. 1207.] KING AND THE POPE AT VARIANCE. 241
How the king of England sent threatening letters to the pope.
After having thus banished the monks of Canterbury, king
John sent messengers with letters to the pope, in which he
expressly and as it were threateningly accused him of having
disgracefully annulled the election of the bishop of Norwich,
and of having consecrated, as archbishop of Canterbury,
Stephen Langton, a man altogether unknown to him, and
who had been for a long time famihar with his declared
enemies in the French kingdom ; and what redounded more
to the prejudice and subversion of the liberties which be
longed to his crown, his consent was not duly asked by
the monks who ought to have done so, and he, the pope,
audaciously presumed to promote the same Stephen ; and he
asserted that he could not sufficiently wonder that he, the
pope, as weU as the whole court of Eome, did not recollect of
how much consequence the regard of the English king had
been to the Eoman see till now, inasmuch as more abundant
profits accrued to them from his kingdom of England than
from all other countries on this, side of the Alps. He added,
moreover, that he would stand up for the rights of his crown,
if necessary, even to death, and declared immutably that he
could not be deterred from the election and promotion of the
bishop of Norwich, which he knew would be advantageous '
to himself. Finally, he summed up the business by saying,
that if he were not attended to in the foregoing matters,
he would stop the track by sea against all who were going to
Eome, that his territories might not be emptied of their
wealth, and he himself be thus rendered less able to drive his
enemies away from them ; and, as there were plenty of arch
bishops, bishops, and other prelates of the church, as well in
England as in his other territories, who were well stored in
aU kinds of learning if he wanted them, he would not beg
for justice or judgment from strangers out of his own do
minions. When all this had been brought to theinotice of
the pope by the king's messengers, that pontiff wrote in reply
as foUows :
Answer of our lord the pope to the English king.
" Innocent bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his
well beloved son in Christ, the illustrious John, king of the
English, health, and the apostolic blessing. When we wrote
VOL. H. R

242 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1207.
to you on the matter of the church of Canterbury, humbly
and carefully, and with gentle exhortations and requests,
you, if I may so speak, with all deference to your high
ness, wrote in reply to us contumaciously and waywardly,
with threats and reproaches ; and whereas we defer to you
more than we ought, you show us less consideration than you
ought ; for if your devotion is very necessary to us, still our
regard is no less advantageous to you. And, although in
such a case we have never paid such honour to any prince
as we have to you, you are endeavouring to lessen our dignity
in a way that no prince has, in a like case, presumed to do ;
you set forth some frivolous excuses by which you assert
that you cannot give your consent to the election of our
beloved son, master Stephen, entitled a cardinal priest of
St. Chrysogonus, because forsooth he has been intimate with
your enemies, and is not personally known to you. More
over, as the proverb of Solomon says, ' The net is cast in
vain before the eyes of birds,' since we know that it is not to
be imputed as a fault, but rather to be reckoned as a glory to
. him, that, when he was for a time at Paris studying the
liberal arts, he made such advance in them that he was
rewarded with the title of teacher, not only in civil acquire
ments, but also in theological learning ; and so, whereas his
life agrees with his doctrines, he was rewarded with the
prebendal stall in the church of Paris ; wherefore, we think
it a wonder, if a man of such renown, and who derived his
origin from your kingdom, could, as far as report goes,
be unknown to you, especially when you wrote to him three
times after he was promoted to the rank of cardinal by us,
that, however you were disposed to summon him to your
service, you nevertheless were glad that he was raised to a
higher office. But it ought rather to take your attention,
that he was born in your kingdom of parents who were faith
ful and devoted to you, and that he had been made a prebend
in the church at York, which was a far greater and higher
situation than that of Paris ; whence, not only by reason of
flesh and blood, but also by his holding ecclesiastical benefits
and office, he was proved to have a sincere affection for you
and your kingdom. But your messengers gave to us another
reason for your not giving your consent to his election, which
was forsooth, because you had never been asked for it by

A.D. 1207.] LETTER OF THE POPE. 243
those who ought to have asked your consent to it ; and they
declared that the letters in which we ordered you to send
fitting agents to us on this matter had not reached you, and
that the monks of Canterbury, although they had appeared
before you on other business, had not sent letters or mes
sengers to ask your consent to this. Wherefore, the same
messengers asked with much earnestness, that, as far as
it pleased us we would reserve to you the honour that the
monks of Canterbury should ask the consent of their king,
since it had not been done, and that we would grant a fitting
delay for it to be done, that nothing derogatory to your rights
might happen: putting forth something at last against the
person of the archbishop elect, which, being done openly,
ought to have restrained their tongues ; especially as, even if
true, it could no longer impede his election. Although it is not
the custom, when elections are made at the apostolic see, to
wait for the consent of any prince. However, two monks
were sent to you for the special purpose of asking your con
sent, but they were detained at Dover, so that they were not
able to fulfil their instructions ; and the before-mentioned
letters about the agents were in our presence delivered to
your messengers that they might faithfully deliver them to you.
We, too, who hold full authority over this same church of Can
terbury, have condescended to ask a favour of a king ; and our
courier, who delivered the apostolic letters to you, also delivered
the letters of the prior and monks, who, by command of the
whole chapter of the church of Canterbury, had made the
aforesaid election, which were written to ask your consent, and
therefore we did not deem it our business again, after all these
circumstances, to ask the royal consent ; but we endeavoured,
without inclining to the right or to the left, to do that which
the canonical ordinances of the holy fathers order to be done,
so that there may be no delay or difficulty in making proper
arrangements that the Lord's flock may not be longer with
out the care of a pastor. Wherefore, let no one suggest it to
your royal discretion or prudence, that we can in any way be
diverted from the consummation of this business ; since, when
a canonical election is made according to rule without fraud
or cunning of a fitting person, we could not, without loss of
our good name or danger to our conscience, delay the com
pletion of it. Therefore, well beloved son, to whose dignity
r2

244 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1207.
we have yielded deference more than we ought, endeavour
to pay proper deference to our dignity, that you may be
rewarded more abundantly with the grace of God and our
favour; but perhaps, should you act otherwise, you may
bring yourself into difficulties from which you will not easily
be extricated ; for it must be that He is supreme to whom
every knee is bent, of those in heaven, on earth, and under
the earth, and whose functions on earth we, although un
deserving, are appointed to perform. Do not therefore
acquiesce in the plans of those who are always longing to
disquiet you, that they may fish better in the troubled water,
but commit yourself to our good pleasure, which will surely
tend to your praise, glory, and honour ; because it would not
be safe for you in this matter to show resistance to God and
the church, for which the blessed martyr and glorious high
priest Thomas recently shed his blood ; especially, too, since
your father and your brother of iUustrious memory, at the
time they were kings of England, abjured this wicked custom
before the legates of the apostolic see. And we, if you with
proper humility acquiesce in our wishes, wiU take care that
no injury shaU happen to you in this matter. Given at the
Lateran in the tenth year of our pontificate."* In this same
year, on the feast of St. Eemigius, Isabel, queen of the Enghsh,
bore to king John her first-born son, and he was named
Henry, after his grandfather. An eclipse of the moon.
A. d. 1208. King John kept Christmas at Windsor,
where he distributed festive dresses amongst his knights;
and on the day after the purification of St. Mary, an eclipse
of the moon took place, which first appeared of a blood red
and afterwards of a dingy colour. About the same time
Philip bishop of Durham, and Geoffrey bishop of Chester,
paid the debt of nature. In this year, too, queen Isabel bore
a legitimate son to king John, which she named Eichard.
• "About that time died Simon, bishop of Chichester. All the property of
the monks of Canterbury was confiscated on the day of the translation of
St. Swithun ; but Geoffrey, archbishop of York, secretly fled across the sea,
not choosing to agree to the exaction of the thirteenth part. An eclipse of
the sun took place, which lasted from the sixth to the ninth hour, and one
of the moon too on the same day." — M. Paris.

A.D. 1208.] ENGLAND LAID UNDER INTERDICT. 245
The king of England admonished by our lord the pope.
In the same year pope Innocent, on learning that king I
John's heart was so hardened, that he would not either by '
persuasion or threats be induced to acquiesce in receiving
Stephen as archbishop of Canterbury, was touched to the
heart- with grief, and, by advice of his cardinals, sent orders
to WiUiam bishop of London, Eustace bishop of Ely, and
Mauger bishop of Winchester, to go to the said king, about
the matter of the church of Canterbury, and to give him
wholesome counsel to yield to God in this matter, and so
secure the Lord's favour ; but if they found him contumacious
and rebeUious as he had hitherto been, he ordered them to
lay an interdict on the whole kingdom of England, and to
denounce to the said king that, if he did not check his bold
ness by that means, he, the pope, would lay his hand on him
still more heavily ; since it was necessary for him to conquer,
who for the safety of the holy church had made war on the
devil and his angels, and despoiled the cloisters of heU. He
also, by letters of the apostolic see, gave orders to the
suffragan bishops of the church of Canterbury, and to the
other prelates of that diocese, that, by virtue of their
obedience, they were to receive the aforesaid archbishop as
their father and pastor, and were to obey him with aU due
affection. How England was laid under general interdict.
The bishops of London, Ely, and Winchester, in execution
of the legateship entrusted to them, went to king John, and
after duly setting forth the apostolic commands, entreated of
him humbly and with tears, that he, having God in his sight,
would recall the archbishop and the monks of Canterbury to
their church, and honour and love them with perfect affec
tion ; and they informed him that thus he would avoid the
shame of au interdict, and the Disposer of rewards* would, if
he did so, multiply his temporal honours on him, and after
his death would bestow lasting glory on him. When the
said bishops wished, out of regard to the king, to prolong the
discourse, the king became nearly mad with rage, and broke
forth in words of blasphemy against the pope and his j
cardinals, swearing by God's teeth, that, if they or any
other priests soever presumptuously dared to lay his domi-

246 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1208.
nions under an interdict, he would immediately send all the
prelates of England, clerks as well as ordained persons, to
the pope, and confiscate all their property ; he added more
over, that all the clerks of Eome or of the pope himself who
could be found in England or in Ms other territories, he
would send to Eome with their eyes plucked out, and their
noses slit, that by these marks they might be known there
from other people ; in addition to this he plainly ordered the
bishops to take themselves quickly from his sight, if they
wished to keep their bodies free from harm. The bishops
then, not finding any repentance in the king, departed, and.
in the Lent following, fearlessly fulfiUed the duty required of
them by the pope, and accordingly on the morning of Monday
in Passion week, which that year feU on the 23rd of
March, they laid a general interdict on the whole of England ;
which, since it was expressed to be by authority of our lord
the pope, was inviolably observed by aU without regard of
person or privileges. Therefore aU church services ceased
to be performed in England, with the exception only of con
fession, and the viaticum in cases of extremity, and the
baptism of children ; the bodies of the dead too were carried
out of cities and towns, and buried in roads and ditches
without prayers or the attendance of priests. What need I
say more ? The bishops, William of London, Eustace of
Ely, Mauger of Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath, and Giles of
Hereford, left England privily, thinking it better to avoid the
anger of the enraged king for a time, than to dwell without
any good effects in a country which lay under interdict. \
How king John, on account of the interdict, confiscated all the property
of the clergy.
The king of England being greatly enraged on account of
the interdict, sent his sheriffs, and other ministers of iniquity,
to all quarters of England, giving orders with dreadful threats
to aU priests as well as to those subject to them, to depart
the kingdom immediately, and to demand justice to be
afforded him by the pope for this injury; he also gave all
the bishoprics, abbacies, and priories, into the charge of lay
men, and ordered all ecclesiastical revenues to be confiscated ;
but the generality of the prelates of England had cautiously
turned their attention to this, and refused to quit their

A.D. 1208.] CONFISCATION OF PROPERTT. 247
monasteries unless expelled by violence ; and when the
agents of the king found this out, they would not use violence
towards them, because they had not a warrant from the king
to that effect ; but they converted all their property to the
king's use, giving them only a scanty allowance of food and
clothing out of their own property. The corn of the clergy
was every where locked up, and distrained for the benefit of
the revenue ; the concubines of the priests and clerks were
taken by the king's servants and compelled to ransom them
selves at a great expense ; religious men and other persons
ordained of any kind, when found travelling on the road,
were dragged from their horses, robbed, and basely ill-treated
by the satellites of the king, and no one would do them
justice. About that time the servants of a certain sheriff on
the confines of Wales came to the king bringing in their
custody a robber with his hands tied behind him, who had
robbed and murdered a priest on the road ; and on their ask
ing the king what it was his pleasure should be done to the
robber in such a case, the king immediately answered, " He
has slain an enemy of mine, release him and let him go."
The relations, too, of the archbishop and bishops, who had
laid England under an interdict, wherever they could be
found, were by the king's orders taken, robbed of all their pro
perty, and thrown into prison. Whilst they were enduring
all these evils, these aforesaid prelates were sojourning on the
continent, living on all kinds of delicacies instead of placing
themselves as a waU for the house of God, as the saying of
the Eedeemer has it, " When they saw the wolf coming, they
quitted the sheep and fled."
How king John received the homage of the nobles of England.
In the midst of these and similar impious proceedings,
king John, on reflection, was afraid that, after the interdict,
our lord the pope would lay his hands on him more heavily
by excommunicating him by name, or by absolving the
nobles of England from allegiance to him ; he, therefore, that
he might not lose his rights of sovereignty, sent an armed
force to all the men of rank in the kingdom especially those
of whom he was suspicious, and demanded hostages of them,
by which he could, if in course of time they were released
from their fealty, recall them to their due obedience; many

248 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1209.
acquiesced in the king's demands, some delivering to his
messengers their sons, and others their nephews and other
relations in the flesh. When they at length came to Wilham
de Brause, a man of noble blood, and demanded hostages
from him, as they had done from others, Matilda, wife of the
said William, with the sauciness of a woman, took the reply
out of his mouth, and said to the messengers in reply, " I wiU
not deliver up my sons to your lord, king John, because he
basely murdered his nephew, Arthur, whom he ought to
have taken care of honourably." Her husband on hearing
her speech rebuked her, and said, " Thou hast spoken Uke a
foolish woman against our lord the king ; for if I have
offended him in anything, I am and shall be ready to give
satisfaction to my lord and that without hostages, according
to the decision of his court and of my feUow barons, if he
will fix on a time and place for my so doing." The
messengers, on their return to the king, told him what they
had heard, at which he was seriously enraged, and privily
sent some knights and their followers to seize this William
and his family ; but he, being forewarned by his friends, fled
with his wife, children, and relatives, into Ireland. In this
same year the white monks, who at the commencement of the
interdict had ceased their functions, afterwards, at the com
mand of the chief abbat of their order, presumed to perform
sacred duties ; but this piece of presumption coming to the
notice of the supreme pontiff they were again suspended to
their greater confusion.
How the king of the English sent a great sum of money to his
nephew Otho.
a.d. 1209. King John was at Bristol at Christmas, and
there he forbade the taking of birds throughout aU England.
After this Henry duke of Suabia came from Otho king of
Germany to England to see king John, and after receiving a
large sum of money for the said Otho's use he returned home
again. In this year too, by the intercession of Stephen arch
bishop of Canterbury, the indulgence of performing divine
duties once in the week was granted to the conventual
churches in England ; but the white monks were debarred
from this indulgence, because, although they had at the com
mencement of the interdict abstained therefrom, they had

A.D. 1209.] TREATY OF ALLIANCE. 249
afterwards, at the bidding of their principal abbat, presumed
to perform them without consulting the pope. About this
same time, Louis, son of Philip king of France, and his first
born and legitimate heir, was by his father made a belted
knight at Compiegne, and a hundred other nobles with him.
How the king of the English entered into a treaty of alliance with
the king of Scots.
About that time king John collected a large force, and
turned his arms against Scotland. When he came to the
county of Northumberland, to a castle called Norham, he
there drew up his army in order of battle against the king of
Scots ; but when the latter monarch was told of this, he was
afraid to engage with him, since he knew the English king's
proneness to all kinds of cruelty, but he came to meet
that monarch to treat for peace. But the king of England,
being enraged, bitterly reproached him with having received
in his kingdom his fugitive subjects and open enemies, and
with having afforded assistance and shown kindness to them,
to the prejudice of him the English king. However when
John had set forth all these matters to the said king of Scots,
they entered into an agreement, by which the latter was to
give to the English monarch twelve thousand marks of silver
as a security for peace, and should moreover, for the better
security of it, give him his two daughters as hostages, that,
by this arrangement the peace might be more confirmed
between them. The latter king then departed from the
above-mentioned castle on the 28th of June, and gave orders
for all the hedges to be burnt and the ditches to be levelled
throughout the forests of all England, and for the pasturage
to be laid open for the consumption of cattle. Afterwards
he received homage from all his free tenants, and even from
boys of twelve years old throughout the whole kingdom, and
after they had given their fealty he received them with a
kiss of peace and dismissed them. And, what* had never
been heard of in times past, the Welsh came to the king at
Woodstock and there did homage to him, although it was
burdensome to rich as well as poor. In this same year Otho
son of the duke of Saxony, and nephew of the king of
England, was consecrated emperor of Eome by pope Innocent
on the 4th of October. About this same time a certain clerk,

250 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1209.
who was studying the liberal arts at Oxford, accidentally
siew a woman, and when he found that she was dead he
consulted his own safety by flight. But the mayor of the
city and several other persons coming up, and finding the
dead woman, began to search for the murderer in his house,
which he had rented, together with three others his feUow
clerks, and not finding the murderer, they made prisoners of
his three fellow clerks, who were altogether ignorant of the
murder, and thrust them into prison ; and a few days after
wards they were, by order of the king, in contempt of the
rights of the church, taken outside the city and hung. On
this the clerks to the number of three thousand, masters as
well as pupils, retired from Oxford, so that not one remained
out of the whole university ; some of these went to Cambridge,
and others to Beading to pursue their studies, leaving the city
of Oxford empty. In the same year Hugh archdeacon of Wells,
and chancellor of the king, was, by the management of the said
king, elected to the bishopric of Lincoln, and immediately
after the election was made, he received from the king free
jurisdiction over the whole bishopric.
How king John was excommunicated by name.
King John had now for nearly two years, as has been
said before, unceasingly continued throughout England, on
account of the interdict, a most severe persecution against the
clergy as weU as some of the laity, and had entirely destroyed
all kind of hope in every one of any improvement or satisfac
tion, and pope Innocent could no longer put off the punish
ment of his rebellion; wherefore, by the advice of his
cardinals, he, in order to cut up by the root such an insult
to the church, gave orders to the bishops of London, Ely,
and Winchester, to declare the said king excommunicated by
name, and solemnly to pubhsh this sentence every Sunday
and feast day in all the conventual churches throughout
England, that thus the king might be more strictly shunned
by every one. But after the aforesaid bishops had, by the
apostolic authority, entrusted the publication of this sentence
to their fellow bishops who had remained in England, and to
the other prelates of the church, they all, through fear of or
regard for the king, became Uke dumb dogs not daring to
bark, wherefore they put off fulfilling the duty enjoined on

A.D. 1209.] KING JOHN EXCOMMUNICATED. 251
them by the apostolic, mandate, and failed to proceed accord
ing to the usual course of justice. Nevertheless in a short
time the decree, became known to all in the roads and streets,
and even in the places of assembly of the people it afforded a
subject of secret conversation to all; amongst others, as
Geoffrey archdeacon of Norwich was one day sitting in the
Exchequer at Westminster, attending to the. king's business,
he began to talk privately with his companions who sat with
him, of the decree which was sent forth against the king,
and said that it was not safe for beneficed persons to remain
any longer in their allegiance to an excommunicated king ;
after saying which, he went to his own house without asking
the king's permission. This event coming soon after to the
knowledge of the king, he was not a little annoyed,
and sent William Talbot a knight, with some soldiers, to
seize the archdeacon, and they, after he was taken, bound
him in chains and threw him into prison ; after he had been
there a few days, by command of the said king a cap of lead
was put on him, and at length, being overcome by want of
food as well as by the weight of the leaden cap, he departed
to the Lord. Of the evil counsel of the wicked Alexander.
During the time of the interdict a pseudo-theologist, one
Master Alexander, surnamed the Mason, insinuated himself
into the king's favour, and by his iniquitous preachings he
in a great measure incited the king to acts of cruelty ; for he
said that this universal scourge was not brought on England
by any fault of the king's, but by the wickedness of his
subjects ; he also declared that he, the king, was the rod of
God, and had been made a prince in order to rule his people
and others subject to him with a rod of iron, and to break
them aU " like a potter's vessel," to bind those in power with
shackles, and his nobles with manacles of iron. By some
specious arguments he proved that it was not the pope's
business to meddle with the lay estates of kings or of any
potentates whatever, or with the government of their sub
jects ; especially as nothing, except the power only over the
church and church property, had been conferred by the Lord
on St. Peter. By these and the like fallacies, he so gained
favour with the king, that he obtained several benefices

252 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1210.
which had been taken from religious men by the said' king's
violence ; but as soon as the perversity of this man came to
the ears of the supreme pontiff, he was, by the pope's own
management, deprived of all his goods and benefices, and at
length reduced to such wretchedness, that he was compelled
by necessity in the poorest clothing to beg his bread from
door to door ; and the multitude looked on him with derision
saying, " Behold the man who did not make God his helper,
but put his trust in the multitude of his riches, and
strengthened himself in his vanity; let him therefore be
always before the Lord, that the recollection of him may
perish from the earth, because he did not call it to his mind
to show compassion ; therefore the Lord will destroy him to
the end, and his speech shall be against him as a sin, so that
his habitation may be blotted out from the land of the
living." Of the consecration of Hugh bishop of Lincoln.
In this same year Hugh bishop elect of Lincoln, obtained
leave from the king to cross over to France, that he might
receive consecration from the archbishop of Eouen, but as
soon as he had landed in Normandy, he went to Stephen
archbishop of Canterbury, and after making his canonical
submission to that prelate, he was by him consecrated on the
20th of December. When this was discovered by the king,
he immediately took possession of all the said bishopric, and
converted all the emoluments of it to his own uses : he also
gave up his seal to Walter de Gray and appointed him his
chancellor, and he made the king's pleasure his business in
managing aU the affairs of the kingdom.
How the Jews were compelled to pay a heavy ransom.
A.D. 1210. King John was at Windsor at Christmas, and
all the nobles of England were present and conversing with
him, notwithstanding the sentence under which he was bound,
a rumour of which, although it had not been pubhshed, had
spread through all parts of England, and come to the ears of
every body ; for the king endeavoured to work evil to all
who absented themselves from him. Afterwards, by the
king's order, all the Jews throughout England, of both sexes,
were seized, imprisoned, and tortured severely, in order to
do the king's will with their money ; some of them then after

A.D. 1210.] EXCOMMUNICATION OF OTHO. 253
being tortured gave up aU they had and promised more, that
they might thus escape ; one of this sect at Bristol, even
after being dreadfully tortured, still refused to ransom him
self or to put an end to his sufferings, on which the king
ordered his agents to knock out one of his cheek-teeth daily,
until he paid ten thousand marks of silver to him ; after they
had for seven days knocked out a tooth each day with great
agony to the Jew, and had begun the same operation on the
eighth day, the said Jew, reluctant as he was to provide the
money required, gave the said sum to save his eighth tooth,
although he had already lost seven.
Of the excommunication of the emperor Otho.
About that time, Otho the Eoman emperor, remembering
the oath which he had made on his elevation to the empire
by the pope, namely, that he would preserve the dignity of
the empire and, as far as lay in his power, would recall its
scattered rights, caused an inquiry to be made, on the oaths
of legal men, concerning the castles of his domain, and other
rights appertaining to the imperial dignity, and whatever was
found to belong to the throne he endeavoured to convert to
his own use. On this there arose a serious dispute between
the pope and the emperor, because when the throne of the
empire was vacant, the said pope had taken possession of
several castles with other things which pertained to the
empire ; wherefore the emperor, because he endeavoured to
recover what was his own, aroused the hatred of the pope
without deserving it. The same emperor also seriously
annoyed Frederic king of Sicily, who had, in the same way,
when the imperial throne was unoccupied, taken possession
of some fortified places; whereupon the said pope by
messengers and letters frequently warned the said emperor to
desist from this persecution of the church of Eome, as well as
from disinheriting the king of Sicily, and the guardianship
entrusted to the apostohc see. In reply to these messengers
of the pope the emperor is said to have made this answer ;
"If," said he, "the supreme pontiff desires unjustly to
possess the rights of the empire, let him release me from the
oath which he compelled me to take on my consecration to
the imperial dignity, namely, that I would recover the
alienated rights of the empire, and maintain those which I

254 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1210.
had." At length as the pope refused to absolve the emperor
from the oath which all emperors at their consecration are
bound to take on the holy gospel, the emperor on the other
hand refused to give up the rights of the empire, which he
had, for the most part, recovered by force; the said pope,
therefore, pronounced the sentence of excommunication
against the emperor, and absolved all the nobles of Germany,
as well as of the Eoman empire, from allegiance to him.
How the king of England led an army into Ireland.
In this same year king John assembled a large army
at Pembroke in Wales, and set out for Ireland, where he
arrived on the sixth of June. On his arrival at the city of
Dubhn, more than twenty of the chiefs of that district met
him in the greatest alarm, and did homage, and swore fealty
to him ; some few of them however would not do this, scorn
ing to come to the king because they dwelt in impregnable
places. He there made and ordained Enghsh laws and
customs, appointing sheriffs and other agents to govern the
people of that kingdom according to English laws ; he ap
pointed John, bishop of (Norwich) justiciary there, who caused
a penny to be coined for that country the same weight as the
English penny, and he also ordered a halfpenny and a round
farthing to be coined. The king also ordered that that money
should be used in common by all, as weU in England as in
Ireland, and that the penny of both kingdoms should be placed
ahke in his treasury. Of the roundness of this money the
prophet Merlin prophesied — "The form of commerce shaU be
divided, and the half will be round." After this the king
proceeded in great force, and took several of the fortresses of
his enemies, and Walter de Lacy, a man of noble race, fled
before him, together with several others, who were afraid of
falling into his hands. When he came to the county of Meath,
he besieged the wife of William de Brause, and WiUiam her
son, with his wife in a fortress there, and making prisoners
of them he sent them loaded with chains into England, and
ordered them to be closely confined in Windsor Castle. At
length king John, after arranging matters at his pleasure
throughout the greatest part of aU Ireland, embarked tri
umphantly, and landed in England on the twenty-ninth of
August ; he then hurried off to London and ordered all the

A.D. 1211.] WELSH PRINCES SUBDUED. 255
prelates of England to meet in his presence. To this general .
assembly there came abbats, priests, abbesses, templars,
hospitallers, the governors of vills, of the order of Cluny,
and of other foreign districts, men of every rank and order,
and they were all compelled to pay such heavy ransoms, and
to make so great an expenditure of the church property, that
the amount of the money extorted is said to have exceeded a
hundred thousand pounds sterling ; the white monks, too, of
the kingdom of England, exclusive of the rest, after being
deprived of their privileges, were compelled to pay forty
thousand pounds of silver to the king in this taxation. In
this year, too, the noblewoman Matilda, wife of William de
Brause, and her son and heir William, with his wife, who had
been imprisoned at Windsor by order of the Enghsh king,
died of starvation at that place.
How the king of England subdued the Welsh princes.
a. d. 1211. At Christmas, king John was at York
in company with the earls and barons of his kingdom ; and
in this year, too, the said king collected a large army at
Whitchurch, and marched into Wales on the eighth of July,
and penetrated in great force into the interior of that country
as far as Snowdon, destroying all the places he came to ; he
subdued all the princes and nobles without opposition, and
received twenty-eight hostages for their submission for the
future. After these successes he returned, on the day of
St. Mary's Assumption, to Whitchurch, from which place he
went to Northampton, and there he met two messengers with
letters from our lord the pope, namely Pandulph, a sub
deacon and a cardinal of the apostolic see, and Durand, a
brother of the knights of the Temple, who had come for the
purpose of restoring peace between the king and the priest
hood. The king, after advising with the messengers, willingly
granted permission for the archbishop of Canterbury and the
monks, as well as all the proscribed bishops, to return to
their homes in peace ; but as he refused to make good to the_
archbishop and bishops the losses they had sustained, or to
satisfy them for their property which had been confiscated,
the messengers returned to France without concluding the
business. King John, after this, levied a tax on the knights
who had not been with the army in Wales, of two marks of

256 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1212.
silver for each scutcheon. In this year a man of noble blood,
the renowned knight Eoger, constable of Chester, closed his
Ufe. How the French king banished Reginald count of Boulogne.
About this time Eeginald count of Boulogne, a bold and
warlike man, was unjustly expeUed from his county by the
French king, and deprived of all his property ; and, after his
expulsion, the said king gave his own son PhUip, the same
county, together with the daughter and legitimate heiress of
the said count, to be held by him as his right for ever. But
count Eeginald came to England and was honourably re
ceived by king John, from whose generosity he received
three hundred pounds of landed revenue, on which he did
homage and swore fealty to the said king.
Of the death of William de Brause.
About the same time William de Brause the elder, who
had fled into France from king John, closed his life at
Corbeil, and was buried with honours at the convent of
St. Victor at Paris. In this year, too, pope Linocent, being
astonished beyond measure at king John's contumaciousness
in rejecting the wholesome advice of the messengers he had
sent to treat with him, absolved from aU fealty and aUegiance
to the English king, the princes, and all others, low as weU
as high, who owed duty to the EngUsh crown, plainly and
under penalty of excommunication, ordering them strictly to
avoid associating with him at the table, in council, or con
verse. At the time of this interdict the king had most evil
counsellors, the names of whom, in part, I will not omit to
mention here ; WiUiam brother of the king, and earl of
Salisbury, Alberic de Vere earl of Oxford, Geoffrey Fitz-
Peter justiciary, three courtier bishops, Philip of Durham,
Peter of Winchester, and John of Norwich, Bichard Marshal
chanceUor, Hugh de Neville master of the forests, WiUiam
de Wrotham warden of the sea-ports, Eobert de Vipont and
Ivo his brother, Brian de Lisle and Geoffrey de Luci, Hugh
de Bahol and Bernard his brother, William de Cantelu and
William his son, Fulk de Cantelu, and Hanry de CornhiU
sheriff of Kent, Bobert de Braybrook and Henry his son,
Philip d'Ulecote and John de Bassingbourne, Philip Marcy,

A.D. 1212.] CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE KING. 257
castellan of Nottingham, Peter de Maulei and Eobert de
Gaugi, Gerard de Atie and Engelard his nephew, Fulk and
WiUiam Briuere, Peter Fitz-Herebert and Thomas Bassett,
with many others, to mention whom would be tedious ; and
aU these, in their desire to please the king, gave their advice,
not according to reason, but as the king's pleasure dictated.
How the king of England knighted Alexander son of the king of Scots.
a.d. 1212. King John was at Windsor at Christmas ; and
on Easter Sunday in the Lent following, the said king held
a feast at London, at St. Bridget's, in the hospital of Clerk-
enwell, where, at table, he knighted Alexander, son and heir
of the king of Scotland. In the same year died at Pontigny,
Mauger bishop of Winchester, who was an exile and pro
scribed man for his protection of the rights of the church,
and his maintenance of justice.
, How the king of England was forewarned of treacliery against himself.
About this time the Welsh burst fiercely forth from their
hiding-places, and took some of the English king's castles,
decapitating all they found in them, knights and soldiers
aUke ; they also burnt several towns, and at length, after col
lecting great quantities of booty, they again betook themselves
to their retreats without any loss to themselves. When these
events became known to the English king, he was very in
dignant, and collected a numerous army of horse and foot
soldiers, determining to ravage the Welsh territories, and to
exterminate the inhabitants. On his arriving with his army
at Nottingham, before he either ate or drank, he ordered
twenty-eight youths, whom he had received the year before
as hostages from the Welsh, to be hung on the gibbet, in
revenge for the above-mentioned transgressions of their coun
trymen. Whilst he was, after this, sitting at table eating and
drinking, there came a messenger from the kingjof Scotland,
who delivered letters, warning him of premeditated treachery
against him ; soon after which there came another messenger
from the daughter of the same king, the wife of Leolin king
of Wales ; this second messenger brought letters unlike the
former ones, and told the king that the contents were a secret.
After his meal the king took him aside and ordered him to
explain the meaning of the letters ; these, although they came
vol. n. s

258 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1212.
from different countries, were to one and the same effect,
which was that, if the king persisted in the war which he
had begun, he would either be slain by his own nobles, or
dehvered to his enemies for destruction. The king was
greatly alarmed on learning this ; and, as he knew that the
English nobles were absolved from their allegiance to him,
he put more faith in the truth of the letters ; therefore, wisely
changing his intention, he ordered his army to return home,
he himself going to the city of London, where, on his arrival,
he sent messengers to aU the nobles, of whose fidehty to
himself he had suspicions, and demanded hostages from them
that he might thus find out who were willing, and who
unwilhng, to obey him. The nobles, not daring to disobey
the king's commands, sent their sons, nieces, and other rela
tives at the pleasure of the king, and thus his anger was in
some small degree assuaged ; however, Eustace de Vesci, and
Eobert Fitz- Walter, who had been accused of the above-men
tioned treachery, and were strongly suspected by the king,
left England, Eustace retiring to Scotland, and Eobert to
France. Of Peter the hermit and his prophecy.
About this time there dwelled in the county of York a
certain hermit named Peter, who was considered a wise man,
on account of his having foretold to a number of people many
circumstances which were about to happen ; amongst other
things, which, in his spirit of prophecy, he had seen con
cerning John the EngUsh king, he openly and before all
declared, that he would not be a king on the next approach
ing Ascension-day, nor afterwards ; for he foretold that on
that day the crown of England would be transferred to
another. This assertion coming to the knowledge of the
king, the hermit was, by his orders, brought before him, and
the king asked him if he should die on that day, or how he
would be deprived of the throne of the kingdom : the hermit
rephed, " Best assured that on the aforesaid day you wiU not
be a king ; and if I am proved to have told a Ue, do what
you will with me." The king then said to him, " Be it as
you say ;" and he then dehvered the hermit into the custody
of WUUam d'Harcourt, who loaded him with chains, and
kept him imprisoned at Corfe to await the event of his pro-

A.D. 1212.] JOHN DEPOSED, 259
phecy. This declaration of the hermit was soon spread
abroad even to the most remote provinces, so that almost all
who heard it put faith in his words as though his prediction
had been declared from heaven. There were at this time in the
kingdom of England many nobles, whose wives and daughters
the king had violated to the indignation of their husbands
and fathers ; others whom he had by unjust exactions reduced
to the extreme of poverty ; some whose parents and kindred
he had exiled, converting their inheritances to his own uses ;
thus the said king's enemies were as numerous as his nobles.
Therefore at this crisis, on learning that they were absolved
from their allegiance to John, they were much pleased, and,
if report is to be credited, they sent a paper, sealed with the
seals of each of the said nobles, to the king of the French,
telling him that he might safely come to England, take pos
session of the kingdom, and be crowned with aU honour and
dignity. How sentence of deposition was passed upon king John.
About this time Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, and
the bishops William of London, and Eustace of Ely, went to
Eome and informed the pope of the divers rebellions and
enormities perpetrated by the king of England from the time
of the interdict up to the present time, by unceasingly laying
the hands of rage and cruelty on the holy church in oppo
sition to the Lord ; and they therefore humbly supplicated
the pope in his pious compassion to assist the church of
England, now labouring as it were in its last extremities.
[ The pope then being deeply grieved for the desolation of the
kingdom of England, by the advice of his cardinals, bishops,
and other wise men, definitively decreed that John king of
England should be deposed from the throne of that kingdom,
and that another, more worthy than he, to be chosen by the
pope, should succeed him. In pursuance of this his decree,
our lord the pope wrote to the most potent Pfiilip, king of
the French, ordering him, in remission of all his faults, to
undertake this business, and declaring that, after he had
expeUed the Enghsh king from the throne of that kingdom,
he and his successors should hold possession of the kingdom
of England for ever. Besides this, he wrote to all the
nobles knights, and other warlike men throughout thediffer-
s2

260 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1212.
ent countries, ordering them to assume the sign of the cross,
and to follow the king of the French as their leader, to
dethrone the English king, and thus to revenge the insult
which had been cast on the universal church: he also
ordered that all those who afforded money or personal assist
ance in overthrowing that contumacious king, should, like
those who went to visit the Lord's sepulchre, remain secure
under the protection of the church, as regarded their pro
perty, persons, and spiritual interests^ After this the pope,
on his part, sent Pandulph, a sub^deacon, with the arch^
bishop and bishops above-named, into the French provinces,
that in his own presence aU his commands above related
might be fulfiUed ; Pandulph, however, on leaving the pope
when all others were away from him, secretly inquired of
his hohness what it was his pleasure should be done, if by
chance he should find any of the fruits of repentance in
John, so that he would give satisfaction to the Lord and the
church of Eome for aU matters in regard of this business.
The pope then dictated a simple form of peace, and said that
if John determined to agree to it, he might find favour with
the apostolic see. A description of the terms of this is here
after contained.*
* " About the same time the king ordered Geoffrey of Norwich, a faith
ful clerk of his, a prudent and skilful man, to be seized and imprisoned in
the castle of Nottingham, where he was put to death with the most exquisite
tortures. On learning this, master William Neccot, a companion of the
said Geoffrey, and a man of great courage, fled into France, and secreted
himself at Corbeil, that he might not be put to death without cause like
Geoffrey. About the same time too, king John sent for Faulkes, whom
he had appointed to take charge of some place in the marshes of Wales,
that he might join him in venting his rage on the barons, knowing that he
did not fear to commit any crime. This wicked freebooter was a Norman by-
birth, and illegitimate. He even acted much more cruelly against the
barons than he had been ordered to, as will be related hereafter; and on
that account the king, becoming favourable to him, gave him in marriage a
noble lady named Margaret de Riparia, with all the lands belonging to her.
In this same year, on the night of the translation of St. Benedict, the
church of St. Mary at Southwark, in Loudon, was burned, and also the
bridge of London between three pillars, as well as a chapel on the bridge,
besides a great portion of the city, and part of the town of Southwark, the
fire making its way across the bridge. By this calamity about a thousand
people were killed, including many women and children." — M. Paris.

A.D. 1213.] PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 261
The return of the archbishop of Canterbury and of the said bishops, from
the apostolic see, and the death of Geoffrey archbishop of York.
a.d. 1213. King John held his court at Christmas as
Westminster with only a very small company of knights in
his train ; and about that time died Geoffrey archbishop of
York, who had been an exile for seven years owing to his
defence of the rights of the church and his maintenance of
justice. In the month of January, in this same year,
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, and William and Eustace
the bishops of London and Ely, returned from the court of
Eome, and held a council on the continent, at which they
with due solemnity made known the decree which had been
sent forth against the English king for his contumacy, to the
king of the French, to the French bishops and clergy, and to
people in general ; afterwards, in the name of our lord the
pope, they enjoined on the king of the French as well as all
others, that, as a remission of their sins, they should all
unitedly invade England, depose John from the throne of
that kingdom, and appoint another, under the apostoEc
authority, who should be worthy to fill it. The king of the
French, seeing what he had long desired come to pass, made
his preparations for war, and ordered all his subjects alike,
dukes, counts, barons, knights, and attendants, equipped with
horses and arms, to assemble in force at Eouen in the octaves
of Easter, under penalty of being branded with cowardice,
and of incurring the charge of treason. He likewise ordered
all his own ships, and as many others as he could coUect, to
be weU supplied with corn, wine, meat, and other stores,
that there might be abundance of aU necessaries for so large
an army. King John's preparations to resist his coming enemies.
King John, learning, by means of his spies, what was
going forward in the transmarine provinces, prepared to
make the best defence he could against the plans prepared
against him ; he therefore ordered a list to be made of aU the
ships in each of the ports of England, by a warrant which he
sent to each of the baihffs of the ports to the following effect :
" John, king of England, i}c. — We command you that, im
mediately on receipt of these our letters, you go in person,
together with the bailiffs of the ports to each of the harbours

262 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1213.
in your bailiwick, and make a careful list of aU the ships
there found capable of carrying six horses or more; and
that, in our name, you order the masters as well as the
owners of those ships, as they regard themselves, their ships,
and all their property, to have them at Portsmouth at Mid-
lent, well equipped with stores, tried seamen, and good
soldiers, to enter into our service for our dehverance ; and
that you then and there make a true and distinct list of how
many ships you find in each port, whose they are, and how
many horses each ship can carry ; and you then inform us
how many and what ships are not in their harbours on the
Sunday after Ash- Wednesday, as we had ordered ; and this
shaU be your warrant for the same. Witness, myself, at the
New Temple, this third day of March." Having thus ar
ranged about the ships, the king sent other letters to aU the
sheriffs of his kingdom to the foUowing effect : " John, king
of England, ^c. — Give warning by good agents to the
earls, barons, knights, and all free and serving men, who
ever they be, or by whatever tenure they hold, who ought to
have, or may procure, arms, who have made homage and
sworn allegiance to us, that, as they regard us, as weU as
themselves and all their own property, they be at Dover at
the end of the coming Lent, equipped with horses and arms,
and with all they can provide, to defend our person and their
persons, and the land of England, and let no one who can
carry arms remain behind under penalty of being branded
with cowardice, and of being condemned to perpetual slavery ;
and let each man foUow his lord ; and let those who possess
no land, and who can carry arms, come to take service with
us as mercenaries. And send, moreover, all victualling con
veyances, and all the markets of your bailiwick to foUow our
army, so that no market may be held elsewhere in your
bailiwick, and do you yourself attend at that place with your
agents aforesaid. And be sure that we wish to know in
what manner all come from your bailiwick, and who come,
and who do not; and see that you come properly suppUed
with horses and arms, so that we may not be obhged to deal
with you in person. And see that you have a roU, so as to
inform us of those who remain." On these letters being
spread abroad throughout England, there assembled at the
sea-ports in different parts which most attracted the king's

A.D. 1213.] PANDULPH VISITS THE KING. 263
attention, such as Dover, Feversham, and Ipswich, men of
divers conditions and ages, who dreaded nothing more than
the name of coward ; but after a few days, on account of
their vast numbers, provisions failed them, therefore the
commanders of the army sent home a large number of the
inexperienced men, retaining only at the coast the soldiers,
attendants, and free-men, with the cross-bow men, and
archers. Moreover, John bishop of Norwich came to the
king from Ireland with five hundred knights, and a body of
horse soldiers, and was graciously received by him. When
the whole of the forces were assembled at Barnam Down, the
army was computed to consist of sixty thousand strong,
including chosen knights and their followers, all weU armed ;
and had they been of one heart and one disposition towards
the king of England, and in defence of their country, there
was not a prince under heaven against whom they could not
have defended the kingdom of England. The king de
termined to engage his enemies at sea, to drown them before
they landed, for he had a more powerful fleet than the
French king, and in that he placed his chief means of de
fence. Pandulph comes to the king.
WhUst the Enghsh king was with his army waiting the
approach of the king of the French near the sea-coast, two of
the brothers of the Temple arrived at Dover, and coming to
the king in a friendly manner said to him, " We have been
sent to you, most potent king, for the benefit of yourself and
your kingdom, by Pandulph the subdeacon and familiar of
our lord the pope, who desires to have an interview with
you ; and he will propose to you a form of peace, by which
you can be reconciled to God and to the church, although
you have by the court of Eome been deposed from your right
to the sovereignty of England, and been condemned by
decree of that court." The king then, on hearing the speech
of the templars, ordered them immediately to 'cross the sea
and fetch Pandulph to him. Pandulph therefore, on this
invitation of the king came to him at Dover, and spoke to
him in these words, " Behold, the most potent king of the
French is at the mouth of the Seine with a countless fleet,
and a large army of horse and foot, waiting till he is
strengthened with a larger force, to come upon you and your

264 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1213.
kingdom, and to expel you from it by force, as an enemy to
the Lord and the supreme pontiff, and afterwards, by
authority of the apo3toUc see to take possession of the king
dom of England for ever. There are also coming with him
all the bishops who have for a long while been banished from
England, with the exiled clergy and laity, by his assist
ance, to recover by force their episcopal sees and other
property, and to fulfil to him for the future the obedience
formerly shown to you and your ancestors. The said king
moreover says that he holds papers of fealty and subjection
from almost all the nobles of England, on which account he
feels secure of bringing the business he has undertaken to a
most successful termination. Consult therefore your own
advantage, and become penitent as if you were in your last
moments, and delay not to appease that God whom you have
provoked to a heavy vengeance. If you are willing to give
sufficient security that you wiU submit to the judgment of
the church, and to humble yourself before Him who humbled
himself for you, you may, through the compassion of the
apostoUc see, recover the sovereignty, from which you have
been abjudicated at Eome on account of your contumacy.
Now therefore reflect, lest your enemies shaU have cause to
rejoice over you, and bring not yourself into difficulties, from
which, however you may wish to do so, you wiU not be able
to extricate yourself." How king John was aroused to repentance.
King John, hearing and seeing the truth of aU this, was
much annoyed and alarmed, seeing how imminent the
danger was on every side. There were four principal
reasons, which urged him to repentance and atonement ; the
first was that he had been now for five years lying under
excommunication, and had so offended God and the holy
church, that he gave up all hopes of saving his soul ; the
second was, that he dreaded the arrival of the French king,
who was waiting near the sea-coast with a countless army, and
planning his downfall ; the third was, he feared, should he give
battle to his approaching enemies, lest he should be aban
doned to himself in the field by the nobles of England and
his own people, or be given up to his enemies for destruction ;
but his fourth reason alarmed him more than all the rest,

A.D. 1213.] CHARTER OF KING JOHN. 265
for the day of our Lord's ascension was drawing near, when
he feared that, according to the prophecy of Peter the hermit
mentioned above, he should with his life lose the temporal as
well as the eternal kingdom. Being therefore driven to
despair by these and the like reasons he yielded to the
persuasions of Pandulph, and, although not without pain, he
granted the underwritten form of peace ; he also swore by
the holy gospels in the presence of Pandulph, that he would
be obedient to the church's sentence, and sixteen of the most
powerful nobles of the kingdom swore on the soul of the king
himself, that, should he repent of his promise, they would, to
the utmost of their power, compel him to fulfil it.
Charter of king John for giving satisfaction to the archbishop and monks
of Canterbury, and other prelates of England, and for the restitution of
their confiscated property.
On the 13th day of May, which was the Monday next
preceding Ascension day, the king and Pandulph with the
earls, barons, and a large concourse of people, met at Dover
and there they unanimously agreed to the underwritten form
of peace : —
"John king of England, to all to whom these presents
shall come, greeting. — By these our letters patent, sealed with
our seal, we wish it known, that, in our presence and by our
commands, these our four barons, namely, Wilham earl of
SaUsbury, our brother, Eeginald count of Boulogne, Wilham
earl Warenne, and William count of Ferrars, have sworn,
on our soul, that we wiU in aU good faith keep the subscribed
peace in aU things. We therefore in the first place solemnly
and absolutely swear, in the presence of the legate, to abide
by the commands of our lord the pope, in all the matters for
which we have been excommunicated by him, and that we
will observe strict peace and afford full security to those
venerable men, Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, WUUam
bishop of London, Eustace bishop of Ely, Giles or Hereford,
Jocelyn of Bath, and Hubert of Lincoln, the prior and monks
of Canterbury, Eobert Fitz-Walter, and Eustace de Vesci,
and also to the rest of the clergy and laity connected with
this matter ; we, at the same time, in the presence of the
same legate or delegate, pubUcly make path that we will not
injure them in property, or cause or permit them to be

266 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1213.
injured in person or property, and we wiU dismiss all our
anger against them, and wiU receive them into our favour,
and observe this in all good faith; also that we wiU not
hinder the aforesaid archbishop and bishops, or cause or
permit, them to be hindered from performing their duties in
all freedom, and enjoying the full authority of their jurisdic
tion, as they ought to do. And for this we wiU grant our
letters patent as well to our lord the pope as to the said arch
bishop and to each of the bishops, causing our bishops, earls,
and barons, as many of them as the aforesaid archbishop and
bishops shaU select, to set forth by their oath and by letters
patent that they themselves will use their endeavours to see
this peace and arrangement firmly kept; and if by any
chance, which may God avert, we should, either by ourselves
or by others, contravene this, they will then abide by the
apostolic commands on behalf of the church against, the
violators of this peace and arrangement, and may we for ever
lose the wardship of the vacant churches. And if by chance
we cannot induce them to agree to the last part of this oath,
namely, that, if we contravene it either by ourselves or others,
they will abide by the apostohc commands on behalf of the
church against the violators of this peace and arrangement,
we have, for this, by our letters patent, pledged with our lord
the pope and the church of Eome, all the right of patronage
which we possess in the EngUsh churches. And we wUl
transmit aU these our letters patent, which are granted for
the security of the aforesaid prelates, to the archbishop and
bishops before they come to England. But, should we
require it, the aforesaid archbishop and bishops shaU, saving
the honour of God and the churches, give security on oatSi.
and in writing, that they will not, either personaUy or by
others, make any attempt against our person or crown, as
long as we afford them the security above-mentioned, and
keep the peace unbroken. We wiU also make fuU restitution
of the confiscated property, and satisfy for their losses
the clergy as well as laity who are concerned in this business,
not only as regards their property, but also their rights, and
we will protect their restored rights ; the archbishop and the
bishop of Lincoln we will indemnify from the time of their
consecration, the rest from the commencement of this dis
agreement. And no agreement, promise, or grant shaU be

A.D. 1213.] CHARTER OF KING JOHN. 267
an impediment to these indemnifications for loss, or the
restoration of the confiscated property of the dead as weU as
the living. Nor will we retain anything under pretence of
service due to us, but afterwards a proper recompence shall
be given for service done to us. And we will forthwith
release, dismiss, and restore to their rights all the clergy
whom we are holding under restraint, as well as any of the
laity, who are detained in custody on account of this business.
And immediately on the arrival of a fit person to absolve us,
we will, in part restoration of the confiscated property,
deUver to messengers deputed by the said archbishop, bishops,
and monks of Canterbury, the sum of eight thousand pounds
lawful sterling money, for discharging what is due, and for
necessary expenses to be carried to them without let or
hindrance on our part, that they may be honourably recalled
and returned to England as soon as possible, namely, to
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury two thousand five hundred
pounds, to WilUam bishop of London seven hundred and fifty
pounds, to Eustace of Ely seven hundred and fifty pounds,
to Jocelyn of Bath, seven hundred and fifty pounds, to
Hubert of Lincoln seven hundred and fifty pounds, and to
the prior and monks of Canterbury a thousand pounds ; and
as soon as we know that this peace is confirmed, we will
assign without delay to the archbishop and bishops, to the
clergy and to each and all of the churches, by the hands of
their messengers or agents, aU the moveable property with
free management of the same, and dismiss them peaceably.
And we will also publicly revoke the sentence of outlawry
which we have pronounced against the ecclesiastics, declaring
by these our letters patent, to be dehvered to the archbishop,
that it in no wise pertains to us, and that we wUl never
again pronounce that sentence against the ecclesiastics ; we
moreover revoke the sentence of outlawry pronounced against
the laity concerned in this matter, and restore all that we
have received from ecclesiastics since the interdict, except
the custom of the kingdom and the liberty of the church.
But if any question shaU arise about the losses and confisca
tions, or the amount of computation of them, it shall be
determined by the legate or delegate of our lord the pope,
after hearing evidence on the matter; and after all this is
duly arranged the sentence of interdict shaU be withdrawn.

268 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1213.
As to the other points, if any doubts, worthy of being enter
tained, arise, if they are not set at rest by the legate or
delegate of our lord the pope, they shall be referred to the
pope himself, and whatever he determines shall be abided by.
Witness myself, at Dover, this 13th day of May, in the
fourteenth year of our reign.*
How king John resigned his crown and the kingdom of England into the
hands of pope Innocent.
Matters having been thus arranged on the fifteenth of
May, which was the eve of Ascension-day, the EngUsh king
and Pandulph, with the nobles of the kingdom, met at the
house of the knights templars near Dover, and there the
said king, according to a decree pronounced at Eome, resigned
his crown with the kingdoms of England and Ireland into
the hands of our lord the pope, whose functions the said Pan
dulph was then performing. After having resigned them
then he gave the aforesaid kingdoms to the pope and his
successors, and confirmed them to the latter by the under
written charter ; —
" John, by the grace of God, king of England, Stc. to all the
faithful servants of Christ who shall behold this charter, health
in the Lord. — We wish it, by this our charter signed with
our seal, to be known to you, that we, having in many things
offended God and our mother the holy church, and being in
great need of the divine mercy for our sins, and not having
wherewithal to make a worthy offering as an atonement to
God, and to pay the just demands of the church, unless we
humUiate ourselves before Him who humihated himself for
us even to death ; we, impeUed by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, and not by force or from fear of the interdict, but of
* "About the same time king John accused Robert Fitz- Walter of
treachery and rebellion, and on the day after the feast of St. Hilary, which
was a Monday, he ordered Baynard's castle at London to be pulled down
by the Londoners. On the Thursday following, Nicholas bishop of
Tusculum, came to England as legate, and went first to Westminster ; there
he stayed eighteen days, and entered into a careful discussion with the con
ventual assembly of that church on the reformation of spiritual and
temporal matters. On the feast of St. Edmund he went to Evesham, and
for evident reasons deposed Roger the abbat of that church, appointing
Ralph prior of Worcester in .his stead. In the same year, too, died
Geoffrey Fitz-Peter justiciary of England." — M. Paris.

a.d. 1213.] john's submission to the pope. 269
our own free will and consent, and by the general advice of
our barons, assign and grant to God, and his holy apostles
Peter and Paul, and to the holy church of Eome our mother,
and to our lord pope Innocent and his cathohc successors,
the whole kingdom of England and the whole kingdom of
Ireland, with all their rights and appurtenances, in remission
of the sins of us and our whole race, as well for those living
as for the dead ; and henceforth we retain and hold those
countries from him and the church of Eome as vicegerent,
and this we declare in the presence of this learned man Pan
dulph, subdeacon and famUiar of our lord the pope. And we
have made our homage and sworn allegiance to our lord the
pope and his cathoUc successors, and the church of Eome in
manner hereunder written; and we will make our homage
and allegiance for the same in presence of our lord the pope
himself, if we are able to go before him ; and we bind our
successors and heirs by our wife for ever, in like manner, to
do homage and render allegiance, without opposition, to the
supreme pontiff for the time being, and the church of Eome.
And in token of this lasting bond and grant, we will and
determine that, from our own income and from our special
revenues arising from the aforesaid kingdoms, the church of
Eome shall, for all service and custom which we owe to them,
saving always the St. Peter's pence, receive annually a
thousand marks sterling money ; that is to say, five hundred
marks at Michaelmas, and five hundred at Easter ; that is,
seven hundred for the kingdom of England, and three hundred
for Ireland ; saving to us and our heirs all our rights, pri
vileges, and royal customs. And as we wish to ratify and
confirm all that has been above written, we bind ourselves
and our successors not to contravene it ; and if we, or any
one of our successors, shaU dare to oppose this, let him,
whoever he be, be deprived of his right in the kingdom. And
let this charter of our bond and grant remain confirmed for
ever. Witness myself at the house of the knights of the
Temple near Dover, in the presence of Henry archbishop of
Dublin, John bishop of Norwich, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter,
WiUiam earl of Sahsbury, William earl of Pembroke, Ee
ginald count of Boulogne, William earl Warenne, Sayer earl
Winton, WiUiam earl of Arundel, WiUiam earl of Ferrars,
WUUam Briuere, Peter Fitz-Herebert, and Warin Fitz-

270 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1213.
Gerald, this fifteenth day of May, in the fourteenth year of
our reign. Of king John's homage to the pope and church of Rome.
This charter of the king's, as above-mentioned, having
been reduced to writing, he delivered it to Pandulph to be
taken to pope Innocent, and immediately afterwards in the
sight of all, he made the underwritten homage : " I, John, by
the grace of God, king of England and lord of Ireland, will,
from this time as formerly, be faithful to God, St. Peter, the
church of Eome, and to my liege lord pope Innocent and his
catholic successors ; I wiU not act, speak, consent to, or
advise, anything by which they may lose Ufe or Umb, or be
exposed to caption by treachery ; I wiU prevent damage to
them if I am aware of it ; and, if in my power, wiU repair it;
or else I will inform them as soon as in my power so to do,
or will teU it to such a person as I believe wiU be sure to in
form them of it ; any purpose which they may entrust to me
themselves, or by their messengers or letters, I wiU keep
secret, and, if I know of it, wiU not disclose it to any one to
their injury ; I will assist in holding and defending the in
heritance of St. Peter, and particularly the kingdoms of
England and Ireland, against aU men, to the utmost of my
power. So may God and the holy gospel help me, Amen." —
This happened, as we said before, on the eve of Ascension-
day, in the presence of the bishops, earls, and other nobles.
The day of our Lord's Ascension on the morrow was looked
for with mistrust, not only by the king, but by aU others, as
well absent as present, on account of the assertions of Peter
the hermit, who, as was stated before, had prophesied to
John that he would not be a king on Ascension-day or after
wards. But after he had passed the prefixed day, and con
tinued safe and in health, the king ordered the aforesaid
Peter, who was detained a prisoner in Corfe Castle, to be tied
to the horse's tail at the town of Wareham, dragged through
the streets of the town, and afterwards hung on a gibbet,
together with his son. To many it did not seem that he de
served to be punished by such a cruel death for declaring the
truth ; for if the circumstances, stated above to have hap
pened, be thoroughly considered, it wiU be proved that he
did not teU a falsehood.

A.D. 1214.] pandulph's RETURN TO FRANCE. 271
How Pandulph returned to France with a portion of the confiscated
property restored.
After this, Pandulph crossed the sea into France, taking
with him these aforesaid charters, and also eight thousand
pounds sterling money, that he might in part make restitu
tion for their losses to the archbishop, bishops, and monks,
of Canterbury, and others who were living in exile on ac
count of the interdict. As the purport of the charters and
the form of the aforesaid peace gave satisfaction to all of
them, Pandulph strongly advised the aforesaid bishops to
return peaceably to England, to receive there the rest of the
indemnity-money. After this, he earnestly advised the
French king, who had made preparations to invade England
by force, to desist from his purpose and to return home in
peace; for he could not, without offending the supreme
pontiff, attack England or the king himself, since that
monarch was ready to give satisfaction to God, the holy
church, and its ordained ministers, as well as to obey the
catholic commands of our lord the pope. The French king
was much enraged when he heard this, and said that he had
already spent sixty thousand pounds in the equipment of his
ships, and in providing food and arms, and that he had
undertaken the said duty by command of our lord the pope,
and for the remission of his sins ; and to speak the truth,
the said king would not have yielded to the suggestions of
Pandulph, only that Philip count of Flanders refused to
follow him, for that prince had made a treaty with the king
of the English, and would not act contrary to his agreement.
Moreover the count said that the war, which he had under
taken to subdue the English king, was unjust, since none of
his ancestors till then had claimed any right in the kingdom
of England ; he added moreover, that the French king had
unjustly seized on his the count's lands and castles, and was
then detaining his inheritance against the laws of justice ;
and these were his reasons for refusing to go with him to
England. How the king of the French made an attack on the count of Flanders.
The French king was greatly enraged at these words of
the count of Flanders, and, having no confidence in him,
ordered him to leave his court at once ; and after his de-

272 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
parture he invaded the count's territories, destroying every
place he came to by fire, and putting the inhabitants to the
sword. He also gave orders to the sailors and commanders
of his fleet, who, as we said before, had been waiting at the
mouth of the river Seine, equipped with stores and arms, to
set sail without delay towards Swine, a port of Flanders,
and to make all haste to come to him there, which they did.
The count of Flanders, who was much alarmed at this attack
of the French king, sent word of it in aU haste to John,
earnestly imploring him to send some troops to help him. At
this news the English king sent to the assistance of the
count, his brother WilUam earl of Salisbury, William duke
of Houtland, and Eeginald count of Boulogne, able soldiers,
with five hundred ships and seven hundred knights, with a
large number of soldiers horse and foot ; and these nobles,
setting sail with a fair wind, soon arrived at the port of
Swine. On their arrival there they were astonished to be
hold such a concourse of shipping, and by means of scouts
they learned that this was the French king's fleet, which
had lately arrived, and they also found out that there
were scarcely any in charge of it except a few sailors ; for
the soldiers, to whose charge it had been entrusted, were
gone out to collect booty, and were ravaging the count's
territory. When the chiefs of the Enghsh army learned
this, they flew to arms, fiercely attacked the fleet, and, soon
defeating the crews, they cut the cables of three hundred
of their ships loaded with corn, wine, flour, meat, arms, and
other stores, and sent them to sea to make for England ;
besides these they set fire to and burned a hundred or more
which were aground, after taking all the stores from them.
By this misfortune the French king and almost all the rans-
marine nobility lost all their most valuable possessions.
Afterwards, some of the Enghsh nobles, incited by ani
mosity beyond bounds, burst forth from their ships, mounted
and armed, and set off in hot pursuit of those of the French
who had fled from the slaughter ; but the French king, who
was not far off from the conflict, sent some of his most trusty
soldiers to keep the enemy in check, and to find out for
certain who they were. They accordingly took to their
arms and soon met with the hostile party, and both parties
engaged; but the Enghsh nobles were put to flight with

A.D. 1214.] ABSOLUTION OF THE KING. 273
loss, and with difficulty escaped to their ships; and after
they had re-embarked, the French returned to their own
quarters. To the king's inquiries as to what had happened,
and whence the strangers had come, the soldiers said that it
was the army of the king of England which had been sent
to the assistance of the count of Flanders, and they then
related the misfortune which had happened and the irrepara
ble damage done to his fleet ; on learning which king Philip
retired in confusion from Flanders with great loss to himself
and to his followers. The king of England absolved at Winchester.
The English king, on hearing what had tai. ~i place in
Flanders, was greatly rejoiced, and in the joy of his mind at
knowing that the approach of the French king was sus
pended at least for a time, he ordered the nobles and the
whole army which he had collected near the sea-coast, for
the defence of their country, to return to their homes ; he
then sent a large sum of money to the soldiers in Flanders,
and promising them the assistance of the emperor, to in
vade the French king's territory with fire and sword.
The king himself assembled a large army at Portsmouth,
intending to cross over into Poictou, determining to harass
the French king and his kingdom in the western parts,
as those who were in Flanders did in the east, and to
use aU his endeavours to recover the territories he had lost
to his dominion. But things turned out contrary to his
expectations, for the Enghsh nobles refused to follow him
unless he was previously absolved from the sentence of
excommunication. In this difficulty, then, the king sent the
warrants of twenty-four earls and barons to the aforesaid
archbishop and bishops for greater security, telling them to
lay aside all fear, and to come to England, there to receive
all their rights, and the indemnity for the property they had
been deprived of according to the terms of the above written
peace. By the advice of Pandulph, therefore, when all was
ready for their return home, Stephen archbishop of Canter
bury, and the bishops William of London, Eustace of Ely,
Hubert of Lincoln, and Giles of Hereford, embarked in com
pany with others of the clergy and laity who were in exile
on account of the interdict, and, landing at Dover on the
vol. n. T

274 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
16th of July, they set out to see the king, and came to him
at Winchester on St. Margaret the virgin's day. The king,
when he heard of their approach, went out to meet them,
and when he saw the archbishop and bishops, he prostrated
himself at their feet, and besought them in tears to have
compassion on him and the kingdom of England. The said
archbishop and bishops, seeing the king's great humility,
raised him from the ground, and taking him by the hand on
each side, they led him to the door of the cathedral church,
where they chanted the fiftieth psalm, and, in ' the presence
of all the nobles, who wept with joy, they absolved him
according to the custom of the church. At this absolution,
the king swore on the holy gospels that he would love
holy church and its ordained members, and would, to the
utmost of his power, defend and maintain them against aU
their enemies ; and that he would renew aU the good laws of
his ancestors, especiaUy those of king Edward, would annul
bad ones, would judge his subjects according to the just de
crees of his courts, and would restore his rights to each and
all. He also swore that, before the next Easter, he would
make restitution of confiscated property to all who were
concerned in the matter of the interdict ; and if he did not
do so, he would consent to have the former sentence of
excommunication renewed. He moreover swore fealty and
obedience to pope Innocent and his cathohc successors, as
was contained in the above-written charter : the archbishop
then took the king into the church, and there performed
mass, after which the archbishop, bishops, and nobles, feasted
at the same table with the king, amidst joy and festivity.
The next day the king sent letters to all the sheriffs of the
kingdom, ordering them to send four hege men from each
town in their demesne, together with the warden, to St.
Alban's on the 4th of August, that through them and his
other agents he might make inquiries about the losses and
confiscated property of each of the bishops, and how much
was due to each. He then set out in all haste to Ports
mouth, that he might thence cross to Poictou, and gave charge
of the kingdom to Geoffrey Fitz-Peter and the bishop of
Winchester, with orders that they were to consult with the
archbishop of Canterbury in arranging the business of the
kingdom. Ou the king's arrival at Portsmouth, there came

A.D. 1214.] DECLARATION OF LAWS. 275
to him there an immense number of knights, complaining that,
during their long stay there they had spent aU their money,
and that therefore unless they were supphed with money
from the treasury, they could not follow him. This the
king refused, but, flying into a rage, he embarked with
his private attendants, and after three days landed at
Guernsey, whilst his nobles returned home ; and the king,
seeing himself thus abandoned, was compeUed to return to
England himself. Declaration of taws and rights.
Whilst this was passing, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter and the
bishop of Winchester held a council at St. Alban's with the
archbishop, bishops, and nobles of the kingdom, at which the
peace made by the king was told to all, and, on behalf of the
said king, it was strictly ordered, that aU the laws of his
grandfather king Henry should be kept by all throughout
the kingdom, and that all unjust laws should be utterly
aboUshed; the sheriffs, foresters, and other agents of the
king were forbidden, as they regarded life and limb, to extort
anything from any one by force, or to inflict injuries on any
one, or to make taUage any where in the kingdom as had
been their custom. King John in the meantime, finding
himself deserted by some of the nobles as we have said,
coUected a large army to bring these rebellious ones to their
duty; but as soon as he had begun to take up arms, the
archbishop went to him at Northampton and told him, that it
would redound very much to the injury of the oath which he
had taken on his absolution, if he were to make war against
any one without the decision of his court; the king,
hearing this, angrily said that he would not put off the
; business of the kingdom on the archbishop's account, as lay
matters did not pertain to him. The next day therefore he
set out on his march in a rage, taking the way to Nottingham,
the archbishop, however, still foUowed him, boldly declaring
that, unless he desisted from his undertaking, he would
anathematize aU who made war against any one before being
absolved from an interdict, besides himself alone, and thus
the archbishop diverted the king from his purpose, and did
not leave, him till he had prevailed on the king to name a
convenient day for the barons to come to his court, and there
submit to justice. T 2

276 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.

The reason of ilie irritation of the barons against the king.
On the 25th of August in the same year, Stephen arch
bishop of Canterbury, with the bishops, abbats, priors,deacons,
and barons of the kingdom assembled at St. Paul's, in the city
of London, and there the archbishop granted permission to
the conventual churches, as well as to the secular priests, to
chant the services of the church in a low voice, in the hearing
of their parishioners. At this conference, as report asserts,
the said archbishop called some of the nobles aside to him,
and conversed privately with them to the foUowing effect,
" Did you hear," said he, " how, when I absolved the king
at Winchester, I made him swear that he would do away
with unjust laws, and would recaU good laws, such as those
of king Edward, and cause them to be observed by aU in the
kingdom ; a charter of Henry the first king of England has
just now been found, by which you may, if you wish it,
recall your long-lost rights and your former condition."
And placing a paper in the midst of them, he ordered it to
be read aloud for aU to hear, the contents of which were as
follows : —
" Henry by the grace of God king of England, to Hugh
de Boclande justiciary of England, and all his faithful sub
jects, as well French as English, in Hertfordshire, greeting. —
Know that I, by the Lord's mercy, have been crowned king
by common consent of the barons of the kingdom of England ;
and because the kingdom has been oppressed by unjust
exactions, I, out of respect to God, and the love which I feel
towards you, in the first place constitute the holy church of
God a free church, so that I will not sell it, nor farm it out,
nor wiU I, on the death of any archbishop, bishop, or abbat,
take anything from the domain of the church or its people,
until his successor takes his place. And I from this time do
away with all the evil practices, by which the kingdom of
England is now unjustly oppressed, and these evil practices
I here in part mention. If" any baron, earl, or other subject
of mine, who holds possession from me, shaU die, his heir
shall not redeem his land, as was the custom in raj father's
time, but shaU pay a just and lawful rehef for the same ; and
in like manner, too, the dependants of my barons shaU pay

A.D. 1214.] CHARTER OF HENRY I. 277
a Uke reUef for their land to their lords. And if any baron
or other subject of mine shall wish to give his daughter, his
sister, his niece, or other female relative, in marriage, let him
ask my permission on the matter ; but I will not take any of
his property for granting my permission, nor will I forbid his
giving her in marriage except he wishes to give her to an
enemy of mine; and if on the death of a baron or other
subject of mine, the daughter is left heiress, I, by the advice
of my barons, will give her in marriage together with her
land ; and if on the death of a husband the wife is surviving
and is childless, she shall have her dowry for a marriage
portion, and I wiU not give her away to another husband
unless with her consent ; but if a wife survives, having
chUdren, she shaU have her dowry as a marriage portion, as
long as she shall keep herself according to law, and I will
not give her to a husband unless with her consent ; and the
guardian of the children's land shall be either the wife, or
some other nearer relation, who ought more rightly to be so ;
and I enjoin on my barons to act in the same way towards
the sons and daughters and wives of their dependants. More
over the common monetage, as taken throughout the cities
and counties, such as was not in use in king Edward's time,
is hereby forbidden ; and if any one, whether a coiner or any
other person, be taken with false money, let strict justice be
done to him for it. AU pleas and all debts, which were due
to the king my brother, I forgive, except my farms, and
those debts which were contracted for the inheritances of
others, or for those things which more justly belong to others.
And if any one shall have covenanted anything for his
inheritance, I forgive it, and all reUefs which were contracted
for just inheritances. And if any baron or subject of mine
shall be iU, I hereby ratify aU such disposition as he shall
have made of his money ; but if through service in war or
sickness he shall have made no disposition of his money, his
wife, or children, or parents, and legitimate dependants, shall
distribute it for the good of his soul, as shall seem best to them.
If any baron or other subject of mine shall have made
forfeiture, he shall not give bail to save his money, as was
done in the time of my father and my brother, but according
to the degree of the forfeiture ; nor shall he make amends for
his fault as he did in the time of my father or of my other

278 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
ancestors ; and if any one shaU be convicted of treason or
other crime, his punishment shall be according to his fault.
I forgive all murders committed previous to the day on which
I was crowned king ; but those which have been since com
mitted, shall be justly punished, according to the law of king
Edward. By the common advice of my barons, I have
retained the forests in my possession as my father held them.
All knights, moreover, who hold their lands by service, are
hereby allowed to have their domains free from all amerce
ments and from all pecuUar service, that as they are thus
reUeved from a great burden, they may provide themselves
properly with horses and arms, so that they may be fit and
ready for my service and for the defence of my kingdom. I
bestow confirmed peace in all my kingdom, and I order it to
be preserved from henceforth. I restore to you the law of
king Edward, with the amendments which my father, by the
advice of his barons, made in it. If any one has taken any
thing of mine, or of any one else's property, since the death of
my brother king WiUiam, let it aU be soon restored without
alteration ; and if any one shaU retain anything of it, he shall,
on being discovered, atone to me for it heavUy. Witness
Maurice bishop of London, Wilham elect of Winchester,
Gerard of Hereford, earl Henry, earl Simon, earl Walter
Gifford, Eobert de Montfort, Eoger Bigod, and many others."
When this paper had been read and its purport understood
by the barons who heard it, they were much pleased with it,
and all of them, in the archbishop's presence, swore that
when they saw a fit opportunity, they would stand up for their
rights, if necessary would die for them ; the archbishop, too,
faithfully promised them his assistance as far as lay in his
power; and this agreement having been settled between
them, the conference was broken up.
i Of the heresy of the Albigenses, and the declaration of a crusade
against them.
' About that time the depravity of the heretics called
Albigenses, who dwelt in Gascony, Arumnia, and Alby,
gained such power in the parts about Toulouse, and in the
kingdom of Arragon, that they not only practised their
impieties in secret as was done elsewhere, but preached their
erroneous doctrine openly, and induced the simple and weak-

A.D. 1214.] CRUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSES. 279
minded to conform to them. The Albigenses are so called
from the city of Alba, where that doctrine is said to have
taken its rise. At length their perversity set the anger of
God so completely at defiance, that they pubhshed the books
of their doctrines amongst the lower orders, before the very
eyes of the bishops and priests, and disgraced the chalices
and sacred vessels in disrespect of the body and blood of
Christ. Pope Innocent was greatly grieved at hearing these
things, and he immediately sent preachers into all the
districts of the west, and enjoined to the chiefs and other
Christian people as a remission of their sins, that they should
take the sign of the cross for the extirpation of this plague,
and, opposing themselves to such disasters, should protect the
Christian people by force of arms ; he also added, by autho
rity of the apostolic see, that whoever undertook the business
of overthrowing the heretics according to his injunction,
should, Uke those who visited the Lord's sepulchre, be pro
tected from all hostile attacks both in property and person.
At this preaching such a multitude of crusaders assembled,
as it is not to I"1 credited could have assembled in our
country. Of the movements of the crusaders against the Albigenses.
When therefore they were all assembled and prepared for
battle, the archbishop of Narbonne, the legate of the apostolic
see in this expedition, and the chiefs of the army, namely
the duke of Burgundy, the count of Nevers, and the count
de Montfort, struck their camp and marched to lay siege to
the city of Beziers. But before they got to it the lords of
some of the castles, having little confidence in themselves,
fled at the sight of their army; the knights and others who
were left in charge of the said castles, went boldly as good
cathohcs and surrendered themselves with their property, as
well as the castles to the army of the crusaders ; and, on the
eve of St. Mary Magdalen, they surrendered the noble castle
of Cermaine to a monk, the lord of the castle, who also pos
sessed several others of great strength, having taken to flight.
They warned the citizens of Beziers, through the bishop of
that city, under penalty of excommunication, to make choice
of one out of two alternatives ; either to deliver the heretics
and their property into the hands of the crusaders, or else to

280 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [Ja.D. 1214.
send them away from amongst them, otherwise they would
be excommunicated, and their blood be on their own heads.
The heretics and their aUies scornfully refused to accede to
this, and mutually swore to defend the city ; and, when they
had pledged their faith, they hoped to be able for a long time
to sustain the assaults of the crusaders. After the city was
laid siege to, on the feast of St. Mary Magdalen, the cathohc
barons considered how they could save those amongst them
who were catholics, and made overtures for their Uberation ;
but the rabble and low people, without waiting for the com
mand or orders of the chiefs, made an assault on the city,
and, to the astonishment of the Christians, when the cry to
arms was raised, and the army of the faith was rushing in aU
directions to the assaults, those who were defending the waUs
inside threw out the book of the gospel from the city on
them, blaspheming the name of the Lord, and deriding their
assailants ; " Behold," they said, " your law, we take no heed
to it ; yours it shall be." The soldiers of the faith, incensed
by such blasphemy and provoked by their insults, in less
than three hours' time crossed the fosse and scaled the waUs,
by the Lord's assistance. Thus was the city taken, and on
the same day it was sacked and burnt, a great slaughter of
the infidels taking place as the punishment of God ; but,
under his protection, very few of the cathohes were slain.
After the lapse of a few days, when the report of this miracle
was spread abroad, the Lord scattered before the face of the
crusaders, as it were without their assistance, those who had
blasphemed his name and his law, and at length the foUowers
of this heretical depravity were so alarmed that they fled to
the recesses of the mountains, and what may be believed,
they left more than a hundred untenanted castles, between
Beziers and Carcassone, stocked with food and all kinds of
stores, which they could not take with them in their flight.
The capture of the city and castle of Carcassone.
The crusaders, moving their camp from this place, arrived
on the feast of St. Peter "ad vincula" at Carcassone, a
populous city, and tiU now glorying in its wickedness,
abounding in riches, and weU fortified. On the foUowing
day they made an assault, and within two or three hours
they crossed the entrenchments and scaled the walls amidst

^.D. 1214.] DEFEAT OF THE ALBIGENSES. 281
showers of missUes from the cross bows, and the blows of the
lances and swords of its wicked defenders. After this they
set up their engines of war, and on the eighth day the greater
suburb was taken after a great many of the enemy, who had
incautiously exposed themselves, were slain, and the suburbs
of the city, which seemed larger than the body of the town,
were altogether destroyed. The enemy being thus confined
in the narrow streets of the city, and suffering as well from
their numbers as from want of provisions more than is cre
dible, offered themselves and aU their property, together with
the city to the crusaders, on condition of their lives being
preserved out of mercy, and of being saved for at least one
day. After holding a council, therefore, the barons received
the city almost as it were under compulsion; in the first
place because, in men's opinion, it was deemed impregnable ;
for another reason because, if that city were altogether de
stroyed, there would not be found a nobleman of the army
who would undertake the government of that country, as
there would not be a place in the subdued land where he
could reside. Therefore, that the land, which the Lord had
delivered into the hands of his servants, might be preserved
to his honour and the advantage of Christianity, the noble
Simon de Montfort earl of Leicester was, by the common con
sent of prelates and barons, chosen as ruler of that country ;
and into his hands was delivered as a prisoner the noble
Eoger, formerly viscount and ruler of that country, together
with the whole of the province, including about a hundred
castles, which, within one month, the Lord designed to restore
to the cathohc unity; and amongst these same castles were
several of such strength that there would have been, in the
opinion of men, but little cause to fear any army. After
effecting this, the count of Nevers and a large part of the
army returned home, whilst the illustrious duke of Burgundy
and the rest of the nobles proceeded with their army to the
extirpation of this heretical depravity, and after this they de
livered into the hands of earl Simon de Montfort several
more castles which they took either by fair means or by
threats. Messengers sent to Toulouse by the crusaders.
As the city of Toulouse had been reported to have been

282 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
long tainted with this pestiferous sin, the barons sent special
messengers, namely, the archbishop of Santonge, the bishop
of Foroli, the viscount of St. Florentius, and the lord Accald de
Eoussillon, to the inhabitants of that city with letters from
them, ordering them to deUver up to the army of the crusaders
the heretics of that city, and all their property. But if by
chance they should say that they were not heretics ; that
those who were signified and expressed by name should come
to them to make a plain declaration of their faith, according
to Christian custom, before the whole army ; and should they
refuse to do this they would, by the same letters, excom
municate their chief officers and counseUors, and place the
whole town of Toulouse with its dependencies under an
interdict. In this year,* on the fourteenth of October, Geoffrey
Fitz-Peter, justiciary of England, closed his life.
* " In the course of the same year, during the following summer, there
sprang up in France a false doctrine never before heard of: for a certain
youth, who was a boy in age, but of vile habits, at the instigation of the
devil, went about amongst the cities and castles of France, chanting in
French these words : " 0 Lord Jesus Christ, restore to us the holy cross ! '' with
many other additions. And when the rest of the boys of his own age saw and
heard him, they followed him in endless numbers, and, being infatuated by
the wiles of the devil, they left their fathers and mothers, nurses, and all
their friends, singing in the same way as their teacher ; and, what was
astonishing, no lock could detain them, nor could the persuasions of their
parents recall them, but they followed their said master towards the Medi
terranean sea, and, crossing it, they marched on in procession singing. No
city could hold them on account of numbers ; their leader was placed in a
car ornamented with a canopy, and was attended by armed guards raising
their shouts around him. They were so numerous that they squeezed one
another together, and that one thought himself happy who could gain a
thread or a shred of his garment. But at last, their old enemy Satan
plotted against them, and they all perished either on land or by sea.
Of the death of Geoffrey Fitz-Peter.
In the same year Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, justiciary of all England, a man
of great power and authority, died on the second day of October, to the great
grief of the kingdom. This man was a firm pillar of the church, and was a
noble-minded man, learned in the laws, treasures, and revenues, was strength
ened by good works, and was allied either by blood or the ties of friend
ship to all the nobles of England : the king on this account feared him
more than all the rest of his subjects, without having any regard for him ;
for he held the reins of government ; and therefore at his death England
was like a ship at sea without a pilot. This disturbance commenced on the
death of Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, a noble and a faithful man; and
after the deaths of these two men, England could not breathe. On the
death of the said Peter being told to king John, he laughingly said, " When

A.D. 1213.] DEATH OF THE KING OF ARRAGON. 283
Of the death of the king of Arragon at Murelles.
About this time the king of Arragon, after being crowned
at Eome by pope Innocent, although he had received a most
strict injunction not to render assistance or show kindness to
he gets to hell, let him greet Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, for he will
doubtless find him there." And then turning to those sitting round him
he added, saying, " By the feet of the Lord, I am now for the first time
king and lord of England." Then from that time he had more free
power to act in opposition to his oaths and agreements, which he had made
with the said Geoffrey, and to release himself from the fetters of the peace
in which he had involved himself. He was therefore sorry that he had
been led to give his consent to the aforesaid peace.
King John in despair sent messengers to the emir Murmelius.
He therefore immediately sent secret messengers, namely, the knights
Thomas Hardington and Ralph Fitz-Nicholas, and Robert of London a
clerk, to the emir Murmelius the great king of Africa, Morocco, and Spain,
who was commonly called Miramumelinus, to tell him that he would
voluntarily give up to him himself and his kingdom, and if he pleased would
hold it as tributary from him ; and that he would also abandon the Christian
faith, which he considered false, and would faithfully adhere to the law of
Mahomet. When the aforesaid messengers arrived at the court of the
above-named prince, they found at the first gate some armed knights keep
ing close guard over it with drawn swords. At the second door, which was
that of the palace, they found a larger number of knights, armed to the
teeth, more handsomely dressed, and stronger and more noble than the
others, and these closely guarded this entrance with swords drawn : and at
the door of the inner room there was a still greater number, and, according
to appearance, stronger and fiercer than the former ones. Having at length
been led in peaceably by leave of the emir himself, whom they called the
great king, these messengers on behalf of their lord the king of England
saluted him with reverence, and fully explained the reason of their coming,
at the same time handing him their king's letter, which an interpreter, who
came at a summons from him, explained to him. When he understood its
purport, the king, who was a man of middle age and height, of manly de
portment, eloquent and circumspect in his conversation, then closed the
book he had been looking at, for he was seated at his desk studying. At
length after dehberating as it were for a time with himself he modestly
replied, " I was just now looking at the book of a wis«s Greek and a
Christian named Paul, which is written in Greek, and his deeds and
words please me much ; one thing however concerning him displeases me,
and that is, that he did not stand firm to the faith in which ne was born,
but turned to another like a deserter and a waverer. And I say this
with regard to your lord the king of the English, who abandons the most
pious and pure law of the Christians, under which he was born, and
desires, flexible and unstable that he is, to come over to our faith." And
he added, " The omniscient and omnipotent God knows that, were I without
a law, I would choose that law before all others, and having accepted it
would strictly keep it." He then inquired what was the condition of the
king of England and his kingdom ; to which Thomas, as the most eloquent

284 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D.

1213.

the enemies of the faith, not devoutly attending to the com
mands of the holy father, contumaciously began to kick
against the apostolic mandate. For as soon as he returned
home, he joined the heretics in that very country which had
of the messengers, rephed : " The king is illustriously and nobly descended
from great kings, and his territory is rich, and abounds with all kinds of
wealth, in agriculture, pastures, and woods; and from it also every kind of
metal may be obtained by smelting. Our people are handsome and in
genious, and are skilled in three languages, the Latin, French, and English,
as well as in every liberal and mechanical pursuit. Our country, however,
does not of itself produce any quantity of vineyards or olive trees, nor fir
trees, but qf these it procures an abundance from adjoining countries by way
of trade. The climate is salubrious and temperate; it is situated between
the west and the north; and, receiving heat from the west, and cold from
the north, it enjoys a most agreeable temperature. It is surrounded entirely
by the sea, whence it is called the queen of islands. The kingdom has,
from times of old, been governed by an anointed king, and our people are
free and manly, and acknowledge the domination of no one except God.
Our church and the services of our religion are more venerated there than
in any part of the world, and it is peacefully governed by the laws of the
pope and of the king." The king at the conclusion of this speech drew a
deep sigh and replied : " I never read or heard that any king possessing
such a prosperous kingdom subject and obedient to him, would thus volun
tarily ruin his sovereignty by making tributary a country that is free, by
giving to a stranger that which is his own, by turning happiness to misery,
and thus giving himself up to the will of another, conquered as it were with
out a wound. I have rather read and heard from many that many would
procure liberty for themselves at the expense of streams of their blood,
which is a praiseworthy action ; but now I hear that your wretched lord, a
sloth and a coward, who is even worse than nothing, wishes, from a free man
to become a slave, who is the most wretched of all human beings." After
this he asked, although contemptuously, what was his age, size, and strength;
in reply he was told that he was fifty, entirely hoary, strong in body, not
tall, but rather compact and of a form suited for strength. The king on
hearing this, said : " His youthful and manly valour has fermented, and now
begins to grow cool ; within ten years, if he lives so long, his valour will tail
him before he accomplishes any arduous enterprise ; if he should begin now
he would fall to decay, and would be good for nothing; for a man of fifty
sinks imperceptibly, but one of sixty gives evident signs of decaying. Let
him again obtain peace for himself and enjoy rest." The emir, then, after
reading over all the questions and answers of the messengers, after a short
silence burst into a laugh, as a sign of indignation, and refused king John's
offer in these words : " That king is of no consideration, but is a petty
king, senseless and growing old, and I care nothing about him ; he is un
worthy of any alliance with me ;" and, regarding Thomas and Ralph with
a grim look, he said : " Never come into my presence again, and may your
eyes never again behold my face; the fame, or rather the infamy of that
foolish apostate, your master, breathes forth a most foul stench to my
nostrils." The messengers were then going away with shame, when the

A.D. 1213.] MARRIAGE OF KING JOHN. 285
been just recovered, under God, by the assistance of the
crusaders, and uniting with the counts of Toulouse, Foix, and
Commenges, he with the citizens of Toulouse and a large
army on the third day of the week after the nativity of
emir beheld Robert the clerk, who was the third of the messengers, and who
was a small dark man, with one arm longer than the other, and having
fingers all misshapen, namely, two sticking together, and with a face like a
Jew. Thinking, therefore, that such a contemptible looking person would
not be sent to manage a difficult business unless he were wise and clever,
and well understood it, and seeing his cowl and tonsure, and finding by it
that he was a clerk, the king ordered him to be called ; for when the others
had been speaking he had till now stood silent at a distance from him. He
therefore kept him and sent away the others, and then had a long secret in
terview with him, the particulars of which the said Robert afterwards
disclosed to his friends. The said king asked him if king John was a man
of moral character, and if he had brave sons, and if he possessed great
generative power ; adding that, if Robert told him a lie in these matters, he
would never believe a Christian again, especially a clerk. Robert then, on
his word as a Christian, promised to give true answers to all the questions
which he put to him. He therefore answered affirmatively that John was
a tyrant rather than a king, a destroyer rather than a governor, an oppresser
of his own people, and a friend to strangers, a lion to his own subjects, a
lamb to foreigners and those who fought against him ; for, owing to his sloth-
fulness, he had lost the duchy of Normandy and many other of his terri
tories, and moreover was eager to lose the kingdom of England or to destroy
it; that he was an insatiable extorter of money, and an invader and destroyer
of the possessions of his own natural subjects; he had begotten few strong
children, or rather none at all, but only such as took after their father; he
had a wife who was hateful to him and who hated him; an incestuous, evil
disposed, adulterous woman, and of these crimes she had been often found
guilty, on which the king ordered her paramours to be seized and strangled
with a rope on her bed; yet nevertheless this same king was envious of
many of his nobles and relations, and violated their marriageable daughters
and sisters; and in his observance of the Christian religion he is wavering
and distrustful, as you have heard." When the king emir heard all this, he
not only disdained John as he had before done, but detested him;
and, according to his own law cursed him; adding, "Why do the
wretched English permit such a man to reign, and lord it over them ?
they are indeed effeminate and servile." Robert replied: "The English
are the most patient of men until they are offended and injured be
yond endurance; but now, like a lion or an elephant, when he feels
himself hurt or sees his blood, they are enraged, and are proposing
and endeavouring, although late, to shake the yoke of the oppressor
from their necks." When the king emir heard this, he blamed the too
easy patience of the English, which the interpreter, who had been present all
the time, rightly asserted to be fear. The said king conversed on many other
subjects besides this with Robert, all which the latter afterwards told to his
friends in England. He then made him several costly presents of gold and
silver, various kinds of jewels and silks, and dismissed him on friendly terms;

286 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1213.
St. Mary, laid siege to the castle of MureUe. At this news
the venerable fathers, the bishops of Toulouse, Nismes,
St. Agatha, Bourdeaux, Uzes, Louvaine, and Commenges,
and the abbats of Clairvaux, MagneviUe, and St. Tiberius,
but the other messengers he neither saluted when they left him, nor did he
honour them with any presents. They then returned home and told John
all that they had seen and heard, on which he wept in bitterness of spirit at
being despised by the king Emir, and at being balked in his purpose.
Robert however liberally regarded Hie king from the foreign gifts bestowed
on him, so that it was evident he had been received more favourably than
the others, though at first he had been repulsed and kept silence ; on which
account the king honoured him more than the others, and by way of reward
this wicked extortioner bestowed on him the charge of the abbacy of
St. Alban's, although it was not vacant, so that this transgressor of the
faith remunerated his own clerk with the property of another. This Robert
then, without consulting, yea even against the will of the temporary abbat,
John de Cell, a most religious and most learned man, seized on everything
which was then in the church and the convent at pleasure, and appropriated it
to his own use ; and in each bailiwick, which we call obediences, he ap
pointed a porter, as a careful and resolute searcher of everything, by which
means the aforesaid clerk, Robert, cheated that house of more than a
thousand marks. He, however, had a regard for some of the chief servants
of the abbat, and a monk of St. Alban's, namely, Laurence knight of the
seneschal, Laurence a clerk, and Master Walter a monk and painter, and
them he kept as his familiars, to whom he showed his jewels and other
in secret presents from the emir, and related what had passed between them,
the hearing of Matthew, who has written and related these events.
King John resolves to place England under the papal rule.
From that time then king John began to strengthen his purpose, from
which he had thought to retract, and to make his condition worse and
worse, to the detriment of the whole kingdom ; he hated, like viper's poison,
all the men of noble rank in the kingdom, and especially Saver de Quency,
Robert Fitz- Walter, and Stephen archbishop of Canterbury. He also
knew and had learnt by manifold experience, that the pope was beyond all
other men ambitious and proud, and an insatiable thirster after money,
and ready and apt to perform any sin for a reward or on the promise of one.
He therefore sent messengers with orders of speed and by them transmitted
a large sum of money to him with a promise of more, and assured him that
he was, and always would be, subject and tributary to him on condition that
he would, when an opportunity occurred, endeavour to abase the archbishop
of Canterbury, and excommunicate the barons of England, whose part he
had formerly taken ; and he eagerly longed for this that he might glut his evil
disposition by disinheriting, imprisoning, and slaying them when excommuni
cated. And these plans, which he had wickedly raked up, he more wickedly
carried into execution, as will be related hereafter.
King John entertains evil opinions of the faith.
About this time king John became so foolish that he conceived evil
thoughts about the resurrection of the dead, and other matters connected

A.D. 1213.] FLIGHT OF THE EMIR. 287
aU of whom the archbishop of Narbonne, the legate of the
apostolic see had ordered to assemble for the purpose of
managing the business of the crusade, set out together with
Simon de Montfort, and an army of crusaders, to render
assistance to the besieged castle. On the Wednesday of the
above-mentioned week they arrived at a castle called Savar-
don, whence they sent messengers to the besieging com
manders at Murelle, saying that they were come to treat
, with them about peace, and therefore they wished safe con-
with the Christian religion, and gave utterance to some unmentionable
foolish sayings, of which, however, we have thought proper to relate one.
it happened that a very fat stag had been taken in the hunt, and when it
was being skinned in the king's presence he laughed, and said in mockery,
" Oh how fat this animal has grown without ever hearing mass."
The emir Murmelius is conquered and takes to flight.
About this time the king, or emir, Murmelius, of whom mention was
made above, with a large army which he had collected, with John's consent,
as is said, determined to take forcible possession of the kingdom of Spain ;
and he was inspired with this boldness by the wavering faith of king John,
and the interdict on that kingdom. When, however, the Christian followers
of the king of Spain heard of this, they bravely opposed him, and dispersed
his whole army, and drove them from the country, after slaying his eldest
son and capturing his royal standard. In this battle the king of Arragon
would have gained immortal renown, if he had not been elevated by pride
and contumaciously exacted from Simon de Montfort the whole of the land
which he had gained from the Albigenses to be held by him, in spite of the
prohibition of the pope who had asked for the same, whereby he kindled a
fierce war against himself.
About this time the king of Arragon, who had been crowned by pope
Innocent at Rome, and received from that pontiff a strict order not to give
assistance or show favour to the enemies of the faith, disregarded the order
of his father the pope, and after the victory over the emir Murmelius began
to backslide, doing all the injury in his power to the aforesaid Simon ; he
also allied himself with the heretic Albigenses, and, in company with some
knights, fled and joined the people of Toulouse. R. de Beders too with his
Bederans summoned together an immense number of his fellow provincials,
and having thus raised a large army, laid siege to the castle of Murelle on
the Tuesday after the nativity of St. Mary. On hearing this the venerable
fathers, the bishops of Toulouse, Nismes, Agde, Bourges, Utka, Loches,
Carcassone, Elmo, and St. Malo, and the abbats of Clerac, Mandeville,
and St. Giles, and many other illustrious men whom the archbishop of
Narbonne, the legate of the apostolic see, &e. &c. — All in Matthew Paris's
hand. Fiom this point in the C.C.C. MS. the continuation of the history
in the text has been compiled by Matthew Paris, and has been written by
the same hand as the Cotton MS. The text of Wendover is not left, but
additions and alterations are made as well in the body of the work as by
Paris himself, as it would appear, in the margin. i

288 ROGER OF WENDOVER [a.D. 1213.
duct to be granted them. On the foUowing day, as the
urgency of the case so much required it, the crusading army
left Savardon, and hurried to the assistance of the castle of
Murelle ; the aforesaid bishops, however, determined to stay
at a castle called Hanterive, half-way between Savardon and
Murelle, about two leagues from either of them, there to
await the return of their messengers ; these when they did
return brought word to the bishops from the king of Arragon,
that he would not grant safe conduct to them, because, having
come with such a large army, they did not want it. The
bishops, when they heard this, entered MureUe with the
crusading army on Wednesday of the same week, and
immediately sent two religious men to the king and the
inhabitants of Toulouse, but they received with derision from
the king the answer, that they wanted to have a conference
with him on account of the four ribalds, which the bishops
had brought with them ; but the citizens of Toulouse told
them, the messengers, that they were alhes of the king of
Arragon, and would not do anything except the said king's
pleasure. When the messengers had related this to the
bishops, the latter determined to go unshod in company with
the abbats to the king ; but when their approach in this way
was made known to the king, the gates of the city having
been thrown open, and earl Montfort and aU the crusaders
being unarmed, because the bishops were gone to treat for
peace, the enemies of God treacherously attempted to force
their way into the town, but by the grace of God they were
balked in their design. The earl and the crusaders, seeing
their pride, and being themselves wholesomely cleansed from
their sins by contrition of heart and verbal confession, put on
their armour and went to the bishop of Toulouse, who by
authority of the lord archbishop of Narbonne, was discharg
ing the functions of the legateship there, and humbly asked
his permission to sally forth against the enemies of the faith.
As matters were at a crisis permission was granted them, and
in the name of the Holy Trinity they saUied out in three
bodies, but the enemies of the faith, on the other hand, came
forth from their well fortified camp in several masses of
troops, and although they were a host in comparison with the
crusaders, the servants of Christ, trusting to his assistance,
and armed with valour from on high, bravely attacked them.

A.D. 1213.] ARRIVAL OF BISHOP NICHOLAS. 289
And immediately the virtue of the Most High, by the hands
of his followers, broke through the enemy, crushing them in
a moment ; for they turned their backs- and fled Uke dust
before the wind ; some escaped death altogether by flight,
some escaping the sword perished in the water, while others
were slain on the field. For the illustrious king of Arragon
who fell amongst the slain, much grief is to be felt that he
united with the enemies of the faith, and wickedly annoyed
the cathoUc church.* A correct account of the number slain
cannot be given by any means ; but of the crusaders one
knight only besides a few of the soldiers fell. This battle
took place on the sixth day of the week after the octaves of
the nativity of St. Mary, in the month of September, 121 3.
The arrival in England of Nicholas bishop of Tusculum, and legate of the
apostolic see.
About Michaelmas of the same year, Nicholas bishop of
Tusculum and legate of the apostolic see, came to England
to settle, by the apostolic authority, the disagreements be
tween the throne and the priesthood, and although the
country was under an interdict, he was everywhere
honourably received with solemn processions, with music,
and by the people dressed in holiday clothes ; and on his
arrival at Westminster, he immediately degraded William
the abbat, who was accused by his monks of wasteful expen
diture and incontinency. At that place there came to him
seeking absolution the citizens of Oxford, by whose agency
and presumption the two clerks, of whom we have made
mention above, had been hung; in appointing penance for
them he, amongst other things, ordered them to go to each
of the churches of the city, laying aside their garments, and
with naked feet, carrying scourges in their hands, and there
to chant the fiftieth psalm, and thus obtain absolution from
the parochial priests ; and they were only allowed to go to
one church on each day, that they and all others might be
afraid to show such presumption in future. Thus the legate,
* " Earl Simon knew from his scouts that the king of Arragon was ready
to sit down to table to take his breakfast, and on receiving the information he
jokingly said, when he was sallying out, ' Of a truth I will wait on him at
the first dish.' And the said king was the first who was killed, being
pierced by a sword before he had swallowed three mouthfuls of bread." —
M. Paris.
VOL. H. U

290 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1213.
who had come into England with only seven horsemen in his
train, shortly walked abroad with a train of fifty, and at
tended by a numerous household. At length the archbishop
of Canterbury, with the bishops and nobles of the kingdom,
met at London in presence of the king and of the cardinal,
and there for three days a discussion was carried on between
the throne and the priesthood as to the losses of the bishops,
and their confiscated property; on behalf of the king, an
offer was made, as a full restitution, of a hundred thousand
marks of silver, to be paid immediately ; and if on inquiiy it
could be found that the guardians of the churches or other
agents of the king had taken away more, he the said king
made oath and gave security, that, by the decision of the
bishops and the legate himself, he would before the ensuing
Easter make satisfaction in full for all their confiscated
property. The legate agreed to this, wishing it to be settled
immediately, and was indignant that the offer was not ac
cepted at once ; and on this account it was suspected that
the legate took the king's side more than was right. The
bishops however prolonged the business, objecting to the
terms offered, in order that they might, after holding a
council, make inquiry as to the confiscated property and
their losses, and might state the amount thus found out to
the king, and at the same time receive what they demanded.
The king hearing of this delay, which suited him, at once
gave his consent, and thus they went away on that day
without settling their business.
How king John resigned his crown with the kingdoms of England and
Ireland into tlte hands of the legate.
On the following day they aU again assembled in the
cathedral church at St. Paul's, where after many and divers
discussions about the removal of the interdict, before the
great altar in presence of the clergy and people, that noto
rious though dishonourable submission was again exacted
from the king, by which he resigned his crown and kingdom
into the hands of the pope, and surrendered the dominion of
Ireland as weU as the kingdom of England ; the charter of
the king too, which had been before sealed with wax and
deUvered to Pandulph, was now stamped with gold, and
resigned to the legate for the use of our lord the pope and

A.D. 1213.] LETTER OF POPE INNOCENT. 291
the church of Eome ; and for the restitution of the confiscated
property, they appointed to meet at Beading on the 3rd of
November. On the appointed day, when all had as before
assembled, the king did not make his appearance, but on
the third day after they again all assembled at Wallingford ;
and there the king, as before, willingly promised that he
would satisfy the bishops and all the rest for the property
which had been confiscated ; but this seemed of little use to
those whose castles had been thrown down, houses destroyed,
and whose orchards and woods had been cut down ; there
fore the king and the bishops ahke agreed to abide by the
decision of four barons, and thus all would be satisfied by
their decision. On the 6th of November they again assem
bled at Beading, the king and the legate, the archbishop and
bishops, the nobles, and all the religious men connected with
the business of the interdict, and at this conference they each
and all produced a paper containing the amount of the con
fiscated property and their losses ; but as the legate showed
favour to the king, the payment of all was postponed except
in the case of the archbishop and bishops who had been so
long exiled from England, who there received fifteen marks
of silver.
Pope Innocent to Nicholas bishop of Tusculum, about the vacant churches.
At this time pope Innocent sent letters to Nicholas, legate
of the apostolic see, to the following purport : " As the Lord's
churches cannot better be provided for than when suitable
pastors are appointed to them, who will desire not so much
to have authority over them as to promote their welfare, we,
by these apostolic letters, enjoin your brotherhood, in whom
we have full confidence, to cause suitable persons, according
to your own judgment, to be ordained to the bishoprics and
abbacies in England now vacant, either by election or by
canonical appointment, who shall be remarkable, not only for
their mode of life, but also for their learning, and at the same
time faithful to the king, and of use to the kingdom, and also
efficacious in giving assistance and advice, the king's consent
being previously obtained. When therefore we by our
letters command the chapters of the vacant churches to
abide by your advice, do you, always having the Lord in
view, consult on these matters with prudent and honourable
u2

292 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
men, who may fully be aware of the merits of persons, less
you may be overreached by the craft of any one ; but if any
shall gainsay you or prove contumacious, do you, by means
of the censure of the church, compel them to obey, without
appeal. Given at the Lateran, on the first of November, in
the sixteenth year of our pontificate." The legate, on re
ceiving this authority from the pope, rejected the advice of
the archbishop and bishops of the kingdom, and, going to
the vacant churches with the clerks and agents of the king,
presumed to make appointments to them, according to the
old evil custom of England, of persons httle suited to those
offices ; and some of various orders, who, on manifest cause
of complaint, appealed to the hearing of the supreme pontiff,
he suspended and sent to the court of Borne, and to them he
showed, himself so destitute of humanity, that he did not
allow them even one penny out of their own money to pay
their expenses on the journey. Moreover he distributed the
parochial churches which were vacant in various places
amongst his own clerks without asking the consent of the
patrons ; for which he deserved the malediction of many
instead of their benediction, inasmuch as he changed justice
into injury, and judgment into forejudging.
The appeal of the archbishop of Canterbury as to the appointments of
vacant churches.
a.d. 1214. King John at Christmas held his court at
Windsor, when he distributed festive dresses to a number
of his nobles- Afterwards, Stephen archbishop of Canter
bury, and his suffragans, met at Dunstable to discuss the
affairs of the English church there ; for they were beyond
measure annoyed that the legate, as we have before stated,
in attending to the king's pleasure without consulting with
them, had appointed unfit persons to the vacant churches
more by force than by canonical election. After various
discussion on one subject and another, the archbishop of
Canterbury at length sent two clerks to Burton on the Trent,
where the legate then was, to forbid him, by the interpo
sition of an appeal on the part of the archbishop of Canter
bury, to appoint prelates in the vacant churches in disregard
of his, the archbishop's, high office, to which the appointment
to the churches in his own diocese of right belonged. The

A.D. 1214.] KING JOHN AT POICTOU. 293
legate however paid no attention to this appeal, but, by the
king's consent, despatched the before-named Pandulph to
the court of Borne to counteract the intentions of the arch
bishop and bishops ; on his arrival there he, in presence of
the supreme pontiff, vilified the character of the archbishop
in no slight degree, but he extolled the king of England with
so much praise, declaring that he had never before seen
such a humble and moderate king, that John gained great
favour in the eyes of the pope. One person at that court
however opposed Pandulph, which was master Simon de
Langton, brother of the archbishop of Canterbury ; but, as the
gold-sealed charter of the subjection and tribute of the king
doms of England and Ireland had been lately brought to our
lord" the pope by Pandulph, master Simon could not obtain
a hearing for his opposing arguments. Moreover the said
Pandulph declared in the presence of _ the pope, that the
archbishop and bishops were too strict and covetous in their
exactions, and about the restitution of the property confiscated
at the time of the interdict, and that they oppressed the king
himself and the rights of the kingdom in an unjust manner.
And thus the purpose of the archbishop and bishops was
delayed for a time. How king John crossed sea to Poictou.
In the same year king John sent a large sum of money to
the chiefs of his army in Flanders, to enable them to harass
the king of the French, and to ravage his territory, and
destroy his castles in their hostile incursions ; they therefore,
in obedience to the king's commands, laid waste the territory
of the count de Guisne with fire and sword ; they laid siege
to the castle of Bruncham and destroyed it, taking away in
chains a number of knights and their attendants who had
been obliged to surrender themselves ; they also besieged
Arria, and, after subduing it, destroyed it by fire. They
took the castle of Liens by assault, slaying a great many, and
imprisoning those who were taken; they also ravaged the
territory of Louis son of the French king, in that district.
King John himself after having sent messengers to Borne for
the withdrawal of the interdict, embarked on the day of the
Purification of St. Mary at Portsmouth, accompanied by his
queen, and in a few days landed with a large army at

294 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
Bochelle ; and at news of his arrival, several barons of Poictou
came and swore fealty to him. Afterwards proceeding in
great force, he reduced a great many castles belonging to his
enemies; but whoever wishes to know more of what hap
pened there, let him read the letters sent by the king to the
justiciaries of the treasury.
King John's letter about his proceedings in Poictou.
" John, by the grace of God, Sf-c. — Be it known to you, that
when the truce was at an end which we had granted to the
counts of La March and Augi, and as we found them not
disposed to make a peace suitable to us, we on the Friday next
preceding Whitsuntide, crossed with our army to Miervant,
a castle belonging to Geoffrey de Lusignan; and although
many might not believe that it could be taken by assault,
we, on the day after, which was the eve of Whitsuntide,
took it by force after one assault, which lasted from early in
the morning till one o'clock. On Whitsunday we laid siege
to another castle of this same Geoffrey's, called 'Novent,' in
which Geoffrey with his two sons had shut themselves ; and
when, after repeated discharges from our petraries for three
days, a fitting opportunity for taking the aforesaid castle was
approaching, the count de la March came to us, bringing it
about that the aforesaid Geoffrey threw himself on our
mercy, together with his two sons, his castle, and every thing
in it. Whilst we were still there, news was brought us that
Louis, son of the king of France, had laid siege to a castle be
longing to the same Geoffrey called 'Muneuntur ;' on hearing
this, we immediately turned in that direction to meet him, so
that on the day of the Holy Trinity we were at Parthenay, and
there the counts de la March and Augi came to us with the
aforesaid Geoffrey de Lusignan, and did homage and swore
fealty to us. And, because we had formerly treated with
the count de la March as to giving our daughter in marriage
to his son, we granted that favour to him, although the king
of the French had requested her for his son, but with trea
cherous designs; for we remembered our niece who was
married to Louis, son of that monarch, and the result of that
affair ; and may God grant us more success in this marriage
than in the former one! Now, by the grace of God, an
opportunity is afforded us of attacking our mortal enemy the

A.D. 1214.] WITHDRAWAL OF THE INTERDICT. 295
king of the French beyond Poictou. And we inform you
thereof that you may rejoice in our successes. AVitness myself
at Parthenay, in the sixteenth year of our reign." On the 24th
of June, in the same year, died Gilbert bishop of Bochester.
Letter of pope Innocent on the withdrawal of the interdict.
About this time pope Innocent wrote to Nicholas bishop of
Tusculum, about the withdrawal of the interdict, as follows :
" Innocent bishop, fyc. Our venerable brother John bishop
of Norwich, and our beloved son Bobert de Marisco arch
deacon of Northumberland, and the nobles Thomas and Adam
de Hardington, the ambassadors of our well-beloved in Christ,
John the illustrious king of England of the one part, and
master Stephen de Langton A. and G. clerks, messengers of
our beloved brother Stephen archbishop of Canterbury of the
other part, having appeared before us, have, by common con
sent and deliberately declared, that, to avoid great loss of
property and serious danger to their souls, it was necessary
to the kingdom as well as the priesthood that the sentence of
interdict be withdrawn without delay ; wherefore we, in our
paternal regard have, for their preservation and for the ad
vantage of peace, carefully entertained the matter between
them, and at length, with their acquiescence, we have devised
and determined on the underwritten terms : — "Let the afore
said king pay to the archbishop of Canterbury, and the
bishops of London and Ely, or to others whom they may
appoint to receive it, so much money as, when added to what
the said king has already paid to us, shall amount to the sum
of .forty thousand marks ; on the payment of which by him,
and his giving the undermentioned security, do you im
mediately withdraw the sentence of interdict, doing away with
aU appeal or gainsaying. And after this he must pay twelve
thousand marks yearly, at two fixed periods, namely, six
thousand marks on the commemoration of All Saints, and
the same number at the feast of our Lord's ascension, until
the whole amount be paid. And, for the due fulfilment of
this, the said king has bound himself by his own oath and by
letters patent under his own seal, and also by the suretyship
of the bishops of Winchester and Norwich, the earls of Win
chester and Chester, and William Marshal ; that the heirs o '
the said king and their successors shall be held bound by a

296 ' ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
similar engagement ; wherefore we command you, by these
our apostolic letters, to proceed in this matter according to
the form above-named, unless the parties of their own free
will determine to settle the matter otherwise. Given at the
Lateran in the sixteenth year of our pontificate."
Of the restitution of the confiscated property.
At the time when Nicholas bishop of Tusculum, legate of
the apostolic see, received this warrant by the messengers of
our lord the pope, the king of England was in the transmarine
provinces; but as he had, on leaving England, entrusted his
part in this business to the legate and WiUiam Marshal, the
said legate convened a grand council at St. Paul's in the city
of London, at which were assembled the archbishops, bishops,
abbats, priors, earls, barons, and others concerned in this
affair of the interdict. The said legate there explained to all
the terms of restitution of the confiscated property, and of
satisfaction for losses which had been arranged by the pope
at Borne with the consent of the parties ; and he clearly
ordered that a certificate should be given of the quantity of
money paid to the bishops and others by the king's agents on
account of the interdict ; so that, by what money had been
paid, it might be known how much remained to be paid. It
was there proved by a sure computation, that the archbishop
and the monks of Canterbury, with the bishops of London,
Ely, Hereford, Bath, and Lincoln had, before they returned
to England from their exile, received twelve thousand marks
of sterling money by the hands of Pandulph ; also that, since
their arrival, the said bishops and the monks aforesaid had,
at the council which was held at Beading on the sixth of
December, received fifteen thousand marks to be divided
amongst them ; and this sum, together with the former one
received, made a total of twenty-seven thousand marks. The
other fifteen thousand which remained to be paid to make up
the before-mentioned complement of forty thousand marks,
remained under the suretyship of the bishops of Winchester
and Norwich, with letters patent from the king besides for
further security, according to what was contained in the
letters of our lord the pope.
Of the withdrawal of the interdict.
After thus arranging matters, on the apostles, St. Peter

a.d. 1214.] John's armt in brittant. 297
and St. Paul's day, Nicholas bishop of Tusculum, legate of
the apostolic see, went to the cathedral church, and there
amidst the ringing of beUs and the chanting of the " Te
Deum," solemnly revoked the sentence of interdict which had
lasted for six years, three months, and fourteen days.
How the legate put off the restitution of the confiscated property.
On the removal of the interdict, as above-mentioned, the
legate was beset by an innumerable multitude of abbats,
priors, templars, hospitallers, abbesses, nuns, clergy and laity,
asking for satisfaction to be made to them for losses and
injuries suffered by them during the time of the interdict ;
for they asserted that, although they had not left England,
they had endured the incessant persecution of the king and
his agents, both in person and property, until all their pro
perty being confiscated and their persons ill used, they knew
not whither to turn from the fury of their enemies. But the
legate in reply to this multitude of complainants, said that of
their losses and injuries no mention had been made in the
pope's letters, wherefore he ought not and could not lawfuUy
go beyond the bounds of the apostolic mandate ; but he
nevertheless advised them to lay a complaint of their losses
and injuries before the pope, and to ask for full justice to be
shown to them. On hearing this, however, the whole of that
assembly of complaining prelates, having no hope of better
luck, returned again to their homes. In the same year, on the
day of St. Kenelm, the king and martyr, John abbat of the
church of St. Alban's, a reUgious and learned man, closed his
life at a good old age, in the nineteenth year of his pre-
lateship.* How king John led his army into Brittany.
About this time king John led his army forward from
Poictou into Lesser Britain, and there stayed three days and
three nights. On arriving near a city called by. the inhabi
tants Nantes, he determined to attack it ; but the citizens
and knights who had been left in charge of the place by the
* About that time Ralph of Arundel, abbat of Westminster, was deposed
by the aforesaid legate on the day after the feast of St. Vincent, his seal
having been broken in the chapter-house by N. abbat of Westham, who was
sent on behalf of the legate ; in Ralph's place was appointed William de
Humes, prior of Frontignac, a monk of Caen.

298 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
French king, on learning the approach of the English
monarch, went out to meet him, and at a bridge not far from
the city they gave battle to the English king's army ; but
king John, by good luck, gained the victory, taking twenty
knights in the battle, and amongst the rest the son and heir
of Bobert de Drus, uncle of the French king ; this knight the
king loaded with chains, and took away with him on his
return. After this the said king marched with his army to
the castle of Bocheau Maine, and laid siege to it ; on hearing
which Louis, son of the French king, who had been sent by
his father to check the incursions of king John, hastened with
a large army to the assistance of the besieged. The Enghsh
king, when he learned their approach, sent scouts from his
army to find out the number and strength of the approaching
enemy ; these messengers, soon performing the duty assigned
to them, returned and told the king that he, the EngUsh
king, had a much larger force, and therefore earnestly per
suaded him to engage the enemy in open battle, because, by
doing this, he would without doubt gain a victory over the
enemy. He therefore, being inspirited by the information of
his messengers, ordered his soldiers to arms as soon as possi
ble, to give open battle to Louis, but the barons of Poictou
refused to follow the king, saying that they were not pre
pared for a pitched battle. King John then, knowing too
weU the accustomed treachery of the nobles of Poictou,
although the capture of the castle was almost certain, retired
in great annoyance from the siege. Louis too, when he
heard that the English king had moved his camp, feared that
he would attack him, and fled in an opposite direction from
king John's ; and thus each army ignominiously taking to
flight, turned their backs on one another.
How the king of the French marched against the army of the English king
in Fianders,
At this time the EngUsh king's army in Flanders
had spread its ravages through several provinces, and was
now laying waste Poictou in a most relentless manner; in
this expedition were the warlike and tried men Wilham duke
of Holland ; Eeginald, formerly count of Boulogne ; Ferrand
count of Flanders ; and Hugh de Boves, a brave soldier
though a cruel and proud man, for he showed his cruel dis-

A.D. 1214.] BATTLE OF B0CV1NES. 299
position in those regions by sparing neither the female ssx
nor the young children. King John had appointed his brother
William earl of Salisbury, marshal over that army, and over
the knights of the kingdom, to fight in conjunction with them,
and also to give the pay from the treasury to the other soldiers.
These warriors were moreover assisted and favoured by Otho
the Eoman emperor, with all the forces of the dukes of
Louvaine and Brabant, who were equally exasperated against
the French. When all these proceedings came to the know
ledge of Philip king of the French, he was much alarmed lest
he should be unable to defend that part of the country,
having lately sent his son Louis with a large army into
Poictou to oppose the English king, and to check his hostile
incursions there ; and although the said king often thought
on the common proverb —
" Whose mind to many schemes is bent,
On each can scarcely be intent."
He however collected an army of earls, barons, knights, and
soldiers, horse and foot, together with the commoners of the
cities and towns, and advanced in great force to meet his
enemies, giving orders to the priests, religious men, clerks
and nuns, to give alms, to offer prayers to God, and to per
form services for the firm standing of his kingdom ; after
which he boldly marched with his army against the enemy.
Hearing that the latter had already arrived as far as the
bridge of Bovines in the territory of Pontoise, he led his
forces in that direction, and arriving at the aforesaid bridge,
he crossed the river with his army, and there pitched his
camp. The heat of the sun was very great, as is usual in
the month of July, on which account the French determined
to halt near the river for the sake of refreshing the men as
weU as horses. They arrived at the before-mentioned river
on a Saturday, about the hour of evening ; and, having
arranged the carts, waggons, and all the vehicles in which
they conveyed their food and arms, engines of war and
weapons ; to the right and left they appointed watches all
round, and rested there for the night. When morning came,
and the Enghsh commanders were informed that the French
king had arrived, they held a council, and unanimously de
termined to give open battle to the enemy ; but, as it was

300 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
Sunday, it seemed to the more prudent men of the army, and
especially to Eeginald, formerly count of Boulogne, that it
was improper to engage in battle on such a festival, and to
profane such a day by slaughter and the effusion of human
blood. The Boman emperor Otho coincided in this opinion,
and said that he had never gained a triumph on such a day ;
on hearing this Hugh de Boves broke forth into blasphemy,
calhng count Eeginald a base traitor, and reproaching him
with the lands and large possessions he had received as gifts
from the king of England ; he added also that, if the battle
was put off that day, it would redound to the irreparable loss
of king John, for " delays are always dangerous when things
are ready." But count Eeginald, in reply to the taunts of
Hugh, said indignantly, " This day wiU prove me faithful,
and.you the traitor ; for even on this very Sunday, if neces
sary, I will stand up in battle for the king, even to the death,
and you, according to your custom, wiU, by fleeing from the
battle, show yourself a most base traitor in the presence of
all. By these and other abusive words of the said Hugh,
the whole multitude were stirred up and excited to battle ;
they therefore all flew to arms and boldly prepared for fight
ing. When all were armed, they arranged themselves in
three bodies, over the first of which they appointed Fer
rand count of Flanders, Eeginald earl of Boulogne, and
WiUiam earl of Salisbury, as commanders ; the command of
the second they gave to WiUiam duke of Holland, and
Hugh de Boves, with his Brabant followers ; the command
of the third was assigned to Otho the Eoman emperor
and his fighting men: and in this manner they slowly
marched forth against the enemy, and arrived in sight of
the French army. When the French king saw that his
enemies were prepared for a pitched battle, he ordered the
bridge in his rear to be broken down, that, in case any of
his army should endeavour to fly, they should have no where
to fly except amongst the enemy. The French king having
drawn up his troops, surrounded by his waggons and other
vehicles, as already mentioned, there awaited the assault of
his enemies. In short, the battaUons commanded by the
above-named counts burst upon the ranks of the French
with such impetuosity, that in a moment they broke their
ranks, and forced their way even up to where theFrenoh

A.D. 1214.] BATTLE OF BOUVrNES. 301
king was. Count Eeginald, when he saw the king who had
disinherited him and expelled him from his county, couched
his lance against him, and having forced him to the ground,
was preparing to slay him with his sword ; but one of the
soldiers, who had been appointed as a body-guard for the
king, exposed himself to the blows of the count and was
killed in his stead. The French, seeing their king on the
ground, rushed impetuously and in great force to his assist
ance, and re-mounted him on his horse ; then the battle raged
on both sides, swords glistened hke lightning around hel-
meted heads, and the conflict was most severe on both sides.
The before-mentioned counts with the body of troops under
their command had become separated from the rest of their
feUow soldiers, and their retreat, as weU as the advance of
the rest of the army to their succour was stopped ; and thus
their small body not being able to withstand the attacks of
such numbers of the French, at length gave way, and in this
manner the aforesaid counts with the whole of the band
which they commanded, were, after showing great bravery,
taken and made prisoners. Conclusion of the battle.
WhUst these events were passing round king Philip, the
counts of Champagne, Perche, and St. Paul, with many
other nobles of the French kingdom, made an attack on the
troops above-mentioned to be commanded by Hugh de Boves,
and put that noble to flight, together with aU the troops
collected from the different provinces ; and in their base
flight they were pursued at the sword's point by the French
as far as the position of the emperor ; therefore, after their
flight, aU the weight of the battle was in an instant thrown
on the latter. The above-named counts then summoned him
and endeavoured to slay him or to compel him to surrender ;
but he, holding his sword, sharp on one side like a knife,
with both hands, dealt such insupportable blows on aU sides,
that he either stunned all whom he struck, or levelled riders
and horses with the ground. His enemies, fearing to come
too near him, kiUed three horses under him with their lances,
but by the bravery of his troops, he was each time re
mounted, and renewed his attacks more fiercely; at length
his enemies left him and his followers unconquered, and he

302 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1214.
retreated from the battle without harm to himself or his
followers. The king of the French, in his joy for such an un
expected victory, gave thanks to God for having granted
him such a triumph over his enemies. The three counts
above named, with a great number of knights and others,
were taken away to be imprisoned. This battle took place
on the 27th of July. By this misfortune the English king
ineffectually spent the forty thousand marks which he had
taken from the monks of the Cistercian order during the
time of the interdict, thus verifying the proverb,
" Inglorious spoil will never end in good."
When at length the news of this event came to king John's
knowledge he was thrown into dismay, and said to those about
him, " Since I became reconciled to God, and submitted myself
and my kingdoms to the church of Eome, woe is me, nothing
has gone properously with me, and every thing unlucky has
happened to me." In this same year John bishop of
Norwich, when returning from the court of Eome, died in
the territory of Poictou, and his body was brought to Eng
land, and buried with honour in the church at Norwich.
Of a truce made between the French and English kings.
After the events above-mentioned, by the intervention of
religious men, a truce was agreed on in the transmarine
provinces between Philip and John, the French and English
kings, in this form : — " Philip, by the grace of God, king of
the French, to all who shall see these letters, greeting. Be it
known to you, that we have granted to king John and his
men who have appeared in the field on his behalf since this
last war, up to the Thursday next after the exaltation of the
Holy Cross in September, a truce in due form from us and
our men, who have appeared on the field in our behalf, until
next Easter, that shall be in the year of our Lord 1215, and
for five fuU years after the said Easter ; saving however to
us, our prisoners whom we have in our power, and saving
the oath which the towns of Flanders and Hainault made to
us ; and saving in a like manner to king John the prisoners
he has in his power. And we and our subjects and adven
turers will remain in the same position as we were on the
aforesaid Thursday, till the end of the aforesaid five years.
And those who are to dictate and arrange the terms of this

A.D, 1214,] CONFERENCE OF BARONS. 303
truce made between us and the king of England, shall be, on
behalf of us, P. Savary, Guy Turpin, abbat of Marmontier,
and G. archdeacon of Tours ; on behalf of the king of Eng
land, Hugh de Bourg seneschal of Poictou, E. de Ponte
abbat of St. John in England, and the dean of Christaton.
And all these have sworn in good faith that, for the settle
ment of all differences and complaints which may arise in
Poictou, Anjou, Brittany, or Tours, they will meet at the
convent of Fulcirelle ; and for other complaints which may
arise in Bourges, Auvergne, the counties of La Marche and
Limosin, they will meet to arrange matters in those pro
vinces." On the 5th of October in this year Eichard dean
of Salisbury, and Walter de Gray chanceUor of England,
were, by Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated
bishops, the former to the church of Chichester, and the
latter to that of Winchester. About this time too, on the
19th of October, king John, having settled all his business in
the transmarine provinces, returned home to England.
Of a conference held by the barons against king John. Q
About this time the earls and barons of England assem
bled at St. Edmund's, as if for religious duties, although it was
for some other reason ; for after they had discoursed together
secretly for a time, there was placed before them the charter
of king Henry the First, which they had received, as men
tioned before, in the city of London from Stephen archbishop
of Canterbury. This charter contained certain liberties and
laws granted to the holy church as well as to the nobles of
the kingdom, besides some liberties which the king added of
his own accord. All therefore assembled in the church of
St. Edmund, the king and martyr, and, commencing from
those of the highest rank, they all swore on the great altar
that, if the king refused to grant these liberties and laws,
they themselves would withdraw from their allegiance to
him, and make war on him, till he should, by a charter
under his own seal, confirm to them every thing they re
quired ; and finally it was unanimously agreed that, after
Christmas, they should all go together to the king and
demand the confirmation of the aforesaid liberties to them,
and that they should in the meantime provide themselves with
horses and arms, so that if the king should endeavour to

304 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
depart from his oath, they might by taking his castles,
compel him to satisfy their demands ; and having arranged
this, each man returned home.
Of William, abbat of the church of St. Alban's.
In this year, John, abbat of the church of St. Alban's, was
succeeded by WiUiam, a monk of the same church, who was
solemnly elected on the day of St. Edmund the king and
martyr, which was the fifth day of the week, and, on the
day of St. Andrew the apostle, which was the first Sunday
of our Lord's advent, he was pontifically and solemnly con
secrated before the great altar in St. Alban's church by
Eustace bishop of Ely ; and the promotion of this man is
said to have been shown in a nocturnal vision to some of
the brothers of that monastery, even before the election was
made. The first abbat of the church of St. Alban, the Eng
lish protomartyr, was Willegod, who was appointed abbat,
and ordered to observe a regular course of Ufe on the first of
August in the year of our Lord seven hundred and ninety-
four, by Offa king of the Mercians, after the martyr's body
had been found, and the monks introduced, though the
church was not then built; to WiUegod succeeded Edric,
Wolsius, Wolnoth, Edfred, Wolsin, Alfric, Eldred, Edmar,
Leofric, who was made archbishop of Canterbury ; to him
succeeded Alfric, brother of the said Leofric ; to Alfric suc
ceeded Leofstan, Frederic, i'aul, Eichard, Geoffrey, Ealph,
Eobert, Simon, Warin, John, and to John succeeded WiUiam
the twenty-second abbat, who was appointed to the office in
the sixteenth year of king John's reign.
Of the demand made by the barons of England for their rights.
a.d. 1215; which was the seventeenth year of the reign
of king John ; he held his court at Winchester at Christmas
for one day, after which he hurried to London, and took up
his abode at the New Temple ; and at that place the above-
mentioned nobles came to him in gay military array, and
demanded the confirmation of the Uberties and laws of
king Edward, with other liberties granted to them and to
the kingdom and church of England, as were contained in
the charter, and above-mentioned laws of Henry the First ;
they also asserted that, at the time of his absolution at Win-

A.D. 1215.] DEATH OF BISHOP EUSTACE. 305
Chester, he had promised to restore those laws and ancient
Uberties, and was bound by his own oath to observe them.
The king, hearing the bold tone of the barons in making this
demand, much feared an attack from them, as he saw that
they were prepared for battle; he however made answer
that their demands were a matter of importance and diffi
culty, and he therefore asked a truce till the end of Easter,
that he might, after due deliberation, be able to satisfy them
as well as the dignity of his crown. After much discussion
on both sides, the king at length, although unwillingly, pro
cured the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of Ely, and
William Marshal, as his sureties, that on the day pre-agreed
on he would, in all reason, satisfy them all, on which the
nobles returned to their, homes. The king however, wishing
to take precautions against the future, caused all the nobles
throughout England to swear fealty to him alone against all
men, and to renew their homage to him ; and, the better to
take care of himself, he, on the day of St. Mary's purification,
assumed the cross of our Lord, being induced to this more
by fear than devotion. In the same year Eustace bishop of
Ely, a man well skiUed in divine as well as human know
ledge, died at Beading.
Of the principal persons who compelled the king to grant the laws and
liberties.
In Easter week of this same year, the above-mentioned
nobles assembled at Stamford, with horses and arms ; for
they had now induced almost all the nobility of the whole
kingdom to join them, and constituted a very large army ; for
in their army there were computed to be two thousand
knights, besides horse soldiers, attendants, and foot soldiers,
who were variously equipped. The chief promoters of this
pestilence were Eobert Fitz-Walter, Eustace de Vescy,
Eichard de Percy, Eobert de Eoos, Peter de Bruis, Nicho
las de Stuteville, Saer earl of Winchester, E. earl of
Clare, H. earl Clare, earl Eoger Bigod, WiUiam de
Munbray, Eoger de Creissi, Banulph Fitz-Bobert, Eobert
de Vere, Fulk Fitz-Warine, William MaUet, William de
Montacute, William de Beauchamp, S. de Kime, William
Marshall junior, William Maudut, Boger de Mont-Be-
gon, John Fitz-Bobert, John Fitz-Alan, G. de Laval,
0. Fitz-Alan, W. de Hobregge, O. des Vaux, G. de Gant,
vol. II. x

306 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
Maurice de Gant, E. de Brackele, E. de Muntfichet, W. de
Lanvalei, G. de Mandeville earl of Essex, William his
brother, William de Huntingefeld, Eobert de Greslei, G.
constable of Meautun, Alexander de Puinter, Peter Fitz-
John, Alexander de Sutune, Osbert de Bobi, John constable
of Chester, Thomas de Mulutune, and many others ; all of
these being united by oath, were supported by the concur
rence of Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, who was at their
head. The king at this time was awaiting the arrival of his
nobles at Oxford. On the Monday next after the octaves of
Easter, the said barons assembled in the town of Brack-
ley ; and when the king learned this, he sent the archbishop
of Canterbury, and WUUam Marshal earl of Pembroke, with
some other prudent men, to them to iaquire what the laws and
liberties were which they demanded. The barons then de
livered to the messengers a paper, containing in great mea
sure the laws and ancient customs of the kingdom, and
declared that, unless the king immediately granted them and
confirmed them under his own seal, they would, by taking
possession of his fortresses, force him to give them sufficient
satisfaction as to their before-named demands. The arch
bishop with his fellow messengers then carried the paper to
the king, and read to him the heads of the paper one by
one throughout. The king when he heard the purport' of
these heads, derisively said, with the greatest indignation,
" Why, amongst these unjust demands, did not the barons
ask for my kingdom also ? Their demands are vain and
visionary, and are unsupported by any plea of reason what
ever." And at length he angrily declared with an oath, that
he would never grant them such liberties as would render
him their slave. The principal of these laws and liberties,
which the nobles required to be confirmed to them, are
partly described above in the charter of king Henry, and
partly are extracted from the old laws of king Edward, as
the foUowing history wiU show in due time.
The castle of Northampton besieged by the barons.
As the archbishop and Wilham Marshall could not by any
persuasions induce the king to agree to their demands, they
returned by the king's order to the barons, and duly reported
all they had heard from the king to them ; and when the

A.D. 1215.] LONDON YIELDED TO THE BARONS. 307
nobles heard what John said, they appointed Eobert Fitz-
Walter commander of their soldiers, giving him the title
of " Marshal of the army of God and the holy church," ,
and then, one and aU flying to arms, they directed their
forces towards Northampton. On their arrival there they
at once laid siege to the castle, but after having stayed there
for fifteen days, and having gained httle or no advantage,
they determined to move their camp ; for having come with
out petrarise and other engines of war, they, without accom
plishing their purpose, proceeded in confusion to the castle
of Bedford. At that siege the standard-bearer of Eobert
Fitz- Walter, amongst others slain, was pierced through the
head with an arrow from a cross-bow and died, to the grief
of many. How the city of London was given up to the barons.
When the army of the barons arrived at Bedford, they
were received with aU respect by William de Beauchamp.
There also came to them there messengers from the city of
London, secretly telling them, if they wished to get into that
city, to come there immediately. The barons, inspirited
by the arrival of this agreeable message, immediately moved
their camp and arrived at Ware; after this they marched
thev whole night, and arrived early in the morning at the city
of London, and, finding the gates open, they, on the 24th of
May, which was the Sunday next before our Lord's ascen
sion, entered' the city without any tumult whilst the inhabit
ants were performing divine service; for the rich citizens
were favourable to the barons, and the poor ones were afraid
to murmur against them. The barons having thus got into the -
city, placed their own guards in charge of each of the gates,
and then arranged all matters in the city at will. They then
took security from the citizens, and sent letters throughout
England to those earls, barons, and knights, who appeared
to be still faithful to the king, though they only pretended to
be so, and advised them with threats, as they regarded the
safety of all their property and possessions, to abandon a
king who was perjured and who warred against his barons,
and together with them to stand firm and fight against the
king for their rights and for peace ; and that, if they refused
to do this, they, the barons, would make war against them
x 2

308 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
all, as against open enemies, and would destroy their
castles, burn their houses and other buildings, and destroy
their warrens, parks, and orchards. The names of some of
those who had not as yet sworn to strive for these Uberties
were, William Marshal earl of Pembroke, Ealph earl of
Chester, William earl of Salisbury, WiUiam earl Warrenne,
William earl of Albemarle, H. earl of Cornwall, W. d'Albi-
ney, Eobert de Vipont, Peter Fitz-Hubert, Brian de l'lsle,
G. de Lucy, G. de Furnival, Thomas Basset, Henry de
Braibroc, John de Bassingeburne, WUUam de Cantelu,
Henry de CornhuUe, John Fitz-Hugh, Hugh de NeviUe,
Philip de Albeney, John Marshal, and WiUiam Briuerre ;
the greatest part of these, on receiving the message of the
barons, set out to London and joined them, abandoning the
king entirely. The pleas of the exchequer and of the
sheriff's courts ceased throughout England, because there
was no one to make a valuation for the king or to obey him
in any thing.* The conference between the king and the barons.
King John, when he saw that he was deserted by almost
all, so that out of his regal superabundance of foUowers he
scarcely retained seven knights, was much alarmed lest the
barons would attack his castles and reduce them withput
difficulty, as they would find no obstacle to their so doing ;
and he deceitfully pretended to make peace for a time with
the aforesaid barons, and sent WiUiam Marshal earl of Pem
broke, with other trustworthy messengers, to them, and told
them that, for the sake of peace, and for the exaltation and
honour of the kingdom, he would wiUingly grant, them the
laws and hberties they required ; he also sent word to the
• " About the same time the king concealed his secret hatred of the
barons under a calm countenance, and planning revenge, caused the seals of
all the bishops to be counterfeited, as it is commonly called, and wrote
word in their names to all countries, that the English were aU apostates,
and to be detested by the whole world. And whoever would attack these
apostates, he would bestow on him, with the consent of them, and by
authority of the pope, all their lands and possessions. But when the
people of foreign countries heard these promises, they put no faith in them,
because they knew that the English were of all Christians the most stead
fast ; and when they discovered the truth they detested such crimes and
falsehoods, and thus the king fell into the net which he had himself
spread." — M. Paris.

A.D. 1215.] MAGNA CHARTA. 309
barons by these same messengers, to appoint a fitting day
and place to meet and carry all these matters into effect.
The king's messengers then came in all haste to London, and
without deceit reported to the barons aU that had been de-
ceitfuUy imposed on them ; they in their great joy appointed
the fifteenth of June for the king to meet them, at a field
lying between Staines and Windsor. Accordingly, at the
time and place pre-agreed on, the king and nobles came to
the appointed conference, and when each party had stationed
themselves apart from the other, they began a long discussion
about terms of peace and the aforesaid Uberties. There were
present on behalf of the king, the archbishops, Stephen of
Canterbury, and H. of Dublin ; the bishops W. of London,
P. of Winchester, H. of Lincoln, J. of Bath, Walter of
Worcester, W. of Coventry, and Benedict of Bochester;
master Pandulph famihar of our lord the pope, and brother
Aim eric the master of the knights-templars in England ;
the nobles, WiUiam Marshal earl of Pembroke, the earl of
Salisbury, earl Warrenne, the earl of Arundel, Alan de Gal-
wey, W. Fitz-Gerald, Peter Fitz-Herbert, Alan Basset,
Matthew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Basset, Hugh de Neville,
Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poictou, Bobert de Eopeley,
John Marshal, and Philip d'Aubeny. Those who were on
behalf of the barons it is not necessary to enumerate, since
the whole nobility of England were now assembled together
in numbers not to' be computed. At length, after various
points on both sides had been discussed, king John, seeing
that he was inferior in strength to the barons, without raising
any difficulty, granted the underwritten laws and liberties,
and confirmed them by his charter as foUows : —
Charter of king John as to the grant of common rights to the barons.
" John, by the grace of God, king of England, fyc. Be it
known, that we, looking to God and for the safety of our
soul, and those of our ancestors and our heirs, have, for the
honour of God, the exaltation of the holy church, and the
amendment of our kingdom,* conceded to God, and by this
* Paris inserts here : — " By the advice of our venerable fathers, Stephen
archbishop of Canterbury primate of all England, and a cardinal of the
holy Roman church, Henry archbishop of Dublin, and the bishops
Wilham of London, Peter of Winchester Jocelyn of Bath and GlastonT

310 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1215.
our present charter have confirmed, on behalf of us and our
heirs for ever, that Ihe church of England be a free church,
and keep its laws entire, and its hberties uninfringed, and
we wish it to be observed so, inasmuch as it appears that the
liberty of elections, which is considered to be of the greatest
importance and most necessary to the Enghsh church, was
granted by us, of our own free wiU, and confirmed by our
charter, before any open disagreement had arisen between us
and our barons, and we obtained a confirmation of it from
our lord pope Innocent the third, and we wiU keep it our
selves and wish it to be observed by our heirs in good faith
for ever. Also to all our free subjects of the kingdom of
England, we, for ourselves and our heirs for ever, have
granted all the underwritten Uberties, to be had and to be
held by them and their heirs from us and our heirs. If any
one of our earls, or barons, or any others holding possession
from us in chief by knight's service, shall die, and, after his
decease, his heir shall be of age. and shall owe reUef, he
shall take his inheritance by the old reUef ; that is to say, the
heir or heirs of an earl shall pay a hundred pounds for the
entire barony of the earl, the heir or heirs of a baron a
hundred marks for the whole of his barony, and the heir or
heirs of a knight a hundred shillings at most for the whole
of his knight's fee, and whoever owes less let him pay less,
according to the old custom of fees. But if the heir of any
one of these shall be under age, his lord shaU not have
custody of him or his land, before he has received his homage,
and after that such heir shaU be in wardship, and attain the
age of twenty-one years, he shall take up his inheritance
without relief or fine; so that if the heir himself, whilst
under age, be made a knight, nevertheless his land shah
remain in the custody of his lord tiU the before-named
period. The guardian of the property of an heir under age,
bury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry, and
Benedict of Rochester, of master Pandulph, sub-deacon and familiar of
our lord the pope, the master of the knights-templars in England, and of
the nobles William Marshall earl of Pembroke, W. earl of Salisbury,
Wilham earl Warrenne, WiUiam earl of Arundel, Alan de Lewey constable
of Scotland, Warin Fitz-Gerard, Peter Fitz-Herbert, Hubert de Bourg
seneschal of Poictou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas
Basset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeney, Robert de Ropesle, John Marshall,
John Fitz-Hugh, and others of our faithful subjects amongst the first."

A.D. 1215.] MAGNA CHARTA. 311
shall take from the land of the said heir only reasonable out
goings, reasonable customs, and reasonable service, and these
without destruction of, or damage to, person or property.
And if we entrust the guardianship of such land to any one,
either a sheriff or any other, who ought to answer to us for
the outgoings of that land, and he in his guardianship causes
destruction or waste to it, we will take compensation from
him, and the land shall be entrusted to two Uege and prudent
men of that fee, who shaU in the same way answer to us as
above-mentioned. But the guardian, as long as he holds
charge of the land, shall, from the produce thereof, support
all houses, parks, warrens, lakes, mills, and other appurte
nances of that land ; and shall, when the heir comes of age,
restore the land to him furnished with ploughs and all other
things, at least as well as he received it. All these rules
shall be observed in the guardianships of archbishoprics,
bishoprics, abbacies, priories, churches and vacant dignities,
which belong to us, except that the wardships of these ought
not to be sold. Heirs may marry without disparagement.
A widow, after the death of her husband, may immediately,
and without any difficulty, take possession of her marriage
portion, and her inheritance, and shall not give anything for
her dowry, marriage portion, or the inheritance which she
and her husband possessed on the day of that husband's
decease ; and she may remain in the principal house of her
husband for forty days after the death of her said husband,
during which time her dowry shall be allotted to her, unless
it has been previously allotted to her, or unless that house be
a castle ; and if she goes away from a castle, a fitting house
shall be provided for her, in which she can stay in a becom
ing manner till her dowry is allotted to her, according to
what has been stated above, and she shaU have a reasonable
allowance for herself out of the common property ; and there
shall be allotted to her for her dowry a third portion of all
her husband's land, which was his in his life-time, unless she
received less as a dowry at the door of the church. No
widow shall be bound to marry when she wishes to live with
out a husband ; but if she holds property of us she shaU give
security that she will not marry without our consent. And
we and our bailiffs will not seize any land or property for
any debt as long as the chattels of the debtor, then in his

312 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
possession, are sufficient to pay the debt and the debtor him
self is willing to satisfy our demand out of them. And the
debtor's sureties shall not be bound as long as the debtor
personally is able to pay the debt, and if the debtor himself
fails to pay the debt, not possessing means of payment, or
refusing to pay although he is able, his sureties shaU be
answerable for the debt ; and if they wish it they shall have .
the lands and income of the debtor, until they are satisfied
for the debt, which they have pre-paid for him, unless the
debtor himself shows that he was quit of it to the said
sureties. The city of London* shall have aU its old Uberties
and its free customs. Moreover we will and grant that all
other cities, towns, and viUages, and barons of the cinque
ports, and all our ports, shaU have aU their hberties and
customs free. No one shah be bound to do greater service
* " Whoever accepts a loan from a Jew, be it more or less, and dies
before paying that debt, the debt shall not be charged with interest as long
as his lieir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold ; and if that debt
should fall into our hands we will only seize the chattels mentioned in the
charter. And if any one dies, owing a debt to Jews, his wife shall receive
her dowry, and shall not pay anything for that debt. And if any children
of the deceased survive, who are under age, they shall be provided with
necessaries according to the tenement which the deceased held, and with
what remains the debt shall be paid, saving, however, the service due to
their lords. And the same shall be the case when debts are contracted
with others besides Jews. We will not levy any scutage or tax in our
kingdom without the advice of the kingdom in general, unless it be to
ransom our body, to make a knight of our eldest son, and to marry our
eldest daughter once, and for this only a reasonable tax shall be levied.
And the same shall be observed with regard to the taxes of the city of
London ; and the city of London shall enjoy all its old liberties and free
customs both by land and water. And moreover we will and grant leave
for all other cities, boroughs, and towns, and the barons of the cinque
ports, to enjoy all their liberties and free customs. And in order to obtain
the general opinion of the kingdom as to levying taxes in any cases except
those three above-mentioned, and as to levying scutages, we will summon,
by our letters under our seal, the archbishops, bishops, abbats, earls, and
chief barons of the kingdom. And we will moreover by means of our sheriffs
and bailiffs, summon all others in general, who hold of us in chief, to meet at a
fixed place, and at a fixed time, namely, at the term of forty days at least.
In all our letters of summons we will set forth the cause of that summons ;
and after having thus summoned them the business shall be proceeded with
on the appointed day according to the plans of those who may be present,
although all who were summoned may not have come. Henceforth we do
not permit any one to levy a tax from his freemen, unless to ransom his
body, or to make his eldest son a knight, or to marry his eldest daughter
once, and only a reasonable tax shall be levied for this purpose." — M. Paris.

A.D. 1215.] MAGNA CHARTA. 313
for a knight's fee, or for any other free tenement than he
ought to do for it. The common pleas shaU not accompany
our court, but shall be held in some fixed place. Eecogni-
zances for new disseising, and the death of an ancestor, shall
only be taken in their own counties and in this manner. We,
or if we are out of the kingdom, our chief justiciary, will
send our justiciaries'' through each county once a year, who
will, with the knights of the counties hold the before-men
tioned assize in each county; and those things, which at
their arrival in the counties could not be determined by the
aforesaid messengers at the aforesaid assizes, shaU be deter
mined elsewhere by the same messengers on their journey; and
those things which could not, on account of some difficulty in
the points in question, be determined by the said messengers,
shall be referred to our justiciaries of the bench and there
determined. The assizes concerning the last presentation to
the churches shall always be held before the justiciaries of
the bench, and there determined. A freeman shall be fined
for a smaU offence only according to the degree of his fault,
and for a great offence according to the greatness of his
offence, saving his tenements ; and, in the same way, a
merchant, saving his merchandize; and a villain of any
other person except ourselves shaU be amerced in the same
manner, saving his wannage,* if he throws himself on our
mercy. And none of the aforesaid allowances shall be made,
unless on the oath of tried and lawful men of the neighbour
hood in the county. Earls and barons shall only be fined by
their peers, and then only according to the degree of their
offence. No ecclesiastic shall be fined according to the
degree of his ecclesiastical benefice, but according to his lay
possessions, and the degree of his offence. No town or
person shall be bound to make bridges over rivers, unless
bound in duty to do so by old custom and by right. No
river shall be embanked anew, unless those which were
embanked at the time of king Henry our grandfather. No
sheriff, constable, or coroner, or other bailiffs of ours shall
hold pleas of our crown.j If any one holding lay fees from
* Farming-stock.
+ Paris adds : — " All countries, hundreds, wapentakes, and tithings, shall
be set at their ancient farmage without any increase, except the manors of
our domain."

314 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1215.
us dies, and our sheriff or bailiff shows our letters patent,
with a warning from us of the debt which the deceased owed
us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or baiUff to attach and
reduce to writing the chattels of the deceased which, are
found in his lay fee, to the value of that debt, according to
the decision of legal men, so that nothing may be moved
from thence tiU our debt is ascertained and paid, and then
the residue shall be left to the deceased's executor to execute
his will ; and if he owes us nothing, aU the chattels shaU go out
to the deceased, except reasonable portions for his wife and
his sons.* No constable or bailiff of his shaU take the corn or
chattels of any one who does not belong to the town where
the castle is situated, unless he immediately pays him money,
or has regard for the same at the wiU of the seUer ; but if he
belongs to that town, he shaU pay the price within forty
days. No constable shaU compel any knight to pay him for
taking care of his castle, if he wishes to do it personally, or by
some other approved person, if he cannot do it by reasonable
cause; and if we shaU send him to the army, he shaU be
quit of his wardship as long as he is detained by us in the
army, as regards the fee for which he served in our army.
No bailiff, sheriff, or other agent of ours, shaU take horses or
carts belonging to any one for carriage of goods, unless he
pays the hvery determined on of old ; that is to say, for a
cart with two horses ten pence a day, and for one with three
horses fourteen pence a day. No cart belonging to any
ecclesiastical person, or knight, or any lady, shah be taken
by the aforesaid bailiffs ; nor will we, or our bailiffs, or any
others take wood belonging to another to make our castles or
to do our work, unless by consent of the party to whom the
wood belongs. We wiU retain the lands of those convicted
of felony only for one year and one day, and then they shall
be given up to the lords of the fees. AU the weirs shall be
hereafter done away with entirely in the Thames and the
Medway, and throughout all Europe except at the sea-coast.
The brief called 'praecipe," shall hereafter not issue to any
one for any tenure whereby a free man may lose his court.
* Paris gives in addition : — " If any free man dies intestate, his goods
shall be distributed, according to the decision of the church, by his relatives,
parents, or friends, saving to each of them the debts which the deceased
owed him."

A.D. 1215.] MAGNA CHARTA. 315
There shaU be one measure for wine and beer throughout the
whole of our kingdom, and one measure for corn, namely,
the London quarter ; and one width for dyed cloths, russets,
and hauberjets, namely, two ells inside the binding; and
with weights it shall be as with measures. Nothing shall
hereafter be given for a writ of inquisition by any one requir
ing an inquisition as to life or limb, but it shall be granted
free without denial. If any one holds from us by fee farm,
or soccage, or burgage, and holds land from another person by
knight service, we will not have the wardship of his heir or
his land, which is of another's fee, on the pretext of that fee-
farm, soccage, or burgage. Nor wiU we hold the wardship
of that fee-farm, soccage, or burgage, unless the fee farm itself
owes knight service. We ought not to have the wardship of
the heir or land which he holds from another by knight's
service, on the pretext of any petty sergeantry, which he
holds from us by the service of offering a knife, arrow, or
any other thing of the kind. No bailiff shall henceforth put
any one to the law or to his oath, on his simple assertion,
unless credible witnesses be brought to that effect. No free
person shall be taken or imprisoned, or shall be dispossessed
of any free tenement of his, or his hberties or free customs,
nor shall he be outlawed, or be punished in any other way,
nor will we come upon him, nor send him to prison, unless
by legal decision of his equals, or by the law of the land.
We will not seU the right and justice to any one, nor will we
refuse it or put it off. AU traders, unless openly forbidden,
shall have free egress from and ingress to England, both to
stay and to go, both by land and water, to buy or seU without
any extortion, according to old and just customs ; unless in
time of war, and they belong to the country at war with us ;
and if such be found in our territory at the beginning of the
war, they shall be seized without damage to their persons or
property, until we, or our chief justiciary, learn how the
merchants of our country are treated in the country at war
with us and, if our merchants are safe with them, theirs shall
be safe with us.* If any one holds from any escheat, as
* Paris adds : — " It shall be henceforth lawful for every one to leave, and
return to, our kingdom safely and securely by land and water, saving our
faith, unless in time of war, for a short time for the advantage of the king
dom ; except in the case of prisoners and outlaws, according to the law of

316 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
from the honour of WaUingford, Boulogne, Lancaster, Not
tingham, or from other escheats which are in our hands, and
are baronies, and dies, his heir shall not give any other
relief, nor do any other service for us than he would do for a
baron, if that barony was in the hands of a baron ; and we
will hold it in the same way as the baron held it ; nor wiU
we on the pretext of such barony or escheat, hold any
escheat* or wardship of any of our subjects unless he who
held the barony or escheat, held elsewhere from us in chief.
No freeman henceforth shall give or seU so much of his land
to any one, that he is disabled from discharging, out of the
residue, the service which is due to his lord for that fee. AU
the patrons of abbacies, who have from the king of England
charters of advowson, or who hold through ancient tenure or
possession, shall have charge of those abbacies, when they
become vacant, as they ought to have, and as has been above
declared. No man shaU be taken or imprisoned, on the
appeal of a woman, for the death of any one except that
woman's own husband. No county shaU henceforth be held
unless from month to month ; and where the term has been
used to be longer, it shall be longer; and no sheriff or
bailiff of it shaU make his term in the hundred more than
twice a year, and then only at the proper and accustomed
times, that is to say, once after Easter and again after
Michaelmas. And in hke manner, the view of frank pledge
shall take place at the said term of Michaelmas without fail,
so that each person may have his own Uberties, such as he
had, and has been accustomed to have, at and since the time
of king Henry our grandfather, or which he has gained
since ; and the view of frank pledge shah be held, so that
our peace may be kept, and that the tithing may be unharmed
as it used to be ; and that the sheriff shaU not seek pretexts,
and that he shaU be content with receiving what the sheriff
has been accustomed to receive for making his view in the
time of our grandfather king Henry. No one shaU hence-
the kingdom, and the people warring against us, and their merchants con
cerning whom the rules above-mentioned shall be observed."
* Paris adds : — " People who dwell out of the forest, shall not hence
forth appear before our justiciaries of the forest unless they be impleaded,
or are pledges of any person or persons who are attached on account of the
forest. And all the woods, which were afforested by our brother king
Richard, shall be immediately deforested, except those of our domain."

A.D. 1215.] MAGNA CHARTA. 317
forth be aUowed to give his land to a religious house, so as
to resume possession of it to be held of that sam house, nor
shall any religious house be allowed so to receive land as to
give it back in tenure to him from whom they received
possession of it ; but if any one henceforth thus gives his
land to a reUgious house and is convicted of so doing, his gift
shaU be altogether annulled, and the land shaU fall int the
possession of the lord of that fee. Scutage shaU henceforth
be taken as it used to be taken in the time of our grandfather
king Henry. And all these aforesaid customs and liberties,
which we, as far as pertains to us, have granted to be held
in our kingdom, towards aU our subjects in our kingdom,
shall be observed both by our clergy and laity, as much as
pertains to them, towards their dependants, saving to the
archbishops, bishops, abbats, priors, templars, hospitallers,
earls, barons, knights and all others, ecclesiastics as well as
seculars, the Uberties and free customs which they formerly
had. Witness these, &c." The hberties and free customs of
the forest, which could not be contained in the same sheet as
the above-written liberties because it was not large enough,
are contained in this underwritten charter as follows : —
The liberties of the forest.
"John, by the grace of God, king of England, fyc. Be it
known that we, looking to God, and for the safety of our
soul, as weU as those of our ancestors and successors, have
for the exaltation of the holy church, and for the improvement
of our kingdom, of our own free will, on behalf of ourselves
and our heirs, granted these under-mentioned liberties to be
had and held for ever in our kingdom of England. In the
first place aU the forests, which king Henry our grandfather
made, shaU be inspected by approved and legal men ; and if
any one has made forest of any other wood than that belong
ing to his own domain to the injury of the owner of the same,
it shaU be immediately disforested; and, if he has forested
his own wood, it shaU remain a forest, saving the common of
herbage, and other things in the same forest, to those who
used to hold it. All men living without the bounds of a
forest shaU hereafter not come before our justiciaries of the
forest by ordinary summons, unless they be impleaded or be
securities for some person or persons who are attached on

318 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [ A.D. 1215.
account of the forest. All woods, which were forested by
our brother king Bichard, shaU be immediately disforested,
unless they are woods of our demesne. Archbishops, bishops,
abbats, priors, earls, barons, knights, and free tenants, who
have wood in the forest, shall hold possession of their wood
as they did at the time of the coronation of our aforesaid
grandfather king Henry, so that they shall be for ever free
from all annoyances, waste, and clearages made in those
woods from that time tiU the commencement of the second
year of our coronation ; and whoever henceforth commit
waste, nuisance, or make clearance, in those woods without
our permission, shall be answerable for such waste, annoy
ance, or clearance. Our inspectors shaU go through the
forests to take account, as was the custom at the time of the
coronation of our said grandfather king Henry, and no other
wise. Inquisitions or views concerning the footing of dogs
in a forest shaU be taken henceforth when survey ought to
be taken, that is to say, every third year ; and then it shah
be taken according to the view and testimony of legal men,
and no otherwise ; and if any person's dog is then found not
footed, he shall pay three shUlings for alms. Henceforth no
oxen shall be taken for footing ; but such footing shall com
monly be by assize, that three claws shaU be taken from his
hind foot without the baU. Dogs henceforth shall not be
footed, unless at the place where they used to be footed at
the time of the coronation of our said grandfather king
Henry. No forester or bedel shaU henceforth make a
taUage, or shaU coUect sheaves of oats or other kinds of corn,
or sheep or pigs, or make any coUection, and when the
inspection is made, so many foresters shall be appointed to
guard the forests as, in the view and on the oath of twelve
inspectors, shaU seem sufficient in reason for the purpose.
No swainmote shall be hereafter held in our kingdom except
three times a year, namely, fifteen days before Michaelmas,
when our officers go round to levy tax for maintaining the
fences of our woods ; and at Martinmas, when the same
officers coUect our pannage;* and at those two swainmotes
the foresters, verdurers, and collectors, f shall assemble, and
no one else, by writ of distringas. And the third swainmote
* Money paid for hedge-waste which cattle fed on.
¦(• Of taxes for repairing the bounds of a piece of ground.

A.D. 1215.] MAGNA CHARTA. 319
shall be held fifteen days before St. John the Baptist's day,
for the foddering of our cattle, and at that swainmote the
foresters, verdurers, and coUectors shall assemble, and no
others, by writ of distringas. And moreover every forty days
throughout the year the verdurers and foresters shaU assemble
to inspect the attachments of the forest, as weU with regard to
the turf as the venison on the presentation of those foresters,
and they shall be attached in their presence. But these said
swainmotes shaU only be held in the counties where they
used to be held. Every free man shall collect the tax to
repair the bounds of his own wood in the forest at will, and
shall receive his own pannage. We also grant permission to
every free man to bring his pigs through the wood of our
domain, free and without hindrance, and to enclose them in
his own woods or elsewhere at his pleasure, and if any free
man's pigs wander in our forest for one night, it shall not be
made a pretext for him to be deprived of any of his property.
No one shaU be deprived of Ufe or Umb for bunting in our
forest ; but if any one shall be taken and convicted of steal
ing venison, he shaU pay a heavy ransom, if he has the means,
to do so, and if he has not the means he shall be imprisoned
for a year and a day. And if, at the expiration of a year
and a day, he can find sureties he shall be released from
prison ; but if not, he shall abjure our kingdom of England.
If any archbishop, bishop, earl, or baron, in coming to us by
our orders, passes through our forest, he may take one or two
beasts in sight of the forester, if the latter be present, and if
not, let him sound a horn that he may not appear to be taking
them by stealth ; he may also act in the same way on his
return. Every free man may henceforth, without hindrance,
in his own wood or on the land which he holds in the forest,
build a mill, make a warren, lake, marl-pit, or ditch, or may
lay out arable ground beyond what is enclosed in arable land,
so that it may not be to the injury of any neighbour of his.
Every free man may in his own woods have aviaries of
sparrow-hawks, falcons, eagles, and herons, and in the same
way may have the honey found in his own woods. No
forester, who is not a forester paying fee-farm to us for his
bailiwick, shaU henceforth take any road-tax in his bailiwick ;
but a forester who pays fee-farm to us for his baiUwick shaU
take road-tax; namely, for every cart two-pence during a

320 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [.A.D. 1215.
half-year, and two-pence for the other half-year ; and for a
baggage horse one farthing for half a year, and a farthing for
the other half-year ; and only from those who come from out
of his bailiwick to trade by his leave in his bailiwick, to buy
wood, timber, bark, or coal, and to take them elsewhere
to sell, wherever they please ; and from no other cart or
beast of burden shall any road-tax be taken, and the said
road-tax shall only be taken in the places where it used to
be taken formerly. But those who carry on their shoulders
their wood, bark, or coal for sale, shaU not, although they
live by this means, pay any road-tax. No road-tax for the
woods of other people shall be paid to our foresters, but only
from the woods of our domain. AU who have been outlawed
concerning forest matters, from the time of our grandfather
king Henry till our coronation, may return peaceably without
hindrance, and shall find good securities that they will not
again make forfeiture to us with respect to our forest. No
chasteUain or other person shall hold pleas of the forest,
either with regard to the turf or the venison, but any fee-
forester may attach pleas of the forest, as weU concerning the
turf as the venison, and shaU present them to the verdurers
of the counties ; and, when they are enroUed and under the
seals of the verdurers, they shall be presented to the chief
forester, when he comes to that part of the country to hold
pleas of the forest, and shah be determined in his presence.
And it is our will that all the aforesaid customs and Uberties
which we have granted to be had and observed in the king
dom towards our men, on our part, shall be observed by aU the
people of the kingdom, clergy as weU as laity, on their part
towards their men."
Of the twenty-fine barons, who were appointed by the king to revise the
aforesaid laws.
" Since we, out of love to God, and for the amendment of
our kingdom, and the better to set at rest the disagree
ment which has arisen between us and our barons, have
granted aU these things, wishing to preserve them entire and
on a firm footing, we give and grant the underwritten secu
rity to them, namely : — That the barons shall choose twenty-
five barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they please, who shall
with all their power observe, keep, and cause to be observed,

A.D. 1215.] MAGNA CHARTA. 321
peace and the Uberties which we have granted, and by this
our present charter have confirmed to them, so that, if we
personaUy or by our justiciary, or bailiff, wrong any one in
any way, or break through any one of the articles of this
peace or security, and the injury shall be proved to four out
of the twenty-five barons, those four barons shall come to us,
or, if we are out of the kingdom, to our justiciary, and, ex
plaining what is wrong to us, shall require us to give satis
faction without delay. And if we, or, if we are out of the
kingdom, our justiciary, do not give satisfaction within forty
days, reckoning from the time when it was pointed out to us,
the said four barons shaU refer the matter to the rest of the
twenty-five ; and those barons with the whole community of
the country shall annoy and harass us, by all the means in
their power, such as taking our castles, lands, ^and posses
sions, and any other means, tiU we give them satisfaction
according to their decision, saving always our person, and the
persons of our queen, and our children ; and when we have
given satisfaction, they shall obey us as they did before.
And let every one in the kingdom who chooses to do so,
swear that, to obtain all the aforesaid terms, he will obey the
commands of the aforesaid twenty-five barons, and will
harass us in conjunction with them, to the utmost of his
power ; and we give open and free permission to swear this
to any one who chooses to do so, and we will never forbid
any one to swear this. But all those in our kingdom who
choose to swear to unite with the barons in annoying and
harassing us, we will cause to swear to obey our commands
as above-mentioned. But in aU cases which are entrusted
to the management of those twenty-five barons, if by chance
they disagree amongst themselves on any point, or any of
them when summoned refuse or are unable to be present,
whatever the majority of them shall determine and order
shaU be ratified and confirmed, as though the twenty-sfive had
aU agreed to it. And the twenty-five barons shall swear
that they will faithfully observe the aforesaid terms, and to
the best of their ability cause them to be observed ; and we
will do nothing personally or by another, by which any of
the said grants and liberties shall be revoked or deteriorated;
and if any such grant shall have been made, it shaU be null
and void, and we wiU never make use of it ourselves or by
vol. H. y

322 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
any other person. And all the bad disposition, indignation,
and rancour which has arisen between us and our subjects,
clergy as weU laity, from the commencement of our dis
agreement, we entirely dismiss and pardon in respect of all.
And the better to harass us, the four casteUans of North
ampton, Kenilworth, Nottingham, and Scarborough, shall
swear to the twenty-five barons that they will do with the
said castles whatever they or the majority of them may
enjoin and command them to do ; and there shall always be
appointed to those castles, casteUans who are faithful and
will not break their oath. And we will send away from
our kingdom aU foreigners, all the relatives of Gerard
d'Athie, namely, Engelard, Andrew, Peter, and Guy de
Chanceles, Guy de Ciguigny, the wife of the aforesaid
Gerard with all their children, Geoffrey de Martenn and his
brothers, Phihp Mark and his brothers, and G. his nephew,
Fltco, and all the Flemings and robbers who do injury in our
kingdom. Moreover all offences which have been committed
on account of this disagreement from the last Easter, which
was in the sixteenth year of our reign, tiU this renewal of
peace, are by us freely forgiven to all, clergy and laity, and
as far as concerns us are fuUy pardoned. And moreover we
have caused testimonials and letters patent to be granted
them from our lords, Stephen archbishop of Canterbury,
Henry bishop of Durham, and Pandulph subdeacon and
familiar of our lord the pope, and also from the aforesaid
bishops, as a security for this and for the aforesaid grants.
Wherefore we will and strictly order, that the EngUsh
church be free, and that aU subjects of our kingdom shaU
have and hold aU the aforesaid hberties, laws, and cus
toms, weU and peaceably, freely and quietly, fuUy and
entirely, to themselves and their heirs from us and our
heirs, in aU matters and places for ever, as aforesaid. An
oath also has been made in presence of the above-named
witnesses, as well on behalf of us as of the barons, that we
wiU observe all the aforesaid articles in good faith, and
without fraudulent reservation. Given under our hand in
the field caUed Bunnymede, between Staines and Wind
sor, on the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of
our reign.*
* M. PariB here inserts : — " In the same year too, John, in order ths

A.D. 1215.] ENFORCEMENT OF THE CHARTER.' 323
How the king of England by letters patent ordered the aforesaid liberties
to be observed.
After this king John sent his letters patent throughout all
the Enghsh territories, strictly ordering all the sheriffs of the
whole kingdom to make the inhabitants in their jurisdictions
of every rank, swear to observe the above-written laws and
Uberties, and also, as far as lay in their power, to annoy and
harass him, the king, by taking his castles tiU he fulfilled all
the above-mentioned terms, as contained in the charter.
After which, many nobles of the kingdom came to the king
asking him for their rights of land and possessions, and the
custody of the castles, which, as they said, belonged to them
by hereditary right ; but the king delayed this matter till it
was proved on the oath of liege men, what of right was due
to each ; and, the more fuUy to effect this, he fixed the 16tk
of August as a day for them all to come to Westminster.
Nevertheless he restored to Stephen archbishop of Canter
bury the castle of Bochester and the Tower of London,
more to gain the good-will of the prelates and nobles, granted free elections
in all the churches of England ; and the king himself, as well as the nobles
and; prelates, procured a confirmation of this charter and grant from the
pope, and, for better security, the king's charter was inserted, sealed in the
pope's warrant of confirmation. The twenty-five barons chosen were as
follow : — The earls of Clare, Albemarle, Gloucester, Winchester, and Here
ford; earls Robert, Roger, Marshall the younger, Robert Fitz- Walter the
elder, Gilbert de Clare, Eustace de Vescy, Hugh Bigod, William Mersbray
mayor of London, Gilbert de Laval, Robert de Roos constable of Chester,
Richard Percy, John Fitz-Robert, WiUiam Malet, Geoffrey de Say, Roger
de Mowbray, William of Huntingfield, Richard de Montfichet, and William
de Albeney. These twenty-five barons, at. the king's request, 'swore on their
souls that they would observe these customs in every point, and would
compel the king to observe them by force, if he should by chance wiBh to
withdraw Ms consent. The following nobles swore on their souls to obey
the commands of the twenty-five barons; the earl of Clare, the earl of
Arundel, earl Warrenne, Henry Doyly, Hubert de Bourg, Matthew Fitz-
Herbert, Robert Pinkney, Roger Huscarl, Robert de Newburg, Henry de
Pont Omar, Ralph de la Haye, Henry de Brentfield, Warren Fitz-Gerald,
Thomas Basset, William de Rokeland, William St. John, Alan Basset,
Richard de Bankes, Hugh de Beneval, Jordan de Sackville, Ra. Musgard,
Ri Aflenvast, Robert de Ropele, Andrew de Beauchamp, Walter of Dun
stable, Walter Folioth, Faulkes, John Marshal, Philip de Albeney, William
Pare, Ealph de Normanville, William de Parcy, William Agorlun, Enge-
rus de Pratest, William de Cirent, Roger de Zucha, Roger Fitz-Bernafd,
and Godfrey de Cracombe, who all swore that they would obey the&om.
mands of the twenty-five barons."
12 1

324 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
which by old right belonged to his custody : and then break
ing up the conference, the barons returned with the above-
named charter to London.*
* M. Paris here adds : — " King John, wishing that these things should be
on a more secure footing, sent to pope Innocent, asking him to grant the
favour of confirming this by his bull ; and as he had become an Obedient
vassal of the pope, and an apostolic king, he soon obtained what he wanted
in the following form : — ' Innocent, bishop, &c, to all his venerable
brothers and all his beloved sons, the prelates of the churches throughout
England, health and the apostolic blessing. We worthily laud the mag
nificence of the Creator, who is terrible and wonderful in his counsels on
the sons of men, for that, when he has once taught us our weakness by
causing the storm to blow, he has again said to the winds, Peace, be still,
and has suffered the sailors to enter the desired port. Whereas a great
controversy has long existed between the sovereign and the priesthood of
England, not without much danger and loss, concerning the elections of
prelates, however by the wonderful working of Him to whom nothing is im
possible, and who breathes where he wishes, our well beloved John, the
illustrious king of the English, has, of his own free will, and by the com
mon consent of his barons, for the salvation of the souls of himself, his pre
decessors, and his successors, liberally granted to us and confirmed by his
letters, that henceforth in all and singular the churches and monasteries,
both cathedral and conventual, of all England, the elections of all prelates
whatsoever, whether the superior or inferior, shall be for ever free. We
therefore, in ratification thereof, by the apostolic authority and by these
present letters, ratify and confirm this grant to you, and, by your means, to
the churches and your successors, as we have seen it contained in the said
letters of the king; and, for better security and in lasting memory of this
grant, we have caused the aforesaid letters of the king on this matter to be
united to these presents; the tenor of these letters is as follows: — " John,
by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy
and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, earls,
barons, knights, bailiffs, and all to whom these letters shall come, greeting.
Whereas, under God's favour, a full arrangement has been, by the volun
tary consent of both parties, come to between lis and our venerable fathers
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England and cardinal of
the holy Roman church, William bishop of London, Eustace of Ely,
Giles of Hereford, John of Bath and Glastonbury, and Hubert of Lincoln,
concerning their losses and property which was confiscated at the time of
the interdict, we wish not only to give satisfaction to them as far as lies in
our power with God's assistance, but also wholesomely and advantageously
to provide for the whole church of England for ever. Therefore, whatever
custom may have been hitherto observed in the English church in the times
of ourself and our ancestors, and whatever right we may have hitherto
claimed for ourselves, henceforth in each and all of the churches and
monasteries of England, conventual and cathedral, the elections of prelates
shall be free for ever, of whatever order they may be, superior as well as
inferior ; saving to us and our heirs the custody of the vacant churches and
monasteries, which belongs to us. We also promise that we will not hinder,

A.D. 1215.] JOHN RETIRES TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 325
How king John retired clandestinely to the Isle of Wight and laid plans
against the barons.
After the barons, as has been stated, had gone from the
conference, the king was left with scarcely seven knights out
of his proper body of attendants. Whilst lying sleepless that
night in Windsor castle, his thoughts alarmed him much, and
before daylight he fled by stealth to the Isle of Wight, and
there in great agony of mind devised plans to be revenged
on the barons. At length, after divers meditations, he
determined, with the assistance of the apostle Peter, to seek
nor permit, or cause our agents to hinder the electors in each and all of the
churches and monasteries when the prelacies are vacant from appointing any
pastor they may choose for themselves, but permission to do so must be
previously asked of us and our heirs, which we will not refuse or put off.
And if it should happen that we should refuse or delay to give permission,
the electors shall proceed to make a canonical election. And likewise after
the election has been made, our consent to it shall be asked, which we will
not refuse, unless we set forth and legitimately prove a reason why we
ought not to consent to it. Wherefore it is our will and strict order that no
one, in vacant churches or monasteries, shall dare in any way to contravene
this our grant Eand decree ; and if any one shall at any time contravene it
he will incur the malediction of the omnipotent God and of us. As witness
these, Peter bishop of Winchester, W. Marshal earl of Pembroke, William
earl Warrenne, R. earl of Chester, S. earl of Winchester, G. de Mande-
ville earl of Gloucester and Essex, W. earl Ferrers, G. Briwere, W. Fitz
gerald, W. de Cantwulf, H. de Neville, Robert de Iver, and W. Hunting-
field. Given under the hand of master Robert Marsh our chancellor, at
the New Temple at London, this fifteenth day of January, in the sixteenth
year of our reign." Let no man therefore presume to infringe or rashly to
oppose this our letter of confirmation. But if any one presumes to attempt
such a thing, let him be assured that he will incur the anger of the om
nipotent God, and his blessed apostles Peter and Paul. Given at the
Lateran, this thirtieth day of March, in the eighteenth year of our
pontificate.' " When this was completed and approved of by both parties, they all
exulted in the belief that God had compassionately touched the king's
heart, had taken away his heart of stone and given him one of flesh, and
that a change for the best was made in him by the hand of the Almighty ;
and all and every one hoped that England, being by the g*ace of God
freed in their time from, as it were, the Egyptian bondage, by which it had
been for a long time previously oppressed, would enjoy peace and liberty,
not only by the protection of the Roman church, under whose wings they
thought they were sheltered, and thus as it were under the divine shield, to
serve which is to reign, but also on account of the wished-for humiliation of
the king, who they hoped was happily inclined to all gentleness and
peace. But far otherwise was it — oh shame! — oh sorrow! — and far differ
ently from what was expected, did events happen. Fortune was believed

326 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
revenge on his enemies with two swords, the spiritual and
temporal, so that if he could not succeed with the one, he
might for certain accomphsh his purpose with the other.
To strike at them with the spiritual sword, he sent Pandulph
the pope's subdeacon with other messengers, to the court of
Borne, to counteract, by the apostohc authority, the inten
tions of the barons. He also sent Walter bishop of Winches
ter and chancellor of England, John bishop of Norwich,
Eichard de Marisco, WiUiam Gernon, and Hugh de Boves,
with his own seal, to aU the transmarine territories to pro-
smilingly to have offered them nectar, when it prepared draughts of gall
and poison : for lo, on the instigation of the devil, who by old custom is
jealous of the prosperity of mankind, the sons of Belial, like wicked free
booters, who love war rather 'ban peace, whisperingly instilled their words
of discord in the ears of the king : for they said gruntingly and with much
laughter and derision, ' Behold this is the twenty-fifth king in England ; —
lo ! he is not now a king, nor even a petty king, but a disgrace to kings ;
he had better be no king at. all than be one of this kind. Behold a king
without a kingdom, a lord without a domain ; a worthless man and a king
contemptible to his people. Alas ! wretched man, and slave of the lowest
degree, to what a wretched state of slavery have you fallen ? You have been
a king, now you are the scum of the people ; you have been the greatest,
now are you the least. Nothing is more unfortunate than to have been
fortunate.' And thus arousing his anger they fanned the fire into a general
conflagration. The alienation of the king's heart.
" The too credulous king then, at the whisperings of these abominable
bandits, whom, according to custom and to his own injury, he had too
freely entertained, giving up his own natural subjects, changed his mind
and inclined his heart to the very worst devices ; for it is easy to turn a
wavering man, and one prone to evil it is easy to hurry headlong into
wickedness. The king then deeply sighing, conceived the greatest indig
nation, and began to pine away himself, giving vent to lamentations and
complaints. ' Why,' said he, ' did my mother bring me forth, unhappy
and shameless woman that she was! Why was I nursed on her knees, or
suckled at her breast ? Would that I had been slain rather than suffered
to grow to manhood.' He then commenced gnashing his teeth, scowling
with his eyes, and seizing sticks and limbs of trees, began to gnaw them,
and after gnawing them to break them, and with increased extraordinary
gestures to show the grief or rather the rage he felt. And on that very night
he at once secretly prepared letters and sent to Phihp Marc constable of
the castle of Nottingham, a native of Poictou, and to all his foreign-born
subjects, in whom his soul most confided, ordering them to supply their
castles with provisions, surround them with trenches, garrison them, and to
prepare cross-bows and engines, and to make arrows ; telling them, how
ever, to do this cautiously and without open blustering, lest the barons
should happen to find it out and prevent the anger of the king from

A.D. 1215.] WANDERINGS OF KING JOHN. 327
cure supplies of troops in those parts, promising them lands,
ample possessions, and no small sum of money ; and the more
to secure the fidelity of the people there, he ordered them
if necessary to give warrants of security for their pay to all
the soldiers who would join them ; and he arranged that, at
Michaelmas, they should come to him at Dover with all
whom they could allure to them. He moreover sent letters
to all the governors of his castles throughout England,
ordering them each and aU to furnish their castles with all
kinds of provisions and arms, and to strengthen their garri
sons with soldiers so as to be able to defend them at a
day's notice. He himself in the meantime, with a few
followers whom he had begged from the retinue of the bishop
of Norwich, took on himself the business of a pirate, and
employed himself in gaining the good-will of the sailors of
the cinque-ports ; and thus, hiding as it were in the open air
in the island and near the sea-coasts, withou; any regal
show, he for three months led a solitary life on the water and
in the company of sailors, for he preferred to die rather than
to Uve long unrevenged for the insults of the barons. All
this time different reports were circulated by different
people concerning him ; and by some he was said to have
turned fisherman, by others a trader and a pirate, and by
proceeding further. But as there is nothing done in secret which is not
discovered, these dangerous preparations and designs were soon made known
'to the nobles by passers-by ; on which some of the more prudent of them
went to the king to find out if what had been told them was true, and if so,
to endeavour by wholesome representations and advice to dispel his anger,
and to recall him from his unjust purpose before it was commenced. The
king however, in the presence of his nobles, concealed his inward bitterness
under a calm countenance, and boldly swore by the feet of God that he de
signed nothing underhanded ; and thus by false assertions he deceitfully
lulled the report which had arisen. Nevertheless, as it is difficult for a
furious man to restrain himself, these nobles discovered by many indica
tions, before the interview was broken off, that the affection of the king was
estranged from them, and that his look was dejected, and thej" pondered
the event in their minds, using these words : ' Woe to us, yea to all Eng
land, since it has not a true king, but is oppressed by a tyrant who endea
vours to make his people miserable. He has already placed us in subjection
to Rome and the Roman court, that we might obtain protection from it ;
it is to be feared that we shall find the assistance from that place injurious
to our posterity. We never heard of any king who was unwilling to with
draw his neck from slavery ; but this one willingly succumbs to it.' And
with these sorrowful reflections they left the king and departed."

328 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
some he was said to have become an apostate ; and after he
had been, on account of his protracted absence, sought for by
several without success, they believed that he was drowned,
or had perished in some other way. The king however bore
all these reports with equanimity, awaiting the expected
arrival of his messengers, some of whom he had sent to the
court of Eome, and others to raise troops to assist him.
How the barons of England prepared for tournaments.
The barons meanwhile, who were staying in the city of
London as if the whole matter was at an end, agreed amongst
themselves to assemble at Stamford, there to enjoy the sports
of the tournament ; they therefore sent letters to the noble
William d'Albiney to the following effect : — " Eobert Fitz-
Walter, marshal of the army of God and the holy church,
and the other nobles of the same army to the noble WiUiam
d'Albiney, greeting. You well know of how great im
portance it is to you and to us all, to keep possession of the
city of London, which is a place of refuge for us, and what a
disgrace it would be if, through any fault of ours, we were
to lose it. Be Jt known to you as a fact, that we have been
forewarned that there are some who are only waiting for our
departure from the aforesaid city, to take possession of it on
a sudden ; therefore, by the general advice of all, we have put
off the tournament, which was commenced at Stamford on
the Monday next after the feast of the apostles Peter and
Paul, to the Monday next after the octaves aforesaid. But
there will be a tournament near London, in Staines Wood,
and at the town of Hounslow ; and this we have done for
our safety and for the safety of the aforesaid city. And
we therefore enjoin, and earnestly beseech' you to come to
the tournament aforesaid well provided with horses and
arms, that you may there obtain honour. Whoever performs
well there will receive a bear, which a lady will send to the
tournament. Farewell."
In the same year pope Innocent convoked a general
council of the prelates of the church universal namely,
patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, primates, archdeacons, dea
cons of cathedral churches, abbats, priors, templars, and hos
pitallers, who were all ordered, as they wished to avoid the

A.D. 121C] THE POPE ANNULS THE CHARTER. 329
punishment of the church, to appear in the presence of our
lord the pi pe at the city of Borne on the 1st of November.

Of the statements made by the messengers of the king of England to
the pope.
At the same time the king of England's messengers ap
peared before our lord the pope at Eome, setting forth the
rebelhon and injuries which the barons of England had
perpetrated against the said king, in extorting from him
certain unjust laws and liberties, which if did not become
his royal dignity to confirm ; and when, after much discord
between them, the said king and barons had met several
times to treat about peace, the king openly declared before
them all that the kingdom of England by right of dominion
belonged to the church of Eome, and therefore he could not
and ought riot, without the knowledge of our lord the pope,
make any new arrangements, or alter any thing in the king
dom to the detriment of that pontiff. On which, although
he had made an appeal, and had placed himself and all the
rights of his kingdom under the protection of the apostolic
see, the said barons, paying no regard to his appeal, had
taken possession of the city of London, the capital of his
kingdom, which had been treacherously given up to them,
and even now retained possession of it ; and after this they
flewto arms, mounted their horses, and demandedfrom the king
that the aforesaid laws and Uberties should be confirmed to
them, and the king, through fear of an attack from them, did
not dare to refuse what they required. The said messen
gers then gave the pope a written paper containing some of
the articles of the said charter which seemed most to help
the cause of the king. The pope, after reading them care
fully, exclaimed in astonishment, " Are the barons of Eng-
and endeavouring to drive from the throne of his kingdom
a king who has taken the cross, and who is unde j the pro
tection ef the apostohc see, and to transfer to another the
cominion of the Eoman church? By St. Peter we cannot
pass over this insult without punishing it ! " Then, after
taking counsel with his cardinals, he, by a definitive sen
tence condemned and for ever annuUed the said charter of
grants of the hberties of the kingdom of England ; and in

330 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
testimony of this, he transmitted to the EngUsh king the
foUowing immunity : —
How, by the immunity from the apostolic see, the. liberties granted to the
English barons were annulled.
" Innocent, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to aU
the faithful ones of Christ, who shaU see this paper, health
and the apostolic blessing. Although our weU-beloved son
in Christ, John the iUustrious king of the EngUsh, has
greatly offended God and the holy church, for which we
fettered him with the bonds of excommunication, and placed
his kingdom under an interdict, nevertheless the said king,
by the merciful inspiration of Him who desires not the
death of a sinner but that he should be converted and hve,
at length, after reflection, atoned in aU humiUty to God and
the church, inasmuch as he not only gave recompence for
losses, and made restitution of confiscated property, but
also granted fuU liberty to the Enghsh church ; moreover on
the withdrawal of both decrees, he yielded his kingdom ot
England as well as that of Ireland to St. Peter and the
church of Eome, receiving them from us in fee on condition
of the annual payment to us of a thousand marks, and making
an oath of fealty to us, as appears by his privilege sealed
with the golden bull. And desiring stiU more to give satis
faction to the Almighty, he assumed the sign of the hving
cross, in order to go to the assistance of the Holy Land, for
which he was preparing himself with much expense. But
the enemy of the human race, whose custom it is to be
envious of good actions, by his crafty arts excited the barons
of England against him, so that, the order of things being
perverted, he was, after being converted and making atone
ment to the church, attacked by those who stood by him in
his offence against the church. When at length a cause of
difference arose between them, and after several days had been
appointed to treat about peace, special messengers were sent to
us ; and after a careful discussion of the matter with them, we,
after full deliberation, wrote by the same messengers to
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops of
England, ordering them to give diligent attention and
efficacious assistance to restore true peace and concord
between the parties, to proclaim aU confederacies and con-

A.D. 1215.] the pope's letter. 331
spiracies, if any had been formed since the commencement
of the dispute between the king and priesthood, annuUed
by the apostoUc authority, and to forbid, under penalty
of excommunication, any one to show such presumption for
the future ; at the same time prudently and effectually
to warn and enjoin the nobles and men of rank in England,
to endeavour by evident indications of devotion and humility
to make their peace with the king, and then, if they intended
to demand anything of him, to ask it of him not insolently,
but with humility, observing towards him the respect due to
a king, and rendering to him the usual service which they
and their ancestors had rendered to him and his ancestors ;
since the king ought not to be despoiled by them without
judgment, and that they might thus more easily obtain what
they were trying for. We also requested and advised the
said king by our letters, and enjoined on the aforesaid arch
bishop and bishops to request and warn him, as a remission
of his sins, to treat the aforesaid nobles with kindness, and to
give favourable attention to their just petitions, so that they
might both learn to their joy that he was altered for the
better, and that by this means they and their heirs would
more readily and more devotedly serve him and his heirs ;
also to grant them fuU security to come, to stay, or to depart,
that, if perchance peace could not be arranged between them,
the differences which had arisen might be set at rest in his
court by their deputies according to the laws and customs of
the kingdom. But before the said messengers returned with
this prudent and just advice, these barons, utterly disregard
ing their oath of fealty, (for even if the king had unjustly
oppressed them, they ought not so to have acted against him,
as to be at once judge and executioners in their own cause,
vassals openly conspiring against their lord, knights against
their king,) dared, in conjunction with others his declared
enemies, to make war against him, taking possession of, and
ravaging, his territories, and moreover took possession of the
city of London, the capital of the kingdom, which had been
given up to them through treachery. But in the meantime
when the above messengers returned, the king offered, in
accordance with our mandate, to show them due justice, but
they rejected it and turned their hands to worse offences ; on
which the king himself, appealing to our attention, offered to

332 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
do them justice in presence of us, to whom the decision of
this matter belonged by right of dominion, and this they
altogether rejected. Then he proposed to them that four
skilful men should be chosen as weU by him as them, who
might, in conjunction with us, put an end to the disagree
ment which had arisen between them, promising that, above
all things, he would remove aU the abuses which might have
been introduced into England in his time ; but they did not
condescend to try this. At length the king explained to
them that, since the dominion of the kingdom belonged to
the church of Borne, he could not and ought not, without our
special mandate, to make any alteration in it to our prejudice;
and he then again appealed to our hearing, placing himself
and his kingdom with all its dignities and rights under the
protection of the apostohc see. But as he did not gain any
thing by any of these means, he asked the archbishop and
bishops to fulfil our mandate, to defend the right of the
church of Borne, and to protect him according to the terms
of the privilege granted to those who assume the cross.
Besides this, when they would not agree to any of these
terms, he, seeing himself destitute of all aid and counsel,
dared not refuse whatever they presumed to demand ; there
fore he was compelled by force and through fear, which even
the bravest of men is hable to, to enter into an agreement
with them, which was not only vile and base, but also unlaw
ful and unjust, much to the disparagement and diminution
alike of his rights and his honour. But as has been told us
by the Lord through his prophet, 'I have appointed thee
over people and kingdoms, to pluck up and destroy, to build
and to plant,' and also by another prophet, ' Cast loose the
bonds of wickedness, shake off the oppressing burdens,' we
do not choose to pass over such wicked audacity, tending to
the contempt of the apostoUc see, the detriment of kingly
right, the disgrace of the English nation, and danger to the
cause of the cross, which would assuredly happen to it, unless
by our authority every thing was revoked which had been
thus extorted from such a prince who had also assumed the
cross, even though he were wiUing to keep them. We there
fore, on behalf of God the omnipotent Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost, by the authority of his apostles Peter and
Paul, and by our own, by the general advice of our brethren,

A.D, 1215.] BARONS REBUKED BY THE POPE. 333
reprobate and entirely condemn an agreement of this kind,
and forbid the said king, under penalty of excommunication,
to keep, and the barons and their accomplices to compel him
to keep either the charter, or the bonds or securities, which
have been given for its observance, and we altogether annul
and quash the same so that they may never have any validity.
Let none therefore, &c. Whoever, &c. Given at Agnano
on the 24th of August in the eighteenth year of our ponti
ficate." Tile pope's rebuke to the barons of England for their persecution of
the king.
ftaving thus annulled the aforesaid liberties, the pope
wrote to the barons of England in the following terms : —
" Innoeent, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the
nobles of England, the spirit of a wiser counsel. Would that,
in the persecution which you have rashly practised against
your lord the king, you had more carefully attended to your
oath of fealty, the right of the apostolic see, and the privilege
granted to those who have assumed the cross ; because, with
out doubt, you have not proceeded so to act, but that all who
see it detest the offence, especially since in your cause you
have made yourselves both judges and executioners, although
the said king was prepared to grant you ample justice in his
own court, and by the decision of your peers, according to
the laws and customs of the kingdom, or in the presence of
us to whom the decision of this cause belonged by right of
dominion, or even in the presence of arbiters, to be chosen
on both sides, who would proceed in the matter conjointly
with us. Therefore, since you would not try any one of
these plans, he appealed to our hearing, placing himself and
the kingdom, with aU its dignities and rights, under the pro
tection of the apostoUc see; and he openly declared that,
since the sovereignty of the said kingdom belonged to the
church of Eome, he could not and ought not to make any
alterations in it to our injury. Seeing then that the agree
ment of whatever sort it is, which you have by violence and
threats induced him to make, is not only vile and base, but
also unlawful and unjust, so that it ought to be justly repro
bated by all, chiefly on account of the means used to obtain
it, we, who are bound to provide for the spiritual as weU as

334 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
the temporal good of the king as weU as the kingdom, by
these our apostolic letters order, and in aU good faith advise
you, to make a virtue of necessity, and renounce of your own
accord an agreement of this kind, and make reparation to
the king and his foUowers for the harm and injuries you have
inflicted upon him, that he, being appeased by your manifest
indications of devotion and humility, may of his own accord
make any concessions he ought by rights to grant ; and to this
we ourselves wiU also persuade him, since, as we do not wish
him to be deprived of his rights, so we wish him to cease
from harassing you, that the kingdom of England may not
under our dominion be oppressed by evU customs and unjust
exactions ; and whatever is decreed in such a way shall be
confirmed and ratified for ever. May He, therefore, who
wishes no man to perish, incUne you to acquiesce with humi
lity in our wholesome advice and commands, lest, if you act
otherwise, you be reduced to such straits from which you
wiU not be able to escape without much trouble ; since, not
to speak of other matters, we cannot conceal the great danger
of the whole business of the cross, which would be in immi
nent danger, unless, by our apostoUc authority, we altogether
revoke aU the promises which have been extorted from such
a king, and one who has assumed the cross, even although he
wished them to be kept. Wherefore, when the archbishop
and bishops of England appear before us at the general
council which we intend to hold to expedite the more urgent
matters of the church, do you also send fit proctors to appear
before us, and entrust yourselves without fear to our benevo
lence ; because we, under God's favour, will so ordain mat
ters that, by altogether doing away with the abuses in the
kingdom of England, the king may be contented with his
just rights and dignities, and the clergy as weU as the people
in general may enjoy the peace and hberty due to them.
Given at Agnano, the 24th of August, in the eighteenth year
of our pontificate." The Enghsh nobles, however, even after
they had, by the king's management, received these letters,
alike admonitory and threatening, would not desist from their
purpose, but harassed him the more severely.
William d'Albiney takes command of Rochester castle.
In the meantime the noble WiUiam d'Albiney, after

A.D. 1215.] JOHN BESIEGES ROCHESTER CASTLE. 335
frequently receiving letters from the barons at London, and
being blamed in no slight degree for delaying to come to
them, at length at Michaelmas, furnished his castle of
Belvoir with a sufficiency and even a superabundance of all
kinds of provisions and arms, and entrusted it to the care of
men who were faithful to him ; he then went to London and
was received there with great joy by the barons, who im
mediately communicated to him a plan they had determined
on, namely, to block up the road against the king, so that no
way of approach might be open to him in any direction to lay
siege to the city of London ; they therefore picked out a
strong body of troops, and appointing WiUiam d'Albiney to
the command of them, as a man bold and tried in war, they
sent them to occupy the town of Bochester. That castle had
a short time before been confidentially entrusted by the king
to the archbishop, who nevertheless, by what feelings in
stigated I know not, though the Lord does, deUvered it up to
the enemies of the king. The latter, on entering it, found
the place destitute not only of arms and provisions, but also
of every kind of property, except what they themselves had
brought with them, on which they in their disappointment
thought of abandoning it ; but WiUiam d'Albiney, exhorting
and continually animating the minds of his companions to
deeds of valour, said that it was not lawful for knights to
desert, lest, what would be a great disgrace to them, they
should by and by be called knights-deserters. And thus
aU of them being powerfuUy encouraged by his words to
bravery, they brought into the castle only what provisions
they could find in the town of Bochester; and as these
knights were a hundred and forty in number with all their
retinues, there was no time left them to collect booty in the
country around, or to provide themselves with any suppUes of
any kind. How king John besieged the castle of Rochester.
After WiUiam d'Albiney and his companions had, as has
been mentioned, taken possession of the aforesaid castle, king
John, after three months' stay in the isle of Wight, issued
forth from that island and sailed to Dover ; at the latter place
his messengers, whom he had sent to the transmarine
provinces, came to him bringing with them such an immense
multitude of knights and soldiers, that aU who beheld them

336 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-D- 121S,
were struck with fear and dismay. From the provinces of
Poictou and Gascony, the noble and warlike Savaric de
Maulion, and the two brothers Geoffrey and Ohver de
Buteville came, attended by a large body of knights and
soldiers, and promised faithful obedience to the king ; from
the provinces of Louvain and Brabant came the brave knights
Walter Buck, Gerard, and Godeschal de Soceinne, with three
battalions of soldiers and cross-bow men, who thirsted for
nothing more than human blood ; besides these there came to
the king from the country of Flanders and other transmarine
provinces, all those who coveted the property of others, and
thus gave great hope of defence to the king who had before
given up aU hope. John, as soon as he heard that WiUiam
d'Albiney and his foUowers had entered the city of Bochester,
marched thither with aU the before-mentioned multitude with
aU speed, and on the third day after they had entered the
castle, he blocked up all their ways of egress and besieged
them. As soon as he had arrayed his petrarias and other
engines, he severely annoyed the besieged by incessant
showers of stones and other weapons ; the besieged, however,
bore their assaults without flinching and bravely defended
themselves. The death of Hugh de Boves.
In the meantime Hugh de Boves, a brave knight but a
proud and unjust man, came with a large army to the port of
Calais in Flanders to assist the king of England, and at that
place he embarked with aU his forces and sailed for Dover ;
but a sudden storm arising before he reached his destined
port, they were aU shipwrecked, and swallowed up by the
waves. The body of the said Hugh was cast ashore not far
from the town of Yarmouth, with those of several other
knights and followers, and at each of the ports on that part
of the sea coast there was found such a multitude of bodies
of men and women that the very air was tainted by their
stench ; a great number of bodies of children were also found,
who being drowned in their cradles were thus washed ashore,
and afforded a dreadful spectacle to the multitude. They
were all however given up to be devoured by the beasts of
the sea and the birds of the air, so that not one out of forty
thousand men escaped ahve. AU these people had come to
England with their wives and children, with the intention

A.D. 1215.] TAKING OF ROCHESTER CASTLE. 337
of expelling and totally exterminating all the natives, and of
possessing the land themselves by perpetual right; for the
king had by his charter, as was said, given to their leader,
the said Hugh de Boves, the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk,
but the grace of God altered their purpose for the better.
But when the news of the loss of aU these people was brought
to the king's knowledge, he was dreadfully enraged and took
no food that day, but remained until the evening as if he were
possessed by madness.*
The capture of the castle of Rochester, and imprisonment of those
taken there.
About this time the barons of England, when they learned
that WiUiam d'Albiney and his companions were besieged in
the castle of Bochester, became greatly alarmed, because
before William d'Albiney would enter the castle, they had
sworn on the holy gospels that if he should happen to be
besieged they would all march to raise the siege. In order
therefore that they might seem to be doing something in ac
cordance with their oath and pUghted faith, they immediately
flew to arms, and took their march towards the town of
Deptford, thinking to force the king to raise the siege in one
assault ; but although only a mild south wind was blowing in
their faces, which does not generally annoy any one, they re
treated as though they had met a number of armed men, and
left the expedition unaccomplished; and although we ought
not too easily yield to every breath, they turned their backs on
the besieged William and his followers, and returned to their
old haunt. When they returned to the city of London, they
weU fortified it, and amusing themselves with the dangerous
game of dice, drinking the best of wines which they chose
at their own option, and practising all other vices, they left
* Being scarcely able to eontain himself, he pined away in bitter fret-
tings. In the night on which Hugh de Boves was lost, there arose an
unusual storm of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, such as had never been
seen before. It happened that a certain monk of St. Alban's named
Robert de Weston, who was staying at Bingham, was going to Norwich to
fulfil the duties of his calling, and at midnight, when he was about half
way on his journey that storm rose, and in the storm he saw a countless
army of men riding on very large black steeds, with torehes of sulphur,
and they remained near the monk, observing a sort of order in their move
ments. VOL. II. Z

338 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
their besieged companions at Bochester exposed to the dan
ger of death, and enduring all kinds of misery. When the
king learned how pompously the barons had approached to
raise the siege, and how basely and ignominiously they had
returned, he became bolder, and sent out foragers in aU
directions to collect provisions for the support of his army,
and yet did not aUow the besieged in the meantime any rest
day or night ; for amidst the stones hurled from the petra-
rias and slings, and the missiles of the cross-bow men and
archers, frequent assaults were made by the knights and
their followers, so that when some were in a measure
fatigued, other fresh ones succeeded them in the assault ;
and with these changes the besieged had no rest. The
besieged too, despairing of any assistance from the barons,
endeavoured to delay their own destruction, for they were
in great dread of the cruelty of the king ; therefore, that
they might not die unavenged, they made no smaU slaughter
amongst the assailants. The siege was prolonged many days
owing to the great bravery and boldness of the besieged, who
hurled stone for stone, weapon for weapon, from the walls
and ramparts on the enemy : at last, after great numbers of
the roval troops had been slain, the king, seeing that all Lis
warlike engines took but Uttie effect, at length employed
miners, who soon threw down a great part of the waUs.
The provisions of the besieged too failed them, and they
were obhged to eat horses and even their costly chargers.
The soldiers of the king now rushed to the breaches in the
walls, and by constant fierce assaults they forced the besieged
to abandon the castle, although not without great loss on
their own side. The besieged then entered the tower amidst
the attacks of the king's soldiers, who had entered the castle
through the breaches ; but William d'Albiney with his sol
diers, after slaying many of them, compelled them to quit it.
The king then apphed his miners to the tower, and having
after much difficulty broken through the waUs, an opening
was made for the assailants ; but while his army was thus
employed, they were often compelled to retreat from the de
struction caused in their ranks by the besieged. At length,
not a morsel of provisions remaining amongst them, William
d'Albiney and the other nobles who were with him, thinking
it would be a disgrace to them to die of hunger when they

A.D. 1215.] PUNISHMENT OF THE REBELS. 339
could not be conquered in battle, after holding counsel to
gether on St. Andrew's day, all the garrison almost unhurt
left the castle, except one knight who was killed by an arrow,
and presented themselves to the king. This siege had
lasted almost three months, and the king, on account of the
number of his troops slain, as well as the money he had
spent on the siege, was greatly enraged, and in his anger
ordered aU the nobles to be hung on the gibbet; but the
noble Savaric de Mauleon standing up before the king, said
to him, " My lord king, our war is not yet over, therefore
you ought carefully to consider how the fortunes of wan may
turn ; for if you now order us to hang these men, the barons,
our enemies, will perhaps by a like event take me or other
nobles of your army, and, following your example, hang us ;
therefore do not let this happen, for in such a case no one
will fight in your cause." The king then, although unwil
lingly, hstened to his advice and that of other prudent men,
and WiUiam d'Albiney, WilUam of Lancaster, W. d'Einford,
Thomas de Muletan, Osbert Gyffard, Osbert de Bobi, Odi-
neU d'Albiney, and other nobles were by his orders sent to
Corfe castle to be there placed under close custody ; Bobert
de Chaurn, and Eichard Giffard, with Thomas of Lincoln, he
ordered to be imprisoned in the castle of Nottingham, and
others of them in divers other places. All the soldiers,
except the cross-bow men, he gave up to his own soldiers to
be ransomed ; and some of the cross-bow men who had slain
many of his knights and soldiers during the siege he ordered
to be hung. By these misfortunes the cause of the barons
was much weakened.*
* Paris here adds : — " One day during the siege of Rochester castle, the
king and Savaric were riding round it to examine the weaker parts of it,
when a cross-bow man in the service of William de Albeney saw them, and
said to his master. ' Is it your will, my lord, that I should slay the king, our
bloody enemy, with this arrow which I have ready?' To this WUliam
replied, ' No, no ; far be it from us, villain, to cause the death of the Lord's
anointed.' The cross-bow man said, ' He would not spare you in a like
case.' To which the knight replied, ' The Lord's will be done. The Lord
disposes events; not he.' In this case he was like David, who spared Saul
when he could have slain him. This circumstance was afterwards known
to the king, who notwithstanding this, did not wish to spare WilUam when
his prisoner, but would have hung him had he been permitted."
z2

340 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1215.
The excommunication of the barons of England in general.
At this time pope Innocent, seeing the rebelliousness of
the barons of England in not desisting from their persecution
of the king, excommunicated them, and entrusted the fulfil
ment of this sentence to the bishop of Winchester, the abbat
of Beading, and to Pandulph subdeacon of the church of
Eome, in the following letter : " Innocent, bishop, &c, to P.
bishop of Winchester, the abbat of Beading, and Master
Pandulph subdeacon of the church of Eome, health and the
apostoUc benediction. — We are very much astonished and
annoyed that, although our weU-beloved son in Christ, John
the illustrious king of England, gave satisfaction beyond
what we expected to God and the church, and especiaUy to our
brother the •archbishop of Canterbury and his bishops, some
of these showing no due respect, if any, to the business of
the holy cross, the mandate of the apostohc see, and their
oath of fealty, have not rendered assistance or shown good ¦
will to the said king against the disturbers of the kingdom,
which, by right of dominion belongs to the church of Eome,
as if they were cognizant of, not to say associates in, this
wicked conspiracy ; for he is not free from the taint of par
ticipation who fails to oppose transgressors. How do these
aforesaid prelates defend the inheritance of the church of
Eome? how do they protect those bearing the cross? yea,
how do they oppose themselves to those who endeavour to
ruin the service of Christ? These men are undoubtedly
worse than Saracens, since they endeavour to expel from his
kingdom him who it was rather to be hoped would afford
assistance to the Holy Land. Therefore that the insolence
of such men may not prevail, not only to the danger of the
kingdom of England but also to the ruin of other kingdoms,
and, above all, to the subversion of aU the matters of Christ,
we, on behalf of the omnipotent God the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Ghost, and by the authority of the apostles
Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, lay the fetters of
excommunication on all these disturbers of the king and
kingdom of England, as weU as on all accompUces and
abettors of theirs, and place their possessions under the ec
clesiastical interdict; and we most strictly order the arch
bishop aforesaid and his feUow bishops, by virtue of their
obedience, solemnly to proclaim this our sentence throughout

A.D. 1215.] EXCOMMUNICATION OF THE BARONS. 341
all England on every Sunday and feast-day amidst the
ringing of bells and with candles burning, until the said
barons shall give satisfaction to the king for his losses and
for the injuries they have inflicted on him, and shall faith
fully return to their duty. We also on our own behalf
enjoin aU the vassals of the said king, in remission of their
sins, to give advice and render assistance to the said king in
opposing such transgressors. And if any bishop neglects
to fulfil this our injunction, be it known to him that he will
be suspended from his episcopal duties, and the obedience of
those under him will be withdrawn, because it is right
that those who neglect their obedience to their superior
should not be obeyed themselves by their inferiors. There
fore that the fulfilment of our mandate may not be impeded
through the irresolution of any one, we have entrusted the
business of excommunicating the aforesaid barons to you,
together with the other matters connected with this business ;
and by these our apostoUc letters immediately, postponing aU
appeal, to proceed as ye may think expedient. But if aU do
not," &c. The election of Master Simon Langton to the see of York.
About that time the canons of the church of York having
been for some time without a pastor, obtained the king's
permission and assembled together to make election of one ;
and although they had been much entreated by the king to
receive Walter de Gray bishop of Worcester, as their pastor,
they on account of his ignorance refused him, but proceeding
with their election, chose master Simon Langton, brother
of the archbishop of Canterbury, hoping by his learning to
obtain the favour of the supreme pontiff. But when this
election was made known to the king, he sent' messengers to
the court of Borne, and they, in the presence of our lord the
pope, set forth objections to the election as follow: they
asserted that the archbishop of Canterbury was the open
enemy of the king of England, since he had given an incen
tive to the Enghsh barons to act against the said, king, and
had given his consent to their so doing, and therefore, if
the said Simon, who was the said archbishop's brother, were
) romoted to the archbishopric of York, the peace of the king
and kingdom could not be of long duration. By setting forth

342 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
these and other similar disadvantages, they induced the pope
to agree with them, whereupon he wrote to the chapter of
York as foUows : —
" Innocent, bishop, &c. When master Simon Langton
lately appeared before us with some other canons of York,
we verbaUy forbade him to endeavour to obtain the arch
bishopric of York, because for certain reasons we could not
permit it, and he, as far as words went, with aU reverence,
promised obedience to this command ; therefore we are aston
ished and annoyed, if his ambition has so bUnded him that,
although he knew he could not, after our prohibition and his
express promise, be lawfuUy elected, he should give his con
sent to such an election, which, even if no one else opposed
it, we should consider nuU and void. But that this may not
be the occasion of a new error in England, worse than the
former, and that the church of York may not any longer be
without a pastor, we, by the general advice of our brethren,
by these our apostolic letters, order and strictly enjoin you
by virtue of your obedience, notwithstanding this election,
as we do not choose and ought not to endure insolence and
machinations of this sort, without any pretext or irresolution,
to send some of your brotherhood with fuU powers in com
mon to our approaching council, and that they appear before
us by the 1st of November, there with our advice to elect
or demand a fitting person as a pastor for you, or else from
that time we will ourselves provide a suitable prelate for you,
and will seriously punish all gainsayers or opposers, if any
there be, by canonical censure. And if the aforesaid Simon
has given his consent to this election, we, as a punishment
for his presumption, decree, that he be henceforth ineligible,
without the dispensation of the apostohc see, for the election
to the pontifical dignity. Given on the thirteenth of Sep
tember, in the eighteenth year of our pontificate."
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury suspended.
Soon after this, Peter bishop of Winchester, and Master
Pandulph, the familiar of our lord the pope, went in person
to the archbishop of Canterbury, and on behalf of the said
pope, ordered him to charge his suffragan bishops of the
Canterbury church to publish the sentence of the apostolic
see which was issued at Eome against the barons of England

A.D. 1215.] GENERAL COUNCIL AT ROME. 343
in general, and also himself, as far as his duty bound him, to
make it public throughout the whole of his diocese on each
Sunday and feast-day. The archbishop had already em
barked on board ship to go to Eome to attend the council,
and therefore asked a respite till he could have an interview
with the pope ; firmly declaring, as to publishing the sen
tence, that a tacit sentence had indeed gone forth against the
barons, but that he would not in any way make it pubhc
until he learned the pleasure of the supreme pontiff on the
aforesaid matters by word of mouth. The aforesaid agents
in this matter, when they found that the archbishop diso
beyed the commands of the pope, by virtue of the authority
with which they were invested, suspended him from entering
the church and performing divine service ; and he observing
this in all humiUty went to Eome a suspended prelate.
Then the bishop of Winchester, with his brother agent
Pandulph, declared all the barons of England who had en
deavoured to drive the king from his kingdom to be excom
municated, and pubhshed the sentence pronounced against
them every Sunday and feast-day ; but as none of them had
been mentioned by name in the pope's warrant, they paid no
attention to the said sentence, but considered it as invaUd
and of no effect.
Of the general council held by pope Innocent at Rome.
In the same year, namely, a.d. 1215, a sacred and general
synod was held in the month of November, in the church of
the Holy Saviour at Eome, called Constantian, at which our
lord pope Innocent, in the eighteenth year of his pontificate,
presided, and which was attended by four hundred and
twelve bishops. Amongst the principal of these were the
two patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem. The patri
arch of Antioch could not come, being detained by serious
illness, but he sent his vicar, the bishop of Antaradus ; the
patriarch of Alexandria being under the dominion of the
Saracens, did the best he could, sending a deacon his cousin
in his place. There were seventy-seven primates and metro
politans present, more than eight hundred abbats and priors ;
and of the proxies of archbishops, bishops, abbats, priors, and
chapters, who were absent, the number is not known. There
was also present a great multitude of ambassadors from the

344 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215,
emperor of Constantinople, the king of Sicily, who was
elected emperor of Eome, the kings of France, England,
Hungary, Jerusalem, Cyprus, Arragon, and other princes and
nobles, and from cities and other places. When aU of these
were assembled in the place above-mentioned, and, according
to the custom of general councils, each was placed according
to his rank, the pope himself first deUvered an exhortation,
and then the sixty articles were recited in full council, which
seemed agreeable to some and tedious to others. At length
he commenced to preach concerning the business of the cross,
and the subjection of the Holy Land, adding as foUows:
" Moreover, that nothing be omitted in the matter of the cross
of Christ, it is our will and command, that patriarchs, arch
bishops, bishops, abbats, priors, and others, who have the
charge of spiritual matters, carefully set forth the work of the
cross to the people entrusted to their care ; and in the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the one alone and
eternal God, supplicate kings, dukes, princes, marquises,
earls, barons, and other nobles, and also the communities of
cities, towns, and villages, if they cannot go in person to the
assistance of the Holy Land, to furnish a suitable number of
soldiers, with all suppUes necessary for three years, accord
ing to their means, in remission of their sins, as in the
general letters is expressed ; and it is also our wiU that those
who build ships for this purpose be partakers in this remission.
But to those who refuse, if any be so ungrateful, let it be on
our behalf declared, that they will for a certainty account to
us for this at the awful judgment of a rigorous Judge; con
sidering, before they do refuse, with what chance of salva
tion they will be able to appear before the only God and the
only-begotten Son of God, to whose hands the Father has
entrusted all things, if they refuse to serve that crucified one,
in this their proper service, by whose gift they hold Ufe, by
whose kindness they are supported, and by whose blood they
have been redeemed. And we, wishing to set an example
to others, give and grant thirty thousand pounds for this
business, besides a fleet, which we wiU supply to those who
assume the cross from this city and the neighbouring dis
tricts ; and we moreover assign for the accompUshment of
this, three thousand marks of silver, which remain to us out of
the alms of some of the true faith. And as we desire to have

A.D. 1215.] APPOINTMENT OF THE CRUSADE. 34o
the other prelates of the churches, and also the clergy in
general, as partakers both in the merit and the reward, it is
our decree, that aU of them, both people and pastors, shall
contribute for the assistance of the Holy Land the twentieth
portion of their ecclesiastical profits for three years, except
those who have assumed the cross or are about to assume it
and set out for the Holy Land in person ; and we and our
brethren the cardinals of the holy church of Borne wiU pay
a full tenth part of ours. It is also our order that aU clerks
or laymen, after assuming the cross, shall remain secure
under our protection and that of St. Peter ; and also under
the protection of the archbishops, bishops, and all the pre
lates of God's church, and that aU their property shaU be so
arranged, as to remain untouched and undisturbed until
certain information is obtained of their death or their return.
And if any of those who go on this crusade are bound by
oath to the payment of usury, their creditors shall by ecclesi
astic authority be compelled to forgive them their oath and
to desist from exacting their usury ; and we make the same
decree with regard to the Jews by the secular authority,
that they may be induced to do this. Moreover be it known,
that the prelates of churches, who are careless in granting
justice to crusaders, or their proxies, or their families, will
meet with severe punishment. Moreover, by the advice of
wise men, we determine that those who thus assume the
cross, shall prepare themselves so as to assemble on the first
of June next ensuing, and those who determine to cross by
sea will assemble in the kingdom of Sicily, some at Brundu-
sium, and others at Messina, at which place we also have
determined, under God's favour, to be present, that by our
assistance and counsel the Christian army may be duly
regulated, and may set out with the blessing of God and the
apostolic see. And we, trusting to the mercy of the omnipo
tent God, and to the authority of the blessed apostles Peter
and Paul, by virtue of that power which the Lord has
granted to us, unworthy though we are, of binding and
loosing, grant to all who shall undertake this business in
person and at their own expense, fuU pardon for their sins,
for which they shaU be truly contrite in heart, and of which
they shall have made confession, and in the rewarding of the
ust we promise an increase of eternal salvation ; and to

346 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-D- ]215.
those who do not come in person, out at their own expense
send suitable persons according to their means, and also to
those who come in person though at the expense of others,
we likewise grant full pardon for their sins. And it is also
our will that those should share in this forgiveness who out
of their own property shaU furnish proper suppUes for the
assistance of the said country, or who have rendered season
able counsel and assistance on the aforesaid matters. And
for all those who proceed on this expedition the holy and
universal synod bestows the favour of its prayers and good
wishes, to the end that they may better obtain eternal
salvation. Amen."

Of the accusation made at Rome against Stephen archbishop of
Canterbury.
At this council there appeared the abbat of Beaulieu, and
the knights Thomas Hardington, and Geoffrey de Crawcombe,
as proxies of the king of England, against the archbishop of
Canterbury, openly accusing him of connivance with the
English barons, and asserting that he showed favour and
gave advice to the said barons in their attempt to expel the
said king from the throne of the kingdom ; and although he
had received letters from the apostohc see, ordering him by
ecclesiastical censure to restrain the nobles from their persecu
tion of the king, he refused to do so, on which he was
suspended by the bishop of Winchester and his coUeagues
from the performance of divine service and from entering the
church, and then hurrying to this council he thus by evident
indications showed himself rebeUious against the apostohc
commands. On hearing these and many other aUegations
againt him the archbishop, as if at once convicted, was not a
little confused, and made no answer, except asking for the
withdrawal of his suspension ; but to this the pope is said
indignantly to have made this answer, " Brother, by St. Peter,
you will not so easily obtain absolution from us, after having
inflicted such and so many injuries not only on the king of
England himself, but also on the church of Eome. We will,
after fuU deliberation with our brethren, decide how we are
to punish such a rash fault." And at length, after having
discussed the matter with his cardinals, he confirmed the

A.D. 1215.] SUSPENSION OF THE ARCHBISHOP. 347
sentence of suspension against the archbishop by the under
written letter.
Of the confirmation of the suspension of the said archbishop.
"Innocent, bishop, to all the suffragans of the church of
Canterbury, greeting. We wish it to be known to you all
in common that we have ratified the sentence of suspension,
which our venerable brother P. bishop of Winchester, our
beloved son P. the subdeacon, and our familiar, the elect of
Norwich, by the apostoUc authority, pronounced against
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, and we order it to be
strictly observed, tiU the said archbishop, who observes it in
aU humihty, may deserve to be released from it, giving
security according to the form of the church, by the substitu
tion of one obligation for another; wherefore by these apostohc
letters we order the whole brotherhood of you, that you
bishops also strictly observe the aforesaid sentence, and in
the meantime that you do not show any obedience to the
said archbishop. Given at the Lateran this 4th of No
vember." After this the canons of York presented master
Simon Langton to the pope, demanding the confirmation of
his election ; but to them the pope said, " Know that we do
not consider him elected, because, for certain reasons we
could not suffer him to be promoted to such a high dignity ;
and because that election has been made in opposition to our
prohibition, we entirely annul and for ever condemn it, and
it is our decree that he be ineligible to be elected to the
pontifical dignity without a dispensation of the apostolic see."
Having thus annulled this election, the pope ordered the
canons to proceed in another, and if they did not he would
himself provide a fit pastor for them. The canons then, as
they had before provided, elected Walter de Gray bishop of
Worcester, on account, as they said, of his carnal purity, as
one who had continued chaste from his birth till that time ;
to this the pope is said to have answered, "By St. Peter,
chastity is a great virtue, and we grant him to you." There
fore, after receiving the paU, the said bishop returned to
England, being bound at the court of Borne in the sum of ten
thousand pounds of sterUng money. The knights Thomas
Hardington and Geoffrey de Crawcombe, having thus accom
plished their mission, returned to England, and went to the

348 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1215.
king, who had, as before told, subdued the castle of Bochester,
to tell him this agreeable news. The king was much elated
in his mind when he heard that the barons of England were
excommunicated, the archbishop of Canterbury suspended,
Walter de Gray promoted to the archbishopric of York, and
that he could arrange matters as he chose at Bochester castle,
and he at once moved his camp and proceeded in aU haste to
St. Alban's. On his arrival at that place, he went to the
chapter-house in the presence of the monks, and ordered the
letters about the suspension of the archbishop of Canterbury
to be read, and at once demanded of the conventual assembly
that a confirmation of the aforesaid suspension under their
seal should be sent to aU the churches of England, conventual
as well as cathedral, to be made pubUcly known ; this was
willingly granted by the conventual assembly, and im
mediately after the chapter he retired with a few of his
advisers into the cloister and devised plans for overthrowing
his enemies, and arranged as to the payment of the foreigners
who were fighting under him. At length the king disposed
his army in two parts, that with one he might check the
irruptions of the barons who were staying in the city of
London, whilst with the other he could go himself to the
northern parts of England to ravage the whole country with
fire and sword. These events at St. Alban's took place on
the 20th of December. The commanders appointed to the
army which the king left behind, were W. earl of Salisbury,
his own brother, Falkasius a man of experience in war,
Savaric de Mauleon, with the troops of Poictou, WiUiam
Briwere with all his force, and Walter surnamed Buck, who
commanded the Brabantians ; there were also others besides
these, whom, on account of the number, I omit to mention.
How king John marched to the northern parts of England and ravaged '
the country.
Bang John then, leaving the town of St. Alban's, proceeded
northward, taking with him WiUiam earl of Albemarle,
Phihp d'Albiney, John Marshal, and of the leaders from the
transmarine provinces, Gerard de Sotengaine, and Godeschal,
with the Flemings and cross-bow men, and other lawless
people who neither feared God or regarded man. He rested
a Uttie while that night at Dunstable, but before day-light

A.D. 1215.] RAVAGES COMMITTED BT JOHN. 349
he set out on his march towards Northampton, and, spread
ing his troops abroad, burnt the houses and buildings of
the barons, robbing them of their goods and cattle, and thus
destroying everything that came in his way, he gave a
miserable spectacle to aU who beheld it. And if the day did
not satisfy the malice of the king for the destruction of
property, he ordered his incendiaries to set fire to the hedges
and towns on his march, that he might refresh his sight with
the damage done to his enemies, and by robbery might
support the wicked agents of his iniquity. All the in
habitants of every condition and rank who did not take
refuge in a church-yard, were made prisoners, and, after
being tortured, were compelled to pay a heavy ransom. The
chastelains, who were in charge of the fortresses of the
barons, when they heard of the king's approach, left their
castles untenanted and fled to places of secrecy, leaving their
provisions and various stores as booty for their approaching
enemies ; the king placed his own followers in these empty
castles, and in this manner marched with his wicked foUowers
to Nottingham.
Of the ravages committed by his army in the southern part of England.
In the meantime WiUiam earl of SaUsbury, and Falkasius
with the troops before mentioned, whom the king had left at
St. Alban's, ordered the castellans of Windsor, Hertford,
and Berkhampstead with a strong body of troops to pass and
repass to and from the city of London, to watch and harass
the barons and to endeavour to cut off their supplies, after
which they themselves roved through the counties of Essex,
Hertford, Middlesex, Cambridge, and Huntingdon, collecting
booty and indulging in rapine; they levied impositions on
the towns, made prisoners of the inhabitants, burnt the
buildings of the barons, destroyed the parks and warrens, cut
down the trees in the orchards, and having spread fire as far
as the suburbs of London, they took away an immense booty
with them ; and when messengers came from various places
reporting all this to the barons they looked at one another
and said, " The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken
away,"* &c. On the 28th of November in this year,
* " The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away;" these things are
to be borne with a firm mind. And when they heard that, amongst other

350 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1216.
Falkasius took the town of Hamslape, * belonging to WilUam
Maudut; and on the same day the castle of Tunbridge,
belonging to the earl of Clare, was taken by the casteUans
of Bochester. Soon after this time Falkasius arrived at the
castle of Bedford and demanded it of the garrison who
obtained a truce of seven days, and, finding that they received
no assistance from their lord WUUam de Beauchamp in that
time, they surrendered the castle to the aforesaid Falkasius
on the 2nd of December.
The surrender of Belvoir castle to the king.
a.d. 1216. Which was the eighteenth year of king John's
reign, he was at the castle of Nottingham on Christmas day,
and on the day after he moved his camp, and arrived at the
town of Langar, where he passed the night ; in the morning
he sent special messengers and with threats demanded its
surrender from the garrison. This castle was in the charge
of Nicholas a clerk, son of William d'Albiney, and the
knights William de Studham, and Hugh de Charneles, who
immediately asked the opinion of their feUow knights, as to
what should be done ; for they had been told on behalf of the
abominable excesses perpetrated by the king and his wicked accomplices,
their wives and daughters were exposed to insult, they said sorrolvfully,
'' These are the acts olthe well beloved son in Christ, of that pope who pro
tects his vassaLin humiliating this noble kingdom in such an unusual way."
OtTsorrow ! He who ought to heal his languishing people openly spreads
poison amongst the paupers, whom we ought to call the church. " The more
conspicuous the man is the greater is his crime." [Juvenal, 8. 140.] In
the same year on the 28th of November, Faulkes took the castle of
William de' Hanslape and destroyed it. On the same day the castellans
of Rochester took the castle of Tunbridge, belonging to the earl of Clare.
Soon afterwards Faulkes went to the castle of Bedford and demanded its
surrender by the garrison ; he however granted them a truce of seven days,
and they, receiving no assistance during that time from their lord, William
Beauchamp, surrendered the castle to Faulkes on the 2nd of December.
The king being quite under the power of Faulkes, who made no distinction
between right and wrong, gave him the castle of Bedford and a noble lady,
Margaret de Riparus, for his wife, together with all her property, and also
gave him the lands of many of the barons of England, that he might
increase the rage of all of them against him. In the same year, on the day
of the conversion of St. Paul, William de Comhull was consecrated to the
bishopric of Chester, on the 22nd of February, master Benedict, precentor
of St. Paul's at London to that of Rochester, and master Richard dean of
Salisbury to that of Chichester.
* Probably Hounslow,

A.D. 1216.] SUFFERINGS OF THE CHRISTIANS. 351
king, that, if he received a single refusal to surrender the
castle, W. d'Albiney should never eat again but should
die a disgraceful death. The besieged were thus in a
perplexity in every way, and did not know what to do ; at
length, however, by the general advice of all, they agreed to
save their lord from an ignominious death by surrendering
the castle rather than, by retaining it, to lose their lord as
well as the castle. Then Nicholas d'Albiney and Hugh de
Charneles, taking the keys of the castle with them went to
the king at Langar, and surrendered the castle to him on the
condition that he would deal mercifully with their lord, and
that they themselves might continue secure under his pro
tection. On the following day then, which was St. John the
Evangelist's day, the king came to the castle, and gave it
into the charge of Geoffrey and Oliver de Buteville, two
brothers, who came from Poictou, and after the oath of fealty
and faithful obedience to him had been taken by all, he
granted them his letters patent securing to them an indemnity
of all their property.
Of the various kinds of sufferings endured by the Christian people.
In the meantime a part of the king's army came to Doving-
ton, a town belonging to John de Lacy, and finding it
untenanted, it was immediately razed to the ground by order
of the king ; after this he separated his wicked army, and
took his march towards the northern provinces, burning the
buildings belonging to the barons, making booty of their
cattle, plundering them of their goods and destroying every
thing they came to with the sword. The whole surface of
the earth was covered with these limbs of the devil like
locusts, who assembled from remote regions to blot out every
thing from the face of the earth, from man down to his
cattle ; for, running about with drawn swords and open
knives, they ransacked towns, houses, cemeteries, and
churches, robbing every one, and sparing neither women or
children ; the king's enemies wherever they were found were
imprisoned in chains and compelled to pay a heavy ransom.
Even the priests whilst standing at the very altars, with the
cross of the Lord in their hands, clad in their sacred robes,
were seized, tortured, robbed, and iU-treated ; and there was
no pontiff, priest, or Levite to pour oil or wine on their

352 ROGER OF WENDOVER. ' [a.D. 1216.
wounds. They inflicted similar tortures on knights and
others of every condition, some of them they hung up by the
middle, some by the feet and legs, some by the hands, and
some by the thumbs and arms, and then threw salt mixed
with vinegar in the eyes of the wretches, taking no heed that
they were made after God's image, and were distinguished
by the name of Christian ; others they placed on tripods or
gridirons over live coals, and then bathing their roasted
bodies in cold water they thus kUled them, and when, in
their tortures, the wretched creatures uttered pitiable cries
and dreadful groans, there was no one to show them pity,
and their torturers were satisfied with nothing but their
money. Many who had worldly possessions gave them to
their torturers, and were not believed when they had given
their aU ; others, who had nothing, gave many promises, that
they might at least for a short time put off the tortures they
had experienced once. This persecution was general through
out England, and fathers were sold to the torture by their
sons, brothers by their brothers, and citizens by their feUow
citizens. Markets and traffic ceased, and goods were exposed
for sale only in church-yards ; agriculture was at a stand-
stiU, and no one dared to go beyond the Umits of the churches.
Amidst all these sufferings which were occasioned by the
barons, they themselves were lying in the city of London like
women in labour, giving all their attention to their food and
drink, and thinking what new dainty could be set before
them, which, by removing their nausea, might give them
new appetite ; but, although they slumbered, the king slept
not, until he had got aU their lands and possessions, castles
and towns, in his own power from the southern to the
Scotch sea.
Of those who were appointed governors of the subdued castles.
When he had, as above-mentioned, disposed of the
property of the barons at will, the king gave charge of the
whole district between the river Tees and Scotland with the
property and castles to Hugh de BaUol and PhiUp d'Ulcote,
allowing them knights and soldiers sufficient for the defence
of that part of the country. In the city of York he appointed
Eobert Oldbridge, Brian de Lisle, and Geoffrey de Lacy,
guardians of the property and castles, aUotting soldiers to

A.D. 1216.] BARONS PERSONALLY EXCOMMUNICATED. 353
them. To William earl of Albemarle he gave charge of the
castles of Bockingham and Sauvey, and a castle called Biham
belonging to WiUiam de Coleville. To Falkasius he entrusted
the castles of Oxford, Northampton, Bedford, and Cambridge.
To Ealph le Tyris he gave the castle of Berkhampstead ;
and the castle of Hertford was given into the custody of
Walter de Godarville, a knight in the service of Falkasius.
To these and to all others throughout England the king gave
orders, as they valued their bodies and their property, to
destroy all the property of the barons, namely, their castles,
buildings, towns, parks, warrens, lakes, and mills, and as he
had begun, to finish the business with equal cruelty ; they
not daring to oppose the king's commands exercised such
cruelty in the duty assigned to them, that in sight of all they
made a lamentable spectacle of the houses and other property
of the barons.* And thus the king returning from the north
arranged everything at his own pleasure, so that there-only
remained in the power of the barons the two castles of Mont-
sorrel and another belonging to Bobert de Eoos in the
county of York. Having subdued all this country with
dreadful slaughter, he went along the boundaries of Wales to
the southern provinces, and exercising his cruelty on all who
opposed him, he besieged and took several of the castles of
his enemies ; some of these he destroyed and others he
garrisoned with his own soldiers.
Of the especial excommunication of the barons.
About this time the English barons, who had been
formerly excommunicated in general by the supreme pontiff
at the king of England's suit, were, by the following letter,
excommunicated by him by name, and individually, in the
following terms, " Innocent, bishop, to the abbat of Abingdon,
the archdeacon of Poictou, and master Eobert an official of
the church of Norwich, greeting. We wish it to come to
* Paris adds : — " As he who was not very wicked seemed good, and he
who did not do as much injury as he could did none, it seemed to be
advantageous. - The king then, roused to a high pitch of rage, marched to
the cismarine districts of Scotland, and after taking the castle of Berwick
and others, which seemed impregnable, he taunted king Alexander there
with, and alluded to his red hair, saying, ' Thus we will rouse the red fox
from his lair.' And there he would have spread slaughter and destruction,
if he had not been recalled by urgent necessity."
VOL. H. A A

354 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1216.
your knowledge that at our late general council, we, on
behalf of the Almighty God, the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, and by the authority of the blessed Peter and Paul
his apostles, and by our own authority, excommunicated
and anathematized the barons of England with their aiders
and abettors, for their persecution of John the illustrious
king of the EngUsh, a king who has assumed the cross and
is a vassal of the church of Borne, inasmuch as they are
endeavouring to take from him the kingdom which is known
to belong to the Boman church. Moreover we excommuni
cate and anathematize all those who have lent their assistance
or money in attacking that kingdom, or to hinder those who
go to the assistance of the said king, and we lay the lands of
the said barons under the interdict of the church. We also
lay our hands more heavily on them if they do not desist
from their designs, since in this respect they are worse than
Saracens ; and it is our decree that, if any priest of any rank
or order shall dare to violate the aforesaid sentences of ex
communication or interdict, he may rest assured that he is
struck with the sword of the interdict, and wiU be deposed
from every office and benefice. Wherefore we, by these
apostolic letters, entrust it to your discretion to pubhsh the
aforesaid decrees throughout aU England, and with our
. authority to cause the same to be observed inviolate notwith
standing the interposition of any condition or appeal. It is
moreover our will and command, that you, by the apostoUc
authority, pubUcly throughout all England denounce as .ex
communicated, and cause to be strictly avoided by ah, certain
barons of England, whom our venerable brother the bishop
of Winchester, and our weU-beloved sons the abbat of Bead
ing, and master Pandulph our sub-deacon and famihar, by us
delegated, have personally declared excommunicated, because
they found them guilty in the aforesaid matters, to wit those
citizens of London who have been the chief promoters of the
aforesaid crime, and Bobert Fitz- Walter, S. earl of Winches
ter, E. his son, G. de Mandeville, and William his brother,
E. earl of Clare, and G. his son, H. earl of Hereford, E. de
Percy, E. de Vescy, J. constable of Chester, WilUam de
Mowbray, WiUiam d'Albiney, W. his son, E. de Eoos and
WiUiam his son, P. de Brus, E. de Cressy, John his son,
Ealph Fitz-Bobert, E. earl Bigod, H. his son, Eobert de

A.D. 1216.] EXCOMMUNICATION ENFORCED. 355
Vere, Fulk Fitz-Warren, W. Malet, W. de Montacute,
W. Fitz-Marshall, W. de Beauchamp, S. de Kime, E. de
Mont Begon, and Nicholas de Stuteville, and also several
others expressed in the decree by name as guilty of the afore
said offences, together with their accomplices and abettors ;
and that on each Sunday and feast day you solemnly repub
lish this sentence, and order it to be strictly observed ; and
that you lay the city of London under the interdict of the
church, putting aside aU appeal and checking the opposition
of all gainsayers, under penalty of the church's censure. We
also command that you publicly denounce, as excommuni
cated, master Gervase chancellor of London, who, as we have
heard from the aforesaid arbiters, has been a most open
persecutor of the said king and his foUowers, and that you
threaten him with more severe punishment unless he make
a meet reparation for his offences. And if all do not, &c.
Given at the Lateran, the 16th day of December in the
eighteenth year of our pontificate."
The aforesaid sentence enforced.
On receipt of the above-mentioned letters the arbiters
wrote to all the churches of England, cathedral and con
ventual, to the following effect: — "Innocent, bishop, &c.
We strictly command you by authority of this our mandate
to denounce as excommunicated, the barons of England,
together with aU their aiders and abettors, who are per
secuting their lord, king John of England, and all those who
have lent their assistance or money to seize or attack the
said kingdom, or to obstruct those who go to the assistance
of the said king, and to make it pubhc that the lands of the
said barons are laid under the ecclesiastical interdict. Also
that you denounce as excommunicated all the barons, who
are personally mentioned in the above letter of our lord the
pope, together with all others mentioned by name, in the
sentence of the aforesaid arbiters, namely, Walter de Norton,
Osbert Fitz-Alan, Ohver de Vaux, H. de Braibrock,
E. de Eopele, W. de Hobregge, W. de Mauduit, Maurice de
Gant, E. de Berkley, Adam of Lincoln, B. de Mandeville,
W. de Lanvaley, Philip Fitz-John, Wilham de Tuintuna,
W. de Huntingfield, Alexander de Puintune, E. de Munfichet,
E. de Gresley, Geoffrey constable of Meantune, W. archdeacon
A A 2

356 ROGER OF WENDOVER. * [A.D. 1216.
of Hereford, J. de Fereby, E. chaplain of Eobert Fitz- Walter,
Alexander de Suttune, W. de ColeviUe, E. his son, Osbert de
Bobi, Osbert Giffard, Nicholas de Stuteville, Thomas de
Muletune, the citizens of London, and master G. the chancellor,
and that you publicly declare the city of London as laid
under the ecclesiastical interdict. And you will cause these
sentences of excommunication and interdict to be published
and solemnly renewed on each Sunday and feast day in the
churches, as well conventual as parochial, which belong to
you, strictly fulfilling each article of the apostohc mandate,
and duly observing it yourselves on your own part, that you
may not incur the censure of the church, which is due to the
contumacious. Farewell." When these sentences of excom
munication and interdict were pubUshed throughout England,
and became known to all, the city of London alone treated
them with contempt, inasmuch as the barons determined not
to observe them, and the priests not to publish them; for
they said amongst themselves, that all the letters had been
obtained under false representations and were therefore of no
importance, and chiefly for this reason, because the manage
ment of lay affairs did not pertain to the pope, since the
apostle Peter and his successors had only been entrusted by
the Lord with the control and management of church
matters ; they therefore paid no regard at aU to the sentence
of interdict or excommunication, but held worship through
out the whole city, ringing bells and chanting with loud
voices. The ravages in the isle of Ely.
In the meantime Walter Buce with his Brabantians
entered the isle of Ely near Herebeie,* and plundered aU the
churches in that island, compeUing the inhabitants by most
cruel tortures to pay heavy ransoms ; and there was no place
of refuge where they could place their property or even
themselves out of danger; for the earl of Salisbury, and
Falkasius with Savaric de Maulion, coming from the neigh
bouring districts, entered the island by the bridge of
Stunteney, laying waste the whole country, and robbing the
churches, and seized all that had been left by the before-
mentioned robbers. They at length entered the cathedral
* " i. e. The station of the army, and was the old fortification, where the
conqueror's army lay."— Tyrrell, ii. p. 790.

A.D. 1216.] LOUIS CHOSEN KING. 357
church with drawn swords, and after they had plundered it,
the prior of the place with difficulty redeemed it from being
burnt by the payment of nine marks of silver. The lord
Stephen Eidel was dragged out of the church by force and
lost aU that he was possessed of, his horses, books, household
goods and utensils, and with much difficulty preserved his
person from the tortures by payment of a hundred marks.
Fifteen knights were taken prisoners in this island, with
many others of divers condition and rank. The richer and
more noble of the knights made their escape over the sea
with much difficulty and fled to London; some of these,
however, were not able to accomplish the journey owing to
the failure of their horses from weakness, and were made
prisoners. And thus everything in the island fell into the
possession of these robbers without opposition.
How the barons of England chose Louis for their king.
The barons of England having now lost all that they most
cared for in the world, as appears from the foregoing narra
tive, and having no hope of an improvement in affairs so as
to recover by their own means what they had lost, were in
consternation and did not know how to act; at length, by
general consent, it was determined to choose some powerful
man as king, by whose means they could be restored to their
possessions and former hberties ; * and after long irresolution
* Cursing the king's fickleness, tergiversation, and infidelity they thus
gave vent to their grief, " Woe to you, John, last of kings, detested one of
the chiefs of England, disgrace to the English nobility ! Alas for England
already devastated, and to be further ravaged ! Alas ! England, England,
till now chief of provinces in all kinds of wealth, thou art laid under tribute;
subject not only to fire, famine, and the sword, but to the rule of ignoble
slaves and foreigners, than which no slavery can be worse. We read that
many other kings, yea, and princes^ have contended even to the death, for
the liberty of their land which was in subjection ; but you, John, of sad
memory to future ages, have designed and made it your business to enslave
your country which has been free from times of old, and, that y*m might
drag others with you into slavery, like the serpent who dragged down half
the host of heaven, have in the first place oppressed yourself; you have,
from a free king, become a tributary, a farmer, and a vassal of slavery, you
have bound by a bond of perpetual slavery this noble land, which will never
be freed from the servile shackle, unless through the compassion of Him
who may at some time deign to free us and the whole world, whom the old
servitude retains under the yoke of sin. And what is to be said of you, 0
pope ! who ought to shine forth an examnle to the whole world, as the

358 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. !216.
as to whom they should choose, they unanimously determined
to appoint Louis, son of PhiUp the French king, as their
ruler, and to raise him to the throne of England. Their
reason for this was, that the host of foreigners by whom the
king of England was surrounded, were, for the most part,
under the dominion of Louis and his father, and if, by means
of these latter, John could be deprived of their assistance,
being thus left destitute both at home and abroad, he would
be left to himself and unable to contend against themy This
resolution being satisfactory to all, they sent S. earl of
Winchester, and Eobert Fitz-Walter as special messengers to
king Phihp and Louis his son, with letters under the seals
of aU the barons, earnestly beseeching the father to send his
son to reign in England, and the son to come there to take
the crown. These messengers immediately made aU haste
and delivered the aforesaid letters to the French king and
his son Louis; but PhUip, after he had read the letters
and understood their purport, told the messengers in reply
that he would not send his son before he had, for greater
security, received good hostages from the barons, at least
twenty-four of the most distinguished men in the whole king
dom. The messengers, on hearing this, made aU possible
speed and reported the answer they had received to the
barons, who, having no other resort, sent hostages to the
French king at his pleasure to the number above-mentioned.
The hostages on their arrival were committed to safe custody
at Compiegne, and Louis, somewhat encouraged, made pre-
father of holiness, the mirror of piety, the defender of justice, and the
guardian of truth ; do you agree to this, do you commend and protect such
a one? But because he inclines to you, you defend this drainer and
extorter of the wealth of England and the English nobility, that every
thing may be absorbed in the gulph of Roman avarice, but this plea and
excuse, this sin and accusation are before God." And the barons in their
complaints and lamentations, uttered curses on the king and the pope, thus
sinning without hopes of atonement, since it is written, " Thou shalt not
curse the king ;" and thus transgressed the truth and their reverence, since
they declared that the illustrious king John was a slave, when to be a slave
to God is to be a king. At length they determined to choose some other
prince, by whose means they could be restored to their former condition ;
thinking that no king could reign more tyrannically than John, then adopt
ing the following maxim :
" When fate on man its force has spent,
He need not fear the next event." — M. Paris.

A.D. 1216.] RENEWAL OF THE EXCOMMUNICATION. 359
parations for the expedition which he desired above all
things ; but as his own departure on such an arduous expedi
tion could not be effected in a hurry, he sent messengers in
advance to give the barons hope and also to try their fidelity.
The names of these were, the casteUan of St. Omar, the
castellan of Arras, Hugh Thacun, Eustace de Neville,
Baldwin Bretel, W. de Wimes, Giles de Melun, W. de
Beaumont, Giles de Hersi, and Biset de Fersi ; all these with
a large retinue of knights and foUowers came by the river
Thames, and, to the great joy of the barons, arrived at London
on the 27th of February. In this year Stephen archbishop
of Canterbury gave security at Eome that he would abide by
the decision of the pope on the matters before mentioned, and
was released from his suspension, but on condition that he
would not go to England before peace was fuUy restored
between the king and barons.
The renewal of the sentence passed against the barons for their contumacy.
In the same year at Easter, the abbat of Abingdon and
his co-arbiters, seeing the contumaciousness of the barons
and of the citizens of London, laid their hands on them more
heavily, and, repeating the edict, they gave orders to all the
conventual churches of England to pubUsh the sentence
which had been issued in the following form : " H., by the
grace of God, abbat of Abingdon, &c. In pursuance of the
apostolic mandate imposed on us, as the purport of our let
ters which we lately transmitted to you, has more fully
informed you, we have not merely once, but often, sent our
letters containing the words of our lord the pope's warrant
to the chapters of St. Paul and St. Martin, to G. de Boc-
lande, dean of the said church, and to the conventual assembly
of the Holy Trinity at London, by the apostoUc authority,
ordering them at once to publish and inviolably observe the
sentences of excommunication and interdict which are issued
against the persecutors of the said king and the city of Lon
don ; but they irreverently presume to set at defiance the
apostolic mandate, for they contumaciously refuse to pubhsh
the said sentences or even to observe them, knowingly
taking part in divine services with those excommunicated,
and thus in every respect proving themselves transgressors
of the decrees of our lord the pope, and open despisers of his

360 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1216.
mandate ; of which we have full and sure information, by
letters patent of the chapter of St. Paul and St. Martin,
specially sent us by the clerks and messengers of the said
dean, and by other sufficient proofs. Moreover there have
lately arrived from the French kingdom, certain nobles with
an armed band of knights and foUowers, aU of whom we also
undoubtedly wish to be fettered with the sentence of excom
munication, for they invade the kingdom of England, in
opposition to our lord the pope and the Boman church, are
daily robbing it, and in part keep possession of it, as is evi
dent to all in England as well as elsewhere ; wherefore, by
virtue of the apostolic authority, of which we discharge the
duties in this business, we denounce, as excommunicated,
the said nobles, namely, the castellan of St. Omar, Hugh
Thacun, Eustace de Neville, the castellan of Arras, Bald
win Bretel, W. de Wimes, Giles de Melun, W. de Beaumont,
Giles de Hersi, Biset de Fersi, with their accomphces, and
all those who have lent their assistance or money against the
king, to invade or take possession of the kingdom of England,
and also the above-mentioned dean, and also all canons and
clerks of every rank and order in the aforesaid churches and
city, to whose knowledge the mandate had come, who have
either absented themselves, or by any means prevented its
reaching them. And by the same authority we also enjoin
you publicly to denounce as excommunicated aU those above-
mentioned, and to cause it to be published throughout the
whole of your parish, expressly naming as weU the dean as
the aforesaid nobles, so that, by showing attention to this
matter, as well as that which was contained in his first
letters to you, you may not be accused of neghgence to the
supreme pontiff, but rather be commended for your diligence.
Farewell." How Louis sent consolatory letters to the barons.
About this time Louis wrote to the barons who were
staying in London and to the citizens as follows : '¦ Louis,
eldest son of king Philip, to all his friends and allies in
London, health and sincere affection. Eest assured that on
the approaching Easter Sunday we will be at Calais ready,
under God's favour, to cross the sea. Inasmuch as you have
conducted yourselves strenuously and bravely in all my

A.D. 121G.] A LEGATE SENT TO PHILIP. 361
affairs, we return you abundant thanks; and we earnestly
ask and require that, as you have always done, you will con
tinue to conduct yourselves with courage. We also wish
you to be assured that, in a short time you will have us to
assist you ; and we earnestly beg of you in this matter not
to trust to any other false suggestions, or letters, or mes
sages, for we believe that you will receive false letters and
misleading messengers. Farewell." About this time the
barons went from the city of London, in company with the
knights who had lately come from France, to enjoy the sport
of tilting with only lances and cloth armour ; and after
spending great part of the day in urging their horses to
speed and striking one another with their lances, one of the
French knights in the sport couched his lance against
Geoffrey de Mandeville earl of Essex, and mortaUy wounded
him ; the earl however forgave the man who had wounded
him, and a few days afterwards died to the regret of many.
How Walo came as legate to the French king.
About this same time master Walo was sent by the pope
to France by the apostolic authority, to forbid Louis to pro
ceed to England ; he on coming to king Philip delivered to
him deprecatory letters from the pope, the contents of which
were, that he was not to permit his son Louis to go to Eng
land as an enemy, or to harass the English king in any way,
but to protect and love him as a vassal of the church of
Eome, and as one whose kingdom, by right of dominion,
belonged to the said church of Eome. The French king,
when he read this, immediately answered, " The kingdom of
England never was the inheritance of Peter, nor is it, nor
shall it be. For king John, in times long past, attempted
unjustly to deprive his own brother king Eichard of the
kingdom of England, on which he was accused of treachery,
convicted of the same in that monarch's presence, and con
demned by the decision of the said king at his court, and
sentence was pronounced by Hugh de Pusaz bishop of
Durham ; therefore he was not a true king, and could not give
away his kingdom. Besides this, had he ever been a lawful
king, he afterwards forfeited his kingdom by the murder of
Arthur, for which deed he was condemned in our court."
He also said that no king or prince could give away his

362 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1216.
kingdom without the consent of his barons, who were
bound to defend that kingdom ; and if the pope was de
termined to defend that error, it would be a most per
nicious example to all kingdoms. The nobles then exclaimed
with one voice that they would oppose that point to the
death, namely, that a king or prince could at his pleasure
alone give his kingdom away, or make it tributary, whereby
the nobles of the kingdom would become slaves. These
events took place at Lyons on the fifteenth day after Easter.
How the same legate forbade Louis to go to England.
On the following day, at his father's request, Louis came
to the conference, and looking on the legate with a scowUng
brow, took his seat near his father ; the legate then, with
many entreaties, begged of Louis not to go to England to
invade or seize on the inheritance of the church of Borne,
and entreated his father, as he had done before, not to
permit him to go. The French king, however, immediately
replied to the legate in these words, "I have always been
a devoted and faithful ally of our lord the pope and the
church of Eome, and in aU transactions have tiU this time
effectually promoted their welfare, neither shaU my son
Louis now have my advice in attempting anything against
the church of Eome ; however, if Louis can prove any claim
that he has to the kingdom of England, let him be heard, and
let what is right be conceded to him." On this, a certain
knight, whom Louis had appointed to plead for him, rose,
and in the hearing of aU, answered, " My lord king, it is a
fact well known to all that John, caUed king of England,
was, by the decision of his peers in your court, condemned to
death for his treachery to his nephew Arthur, whom he
murdered with his own hands ; and was after that deposed
by the barons of England from his sovereignty over them,
on account of the many murders and other offences he had
committed there, and for this reason the said barons had
made war against him, to drive him from the throne of
the kingdom. Moreover, the said king, without the consent
of his nobles, gave his kingdom of England to our lord the
pope and the church of Eome, that he might again resume
possession of it from them, on the annual payment of a
thousand marks. And if he could not give the crown of

A.D. 1216.] LOUIS DISOBEYS THE POPE. 363
England to any one without the baron's consent, he could
however resign it ; and as soon as he resigned it, he ceased
to be a king, and the kingdom was without a king. A vacant
kingdom could not be settled without asking the barons ; on
which they chose Louis as their lord, by reason of his wife,
whose mother, namely, the queen of Castile, was the only sur
vivor of all the brothers and sisters of the said king of Eng
land. The legate then pleaded that king John had assumed the
cross, on which account he ought, according to the decree of
the general council, to have peace for four years, and all his
possessions ought to remain secure under the protection of
the apostohc see ; and therefore Louis ought not in the
meantime to make war on the said king, or deprive him of
his kingdom. To this the proctor of Louis replied, " King
John, before assuming the cross, had made war on our lord
Louis, and besieged and destroyed the castle of Buncham ;
he had hkewise taken Aria, and burnt the greatest part of
it, and, having made prisoners of several knights and their
foUowers at that place, he still detains them prisoners. He
also besieged the castle of Liens, and slew a great number at
that place ; the county of Gisnes, which is the lawful fee of
our lord Louis, he ravaged with fire and sword ; and even
after assuming the cross, he is still at war against Louis,
wherefore, he can justly wage war against the said king."
The legate, however, not content with these reasons, forbade
Louis, as before, under penalty of excommunication, to pre
sume to enter England, and also his father to permit him to
go. On hearing this, Louis said to his father, " Although I
am your hege subject in the fee which you have given me in
the provinces this side of the sea, it is not your duty to
determine anything concerning the kingdom of England ; I
therefore throw myself on the decision of my peers, as to
whether you ought to hinder me from seeking my rights, and
especiaUy a right in which you cannot afford me justice. I
therefore ask of you not to obstruct my purpose of seeking
my rights, because, for the inheritance of my wife I will, if
necessary, contend even to death ;" and with these words
Louis retired from the conference with his followers. The
legate seeing this, asked the king to grant him safe conduct
as far as the sea-coast ; to whi^ch the king repUed, " We will
willingly grant you safe conduct through our territory, but

364 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1216
if you should by chance fall into the hands of Eustace the
monk, or any other of Louis's friends who are in charge of
the seas, do not blame me for anything untoward that
befalls you." On this, the legate departed from the court in
a rage. How Louis obtained his father's permission, and went to England.
On the following day, which was that of St. Mark the
evangelist, Louis went to his father at Melun, and begged of
him not to obstruct his proposed journey; he also added
that he had given his oath to the barons of England that he
would come to their assistance, and therefore, he would
rather be excommunicated by the pope for a time, than incur
the charge of 'falsehood. The king, seeing the firmness and
anxiety of his son, granted him his permission, and dis
missed him with his blessing. Louis then sent messengers
to the court of Eome, there to set forth in the presence of
the pope the right which he claimed for himself to the king
dom of England, and then, in company with his earls, barons,
knights, and numerous followers, he made all haste to the
sea- coast, that he might reach England before the legate.
When they all reached the port of Calais, they found there
six hundred ships' and eighty cogs, all weU equipped, which
Eustace the monk had collected there against Louis's arrival;
they therefore all immediately embarked and put to sea with
aU speed, making for the isle of Thanet, where they landed -
at a place called Stanhore, on the twenty-first of May.
King John was then at Dover with his army, but as he was
surrounded with foreign mercenaries and knights from the
transmarine provinces, he did not venture to attack Louis on
his landing, lest in the battle they might aU leave him and
go over to the side of Louis ; he therefore chose to retreat
for a time, rather than to give battle on an uncertairitv. He
therefore retreated before Louis, leaving Dover castle in
charge of Hugh de Burgh, and continued his flight tiU he
arrived first at Guildford, and afterwards at Winchester.
Louis, finding no one to oppose him, disembarked at Sand
wich, and soon subdued the whole of the district, with the
exception of the castle of Dover. He then went to* London,
and was there received with great joy by all the barons' ; he
then received homage and fealty from aU of them, and from

A.D. 1216.] LOUIS SUBDUES THE PROVINCES. 365
the citizens who had been waiting his arrival there, whilst
he himself swore on the holy gospels that he would grant
good laws and restore their inheritances to each and all of
them. He also wrote to the king of Scots and to all the
nobles of England who had not yet done homage to him,
ordering them to make their fealty to him, or to retire with
all speed from England. At this command, there came to
him WiUiam earl of Warrene, W. earl of Arundel, W. earl of
Salisbury, W. Mareschal the younger, and many others besides
them, abandoning king John, as though they were quite sure
that Louis would obtain the kingdom. Louis appointed
Master Simon Langton his chancellor, who preached to
the citizens of London, as well as the excommunicated barons,
when they performed divine service, and also induced Louis
himself to agree to it.
Walo the legate follows Louis to England.
About this same time, Walo the legate, when he was in
formed of Louis's departure to England, as a diligent agent
of the apostolic mandate, crossed the sea to follow him, and
passing through the enemies unhurt, he came to king John
at Gloucester ; the latter received him with great pleasure,
and rested all his hopes of being able to oppose his enemies
on him. The legate then convoked all the bishops, abbats,
and clergy whom he could muster, and, amidst the ringing of
"bells, and with lighted tapers, excommunicated' by name the
said Louis, with all his accomplices and abettors, especially
Master Simon Langton, at the same time ordering the said
bishops and all others to make this sentence public through
out all England, on every Sunday and feast day ; but to all
this, Master Simon Langton and Master Gervase d'Hobregge,
precentor of St. Paul's church at London, and several others,
made reply, that they had appealed on behalf of Louis, and
therefore that they considered that sentence as null and void.
At this time, all the knights and soldiers from the country of
Flanders and the transmarine provinces, except only those of
Poictou, abandoned the cause of king John, some of them.
joining Louis, and others returning home.
How Louis subdued the southern provinces of England.
Louis about this time left the city of London with a large

366 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1216.
body of knights, and invaded the county of Kent, and, as no
one opposed him, he soon subdued it, with the exception of
Dover castle. Marching onward, he by force gained pos
session of Sussex, with all the towns and fortresses ; but
here a young man named William, refusing to make his
fealty to Louis, collected a company of a thousand bow-men,
and taking to the woods and forests with which that part of
the country abounded, he continued to harass the French
during the whole war, and slew many thousands of them.
Louis at length came to the city of Winchester, and reduced
it to subjection, together with the castle and the whole
country round. Hugh de NeviUe went to Louis, sur
rendered to him the castle of Marlborough, and did homage
to him. After this, Louis went to Odiham, a town belong
ing to the bishop of Winchester, and laid siege to the tower.
In this tower were only three knights and ten soldiers, but
they boldly defended it ; on the third day after the French
had arranged their engines round the tower, and had made
frequent and fierce assaults on it, the aforesaid three knights
and their soldiers made a sally from the tower, and seizing
the same number of knights and soldiers on the adverse side,
regained the tower without loss to themselves. However,
after the siege had lasted eight days, they surrendered the
tower to Louis, and came out themselves only thirteen in
number, saving their horses and arms, to the great admira
tion of the French. All the southern districts had thus faUen
into the power of Louis, except the castles of Dover and
Windsor, which, being weU garrisoned, awaited Louis's
approach. In the meantime, WiUiam de Mandeville, Eobert
Fitz- Walter, and WiUiam de Huntingfield, with a powerful
army of knights and soldiers, had reduced to subjection under
Louis the counties of Essex and Suffolk. Whilst all this
was going on, king John had laid in good supplies of pro
visions and arms in the castles of WaUingford, Corfe, Ware-
ham, Bristol, Devizes, and others too numerous to mention.
The proceedings of Louis's messengers at Rome.
At this time, the messengers whom Louis had sent to the
court of Borne wrote to him as foUows : " To our most
puissant lord, Louis, eldest son of the king of the French,
D. de Corbeil, I. da Montevisito, and G. Limeth, mes-

A.D. 1216.] LOUIS'S MESSENGERS AT ROME. 367
sengers, health and faithful service. Be it known to your
exceUency, that on the Sunday ad mensem Paschce we went
to our lord the pope, without harm to our persons and pro
perty, and at once went before him on the same day. We
found him cheerful, but apparently having cause of sorrow ;
and when we had presented our letters and saluted him on your
behalf, he answered us, saying, ' Your lord is not worthy of our
salutation.' I immediately answered, ' Father, I believe that
when you have heard the reasons and excuses of our lord,
you will find him worthy of your salutation, as a Christian,
a cathohc, and one always devoted to you and the church of
Eome ;' and thus we retired from his presence that day ; but,
as we were going away, his holiness most kindly told us that
he would willingly grant us audience when and as often as
we wished. On the following Tuesday our lord the pope
sent an attendant of his to your dwelling, ordering us to come
to him, on which we immediately went before him ; and
after we had stated our case, he said much in reply to us
which seemed to blame your actions and your reasons, and as
soon as he had finished his discourse, he said, striking his
breast and groaning in spirit, ' Woe is me that in this affair
the church of God cannot escape trouble ; for if the king of
England is conquered, we are mixed up with his trouble,
because he is our vassal, and we are bound to protect him ;
if your lord Louis is conquered, in his harm the church of
Rome is harmed, and we consider an injury to him as one to
ourselves ; we always indulged the hope, and we indulge it
now, that he would be in all its times of need the arm in
oppression the solace, and in persecution the refuge of the
church of Eome.' And finally, he said that he would
sooner die than that any harm should befall you in this
business ; and thus we left him that day. Moreover, by the
advice of some of the cardinals, we are waiting for the day
of Ascension, that no decree may be made against you, as on
that day it is the pope's custom to repeat his sentences ;
for the pope had himself told us that he expected messengers
from the lord Walo. FareweU !"

368 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1216.
Here are given the charges of Louis and the barons of England against
king John.
The first statement laid before our lord the pope against
king John, by the aforesaid messengers, was, that he had
treacherously with his own hands kiUed his nephew Arthur,
by the worst kind of death, called by the EngUsh, murder ;
for which crime the said king had been condemned to death
at the court of the French king, by the judgment of his
peers. To this charge the pope made this opposition, namely,
that the barons of France could not adjudge him to death,
because he was an anointed king, and therefore their supe
rior ; by the barons, as his inferiors, he could not be con
demned to death, because the higher rank in some measure
destroys the power of the inferior ; and besides, it seems
contrary to civil law as well as in opposition to the canons,
to give sentence of death on a man who is not present, not
summoned, convicted, or confessed to be guilty. To this the
messengers replied, " It is the custom of the French king
dom that the king should have all kind of jurisdiction over
his liege subjects, and the king of England was his liege
subject, his count and duke ; therefore, although he was
elsewhere an anointed king, yet, as an earl and duke he was
under the jurisdiction of our lord, the king of the French.
And if an earl or duke committed this offence in the French
kingdom, he could, and ought to be condemned to death by
his peers ; and even though he were not a duke, or a count,
or a liege subject of the king of the French, and had com
mitted the offence in the French kingdom, the barons could,
for a crime perpetrated in that kingdom, condemn him to
death ; otherwise, if the king of England could not, because
he was an anointed king, be condemned to death, he might
come into the kingdom of France, and with impunity murder
the barons as he murdered Arthur."* In answer to this, the
* Paris here adds : " The truth of this matter is as follows, — John
in fact was not justly or formally deprived of Normandy ; because, when
he was deprived of it, not judicially, but by force, he, to obtain the re
storation of it, sent special messengers, men of prudence, to Philip, the
French king, namely, Eustace bishop of Ely, and Hubert de Burgh, men
of learning and eloquence, to tell that monarch that he would willingly
come to his court to assert his claim, and to answer all accusations in that
matter, on condition that safe conduct was granted him. Philip, though
not with a calm countenance or cordially, replied, ' Willingly, let him come

A.D. 1216.] CHARGES AGAINST THE KING. 369
pope said, " Many emperors and princes, and even French
kings, are reported by history to have slain many innocent
persons, yet we do not read that any one of these was con
demned to death ; and when Arthur was imprisoned at
Mirebeau, not as an innocent person, but as being guilty,
and a traitor to his lord and uncle, to whom he had done
homage and sworn allegiance, he could lawfully be con-
. demned to the most disgraceful death without any trial.
The second charge made by the above against king John.
The seeond charge against the king was, that, though
often summcned, he did not appear in person to take his
trial, and sent no one to answer for him in the court of
France. To this charge the pope replied, that, if the king
of England had been so contumacious as not to appear or
send when summoned, no one ought or could be punished
with death on account of contumaciousness ; therefore the
barons of France could not condemn him to death, but could
punish him in another way, namely, by depriving him of
his fee. The messengers to this made answer, " It is the
safe and in peace.' The bishop then said, ' And may he return 2 my lord.'
The king replied, ' Yes, if the judgments of his peers .allcwa of it.' .And
when all the messengers begged of him that John might have safe conduct
to and from his court, Philip became enraged, and replied with his usual
oath, ' By the saints of France, not unless by the judgment of his peers.'
The bishop then spoke of the dangers which might happen through his
going to the French king's court, and said, ' My lord king, the duke of
Normandy could not come to your court unless the king of England also
came, since the duke and the king are the same person, and this the barons
of England would not allow, even though the king himself wished to
come ; for there would be imminent danger, as you know, of his being
made prisoner or being killed.' To this the king replied, ' And what of
this, my lord bishop ? It is well known that the duke of Normandy, who
is my tenant, gained possession of England by force, and if anything
accrues to a subject, does the superior lord thereby lose his rights ! Not
so.' The messenger then being unable to make any reasonable reply to
this, returned to the king of England, and told him aH.that had passed.
The king, however, would not trust to chance, or to the judgment of the
French, who did not like him ; especially as he feared that he would be
accused of the shameful murder of Arthur, as says Horace, ' All the
foot-marks led to the lion's cave, but none led back again.' The French
nobles, however, proceeded to trial, which they ought not to have done by
rights ; and by their judgment John was condemned when absent, though
he would have appeared if he could. Wherefore, as king John was con
demned by his enemies, he was not properly condemned.
VOL. H. B B

370 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1216.
custom in the French kingdom, when any one is accused
before his judge of the cruel crime of murder, and the
accused does not appear, and pleads no legitimate excuse for
not appearing, to consider him as guilty, and to adjudge him as
if he were guilty of aU the charges, even to suffer death, as
though he were present." In answer to this the pope said,
that, between the king of France and the duke of Normandy,
there might be an agreement or an old custom, that the duke
of Normandy was only bound to come, on the citing of the
king of France, as far as the borders ; and therefore if he
did not come when summoned, he did not commit an offence,
nor could he, on that account, be punished in such a way.
The pope also said, that if the sentence had been pronounced
On the king of England, it had not however been carried
into effect, as he was not yet put to death ; and therefore his
children which were born afterwards, ought to succeed him
in the kingdom, because the king of England had not com
mitted the crime of treason or of heresy, for which offences
only the son is disinherited for his father's crime. The
messengers in reply to this pleaded, " It is the custom in
the kingdom of France, that when any one is condemned to
death, his offspring begotten after his condemnation does not
succeed him, but those children born to him before bis sen
tence ought to succeed him ;" but the messengers however
would not dispute this point. The pope next said, that
although the king of England was condemned to death, and
sons of his flesh were born, Blanche ought not to succed him
but those nearer related to his family, namely, the children
of his eldest brother, and therefore the sister of Arthur, or
Otho, who was the son of his eldest sister ; and if it were
decided that the queen of Castile ought to succeed him, and
consequently Blanche as her daughter, it would not be
proper, because a male ought to be preferred, namely, the
king of Castile ; and if there was no male, the queen of
Leon ought to be preferred as the eldest. To this the
messengers said, " The brother's sons ought not to succeed
him, as the brother was not living when the sentence was
pronounced, and the sister of his nephew, Arthur, ought not
to succeed him, because she was not his lineal descendant,
although the daughter of his brother ; likewise the mother of
Otho was not Uving at the time of the sentence, therefore

A.D. 1216.] CHARGES AGATNST THE RTNG. 371
she did not succeed him, consequently Otho ought not to
succeed him ; but the queen of Castile was alive, who was
his sister, and therefore succeeded, and on the death of the
queen of Castile, her children succeeded and ought to succeed.
To this the pope replied, that the king of Castile ought to
succeed as he was the male heir, or the queen of Leon
as the eldest female heir. The messengers replied, that
when there were several heirs, who ought to succeed a
person, and the one who came first in succession, was still in
the matter, or neglected to enter on his inheritance, the one
who came after him in succession, if he wished to enter on
the inheritance, ought to be invested with it, according to
approved custom, saving however the right of the other if he
reclaimed it; and therefore our lord Louis enters on the
kingdom of England as his own, and if there is any nearer
relative who wishes to lay a claim in this matter, our lord
Louis will do what is right in it.
The third objection against king John.
The pope then said that the kingdom of England was his
own and. under his rule by reason of the fealty, which had
been sworn to him concerning it, and also by reason of the
revenue which was paid to him out of the kingdom; and
therefore, as he had committed no crime, Louis ought not to
make war on him, or to deprive him by force of the kingdom
of England, especially as the king of England held many
possessions in fee of the king of France, for which he might
make war on him. In reply to this the messengers said,
"War, and a just war, was entered upon against the king of
England before that kingdom belonged to your holiness ; but
William Longsword and many others with him came with a
powerful force from the kingdom of England, and inflicted
many inj uries and caused much loss to our lord Louis, there
fore he may with justice make war against the king of
England." To this the pope replied, that, although the king
of England made war on Louis, the latter ought not to have
made war on him, but ought to have complained to his lord,
namely the pope, to whom the king of England as a vassal
was subject. The messengers then said that the custom was,
when war was made on any one by the vassal of another on
his own authority, he who was attacked could make war on
bb 2

372 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A D. 1216.
the other on his own authority, and was not bound to com
plain to the lord of the other ; and if the lord himself de
fended that vassal as long as he continued such war, the lord
himself was said to make war. The pope then said, that,
at the general council it had been decreed, that there should
be peace or a truce for four years between all who were at
difference, in order to give succour to the Holy Land, and
therefore Louis ought not during that time to make war on
the kingdom of England. The messengers replied, that, on
his departure from France, Louis had not been caUed on to
keep the peace or truce ; and even if he had, they beUeved
that there was so much ill will in the king of England, that
he would not keep either peace or truce. The pope next
said that the king of England had assumed the cross ;
wherefore by a decree of the general council, he and all his
possessions ought to be protected by the church. To this
the messengers answered, that the king of England had
made war on Louis before he took the cross, and had in
flicted many injuries on him, had taken his castles, and even
now detained his knights and soldiers in prison, being still
at war against Louis, and will not make peace with him or
grant him a truce, although he had been often asked to do so.
The pope then told them that, by the common consent of the
general council, he had excommunicated the barons of Eng
land and all their abettors, and therefore Louis had incurred
that sentence. The messengers replied that their lord Louis
did not assist the barons of England nor abet them, but only
sought his own rights ; and Louis did not, and could not
believe that the pope or the council would excommunicate
any one unjustly, for at the time of the sentence his hoUness
did not know that Louis had any claim to the kingdom of
England, and as this had been proved to him, Louis did not
believe that the council would take away his right from him.
The pope next said that the French king, as weU as his son
Louis, even after the sentence had been pronounced against
the king of England by the French barons, had called John
a king, considered him as a king, and had made treaties
with him as king of England. To this the messengers
answered, that, after the declaration of the sentence against
the king by the barons, they had never considered him a
king, but had called him " the deposed king," in the same

i.D. 1218.] LODIS RAVAGES THE PROVINCES. 373
manner as an abbat or any one else is said to be deposed.
Lastly the pope said, that he would determine on these mat
ters before the messengers arrived from Walo.*
How Louis ravaged the eastern provinces of England.
About this time Louis made an incursion into the eastern
* C. and B. insert here : — " One day, however, Louis thinking to corrupt the
fidelity and firmness of Hubert de Burgh, by trying his avarice, sent word that
he wished to have a peaceable interview with him ; and when Hubert con
sented to this, Louis sent special messengers to him to a postern gate which
seemed a fit place for the interview. The messengers who were sent to him
were the earl of Salisbury, surnamed William Longespee, who brought with
him for security Thomas de Burgh, brother of the said Hubert, who had been
taken prisoner by Louis at the castle of Norwich, and three of the most noble
of the French. Hubert then came to the postern, followed by five cross-bow
men with bows bent and arrows fitted, so that if there was necessity, they
should not spare their enemies. Earl William then said, ' The death of
king John, once our lord, is, I believe, no secret to you, Hubert, nor are
you ignorant of the oath of Louis, who has sworn, that when he takes pos
session of this castle by force of arms, all found in it shall be hung without
fail. Consult therefore your own safety and honour. You cannot long
retain this castle ; the power of our lord Louis increases daily, while that
of the king decreases, by strong daily assaults; or you will at least perish
of hunger, unless you be wise and yield to my advice, for you see all
hope of help has vanished: therefore without any delay or difficulty, give
up this castle to Louis, and you will not be branded with perfidy, since you
cannot hold possession of it much longer ; and you see that others vie with
one another in giving their fealty to him.' Thomas, his brother, moreover
said to him with tears, ' My dear brother, have compassion on yourself, on
me, and all of us, by yielding to the advice of these nobles; for we shall then
all be freed from impending destruction.' The earl added, ' Listen to my
advice, Hubert, and obey the will of our lord Louis, and he will give you,
as an inheritance, the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and you will also
become his chief counsellor and friend ; but, if you do not this, your
brother Thomas will be hung, and you in a short time will suffer the same
punishment.' To this Hubert then replied : ' Earl, wicked traitor that you
are, although king John, our lord and your brother, be dead, he has heirs,
namely your nephew, whom, although every body else deserted him, you,
his uncle, ought not to abandon, but ought to be a second father to him;
why then, base and wicked man that you are, do you talk thus to me ?'
then casting a scowling look on him and breaking out into a harsher tone,
he added, ' Do not speak another word, because by the lance of God, if
you open your mouth to say any thing more, you shall all be pierced with
numbers of arrows, nor will I even spare my own brother.' The earl
therefore, and those who were with him seeing that they would be killed in
the flash of an eye, because the cross-bow men were ready to discharge their
weapons, retreated at once, glad to escape alive and uninjured. When
Louis heard this, although he was sorry and enraged, he greatly applauded
' the firmness of Hubert."

374 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1216.
part of England, pillaged the cities and towns of Essex,
Suffolk, and Norfolk, and finding the castle of Norwich
deserted he garrisoned it with his own soldiers and imposed
a tax on all those districts ; he also sent a large force against
the town of Lynn, which he reduced, and, taking the inhabit
ants away prisoners, he compelled them to pay a heavy
ransom ; after this the French returned with great booty and
spoil to London. At that place Gilbert de Gant came to
Louis, and was by him presented with the sword of the
county of Lincoln ; Louis then sent him there to check the
incursions of the garrisons of the castles of Nottingham and
Newark, who had destroyed with fire all the abodes and fine
buildings of the barons in that district, and had taken their
lands into their own possession. At the same time Eobert
de Boos, Peter de Brus, and Bichard Percy reduced the city
of York with the whole county to subjection to Louis;
Gilbert de Gant, and Eobert de EoppeUe took the city of
Lincoln and that county, with the exception of the castle, and
imposed an annual tax on the whole of it ; thence marching
into Hoyland, they plundered it, and levied a tax on it ; the
king of Scots subdued the whole county of Northumberland
for Louis, except the castles which Hugh de BaiUul, and
Philip de Hulecotes most courageously defended against the
attacks of the enemy ; however aU these provinces were sub
dued and swore allegiance to Louis. In this year Walo the
legate exacted a tax on proxies from the cathedral churches
and religious houses throughout all England, namely, for
every procuration fifty shiUings ; moreover he sequestrated
aU the benefices of the clergy and religious men, who had
given assistance, or advice, or favoured the cause of Louis,
aU which he converted to the use of himself and his clerks.
Of the siege of Dover castle by Louis.
In the same year on the day of the nativity of St. John
the Baptist, Louis, with a powerful force of knights and
soldiers laid siege to Dover castle, having first sent to his
father for a petraria which was called in French "Malvoisine ;"
and the French having disposed this and other engines before
the castle, they began to batter the waUs incessantly ; but
Hubert de Burgh, a brave knight, with a hundred and forty
knights and a large number of soldiers who were defending

A.D. 1216.] SIEGE OF WINDSOR CASTLE. 375
the castle, destroyed many of the enemy, until the French
feeling their loss removed their tents and engines farther
from the castle ; on this Louis was greatly enraged and swore
he would not leave the place till the castle was taken and all
the garrison hung. They therefore, to strike terror into them,
built a number of shops and other buildings in front of the
entrance to the castle, so that the place appeared like a market ;
for they hoped that they would, by hunger and a protracted
siege, force them to surrender, as they could not subdue
them by force of arms.
The capture of the castle of Cambridge.
About this same time a party of the barons who were stay
ing at London, made an incursion into the country near
Cambridge, pillaged it, and took the castle at that place, where
they made prisoners of twenty soldiers whom they found in
it, and took them away with them. From thence they marched
on, roving through the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk,
pillaging the country as well as aU the churches ; they ex
torted large ransoms from the towns of Yarmouth, Dun-
wich, and Ipswich; and then, after collecting booty about
Colchester, and ravaging the country there in like manner,
they returned to their old haunts at London.
The siege of Windsor castle.
After these events the barons assembled a large force, and
laid siege to the castle of Windsor; the command of this
army was given to the count de Nevers, a descendant of the
traitor Guenelon; and having arranged their engines they
made fierce assault on the walls. This castle was in the
custody of Ingelard d'Athie, a man weU tried in war, who
was attended by sixty knights with their retainers, and these
stoutly defended the castle against their enemies. As soon
as John learned that the castles of Dover and Windsor were
laid siege to, he assembled a large army of 1jie garrisons of
his castles, followed by whom he overran the lands of the
earls and barons at harvest-time, burning their houses and
crops and doing great damage to his enemies ; afterwards he
roved through the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, causing
similar havoc amongst the possessions of the earl of Arundel,
Roger Bigod, WiUiam de Huntingfield, Boger de Cresi, and

376 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1216.
other nobles. When aU these events were told to the barons.
who were gaining Uttie or no advantage at the siege of
Windsor castle, they determined to raise the siege, in order
to cut off the retreat of king John, who, as has been said,
was now pillaging and coUecting booty about the coast of
Suffolk; therefore, by the advice of the count de' Nevers,
who, it was said, had been bribed by presents from the king,
they raised the siege at night, and, leaving their tents, marched
with aU haste towards Cambridge in order to circumvent the
king. He however, by means of good scouts, was forewarned
of this, before the barons arrived at Cambridge, and like a
cunning traveUer betook himself to the town of Stamford.
From thence he soon proceeded northward, and hearing that
the castle of Lincoln was besieged he made aU haste to that
place, Gilbert de Gant and the other Normans, who were be
sieging it fled before him, dreading his presence as they would
lightning. The barons, too, who had foUowed the king,
when they found that they were deceived, indulged in rapine
and robbery, and gave all their attention to the destruction of
property; they then returned with their booty to London,
where they appointed some knights to guard the city, and
then marched to join Louis at Dover. King John in the
meantime proceeded towards the boundary of Wales, be
sieging and taking the castles of the barons in that direction,
all which he ordered to be razed to the ground ; and the
cruel destruction which he caused amongst the houses and
crops of the said barons afforded a pitiable spectacle to all
who saw it. In the month of November in the same year
Alexander king of Scots, for fear of king John, came with a
large army to Louis at Dover, and did homage to him for the
right which he ought to hold from the king of the English ;
but on his way to him, as he was passing Bernard's castle, in
the province of Haliwercfolk, and which was in the fee of
Hugh de Baillul, he, with the nobles of that district, rode
round the castle to see if it was open to assault in any part ;
whilst thus employed a cross-bow man in the castle dis
charged his weapon, and wounded a noble of high rank,
Eustace de Vesci, in the forehead, and, the weapon piercing
his brain, he died on the spot. This said Eustace had married
the sister of the king of Scotland ; and therefore the latter as
weU as all the party of the barons was much grieved. The

A.D. 1216.] DEATH OF JOHN. 377
said king however did homage, as he had pre-arranged, and
returned home. The treachery of the French detected.
It happened about this time that the viscount de Melun,
a French nobleman who had come into England with Louis,
feU seriously ill at London ; and when he found that his death
was approaching, he sent for some of the barons who had
been left in charge of the city to speak with him, and in the
hearing of them all made the following confession. liI
grieve," said he, " for your desolation and ruin, because you
know not the danger which hangs over you ; for Louis and
sixteen other French counts and barons with him have sworn,
that, if he subdues England and is crowned king, he will
condemn to perpetual banishment all those who are now
fighting with him and persecuting king John, as traitors
against their lord, and will destroy the whole race of them
from the kingdom ; and, that you may not doubt this, I, who
am now lying here at the point of death, declare to you at
the risk of my soul, that I am one of those who have taken
this oath with Louis. Therefore I now sincerely advise you
to provide for your safety for the future, and to keep secret
what I have now told you;" and with these words that
nobleman immediately expired. When this information was
spread amongst the barons they were in great consternation,
for they knew that they were in trouble on every side ; for
Louis had, notwithstanding their murmurs, given their land
and castles, which he had subdued in various places, to the
French, and, what hurt them most, had branded them with
treachery; their alarm was increased too, by the circum
stance of their being excommunicated day after day, and
deprived of all earthly honour, and they consequently fell
into great trouble both of body and mind. Many of them
thought of returning to their allegiance to king John ; but
they were afraid, that, on account of the many and great
injuries by which he had been provoked to anger against
them, he would not receive them though penitent.
Of the death of king John.
Whilst Louis was continuing the siege at Dover for a

378 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.n. 1216.
length of time and without success, John with a large force.
had been committing terrible ravages in the counties of
Suffolk and Norfolk. At last he took his way through the
town of Lynn, where he was received with joy by the inhabit
ants, and received large presents from them. He then took his
march towards the north, but in crossing the river Wellester,
he lost all his carts, waggons, and baggage horses, together with
his money, costly vessels, and everything which he had a par
ticular regard for ; for the land opened in the middle of the
water and caused whirlpools which sucked in every thing, as
well as men and horses, so that no one escaped to teU the
king of the misfortune. He himself narrowly escaped with
his army, and' passed the foUowing night at a convent called
Swineshead, where, as was thought, he felt such anguish of
mind about his property which was swaUowed up by the
waters, that he was seized with a violent fever and became
ill ; his sickness was increased by his pernicious gluttony, for
that night he surfeited himself with peaches and drinking new
ci der, which greatly increased and aggravated the fever in him. II
He however left that place at early dawn, although in pain,
and proceeded to the castle of Lafort to take up his quarters,
and at this place he was in such pain, that on the foUowing
day it was with difficulty that he reached Newark on horse
back; there his disease gained ground, and he confessed
himself and received the eucharist from the abbat of Croxton.
Afterwards he appointed his eldest son Henry his heir, and
made his kingdom swear aUegiance to him; he also sent
letters under his own seal to all the sheriffs and castellans
of the kingdom, ordering them one and aU to obey his said
son. Being then asked by the abbat of Croxton, where he
would wish to be buried in case he should die, he answered,
'' To God and St. Wolstan I commend my body and soul."
After this, on the night next after St. Luke the Evangelist's
day, he departed this Ufe, having reigned eighteen years
and a half; his body was dressed in royal robes and car
ried to Worcester, and was there honourably buried in the
cathedral church by the bishop of that place. When the
king was drawing near his death at Newark, messengers
came to him there with letters from about forty of the barons
who wished to make their peace with him again ; but as he
was at the point of death he. could not give his attention to

A.D. 1216.] CORONATION OF HENRY III. 379
them.* Some one has composed his epitaph and an inscrip
tion for his tcmb in the following lines :
Hoc in sarcophago sepelitur regis imago,
Qui moriens multum sedavit in ovbe tumultum.
Hunc mala post mortem timor est ne fata sequantur.
Qui legis hsec, metuens dum cernis te moriturum,
Discute quid rerum pariat tibi meta dierum.
King John reigned eighteen years five months and four
days. ¦(¦ •
Of the coronation of Henry the Third, king of England, and of the occur
rences in his reign.
After the death of king John, on the eve of the day of the
apostles Simon and Jude, an assembly was convened at
Gloucester in the presence of Walo, the legate of the apos
toUc see, at which there were present, Peter bishop of Win
chester, and Silvester bishop of Worcester, Ealph earl of
Chester, William Marshall the earl of Pembroke, William
earl of Ferrers, John Marshall, and Philip d'Albiney, with
abbats, priors, and a great number of others, to arrange
for the coronation of Henry the eldest son of king John.
On the day following all preparations for the coronation
having been made, the legate, in company with the bishops
* The abbat of the canons of Croxton, a man well skilled in medicine,
who was the king's physician at that time, opened the king's body that it
might be better carried to the grave, and having well salted his entrails had
them carried to his abbey and honourably buried there. King John reigned
eighteen years five months and five days, during which time he caused
many disturbances and entered on many useless labours in the world, and
at length departed this life in great agony of mind, possessed of no territory,
vea not even being his own master. It is, however, to be confidently hoped
that some good works, which he performed in this life, may plead in his
favour at the tribunal of Jesus Christ ; for he founded a monastery of the
Cistercian order at Beaulieu, and, when dying, gave to the monastery of
Croxton land worth ten pounds.
f A profane rhymer thus says of him, »
" With John's foul deeds England's whole realm is stinking,
As doth hell, too, wherein he now is sinking."
But because it is dangerous to write against him who can so easily proscribe
a man, it is not my business because it is not safe, to blame his endless
reprehensible faults, as says the poet Juvenal,
" I'll aim my shafts of satire at the dead."

380 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1216.
and nobles aforesaid, conducted the king in solemn proces
sion to the conventual church to be crowned ; and there,
standing before the great altar, in the presence of the clergy
and people, he swore on the holy gospels and other rehques
of the saints that he would observe honour, peace, and reve
rence towards God and the holy church and its ordained
ministers all the days of his life ; he also swore that he would
show strict justice to the people entrusted to his care, and
would abolish all bad laws and customs, if there were any in
the kingdom, and would observe those that were,good, and
cause them to be observed by aU. He then did homage to
the holy church of Eome and to pope Innocent for the king
doms of England and Ireland, and swore that, as long as he
held those kingdoms, he would faithfuUy pay the thousand
marks which his father had given to the Eoman church ;
after this, Peter bishop of Winchester placed the crown on
his head, and anointed him king with the usual ceremonies
of prayer and chanting observed at coronations. After mass
had been performed, the bishops and knights above men
tioned clothed the king in royal robes, and conducted him to
table, where they aU took their seats according to their rank,
and feasted amidst mirth and rejoicing. On the foUowing
day the king received the homage and fealty of aU the
bishops, earls, barons, and all others present, and they aU
promised faithful allegiance to him. Henry was crowned in
the tenth year of his age, on the day of the apostles Simon
and Jude, which was the 28th day of the month of October.
After his coronation he continued under the guardianship of
William earl of Pembroke, the grand marshal, who imme
diately sent letters to aU the sheriffs and casteUans of
England, enjoining them each and aU to obey the newly
crowned king, and promising them possessions and many
presents besides, on condition of their faithfully adhering to
the said king ; and thus all the nobles and casteUans who
had served his father adhered more firmly to him, because
they all thought that the sin of the father ought not to be
charged to the son ; wherefore aU began to prepare for de
fence and to fortify their castles as strongly as possible.
Those who had taken the side of the king were encouraged,
because they saw that his accomplices and abettors were
excommunicated each Sunday and feast-day.

A.n. 1216.] SIEGE OF HERTFORD CASTLE. 381
How Louis, on hearing of John's death, departed from Dover.
When Louis and the barons who were besieging Dover
castle received news of the death of king John, they were all
greatly pleased, as they confidently expected that they now
had the kingdom of England in their own power. Louis
then summoned Hubert de Burgh, constable of Dover castle,
to a conference, and said to him, " Your lord king John is
dead, and you cannot hold this castle against me for long, as
you have no protector ; therefore give up the castle, and
become faithful to me, and I will enrich you with honours,
and you shall hold a high post amongst my advisers." To
this offer Hubert is said to have replied, " Although my lord
is dead, he has sons and daughters, who ought to succeed
him; and, as to surrendering the castle, I will deliberate
with my fellow knights." He then returned to the castle and
told his friends what Louis had said, but they were all
unanimous in refusing to surrender it to him, lest they might
be branded with treachery for a cowardly submission. When
this was announced to Louis and the barons, they determined
to reduce the smaller castles throughout the country, that,
after the lesser fortresses were in their power, they might
attack the larger ones ; they then raised the siege, and
returned to the city of London. Directly after their retreat,
the knights who had defended the castle sallied out and
burnt the houses and buildings which Louis had erected in
front of the castle, and then ravaging the country, they pro
cured a plentiful supply of necessaries for the garrison.
Of the siege and capture of the castle of Hertford.
After this, Louis marched on the morrow of St. Martin's
day with a large army to the town of Hertford, and laid
siege to it, arranging his engines of war round the castle to
batter the walls ; but Walter de Godardville, a brave knight
of the retinue of Falcasius, defended it with his soldiers, and
caused a great slaughter amongst the Freneh. However,
after the latter had, at great expense, protracted the siege
from Martinmas till the feast of St. Nicholas, the town was
surrendered to Louis, saving the garrison, their property,
horses, and arms. The town being thus given up, Eobert
Fitz- Walter made a demand of it, saying that the charge of

382 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-D- 121S-
it belonged to him by old right; Louis then asked the
advice of the French knights on the matter, who told him
that the English were not worthy of holding charge of such
places, as they were traitors to their own sovereign. On
this Louis told the aforesaid Eobert to wait patiently tUl the
kingdom was subdued, when he would give every one his
rights. In the same year on the day of St. Catherine
the virgin and martyr, the noble William d'Albiney was
released from prison, after paying a fine of six thousand
marks for his ransom ; he then did homage to king Henry,
who delivered into his custody the castle of Lafort, which he
vigorously maintained. Capture of the castle of Berkhampstead.
After reducing the castle of Hertford, as above-mentioned,
Louis marched on St. Nicholas's day to the castle of Berk
hampstead and surrounded it with his engines of war.
Whilst the English barons, after pitching their tents, were
employed in setting them in order, the knights and soldiers
of the garrison made a sally, seized the baggage and convey
ances of the barons, and gained possession of the standard of
William de Mandeville, with which they returned to the
castle, regretting that they could do no further injury
to them. On the same day, whilst the barons were sitting
at table, the knights and soldiers of the garrison again
made a sally, and, in order to put the barons in confusion,
they carried before them the standard which they had
taken a short time before, and thought to come upon them
unawares ; but the latter were forewarned of this, and drove
them back into the castle. When the following day dawned
Louis ordered the petrariae and other engines of war to be
erected round the city, which being done, they kept up a
destructive shower of stones ; but WaUeran, a German, well
tried in warfare, made a brave resistance against them and
caused great slaughter amongst the excommunicated French.
However at last the aforesaid WaUeran, after a protracted
siege, by command of the king surrendered the castle to
Louis, saving their horses and arms, on the 20th of Decem
ber. On the following day which was St. Thomas's day,
Louis, after placing his own followers in the castle, went to
St. Alban's, and required the abbat to do homage to him ; to

A.D. 1216.] EVENTS IN THE HOLY LAND. 383
this the abbat replied that ha would not do homage to him,
till he was released from the homage which he had made to
the king of England, on which Louis became greatly enraged,
and swore that he would burn the convent and the whole
town unless he did what was required of him. At last the
said abbat, after being dreadfully threatened, on the inter
vention of Sayer earl of Winchester, paid a fine for himself
and for the town, giving to Louis for a truce till the purifica
tion of St. Mary eighty marks of silver ; and on this Louis
returned to the city of London.
Events connected with the land of promise.
In the same year, on the expiration of the truce made
between those of the faith in the land of promise and the
Saracens, at the first passage after the general Lateran council,
the army of the Lord assembled in great force at Acre, under
the three kings of Jerusalem, Hungary, and Cyprus. There
were also present the dukes of Austria and Bohemia, with a
large knightly array from the kingdom of Germany, and
several counts and men of rank. The archbishops of Nicosia,
Salzburgh, Argia, Hungary, Bayeux, Bawerge, Ciceno,
Munster, and Utrecht, and with them the noble and powerful
Walter d Avennes. Besides these, the patriarch of Jerusalem,
amidst much humility of clergy and people, reverently carry
ing the symbol of the life-giving cross, set out on the sixth
day after AU Saints from Acre for the camp of the army of
the Lord, which had gone forward to Becordana. This
being a piece of the Lord's cross had, after the loss of the
Holy Land, been kept concealed by those of the faith till this
time ; for in a conflict between the Saracens and Christians,
in Saladin's time, the cross, as we have heard from our elders,
was cut, and a part of it being carried into the fight, was
there lost, but the part left behind stiU remained and was
now shown. The army of the faith, furnished with this
for a standard, marched through the plain of Faba to the
fountain of Tubannia, and suffered much in that day's march.
Scouts were then sent out, who saw the dust which was
caused by the enemy, but were uncertain whether they were
in retreat or advancing to meet them. On the following
day they marched between the mountains of Gelboe on
their right hand and a lake on their left, and reached

384 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1216.
Bethany, where the enemy was encamped ; the latter,
however, in dread at the approach of the army of the Uving
God, which was so numerous, and marching in such order,
struck his tents, and, taking to flight, left the country
open to the ravages of the soldiers of Christ. On the eve
of Martinmas the army of the faith crossed the Jordan,
bathing their bodies in that river, and there rested quietly
for two days, finding an abundance of provisions. They
then made three stages along the sea of GaUlee and passed
through the places where our Saviour deigned to work his
miracles, and conversed in person with men. They saw
Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, then reduced to a
small fortress ; they also saw the places where Christ called
his disciples, walked on the sea with dry feet, fed the multi
tudes in the desert, went up the mountain to pray, and where,
after his resurrection he ate with his disciples ; and then they
returned by way of Capernaum to Acre, carrying their sick
with them. After this they made another expedition and
proceeded to Mount Tabor, where at first they found a
scarcity of water, but afterwards by digging they discovered
plenty ; the chiefs of the army gave up all hopes of ascending
the mountain, until they were told by a Saracen boy that the
castle could be taken. They therefore held a council, and on
the first Sunday in Advent, when was read the gospel, " Go
to the castle which is over against you," the patriarch went
in advance with the symbol of the cross, and amidst the
prayers and chanting of hymns by the bishops and clergy the
army reached the side of the mountain ; and although it was
rugged on every side, and as it seemed insurmountable,
except by a winding path, yet they aU undauntingly climbed
it. John king of Jerusalem, with the soldiers of Christ,
struck from their horses the castellan and an emir, who at
the first onset had boldly met the enemy outside the gates, to
defend the mountain, and were putting them to confusion and
flight. But the glory which the king gained in his ascent of
the mountain, he lost in the descent ; for a number of the
templars, hospitallers, and seculars were wounded, when the
enemy recovered their courage, though but few were killed.
In this expedition, as also in the former one which we men
tioned, the Christians brought back a great number of men,
women, and children with them to Aci e, where the bishop of

A.D. 1217.] CONDITION OF THE BARONS. SS5
Acre baptized all he could obtain by entreaties or for money;
the women he distributed amongst the nuns, and had them
taught to read. In a third expedition, at which the patriarch
was not present with the clergy and the symbol of the cross,
the army of the faith endured many inconveniences, as well
from robbers as from the severity of the winter, especiaUy on
the eve of Christmas day, when, as they were on their march,
the weather was disturbed by storms of wind and rain ; in
the neighbourhood of Tyre and Sidon too, near Sarepta, they
suffered many hardships, as well from the inclemency of the
season as from bodily suffering.
How the barons of England reflected on the wretched state of their
affairs.
a.d. 1217. The young king Henry was at Christmas at
Bristol, in company with Walo the legate, and William
Marshall the guardian of the king and kingdom. At this
time there was a great deal of wavering amongst the barons
of England, to which ruler they should entrust themselves,
whether to the young Henry or to Louis ; for they were
treated so contemptuously by the French that many of them
rejected their assistance. This gust of excitement, moreover,
was increased by Louis himself, who, in disregard of his
oath, and in spite of their complaints, had retained in his
own possession the lands, possessions, and castles of the said
barons, which he had subdued with their help, and had
placed foreign knights and people in charge of them. On
the other hand, it seemed a disgrace for them to return to
their allegiance to a king whom they had renounced, lest they
should be like dogs returning to their vomit ; and, being
thus in difficulty in every way, they could not mend the
broken reed. In the same year, on the 20th of January,
the knights and soldiers of the garrison of the castle of
Montsorrel made a sally to rob and pillage the country ; but
the knights of Nottingham, on being informed of it by their
scouts, went to meet them, and giving them battle, made
prisoners of ten knights and twenty-four soldiers of the
opposite party, and killed three, after which they returned
in triumph.

vol. n. C C

386 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1217.
How Falkasius pillaged the town of St. Alban's.
In the same year, on the 22nd of January, the wicked
robber Falkasius assembled a force of knights and robbers
from the garrisons of the castles of Oxford, Northampton,
Bedford, and Windsor, and went to St. Alban's, it being the
night of St. Vincent's day, at dusk, and making an unex
pected attack on the place, pillaged it and made prisoners of
men and children, whom he committed to close confinement ;
at the very door of the church there he slew a foUower of
the court who was endeavouring to take refuge in the church,
and after the perpetration of this wicked crime by these
agents of the devil, he sent orders to the abbat WiUiam at
once to deUver him a hundred pounds of silver, or else he
would directly burn the whole town, with the monastery and
other buildings ; on which the abbat, after much hesitation,
paid the sum demanded, having no other remedy. Falka
sius after this, with his excommunicated companions in
arms, made all speed to the castle of Bedford, taking with
him his booty and prisoners ; from that place he marched
with his followers to the forest of Walburg, and there made
prisoner Boger de Coleville and sixty clerks and laymen
with him, who were lying concealed there for the sake of
collecting booty.*
* Paris adds : — " One night afterwards, the said Faulkes saw in a vision a
large stone from the tower of St. Alban's fall like a thunderbolt on him,
and crush him to dust ; alarmed by this, he awoke, and told his wife the
vision. She then advised him, as her husband, lord, and friend, to go with
all due devotion to the blessed Alban, whom he had without doubt
offended, and make his peace with that saint by a proper atonement ;
for she understood that this was a presage of some future punishment for
the crime he had committed. Faulkes then consented to do so after some
trouble, thus fulfilling the saying of the apostle, ' a faithless man shall be
saved by a faithful woman.' He afterwards, not to offend his wife, went to
St. Alban's, and entered the chapter-house without his armour, carrying a
rod, and asked and obtained absolution, kissing the monks one by one, as
if he could thus make his peace with them all ; but he did not restore any
of the property he had seized, or make any reparation to the poor followers
of Christ for the injury he had done them. The servants of Christ stood
at the- door of the chapter-house, hoping for some reparation to them ;
but when he saw them waiting, he spurned them and passed on, not know
ing that threatening prophecy as to the punishment which the Lord God of
vengeance, at the complaint of the blessed Alban, has reserved for him
' Woe unto you, robber, for you shall be robbed.' And this he learned by
experience in the end, as the ensuing narrative will show."

A.D. 1217.] EVENTS IN THE HOLY LAND. 387'
Of the treaty made between the king of England and Louis.
About this time, the messengers of Louis who had gone
on his behalf to the. court of Eome, brought word to him,
that unless he left England the sentence of excommunication
which the legate Walo had pronounced against him would
on the day of the Lord's supper be confirmed. On account
of this a truce was made between Louis and king Henry to
last till the Easter month, by which it was agreed that every
thing was to remain till that time in the same state as it was
on the day of the truce being sworn to, with respect both to
castles and other possessions. Loui3 then crossed the sea
during Lent, on such a footing, that he never again had the
good will of the barons of England as he had formerly ;
for of that party, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of
Arundel, William earl of Warrenne, and many others, at once
returned to their allegiance to king Henry, and adhered to
his cause from that time : the grand marshal too recalled
his eldest son WilUam to his allegiance to the king, and
thus Louis's party was in a great measure broken up.
Events in the land of promise.
The army at Acre was at this time divided into four parts ;
the kings of Hungary and Cyprus went to Tripoli, where the
young king of Cyprus died. The king of Hungary, after
staying there for a short time, took his departure to the
injury of the cause of the Holy Land ; for he took away
with him pilgrims and galleys, horses, cattle, and arms, and
although much entreated by the patriarch not to leave, he went
away with his retinue, and was excommunicated. Another
portion, consisting of the lazy and timid, and the wealthy,
remained in Acre. The king of Jerusalem and the duke of
Austria, with the hospitallers of St. John, and many
prelates, and others of the crusaders, in a short time had
strengthened the castle at Csesarea in Palestine, although
frequent reports of the approach of the enemy were brought
to them. At this latter place, the patriarch with six prelates
celebrated the feast of the Purification with all due so
lemnity. The templars too, with the lord D'Avennes, and
other pilgrims, and the hospitallers of the Teutonic order,
fortified a castle formerly called " The District," but now the
" Pilgrim's Castle," which lies between Caiffa and Cassarea,
c c 2

388 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1217.
not far from the sea; wherefore, those who went up and
down the narrow road on their way to Jerusalem, called it
" The District." The chief advantage of this castle was,
that the brotherhood of the Templars, after leaving the city
of Acre, which was full of all sin and debauchery, would
remain in it as a garrison till the walls of Jerusalem were
repaired. The district round it abounded in fisheries, lakes,
woods, pastures, meadows, fields, herbage, vineyards, gardens,
and orchards. Between Acre and Jerusalem, the Saracens
were not in possession of any town, on which account the
infidels suffered much loss. Six miles distant from mount
Thabor, between Jerusalem and the Jordan, there is a good
natural harbour ; and therefore the Saracens could neither
plough nor sow in the extensive plain which Ues between, on
account of its being under the protection of this castle.
The army of the Lord then, after fortifying this castle, re
turned to Acre.
Of signs in the heavens by which the province of Cologne was incited lo
assist in the crusade.
In the month of May in this year, on the sixth day before
Whitsuntide, the province of Cologne was awakened to its
duty to the Saviour ; for at the town of Bebon in Friesland
there appeared in the sky the form of the cross in three
places, one towards the north of a white colour, another
towards the south of the same form and colour, and the third
in the middle of a dark colour, with the form of the crucifix,
and the figure of a man suspended on it, with uplifted and
extended arms, with nails driven through the feet and hands,
and with the head bent down ; this one was in the middle
between the two others, on which latter did not appear the
image of a human body; at another time and place too,
namely, at a town of Friesland caUed Fuserhuse, there
appeared near the sun a cross of a blue colour, and more
people saw this than those who had seen the former crosses :
a third cross appeared at the town of Doctham, where saint
Bonifacius was crowned with martyrdom ; at this place on
the feast of the said martyr, many thousand men having
coUected together, a large white cross was visible, as though
two planks were placed artifieiaUy across one another ; this

A.D. 1217.] SIEGE OF MOTJNTSOREL CASTLE. 389
cross moved gradually from the north towards the east, and
many thousands saw it.
The siege of the castle of Mountsorel.
In the same year after Easter, by the orders of Wilham
Marshall guardian of the king and kingdom of England, there
assembled, to lay siege to the castle of Mountsorel, Ealph
earl of Chester, WiUiam earl of Albemarle, William earl of
Ferrars, Eobert de Vipont, Brian de L'lsle, W. de Cantelupe,
Philip Marc, Bobert de Gaugi, Falkasius with his castellans,
and many others from the garrisons of the different castles,
and they at once arranged their engines of war in suitable
positions and invested the castle. The commander of the
place was Henry de Braybrooke, and there were with him ten
knights, men of great valour, and a number of attendants,
who courageously returned stone for stone and weapon for
weapon on their assailants; the besieged, after they had
defended the castle for several days, in order that they might
not be reduced to want through a protracted siege, sent to
Sayer earl of Winchester, who was then at London, begging
him to come at once to their assistance. The said earl then,
to whom the castle belonged, went to Louis who had lately
returned to London from the transmarine provinces, and
demanded of him to send some assistance by which the siege
might be raised ; after consulting with each other they came
to the determination to send a body of knights to raze the
siege and to reduce the whole district to submission to Louis.
In pursuance of this plan there went forth from the city of
London six hundred knights and more than twenty thousand
soldiers, who all coveted the property of others ; and this
array was under the command of the count of Perche
mareschal of France, Sayer earl of Winchester, Bobert Fitz-
Walter with many others, whom they esteemed fit to com
mand the expedition. They moved their camp on the 30th
of April, which was on the Monday next before our Lord's
Ascension, and marched to St. Alban's pillaging all the
places they passed. These wicked French freebpoters and
robbers roved through the towns around them, sparing
neither churches nor cemeteries, and made prisoners of the
inhabitants of all ranks, and, after dreadfully torturing them,
extorted a heavy ransom from them ; the convent of St.

390 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-D- 1217'
Alban's too, the abbat of which had a snort time before
satisfied the demands of Louis by the payment of a large sum
of money, escaped the hands of the robbers, so that they
stole nothing except meat and drink.
Of a miracle of the Lord's cross.
On the following day they moved their camp, proceeding
towards the town of Dunstable, and, at the town of
Bedbourn, they piUaged the church of St. Amphibalus, and
stripped the monks even to their inner clothing ; they also
took the relics of the saints from above the great altar and
polluted them with their impious hands. One among them
seized on a silver and gold ornamented cross, in which was
contained a piece of our Lord's cross, and hid it in his wicked
bosom unknown to his companions ; but before he had left the
oratory, he was possessed by a devil, and feU down grinding
his teeth and foaming at the mouth, then rising quickly on
the instigation of the devil, he endeavoured to strike at his
companions with his sword ; they, however, pitying his
agony, tied his hands, and, not knowing the cause of it, took
him to the church of Flamstead in a state of the wUdest
frenzy. As these robbers were entering that church for the
purpose of robbing it, they were met by the priest, clad in
white robes, in order to check the evil disposition of those
impious men ; however, being alarmed about their mad com
panion whom they had brought with them, they refrained
from plunder, and there, in the presence of the superior and
many others, the aforesaid cross leapt forth from the madman's
bosom and fell on the ground ; the superior then took it up
with reverence and astonishment, and, holding it up, asked
the robbers what it was. At length on consideration they
found out, by means of this visitation of God, that he had
clandestinely taken it from the monks whom they had robbed
in the adjoining town, and they were all in a state of great
perplexity and fear, lest the evil spirit should possess them
also, and torture them, as it had done their companion. They
therefore in great alarm deUvered the cross up to the superior,
beseeching him, by the virtue of God and in peril of his
order, before he took any food, to go to the place and restore
the cross to the monks ; the superior therefore made aU haste
to the oratory of St. Amphibalus, and with due reverence

A.D. 1217.] SIEGE OF LINCOLN CASTLE. 391
delivered the cross, and related all the wonderful events con
nected with it to the prior and brethren.
The raising of the siege of the castle of Montsorel, and of the siege of
Lincoln castle.
The army of Louis and the barons of England arrived at
Dunstable, and there passed the night. In the morning it
took its march northward, hastening to the relief of the
before-mentioned castle of Montsorel ; earl Ealph of Chester
and the others who were with him besieging it, being informed
of this by their scouts, raised the siege, and retreated to the
castle of Nottingham, where they determined to watch the
progress of their approaching enemies. When the barons
then arrived at the castle of Montsorel, after pillaging in
their usual custom all the cemeteries and churches on their
march, it was determined unanimously to march to Lincoln,
where GUbert de Gant and other barons above-mentioned
had carried on a long siege without success. They therefore
marched through the valley of Belvoir, and there everything
fell into the hands of these robbers, because the soldiers of the
French kingdom being as it were the refuse and scum of
that country, left nothing at all untouched, and their poverty
and wretchedness was so great, that they had not enough
bodily clothing to cover their nakedness. At length they
arrived at Lincoln, and the barons then made fierce assaults
on the castle, whilst the besieged returned their showers of
stones and missiles with stones and deadly weapons with
great courage.
How the king of England assembled an army to raise the siege of the
castle of Lincoln.
Whilst these events were passing at this place, William
Marshall, the guardian of the king and kingdom, by
the advice of Walo the legate, Peter bishop of Win
chester, and others by whose counsels the business of the
kingdom was arranged, convoked all the castellans belong
ing to the king, and the knights who were in charge of
castles in different parts of the kingdom, ordering them, on
the command of the king, to assemble at Newark on the
second day in Whitsun week, to proceed together with them
to raise the siege of Lincoln castle. They, having an ardent

392 • ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1217.
desire to engage with the excommunicated French, and also
to fight for their country, joyfuUy came at the time and place
pre-arranged on, and with them also there came the legate him
self, and many other prelates of the kingdom, with horses and
soldiers, to assail with prayers as well as arms these dis-
obeyers of their king, and rebels against their lord the pope ;
for it appeared to them they had a just cause of war, es
pecially as he was innocent, and a stranger to sin, whom his
enemies were endeavouring in their pride to disinherit.
And when they were all assembled together, there were
reckoned in that army four hundred knights, nearly two
hundred and fifty cross-bow men, and such an innumerable
host of followers and horsemen were present, who could on
emergency fulfil the duties of soldiers. The chiefs of this
army were William Marshall and WilUam his son, Peter
bishop of Winchester, a man weU skiUed in warfare, Ealph
earl of Chester, WiUiam earl of SaUsbury, AVilUam earl of
Ferrars, and William earl of Albemarle ; there were also
there the barons, Wilham d'Albiney, John Marshall, WilUam
de Cantelo,* and Wilham his son, the renowned Falcasius,
Thomas Basset, Bobert de Vipont, Brian de L'lsle, Geoffrey
de Lucy, and Philip d'Albiney, with many casteUans of
experience in war. They made a stay of three days at
Newark, to refresh the horses and men, and in the meantime
employed themselves in confession, and strengthened their
bodies by partaking of the body and blood of our Lord,
asking his protection against the attacks of their enemies :
and thus all of them were prepared for extremities, and
were determined to conquer or die in the cause of right.
How, when the king's army was assembled, the legate encouraged them all
to battle.
At length, on the sixth day of Whitsun week, after the
performance of the holy sacrament, the legate rose and set
forth to all of them how unjust was the cause of Louis, and
the barons who had joined him, for which they had been
excommunicated and alienated from the community of the
church ; and in order to animate the army to battle, he put
on his white robes, and, in company with the whole clergy
there, excommunicated Louis by name, together with all his
• Before called Cantelupe.

A.D. 1217.] BATTLE AT LINCOLN. 393
accomphces and abettors, and especially all those who were
carrying on the siege of Lincoln against the king of Eng
land, together with the whole provinces, inclusive and
included. And to those who had undertaken to assist in this
war personally, he, by the power granted to him from the
omnipotent God and the apostolic see, granted full pardon
for their sins, of which they had made true confession, and
as a reward to the just he promised the reward of eternal
salvation. Then, after all had received absolution and the
blessing of God, they flew to arms, mounted their horses at
once and struck their camp rejoicing. On their arrival at
Stowe, eight miles from Lincoln, they there passed the night
without fear. In the morning, seven dense and well ap
pointed battalions were formed, and they marched against
the enemy, only fearing that the latter would take to flight
before they reached the city ; the cross-bow men all the time
kept in advance of the army almost a mile ; the baggage
waggons and sumpter-horses followed altogether in the rear
with the provisions and necessaries, whilst the standards and
bucklers glittered in all directions, and struck terror into
those who beheld them.
How the barons went out of the city of Lincoln and reconnoitred the
king's army.
The barons who were in the city and the French felt such
great confidence of success in their cause, that when their
messengers told them of the approach of their adversaries
they only laughed at them, and continued to hurl missiles
from their mangonells, to destroy the walls of the castle.
But Bobert Fitz- Walter, and S. earl of Winchester, when
they heard that the enemy were approaching the city, went
out to watch their approach and to count their numbers ;
and when they had made a careful survey of the approaching
enemy they returned to the city to their companions, telling
them, " The enemy are coming against us in good order, but
we are much more numerous than they are ; therefore, our
advice is that we saUy forth to the ascent of the hill to meet
them, for, if we do, we shall catch them Uke larks." In
reply to them, the count of Perche and the mareschal said,
" You have reckoned them according to your own opinion :
we also wiU now go out and count them in the French.

394 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1217.
fashion." They then went out to reconnoitre the coming
army of the king, but in their estimation of them they were
deceived ; for when they saw the waggons and baggage in the
rear of the army, with the guards who followed the squadrons
which were already disposed in order of battle, they thought
that this was an army of itself, because they beheld there a
great multitude of men with standards flying ; for each of
the nobles had two standards, one, as we have already said,
following the troops at a distance in the rear, with the
baggage, and another preceding the persons of each of them,
that they might be known when engaged in battle. And
the count of Perche with the mareschaL being thus de
ceived, returned in a state of uncertainty to their com
panions. On their return into the city they proposed this
plan to their companions, whose advice they did not despise,
namely, to divide the nobles that the gates might be guarded
and the enemy prevented from entering by some, until the
others had taken the castle, the capture of which would
soon be effected. This plan was approved of by many, but
several disagreed with it. They then secured the gates,
appointed guards to them, and prepared for a defence.
Of the battle fought at Lincoln called by some the " Fair."
The king's army in the meantime approached the city on
the side nearest the castle, and when it was discovered by
the castellans they sent a messenger by a postern door of
the castle to the commanders of the army, to inform them of
what was being done inside. This messenger told them
that if they wished they could enter the castle by the pos
tern, which had been just opened on account of their arrival;
the commanders of the army, however, would not enter the
castle that way, but sent Falcasius, with aU the division
under his command, and aU the cross-bowmen, to force open
at least one gate of the city for the army. The whole body
then marched to the northern gate and endeavoured to force
it open, the barons, notwithstanding this, continuing to cast
heavy stones from their petrarias against the castle. But
during this time, Falcasius entered the castle with the com
pany of troops under his command, and with the cross-bow
men, and stationed them on a sudden on the roofs of the build
ings and on the ramparts, whence they discharged their deadly

A.D. 1217.] DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH. 395
weapons against the chargers of the barons, levelling horses
and riders together to the earth, so that in the twinkling of
an eye they made up a large force of foot-soldiers, knights,
and nobles. Falcasius then, seeing a great many of the
more noble of the enemy struck to the earth, boldly burst
forth with his followers from the castle into the midst of the
enemy ; he was, however, made prisoner by the number
who rushed on him, and carried away, until he was rescued
by the bravery of his cross-bow men and knights. The great
body of the king's army having in the meantime forced the
gates, entered the city and boldly rushed on the enemy.
Then sparks of fire were seen to dart, and sounds as of
dreadful thunder were heard to burst forth from the blows
of swords against helmeted heads ; but at length, by means
of the cross-bowmen, by whose skill the horses of the barons
were mown down and killed like pigs, the party of the barons
was greatly weakened, for, when the horses fell to the earth
slain, their riders were taken prisoners, as there was no one
to rescue them. At length, when the barons were thus
weakened, and great numbers of their soldiers had been
made prisoners and safely secured, the king's knights rushed
in a close body on the count of Perche, entirely surrounding
him ; and as he could not withstand their force as they rushed
against him, they called on him to surrender, that he might
escape with life. He, however, swore that he would not
surrender to the EngUsh, who were traitors to their lawful
king. On hearing this, a knight rushed on him, and strik
ing him in the eye, pierced his brain, on which he fell to the
ground without uttering another word. Then the French
battahons, seeing the fall of their commander, took to flight,
both horse and foot-soldiers, with great loss ; for the flail of
the southern gate through which they took their flight had
been replaced in a transverse way across the gate, which
greatly impeded their flight ; for when any one came up and
wished to go out at that gate, he was obliged to dismount
from his horse and open it, and after he had passed the gate
was again closed, and the flail again fell across it as before,
and thus this gate was a great trouble to the fugitives. The
king's troops pursued the flying barons and French, but
although several were made prisoners in their flight, yet the
king's men only feigned to pursue them, and if it had not been

396 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1217.
for the effect of relationship and blood, not a single one of
all of them would have escaped. But not further to prolong
the account to no purpose, of the commanding barons were
made prisoners, Sayer earl of Winchester, Henry de Bohun
earl of Hereford, count Gilbert de Gant, whom Louis had
lately created earl of Lincoln ; and the count of Perche lay
dead there. There were also made prisoners, the barons
Eobert Fitz Walter, Eichard de Montfitchet, WiUiam de
Mowbray, Wilham de Beauchamp, WUUam Maudut, Oliver
d'Haencurt, Boger de Creisi, WilUam de Coleville, William
de Boos, Eobert de Eoppele, Ealph Chainedut, and many
others, to mention whom would be tedious. Three hundred
knights were taken, besides soldiers, horse and foot, not
easUy to be counted. The count of Perche was buried in
the orchard of the hospital outside the city. Eeginald, sur
named Crocus, a brave knight of Falcasius's retinue, who was
slain there, was honourably buried at the monastery of
Croxton. There was also slain in this battle a soldier of the
barons' party, not known to any one, who was buried outside
the city at the meeting of four roads, as one excom
municated. And only the above-mentioned three are men
tioned as having been slain in this great battle.
Of the plunder and pillage of the city.
After the battle was thus ended, the king's soldiers found
in the city the waggons of the barons and the French, with
the sumpter-horses, loaded with baggage, silver vessels, and
various kinds of furniture and utensils, aU which feU into
their possession without opposition. Having then plun
dered the whole city to the last farthing, they next pillaged
the churches throughout the city, and broke open the chests
and store-rooms with axes and hammers, seizing on the gold
and silver in them, clothes of aU colours, women's ornaments,
gold rings, goblets, and jewels. Nor did the cathedral
church escape this destruction, but underwent the same
punishment as the rest, for the legate had given orders to
the knights to treat all the clergy as excommunicated men,
inasmuch as they had been enemies to the church of Borne
and to the king of England from the commencement of the
war; Geoffrey de Drepinges precentor of this church, lost
eleven thousand marks of silver. When they had thus

A.D. 1217.] FLIGHT OF THE BARONS AND THE FRENCH. 397
seized on every kind of property, so that nothing remained
in any corner of the houses, they each returned to their lords as
rich men, and peace with king Henry having been declared by
all throughout the city, they ate and drank amidst mirth and
festivity. This battle, which, in derision of Louis and the
barons, they called " The Fair," took place on the 1 9th of Slay,
which was on the Saturday in Whitsun-week ; it commenced
between the first and third hour, and was finished by these
good managers before the ninth. Many of the women of the
city were drowned in the river, for, to avoid insult, they
took to small boats with their children, female servants, and
household property, and perished on their journey ; but there
were afterwards found in the river by the searchers, goblets
of silver,- and many other articles of great benefit to the
finders ; for the boats were overloaded, and the women not
knowing how to manage the boats, all perished, for business
done in haste is always badly done. After thus finishing
this business, William Marshall ordered all the castellans
to return to their castles with the prisoners, and there to
keep them in close custody till they should learn the king's
pleasure concerning them. The said William Marshall
returned the same day, before he took any food, to the king,
and told him in presence of the legate what had happened,
and they, who had been praying to God with weeping, soon
changed their tears to smiles. In the morning messengers
came to the king and told him that the knights at Montsorel
had left that castle and fled ; on which the king ordered the
sheriff of Nottingham to go in person to the castle and to
raze it to the ground.
Of the flight of the barons and the French from Lincoln.
After the count of Perche was slain, as above stated, they
all took to flight, horse as well as foot-soldiers, towards the
city of London, and the foremost among them was the
mareschal of France, with the castellan of Arras, and all
the French ; many of them however, and especially almost
all the foot-soldiers, were slain before they got to Louis ; for
the inhabitants of the towns through which they passed in
their flight, went to meet them with swords and bludgeons,
and, laying snares for them, killed numbers. About two
hundred knights reached London and went before to Louis

398 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1217.
to tell him of their sad losses ; he however sneeringly told
them that it was owing to their flight that their companions
had been made prisoners, because if they had remained to
fight, they would perhaps have saved themselves as well as
their companions from capture and death. It must be be
lieved that this defeat happened to Louis and the barons of
England by a just dispensation of God, for as they had now
continued nearly two years under sentence of excommuni
cation, unless they were corrected by divine punishment,
men would say, " There is no God," and so there would be
none who acted rightly, no, not one.
Of the death of pope Innocent.
On the 16th of July in the same year, pope Innocent paid
the debt of human nature, after filling the pontifical chair
for eighteen years five months and four days; he was suc
ceeded by Honorius, formerly called Cencio, who held the
see in the Eoman church ten years seven months and nine
teen days. How Louis sent to his father for troops.
About this time Louis, owing to the misfortune which had
befallen him at Lincoln, despaired of effecting his purpose,
he however by good advice sent messengers to his father,
and to his wife the lady Blanche, teUing them of the irre
parable losses which had befaUen him and the barons of
England at Lincoln, which he said was brought on them by
God more than by man ; for the king of the Enghsh had
now become so powerful, that he with a large force paraded
through the cities and towns round London, and precluded
him and his companions from leaving the city. " Moreover,"
said he, " all kinds of provisions are failing us and our fol
lowers in the city, and e>ven if they abounded there, we have
no means of buying them ; therefore I inform you that I
have no means of resistance, or of leaving England, unless
you supply me with strong military aid." When this news
reached the father from his son, and the wife from her
husband, they were much concerned at his being placed in
this strait ; * and as the king was afraid to give assistance to
* Paris adds: — "The French king, on hearing this, said, 'Does not
William Marshall still live?' And on being told that he did, he said, ' I

A.D. 1217.] NAVAL ENGAGEMENT. 399
his excommunicated son, as he had been often severely
rebuked by the pope for granting his consent, he laid the
burden of the business on the wife of Louis, who was not
slow in fulfilling the duty imposed on her, but sent off to her
husband's assistance three hundred brave knights, well
equipped with supplies for war, and attended by a large
body of soldiers. But all this could not be concealed from
the king of England, who, having now recovered his courage,
had, with a large army, taken possession of the southern
coasts, and had determined to lay siege to the city of London;
he therefore, by the advice of the grand marshal, deputed
Philip de Albiney and John Marshall, with the sailors of the
cinque ports and a large body of troops, to watch the seas
carefuUy, and to look out for and prevent the approach of
the French.
On the day of the apostle St. Bartholomew, the French
fleet was entrusted to the command of Eustace the monk, a
most disgraceful man and a wicked pirate, to conduct it in
safety to London, and to dehver it to Louis. The above-
mentioned troops then put to sea with a swelling fair wind,
which drove them quickly towards England, but they were
entirely unaware of the preparations which were made for
them. When therefore they had proceeded a good way on
their course, the commanders of the king of England's fleet
came on an oblique course with eighty ships to oppose them,
on which account the French were afraid to engage with
them at sea with only their few ships, which did not exceed
forty in number, galleys and ships together ; but by the
event which had taken place at Lincoln, in which a few had
triumphed over a great many, they were inspirited and boldly
attacked the rear of the enemy ; when the French discovered
this, they flew to their arms and made a bold resistance
against them. PhiUp de Albiney with his cross-bow men
and archers sending their missiles amongst the French, soon
caused great slaughter amongst those who opposed them.
They had moreover galleys peaked with iron, with which
they pierced the ships of their adversaries and sank many of
them in an instant; they also threw hot lime-dust on the sea,
which, being borne by the wind, bhnded the eyes of the
have, then, no fears for my son.' From this, William Marshall was ever
after branded as a traitor."

400 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1217.
French. A severe engagement took place between the
fleets, but that of the French, who were not weU skilled in
naval warfare, was soon defeated ; for the crews were struck
down by the weapons and arrows of the English sailors, who
were used to naval fights, pierced them with their javelins
and arrows, or cut them down with swords and lances,
whilst others bored holes in their ships' bottoms and sank
them ; therefore the French having no hopes of escape,
threw themselves of their own accord into the waves, that
they might not be taken alive by their enemies, for they
preferred death to being taken prisoners by the EngUsh.
The French nobles who survived, were taken prisoners, and
the victorious English, towing after them the captured
vessels, set sail after their glorious victory for Dover. The
garrison of that place, on beholding this unexpected goodness
of God, went out to meet their approaching fellow country
men, and put into closer ward the unlucky French prisoners.
Amongst other prisoners, that traitor to the king of England
and wicked pirate Eustace the monk, after being long
searched for was at length found, and dragged forth from
the hold of one of the ships ; and when he found himself a
prisoner, he offered a large sum of money for his life and
bodily safety, and promised for the future to fight faithfuUy
under the EngUsh king ; Eichard, the illegitimate son of
king John, who seized him, said to him, " Never again in
this world, wicked traitor, shall you deceive any one with
your false promises;" and with these words he drew his
sword and cut off his head. The king's followers then
collected all the spoil from the French ships consisting of
gold, silver, silk cloths, and arms ; and the prisoners having
been committed to safe custody, PhiUp de Albiney told the
king what had been done, who immediately gave praise for
this heaven-sent victory to the Lord, who is always and
every where wonderful in his works amongst men. When
this event came to the knowledge of Louis, he was more
concerned for it than for his misfortune at Lincoln.*
* C. inserts here, " When Hubert de Burgh was informed of the arrival
of such a formidable host, he said to the bishop of Winchester, the marshal,
and other nobles, ' If these people come to England unopposed, the king
dom is lost. Let us therefore meet them with courage, for God is with us,
whilst they are excommunicated.' To this they replied, ' We are not

A.D. 1217.] PEACE BETWEEN HENRY AND LOUIS. 401
Of the peace and agreement made between Henry king of England, and
Louie.
After this the marshal, the king's guardian and regent,
assembled a large army of knights and soldiers, and marched
in great force to the city of London which he blockaded all
round, both by land and water ; and, by thus cutting off all
suppUes of provisions from the garrison, he thought to compel
them to surrender. Louis being thus criticaUy situated sent
word to the legate and the marshal, that he was willing to
comply with their terms in everything, on condition that they
would make suitable terms of peace, saving his honour, and
without injury to his followers. They therefore, since the
sailors, pirates, or fishermen, do you go therefore and die.' Hubert
then went to a little distance from the place and sent for his chaplain
Luke ; he at once received the wholesome viaticum, and then assuming the
boldness of a lion, he said to his particular attendants, to whom he had
entrusted the charge of Dover, ' I beseech • you, by the blood of Christ, if
I should by chance be taken- prisoner, to allow me to be hung rather than
give up the castle to any Frenchman, for it is the key of England.' They
with tears promised him this on their allegiance and oath. He then, in
company with two distinguished knights, Henry de Turville and Richard
Seward, and some others, though few in number, embarked on board a
ship, taking with him some sailors from the cinque-ports. There were
under his command about sixteen well-armed ships, not including some
small ones which accompanied them to the number of twenty. They
then proceeded boldly on their course, and luffed as if they were going to
Calais. When Eustace the monk, the French leader, saw this, he said, ' I
know that these wretches intend to go to Calais, but it is to no purpose, for
the inhabitants are forewarned against them. But the English, finding that
the wind failed them, suddenly altered their course, and the wind being
now fair for them, they eagerly rushed on the enemy ; as soon as they
reached the vessels of their adversaries they threw grappling-irons and
made them fast to their own vessels, and boarding them with their axes,
they cut away the rigging supporting the mast and yards, and, the ex
pending Bail falling, the French were caught like birds in a net ; the English
then attacked them and making prisoners of all of rank amongst them, cut
the rest to pieces. Amongst others they discovered Eustace, who had dis
guised himself, concealed in the hold of a ship, on which they dragged him
forth and beheaded him. This man was a Fleming by birth,- and on the
deaths of his brothers without children, he, in order to obtain their inheri
tance, abandoned the monk's habit and apostatized from his order ; he
then became a pirate and a bloody pirate leader, causing great injury to
numbers, but at length the robber was himself taken and received the
reward of his deeds. When Hubert, after his miraculous victory, reached
the English coast all the bishops who were in that quarter came out to
meet him clad in their sacred robes, attended by the knights and people,
and bearing crosses and standards, singing psalms and praising God."
VOL. H. P D

402 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1217.
matter rested with them, and as they desired beyond measure
to be rid of Louis, sent back to him terms of peace reduced
to writing, telling him that, if he would agree to them, they
would bind themselves to grant free egress from England
both for himself and all his fellow adventurers ; but if not,
they would cause his destruction and injure him in every
way. When Louis and his counsellors saw these terms of
peace, they were much pleased to be aUowed to leave England,
as it seemed useless for them to stay there any longer ; he
therefore sent word to the legate and grand marshal, to
appoint a time and place for the above-mentioned treaty to
be carried into effect. The parties then agreeing to the
terms, they came to a conference, near the town of Staines
on the river Thames, to conclude the peace ; king Henry
with the legate, grand marshal, and many others on one side,
and Louis with the earls, barons, and others of his followers
on the other ; and there, by the divine favour, they all
agreed to the underwritten terms of peace on the 11th of
September. Of the form of peace and the heavy punishment of those who had been
excommunicated on account of the king.
In the first place Louis and all those who were excom
municated and all his fellow adventurers, swore on the holy
gospels that they would abide by the decision of the holy
church, and would thenceforth be faithful to their lord the
pope and the church of Eome. Louis also swore that he
would immediately leave England with all his foUowers, and
would never again in his life return with evil designs ; and
that he would use his best endeavours to induce his father
Philip to restore to the English king, Henry, all his rights
in the transmarine provinces. He also swore that he would
immediately give up to the king and his followers all castles
and all lands, which he and his followers had seized in
England during the war. The king of England, with the
legate and the marshal, swore on the holy gospels, that they
would restore to the barons of England and to all others in
the kingdom, all their rights and inheritances, together with
all the liberties formerly demanded and on account of which
tho dispute had arisen between John king of England and

A.D. 1217.] PUNISHMENT OF THE REBELS. 403
the barons. With regard to the prisoners, all those who had,
before the arrangement of the peace, ransomed themselves,
as weU as those who had paid part of the money agreed on
for their ransom, should not recover what had been paid ;
but from whatever remained to be paid should be entirely
released. All the prisoners taken at Lincoln, or in the sea-
fight near Dover, whether on the side of the king, or on that
of Louis, should be everywhere immediately set free without
any difficulty, and without any ransom or tribute. After all
this was settled Louis together with his followers was
absolved according to the form of the church, and each and
all gave one another the kiss of peace, many of them deceit
fully pretending a joy that was but feigned; after this Louis
returned to London, where he received five thousand pounds
sterUng to meet his necessities, and then under the conduct
of the grand marshal he went with all speed to the sea coast,
and thence, in lasting ignominy, crossed to France. From
the benefit of this absolution and pacification were excluded
aU the bishops, abbats, priors, canons, seculars, and a number
of the clergy, who had given advice and shown favour to
Louis and the barons, and especiaUy master Simon de Langton,
and master Gervase de Hobregge, who had gone so far in their
obstinacy as to cause divine services to be performed for
Louis and the excommunicated barons by excommunicated
priests ; they therefore were excluded from all benefit, and
were obUged by the legate to go to Eome. Immediately
after Louis's departure from England, the legate sent inquisi
tors through all the counties of England, to find out all who
were guilty of the shghtest impUcations in the rebellion of
whatever order or rank they might be, and after suspending
them and depriving them of all benefit, to send them to the
legate, and he distributed all their benefices amongst his own
clerks, and from the losses of others enriched all his own
followers. Hugh bishop of Lincoln, too, came to England,
and to regain his bishopric paid a thousand marks' of sterling
money for the pope's benefit, and a hundred to the legate ;
and foUowing his example several others, priests and reli
gious men, regained the legate's favour at ruinous expense.
By such an immoderate draining he emptied the coffers of
the clergy and secular canons, so that, according to the word
of the gospel, he coUected in one place all that had been
d d 2

404 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [i.D. 1218.
scattered abroad, and from several portions made one great
heap.
How the inhabitants of Cologne and Friesland prepared lo march to the
Holy Land.
About that time there was a great movement of the brave
and warlike men in the provinces of Cologne and Friesland,
for since the commencement of the preaching of the crusade
after the general council, they had with great eagerness
built three hundred ships and having embarked in them, to
fulfil to the Lord their vows of pilgrimage, they set sail, and
the greater part of them, with a large array of soldiers, had
arrived at Lisbon, where a disagreement arose amongst them
about laying siege to a strong castle called Alchatia, some
being anxious to proceed, and others wishing to winter where
they were; so the fleet was divided, and one part of it
wintered af? Gaeta and Sorrento, and the other part under
the command of two chiefs, namely, WUUam duke of HoUand,
and George count of Weise, laid siege to Alchacia. WhUst
they were still employed in the siege, a large force of
Saracens was assembled against them, but the Christians
bravely gave them battle, and, by the divine assistance, con
quered the infidels. One king amongst the pagans was slain,
and numbers of others were kiUed and made prisoners ; the
castle was at last taken by the Germans, and held by the
Christians. Of the siege of the castle of Newark, and Robert de Gaugi.
a.d. 1218. At Christmas, king Henry was at North
ampton, where Falcasius supplied aU the necessaries for
the royal festivity. There were at this time, in England,
many nobles whose chief delight had been during the past
war to live by plunder, and now, even after peace had been
declared and granted to all, they could not restrain their
hands from piUage ; the chief incentors to this work were
WiUiam earl of Albemarle, Falcasius and his casteUans,
Eobert de Vipont, Brian de l'lsle, Hugh de Baliol, Phihp
Marci, and Eobert Gaugi, with many others, who, in defiance
of the king's prohibition, and against the consent of the
owners, presumed to retain in their own possession the
castles of some of the bishops and nobles with their lands and

A.n. 1218.] MARCH OF THE CRUSADERS. 405
other property. Amongst these Eobert de Gaugi, even
after several warnings from the king, refused to deliver up
to Hugh bishop of Lincoln, the castle of Newark, with the
town and its appurtenances, which of right belonged to that
prelate. This circumstance aroused the anger of the grand
marshal, who, by the king's orders, assembled a large, army
and, accompanied by the king himself, marched against the
aforesaid castle ; and when they arrived in the neighbour
hood of it, they sent soldiers in advance to prevent the
garrison from leaving the castle that they might not, as was
often done, sally forth and burn the town. When Eobert
and his companions learned that this army was come, they
made a sortie on them, but were obliged to retreat again by
the attacks of the king's troops ; in this attack William de
Diva, a knight of the household of Hugh bishop of Lincoln,
was slain as he was pursuing the enemy in their retreat to
the castle, and several others were wounded; the king and
the marshal were much concerned at this and ordered their
engines of war to be disposed around the castle to batter the
waUs with continued assaults from their petrarias. The
siege lasted for nearly eight days, during which the friends
of the said Eobert made overtures of peace to the bishop of
Lincoln, and at length, the two parties with the king's con
sent, came to this agreement, namely, that the said bishop
should give to Eobert de Gaugi, a hundred pounds sterling
for the stores in the castle, and on these terms the siege was
raised, and every one returned to his home.
Of the march of the crusaders from Acre to Damietta.
In the same year was carried into effect the plan of pope
Innocent which had been determined on at the Lateran
council, namely, to bring the army of Christ into the land
of Egypt. In the month of May, then, having prepared cogs,
galleys, and a number of other vessels of burden, John king
of Jerusalem, and the patriarch, sailed from Acre, accom
panied by the bishops of Nicotia, Acre, and Bethlehem, the
duke of Austria, and the masters of the templars and hospi
tallers of St. John and St. Mary of the Germans, and a large
host of Christians. The wind beginning to rise a little, the
army of the Lord had a favourable voyage, and arrived on
the third day at the port of Damietta. Some pf the army

406 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1218.
then landed and took possession of this hostile land without
bloodshed ; a few Saracen knights however met them, when
a certain Frieslander, kneeling with his right knee on the
ground, guarded himself with his shield in his left hand,
and shook his lance and sword with his right. A Saracen
who beheld him thought that he was in sport, but being
suddenly wounded by the Frieslander, the knight and horse
were struck to the ground, the others taking to flight ; and
thus the army of the faith measured out their camp between
the coast and the banks of the Nile, and there pitched their
tents without obstruction. God also wrought the following
miracle for his faithful people ; the water of the river near
the sea, which at their first arrival was sweet to the taste,
afterwards became salt as far as Casale, which is a mUe above
Damietta. After the arrival of the Christians there was a
total ecUpse of the moon, which the Christians interpreted to
denote the defeat of the Saracens, for they attribute great
prophetic influence to the increase and decrease of that
luminary.* Of the siege of the tower of Damietta on the river Nile.
After this the followers of Christ saw in the middle of the
river Nile, not far from Damietta, a high and handsome
tower strongly built of stone, from which an immensely thick
iron chain was extended across the river to the city which
stood on the other bank of it. It was the opinion of aU that
this tower ought to be reduced before laying siege to Da
mietta, but the Frieslanders, with their usual impatience,
crossed the Nile and took away the horses of the Saracens,
and, wishing to pitch their camp on the further bank of the
river, they stood fighting against the Saracens, who came
from the city to attack them ; they were however recaUed by
the patriarch on their oath of obedience, because it seemed
to the chiefs of the Christians to be disadvantageous to leave
behind them a tower filled with pagans. The chiefs of the
army of Christ, though anxious to take possession of this
tower, saw that it could not be reduced by hunger on account
* Paris here gives a letter sent by pope Honorius to the English king,
urging him to the practice of virtue, &c; but we forbear to insert it, as
those letters, although they might have been interesting to those of former
times, are not of the least interest to us of the present day. — Ed.

A.D. 1218.] CAPTURE OF A TOWER. 407
of the vicinity of the city ; nor by undermining it, on ac
count, of the velocity of the river which surrounded it ; nor
could it be reduced by the missiles from their petraria? and
trebuchets, because, although they had attempted it for
several days, they had gained little or no advantage. In
this dilemma they all came to the following determination,
namely, to join some ships and cogs together and to prepare
scaling ladders on the tops of the masts ; on these they
placed cross-bow men and soldiers, and by this plan they
hoped to effect their purpose. The duke of Austria then
and the hospitallers of St. John constructed two scaling
ladders on two of the cogs, which were raised against the
tower about the feast of St. John, the Saracens all the time
making a brave resistance. That of the hospitallers however
was, sad to relate, broken, and their soldiers were precipi
tated into the river ; the second ladder too, that of the duke
of Austria, in like manner fell with the mast of the vessel,
and the brave knights and soldiers were drowned in the
Nile, but Christ took the souls of all of them to heaven
crowned with glorious martyrdom. The Egyptians were
overjoyed and derided the crusaders, sounding their trum
pets to taunt them, while on the contrary the Christians
were overcome by grief and despair. The Frieslanders and
Germans under the command of Adolphus de Monte, a brave
and powerful noble, then fortified a ship with bulwarks and
a smaU kind of castle at the top of the mast. This ship was
fiercely attacked by the soldiers of the city, the tower, and
bridge, with Greek fire and missiles, and was at length set
on fire ; and when the Christians were afraid that it would
be entirely consumed, the crew of the vessel by great exer
tions extinguished the fire, and then the cross-bow men
inside caused great destruction amongst the Saracens ; other
ships of the crusaders were, during this assault, fortified with
bulwarks, and being made fast to the tower by anchors, sus
tained great loss of men and property.
Of the capture of the aforesaid tower, and the wonderful prowess of
the Christians.
At length the Almighty having pointed out the following
plan, and the architects, by his inspiration, having made pro
vision for its execution, the army of the faith, at the expense

408 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1218.
of the German knights and Frieslanders, and by the co
operation of the same, joined two cogs together with planks
and ropes, and so having given it a firm footing, they erected
four masts and yards to the same, and on the top of them
fixed a turret made of basket-work, and covered with hides
to keep off the Greek fire. Under the turret they constructed
a scaling ladder, hung with strong ropes, and reaching thirty
cubits beyond the prow of the vessel, and this great work
was finished in a very short time. The chiefs of the cru
saders were then summoned to inspect it, that whatever was
deficient either in expense or human ingenuity, might be
supplied ; and on their answering that such a machine had
never before been constructed of wood, the crusaders thought
that they ought at once to apply this contrivance against the
tower, because by the incessant missiles from their machines,
the bridge, by which the enemies of the faith reached the
tower, had been in a great measure destroyed. On the sixth
day before the feast of St. Bartholomew, the crusaders de
voutly marched barefooted in solemn procession to the holy
cross, the clergy in advance chanting and reading the service,
and humbly implored the divine assistance that the affair
might be free from all jealousy and vain boasting on the part
of any people then in the army. They summoned several of
the commanders to see the result of this attack, although the
Frieslanders and Germans would suffice to fiU and manage
the vessels. On St. Bartholomew's day, which was the sixth
day of the week, although the Nile was much swollen, and
the force of the stream much impeded the business, this ma
chine was, although with much difficulty and danger, drawn
to the tower ; the ship however to which it was attached
went under sail, while the patriarch and clergy walked
along the banks praying to the Lord. When they reached
the tower this double machine could not be brought to the
western side, it was therefore worked straight to the northern
side and there made fast, and was at length secured with
ropes and anchors, although the force of the swollen waters
seemed to be threatening to drive it away. When the
Saracens saw this, they erected six engines on the towers of
the city to destroy the machine, but one of these, more de
structive than the rest, was broken after a few discharges,
and remained useless ; they did not however cease their

A.D. 1218.] DEFEAT OF THE SARACENS. 409
efforts but sent forth frequent and destructive showers of
stones. The first ship attached to the machine was placed
at the foot of the tower, in no small danger ; for the Greek
fire which was hurled therefrom fell on it Uke lightning, and
caused no small alarm to the crusaders, but by means of
vinegar, gravel, and other extinguishing matter, the fire was
subdued. Then a fierce assault was made by those who
managed the machine, whilst the patriarch lay prostrate on
the ground before the cross, and the clergy standing bare
footed cried aloud to Heaven. The enemies of the cross and
defenders of the tower stretched forth their lances and
sprinkled oil on the foremost part of the scaling ladder, and
then applying the Greek flame, set fire to it ; the crusaders,
who were inside, rushing forward to extinguish the fire, by
their weight so depressed the head of the ladder, that the
turning bridge placed against the front of the tower sank
downwards. The standard-bearer of the duke of Austria
fell from it, and the pagans seized on the duke's standard
amidst much derision ; then, thinking themselves victorious,
they raised a shout which shook the air. But the Christians,
on seeing this, prostrated themselves in prayer, and with
clasped hands continued to call on the Lord. At this devo
tion and upraising to heaven of the hands of the people of
Christ, the divine love raised the scaling ladder, and the
tears of those of the faith extinguished the fire ; and then
the crusaders, regaining courage, bravely contended with the
defenders of the tower with lances, swords, spikes, arrows,
and other weapons of war. A brave young man of the
diocese of Liege was the first to climb the tower ; a young
Frieslander then ascended it, holding in his hand an iron
flail used for threshing grain, but made into a weapon for
fighting, with which he boldly cut down the enemies of the
faith on the other side of the ramparts to the right and left,
and amongst others he slew a Saracen who carried the
yeUow flag of the soldan, which he carried off; then one
after another followed in the ascent, although they met with
great resistance from their fierce and cruel enemies. The
pagans however were at length overcome, and the weeping
ana lamentation of the Christians was succeeded by joy and
triumph ; for the Saracens not being able to endure the
pressure of numbers in the tower, endeavoured to escape by

410 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1218.
throwing themselves from the windows, and many of them
were drowned, the water being too much for them ; about a
hundred of them were taken alive and reserved for ransom.
The Saracens, who had retreated inside the tower, then set
fire to the roof of it, on which the victorious Christians,
unable to endure the heat, returned to their scahng ladder ;
they then let down the bridge, which was placed in the
lower part of the machine, to the foot of the tower, which
was narrow by reason of the waters which flowed round it ;
they however attacked the door of the tower with iron
mallets while the Saracens inside defended it. The double
machine was still firmly fixed to the tower, but the wood of
the scaUng ladder was broken in many places. The waUs of
the machine, although pierced in many places by the missUes
from the engines, continued immoveable from the ninth hour
on the sixth day of the week till the tenth hour of the fol
lowing Saturday. At length the Saracens entirely faihng in
their defence of the tower, asked for a truce, and surren
dered themselves to the duke of Austria on condition of their
lives being spared. The tower being thus reduced, the
crusaders supplied themselves with provisions and with fresh
soldiers, hoping next to subdue the city as they had the
tower. Of the death of Saphadin, and the destruction of the walls of Jerusalem.
After the capture of the tower in the river Nile, Saphadin,
who had grown old in days of wickedness, the disinheritor
of his nephews, and the wicked usurper of the kingdom of
Asia, being overcome, as was said, with grief, died and was
buried in hell ; he was succeeded by his son Coradin, a fierce
and cruel man, who, in revenge for the siege of Damietta,
utterly destroyed the famous city of Jerusalem, and reduced
to a heap of ruins the walls and towers of that city, except
the temple of the Lord and the tower of David. They then
held council as to destroying the noble sepulchre of our Lord,
which they had threatened to do in letters, which they sent
to the citizens of Damietta for their consolation. However,
on account of the reverence in which the place was held, no
one of them dared to lay hands on it ; for in their book, the
Alcoran, it is written, that our Lord Jesus Christ was con
ceived and born of the virgin Mary, whom they confessed to

A.D. 1218.] THE CRUSADERS AT DAMIETTA. 411
have lived without sin amongst men, and to have been a
prophet, and more than a prophet ; they also asserted in ad
dition, that he restored sight to the blind, cleansed lepers,
and brought the dead to life ; they also believed that the
word and spirit of the Uving God had ascended to heaven.
On this account, when during the truce, their wise men went
to Jerusalem and demanded to be shown the book of the
gospels, they worshipped it, and admired the purity of the
law which Christ taught, and especially the gospel of Luke,
" The angel of the Lord was sent," which their learned men
often discoursed on and repeated. But their law, which, at
the instigation of the devil and by the agency of the apostate
and heretic monk, Sergius, Mahomet had written in Arabic
and deUvered and taught to the Saracens, commenced with
the sword, was kept by the sword, and is ended by the
sword. This Mahomet was an ilUterate man, as he himself
proves in his Alcoran; for he himself preached what the
above-named heretic dictated, and, being a powerful man
and a chief of the Arabs, he by his threats caused that law
to be observed. He was moreover a luxurious and war
like man, and so from uncleanness and vanity he gave a law,
which his carnal followers observe to the gratification of
their own pleasures ; and as purity and truth confirm the
law of Christ, so worldly and human fear and carnal pleasure
support their erroneous doctrine.
Of the arrival at Damietta of the legate Pelagius and other pilgrims
After the tower of Damietta was subdued as above related,
a great number of pilgrims came from various quarters to
assist in the crusade then being carried on ; and amongst
others came Pelagius bishop of Albano, a legate of the apos
tohc see, together with master Bobert de Courcon, and
several Bomans. A number of bishops also came with the
count of Nevers, who when danger threatened, departed, to
the confusion of the Christians. At the same time too there
arrived from the kingdom of England the iUustrious Ealph
-earl of Chester, with the earls Sayer of Winchester, and
WiUiam of Arundel, the barons Eobert Fitz- Walter, John,
constable of Chester, and William de Harcourt, with large
retinues, and OUver, son of the king of England. There came
also the earl of March, the earl of Bar with his son, as weU as

412 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1218.
William de Carnot, Iterius de Tocee, Hervey d' Urson, and
many others.
Of the two attacks made by the Saracens on the Christians at Damietta.
After this, on the feast of St. Dionysius, the Saracens
came unawares with vessels and troops, and attacked the
outskirts of the camps where the Bomans had pitched their
tents ; they were however repulsed by a small body of
Christians, and made a hasty retreat to their vessels ; but
they could not escape the swords of their pursuers and the
torrent of the river, for, as the Christians afterwards learned
from the pagans, about five hundred were drowned in the
Nile. Again on the feast of St. Demetrius, at early dawn,
the enemy attacked the camp of the templars, but did little
injury to the Christians ; for they were put to flight by some
cavalry sent against them, and driven to the bridge which
they had built at a distance off, and there about five hundred
of them were slain by the crusaders.
Of an inundation of the river Nile, by which the Christians suffered
great loss.
On the foUowing feast of St. Andrew the apostle, in the
middle of the night the waves of the sea rose and made
dreadful inroads, even up to the camp of the crusaders,
whilst an inundation of the river took them unawares on
the other side. Tents were floating about, provisions were
lost, the fishes from the sea and river were carried into the
tents of the crusaders, who, although they caught them by
hand, would rather have been without those dainties ; and
had it not been for the ditch, which by a prudent plan had
been sometime before made, although for a different purpose,
the united force of the sea and river would have carried
away men and horses, and ships loaded with provisions and
arms, into the power of the enemy. This fate was not in
deed escaped b the four cogs on which the ramparts had
been built for attacking the tower ; for these, together with
a fifth ship which was jammed between them, were all driven
in a heap on to the opposite bank and there destroyed by
the Greek fire before the eyes of the crusaders. God in
deed spared the machine of the Frieslanders and Germans,

A.D, 1219.] DEATH OF WILLIAM MARSHALL. 413
by which the tower had been taken; but the transports in
the harbour parted their cables and were lost.
Of a disease which attacked many of the Christian army.
About that time many in the army were assailed by a
disease for which the physicians could find no remedy in
their art ; for the pain suddenly attacked the feet and leg3,
on which the skin appeared corrupt and black, and in the
gums and teeth a hard black substance took away all power
of eating, and numbers who were attacked, after suffering
thus for a long time, departed to the Lord ; some however
who struggled against it till the spring, were by the bene
ficial warmth of that season preserved from death.* In this
same year by the intervention of Walo, legate of the apostolic
see, Bichard de Marisco, a clerk who had been one of the
household and intimate friends of king John, was appointed
bishop of Durham, and was consecrated on the 24th of
July. The death of William Marshall,
A.D. 1219. King Henry in the fourth year of his reign
was at Winchester at Christmas, where Peter, the bishop of
that place, provided the necessary entertainment for him.
In this year too died William Marshall,' the king's guardian
and regent of the kingdom ; and after his death king Henry
remained in the guardianship of Peter bishop of Winchester, j
* C. inserts, " In the same year a church was dedicated at Worcester to
St. Mary, and on the same day the body of the renowned bishop Ulstan
was translated in the presence of the bishops and nobles too numerous to
mention ; this took place on the 7th of June, Dominical letter G, namely
the Sunday in Whitsun week ; and bishop Silvester, formerly prior and
monk of the said church, was appointed to preside over it, and the relics of
St. Ulstan were divided in order to be the more reverenced. One rib was
given to the church of St. Alban's, which William abbat of that place reve
rently enclosed in silver and gold. About the feast of St. Andrew, Walo
left England on his way to Rome, and was succeeded in hi% legateship by
Pandulf, bishop elect of Norwich. King Henry the Third took the royal
seal into his own possession."
+  " And was buried with honours in the church at the Ne^v
Temple, on Ascension-day, the 16th of March, and after his death the said
king remained in the care of Peter bishop of Winchester. The following
epitaph is said to have been written on the said William : —
* Sum quem Saturnum sibi sensit Hibernia, Solem
Anglia, Mercurium Normannia, Gallia Martem.'

414 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1219.
Of the siege of Damietta and the sufferings of the Christians.
About this same time Pelagius, the legate of the apostolic
see, in his ardent desire to besiege the city of Damietta, after
the taking of the tower, advised the Christians to cross the Nile.
They therefore, although with much danger, proceeded with
their ships up the river between the city and the captured
tower, but were much obstructed by the engines of the city
and by the Greek fire ; one of the ships of the templars, being
driven by the force of the current was forced towards the
bank near the city, and being thus thrown in the enemy's
reach, they attacked it for a length of time with barbottes
and iron grapnels, hurhng Greek fire on it from the city
towers ; and not being able to accompUsh their purpose on
account of the bravery of its defenders, the infidels chmbed
on board and impetuously attacked the templars, when, after
fighting for a length of time, the ship was bored through,
either by the infidels, or, as was rather beUeved, by the
crusaders themselves, and went to the bottom of the river
with Christians and infidels together, leaving only the top of
its mast above water; and Uke Sampson who slew more
enemies when dying than during his Ufe, so these martyrs
for Christ took more enemies with them into the abyss of
waters than they could destroy by their swords. The pagans
then repaired the bridge and left but a narrow opening, so
that the ships of the crusaders could not come up without dan
ger from the force of the river ; however the Frieslanders and
Germans, inflamed with just indignation, bravely attacked the
bridge with the largest ship, by means of which the tower
had been taken ; and, having no other aid but that of Heaven,
less than ten men of the aforesaid nations, opposed by all the
strength of Babylon, reached the bridge, and broke it in sight
of all the Christian host, who were lost in admiration of
their boldness ; and then taking possession of the four ships
on which the bridge was placed, they returned with them in
triumph, and thus left a free and open passage for the
For he was obnoxious to the Irish on account of subduing them; he was
the honour and glory of England ; a trader with the Normans, for he pur
chased many places in that country; and to the French he was warlike
and invincible. In this year in the time of Hugh the second bishop of
Lincoln, and William abbat of St. Alban's, an amicable arrangement was
made between the churches of Lincoln and St. Alban's."

A.D. 1219.] SIEGE OF DAMIETTA. 415
Christians to sail through. When this had been effected, the
Saracens, seeing the danger which threatened them, fortified
the bank of the river facing the Christians with trenches,
mounds of earth, wooden ramparts, and other defences, and
then placing their petrarise there, they thus deprived the
Christians of all hopes of passing that place. From Casale,
which is nearly a mile from the city where this new forti
fication terminated, they had also sunk ships across the
river, and driven stakes under water in the bed of it ; but
the soldiers of Christ and their cogs, with their forts and
bulwarks, and filled with armed men, followed by the
galleys and other ships, under the guidance of Christ, en
tirely escaped all these hidden snares. The enemies of the
faith, however, laying aside all fear, drew up three ranks
of troops to oppose the naval station of the Christians ; one
of foot soldiers, drawn up in order or the bank of the
river with targets, the second rank behind the first, and of
the same kind ; and the third, a long and imposing array of
horse-soldiers, who severely harassed the crusaders with
showers of stones and weapons. But the true God, who
does not permit his people to be tried beyond what they can
bear, looked on the camp of his servants, and turned the
grief and sorrow of the crusaders into exultation and joy ;
for on the night of the feast of St. Agatha the martyr,
when the army of Christ was arranged in order for crossing
the river on the following day, the winds and rain caused
much distress to the Christians ; but on the same night, by
the interposition of God, the soldan of Babylon and his
army were so terror-struck, that they left their tents, un
known even to the pagans, whom he had ordered to oppose
the crusaders, and consulted their safety by flight. On this,
a certain apostate, who, having transgressed the law of the
Christians, had for a long while fought under the soldan,
came to the bank of the river and cried out in the French
language, " Why do you delay ? what do you fear ? The
soldan has fled :" and after saying this, he asked to be taken
on board a Christian ship, and thus inspiring the Christians
with confidence, he urged them to cross the river. At early
dawn then, when the service of the mass, " Let us aU rejoice
in the Lord," had been performed, the king and the legate
were informed of this by the prayers of the Christians.

416 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1219.
The crusaders, therefore, on the flight of the Saracens,
crossed the river without bloodshed and free from all opposi
tion ; but so muddy and difficult of approach was this
hostile land, on account of the deep water, that horses could
with difficulty climb the bank. The templars, who were
the first to ascend the bank, hurried to the city, striking
down the infidels, who boldly came out of the gates to
oppose the approaching Christians ; but they being driven
back into the city, the army of Christ took possession of the
tents of the soldan and the spoils of the fugitive pagans.
They also plundered a number of targes, gaUeys, barbottes,
¦ and other vessels, which were found below Casale as far as
the city ; and on account of the unexpected crossing of the
river by the Christians, a multitude of infidels fled from
Damietta, leaving their wives and children behind them.
Damietta was then blockaded all round, for the troops ex
tended by means of a bridge to both banks of the river.
Of the first attack made by the Saracens on the Christians after the siege
commenced.
After the city was thus blockaded, the enemies of the
faith regained their courage, and with the soldan and the
troops of Aleppo, took possession of the place from which
the Christians had so unexpectedly crossed, and had it not
been for the divine counsel and aid, and chiefly by the
bravery of the Germans, the first camp, which was between
the sea and the river would have been regained by them,
and the cause of Christ would have been in great danger ; for
the Saracens, being full of deceit had become so rash, that at
dawn of the sabbath before the Sunday on which is chanted,
" My eyes are always on the Lord," they, unknown to the
crusaders, threw themselves in an immense mass as far as the
trench, but, by the bravery of the troops, both horse and foot,
they were repulsed ; for the Christians had made a broad and
deep trench in their rear, as a protection, that if the enemies
of the faith should make an attack on them they might be
safe behind this trench.
Of the second attack made on the Christians.
On Palm Sunday, the enemy, having coUected a large and
powerful force, again attacked the trench of the crusaders in

A.D. 1219.] ATTACK OF THE INFIDELS. 417
all quarters, and especially the bridge of the templars and the
duke of Austria, which the latter, in conjunction with the
Germans, bravely defended ; the Saracen knights with their
picked troops dismounted from their horses and fought despe
rately with the Christians. Numbers lay dead and wounded in
aU directions, but the infidels at length gained ground so much
that they gained the bridge and burnt a part of it. The duke of
Austria then ordered his foUowers to retreat from the bridge and
aUow the enemy to cross it, which they did not however dare
to do ; the women aU this time intrepidly supplied the Christian
soldiers with water, wine, bread, and missiles ; the priests, too,
assisted with their prayers, blessing God and binding up the
wounds of the wounded. On that holy day the Christians
were not allowed an opportunity of carrying any other palms
than cross-bows, bows, lances, swords, shields, and arrows ;
for their enemies, in their desire to free the city from its
besiegers, kept up their attacks so incessantly, that, from
sunrise tiU the tenth hour of the day, they allowed the
crusaders no rest ; but, being at length wearied themselves
they retreated from the place of battle with great loss.
Again on Ascension day the infidels in their usual way
attacked the Christians by land and water, and after repeated
assaults they could not gain their ends, but insulting them
near their camp each party did much injury to the other.
Of the third fierce attack made by the infidels on the Christians.
After this the enemies of the faith on the 31st of July
coUected aU the forces which they could muster, and, after
protracted assaults, crossed the trench notwithstanding the
troops of the templars, and, forcing their lines, put the
Christian infantry to flight, so that the whole army was in
imminent danger. The knights, with the secular horse and
foot soldiers three times endeavoured to repel them, but with
out effect; the insulting Saracens then raised a shout, and
the alarm of the Christians increased. But the spirit of
wisdom and bravery inspired the templars, for their grand
master, with the marshal and others of the brotherhood, made
a sally through the narrow opening, and by their bravery put
the enemy to flight. The Germans and Frieslanders, counts
and barons, and knights of various nations, seeing the
soldiers of the Temple in danger, burst through the places
VOL. II. E E

418 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1219
of egress nearest to them to assist them ; a hundred of the
foot soldiers of the infidels throwing away their shields were
slain, besides those who fell into the trench and died there.
The Christian foot soldiers next sallied out, and the enemy
retreated a short distance ; the Christian troops then stood to
their arms until the dusk of the evening put an end to the
conflict ; the Saracens retreated before that time. Numbers
of slain lay near the ditch, and besides them many
mortally wounded were brought into the camp. By the
grace of God, and owing to the bravery of the templars, but
few of the crusaders were kiUed or made prisoners. Whilst
these things were passing at this place almost all the engines
of the crusaders, which had been erected against the city, as
weU as the scaling ladders, were burnt by the garrison of the
place, to the great injury of the Christians. After the
soldan had made these attacks he did not again dare to give
battle to the Christians, but pitching his camp near the
besieging army he there remained in ambuscade.
Of a pitched battle between the Christians and Saracens.
When the army of Christ had for a long while endeavoured
to destroy the waUs of the city by their petrarias, trebuchets,
and other engines of war, but without effect, the wiser part
of them plainly discovered that Damietta would not be taken
unless by the interposition of God; on this a murmuring
arose amongst many in the camp, for the punishment of their
sins and discord ; for it was the opinion of some, that they
ought to give battle to the soldan who remained in his camp
near the Christians in ambuscade, so that by subduing him
they might also reduce Damietta. On the other hand, it was
the opinion of the king of Jerusalem, and many others
besides him, that the siege, having been so long carried on,
should be continued until, either by the interposition of God
or by hunger, the garrison should be compelled to yield ; for
all, who escaped either by way of the postern gate or let
themselves down from the walls, by their swollen and
famished condition plainly showed the sufferings of their
fellow citizens. The party who were determined to give
battle to the Saracens at length prevailed, and on the day of
the beheading of St. John the Baptist, they all, although dis
agreeing amongst themselves, marched in a body against the

A.D. 1219.] A PITCHED BATTLE. 419
camp of the Babylonians, and with difficulty could men be
found to remain and carry on the siege. They therefore
marched and discovered the enemies of the faith in their
camp between the sea and the river, where no fresh water
could be found to drink, but the enemy, on their approach,
struck their tents and feigned flight ; and when the crusaders
had proceeded far enough to see that they would not give
them open battle, the chiefs of the army held a long council
as to whether they should proceed or return. Opinion was
so divided amongst them, that the different bodies broke up
without coming to any determination, except those who were
kept together by discipline and military obedience ; the cavalry
of Cyprus, who were placed on the right flank of the army,
first showed signs of fear, when the Saracens attacked the
flank ; the Eoman foot soldiers were the first to fly, and after
them the knights of various countries, and some of the
hospitallers of St. John, although the legate, and the
patriarch, who carried the cross, entreated them, although in
vain, to withstand the enemy. The heat of the sun was very
great and the foot soldiers were overpowered by the weight
of their armour ; the heat increased the toil of the march,
and those who had brought wine with them in the agony of
thirst drank it pure, for want of water, and these fled after
the first fugitives till they were out of breath and fell dead
without being wounded. The king of Jerusalem, however,
with the templars, and the Teutonic order, and the hospitallers
of St. John, and the earls of Holland, Wiche, Salisbury, and
Chester, Walter Bertold, Eeginald de Pont, and the French,
Pisans, and knights of various countries, sustained the attack
of the pagans, and were as it were a wall for the fugitives
whenever the enemy showed their faces ; the king of Jeru
salem indeed was almost destroyed by the Greek fire. In
this conflict were made prisoners of the Christians the bishop
elect of Beauvais, and his brother Andrew de Nantes, the
sheriff of Beaumont, Walter chamberlain to the French king,
and his son John of Arc, and Henry of Ulm. Thirty-three
templars were slain and made prisoners, besides the marshal
of the hospital of St. John, and some brothers of the same
order ; and the Teutonic order did not escape without loss.
Many others besides were slain and taken prisoners. The
knights of the temple, who were always first in attack, were
E e 2

420 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1219.
last in the retreat ; therefore although they were the last of
the Christians to reach the trench, they bravely opposed the
enemy till aU those before them had entered the fortifications ;
the Saracens then returned to take away their prisoners and
to coUect booty ; and, as ' the crusaders afterwards learned
from the Saracens, the heads of five hundred Christians
were presented to the soldan. It was very evident to the
Christians that the infidels too had suffered heavy loss in
their principal soldiery, for the soldan sent one of his
prisoners to the Christians to treat for a truce or for peace,
and during this treaty the Christians properly repaired their
-ti'ench and engines of war
How several pilgrims left Damietta without permission.
About that time some sailors, traitors to Christianity, and
several Christians with them, before the time of the usual
passage, left the army of Christ in its greatest danger, and by
their departure added to the sorrow of the Christians and the
boldness of the Babylonians ; therefore, the infidels breaking off
the treaty, on the eve of St Cosmas and St. Damian,* and the
following day, attacked the Christians with their accus
tomed rage and barbarous ferocity, with gaUeys and armed
barbottes, by sea and by land, with mangoneUes, targes, and
faggots for filUng up the trench, and by this sudden attack
slew numbers of them ; but the triumphant One of Israel,
the Omnipotent God, provided for the safety of his camp,
for Savaric de Maulion arrived by sea with armed gaUeys
and a great number of soldiers. The Christians then seeing
this, in their eminent peril cried out to heaven, giving praise
to God, and became encouraged, and bravely giving battle
to the enemy, compeUed the infidels to retreat by the favour
of Him who preserves those who trust in him.f
* 26th September.
+ C. inserts here, " About this time, St. Elizabeth, the daughter of the
king of Hungary, and wife of the Landgrave of Duringen, a woman re
nowned for miracles, distinguished above all her sex for her miracles and
sanctity of life, flourished in Germany. At her exhortation, her husband,
the landgrave, by name Louis, joined the crusade, and died at Damietta,
when he was received into heaven through the prayers of his most holy
wife. After his death, St. Elizabeth, now a widow, received the habit of
a nun from Master Conrad, a religious man, and thus she proceeded from
virtue to virtue, till the whole of Germany, before she died, became re
nowned by her virtues. It should also be known that this Elizabeth was

A.D. 1219.] MORTALITY AMONGST THE GARRISON. 421
Of the mortality amongst the garrison of Damietta.
We will now relate some of the events which happened
in the city. The people of Damietta having suffered during its
long siege from attacks, hunger, and disease, more than can
be described, placed their confidence only in the hope that
the sultan, as he had promised, would, if their case was
imminent, make terms with the Christians, that they might
thus escape death ; indeed, at this time famine was so preva
lent in the city that the besieged were without provisions,
for the corn of Egypt is not durable on account of the soft
land in which it grows, except in the higher parts near
Babybn, where it is kept* nearly a year. The infidels then
blocked up the gates that no one might get out to teU their
sufferings to the crusaders, for every day they suffered
dreadfully ; the stock of provisions amongst the army of the
sultan, which surrounded the crusaders outside, began to fail
them, and to such a degree that one fig was sold for twelve
bezants. Amongst other sufferings endured day and night
by these wretches, they were attacked by a complaint, and
could see nothing even with their eyes wide open. Besides
this, the Nile, which usually overflows and waters the plains
of Egypt from the feast of St. John the Baptist till the
elevation of the cross, did not this year rise as usual, but left
a great part of the land dry, and they could not either sow
or plough in that part ; the soldan, therefore, in dread of a
famine, and being desirous of retaining Damietta, en
deavoured to make arrangements for peace with the Chris
tians. His intention of making arrangements was strength
ened by the wonderful capture of the tower, and by the
firmness in battle of the Christians, who with only a small
force of those of the true faith had so often bravely attacked
the whole pagan force, and put them to flight, besides slaying
many thousands of them.
the daughter of the queen of whom a certain person was accused of having
used the following ambiguous sentence, ' Reginam interficere nolite timere ;
bonum est : et, si omnes consenserint, ego non contradico.' [Fear not to
slay the queen ; it is commendable so to do; if all agree, I do not oppose.]
But pope Innocent put a more favourable interpretation upon it, thus,
' Reginam interficere nolite, timere bonum est ; etsi omnes consenserint,
ego non, contradico.' [Do not kill the queen; to hesitate is commendable;
though all consent to it, I do not, but oppose it.]
* The author of " Captio Damiettae" adds the word " artificiose."

422 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1219.
How the soldan offered the kingdom of Jerusalem to the Christians, on
condition of their retiring from Damietta.
The soldan, therefore, thus troubled in mind, convoked a
council of his nobles and faithful counseUors, and addressed
them as follows : " The God of the Christians," said he, " is
great, and a faithful and powerful ally in battle, which we
have all found out, and especiaUy in the present emergency,
in which he plainly fights for our enemies against us, and
undoubtedly, all that we can do wiU be of no effect as long
as they have his assistance. The capture of Damietta is at
hand, which is the key of all Egypt ; and should it be taken,
great loss will ensue to us and our law, for although it has
been often besieged by the Christians, it has not yet been
subdued by them. Therefore, I think it wiU be to our ad
vantage to restore to the God of the Christians aU that
belonged to him, that he may not, in regaining his own, take
from us what is our own ; and inasmuch as he is a just God,
and does not covet the possessions of others, if the Chris
tians refuse these just terms of peace, which wiU be most
honourable to them, they wiU thus provoke their God to
hatred against them, on acount of their wicked covetousness,
and he, despising their pride, will depart from them, and
they will find an enemy in him, who formerly gave them his
merciful assistance." Although this advice was displeasing
to many, he however sent messengers to the Christians, and
offered to restore to them the true cross, which had been
some time before taken by Saladin, and also to release aU
the prisoners that could be found aUve, throughout the king
dom of Babylon and Damascus, and to pay the necessary
expenses for repairing the waUs of Jerusalem, and restoring
the city to its former state. He also offered entirely to give
up the kingdom of Jerusalem, except Crach and Mount
Boyal, for the retention by him of which two places he
offered to pay a yearly tribute of twelve thousand bezants as
long as he held them. These are two castles in Arabia,
having seven strong fortifications, and situated on the road
by which the pagan merchants and pilgrims usually travel to
and from Mecca, and whoever held these places would be
able to do much injury to Jerusalem, and the vineyards and
fields. The king of Jerusalem, the earl of Chester, and all
the French and German chiefs resolutely asserted that these

A.D. 1219.] CAPTURE OF DAMIETTA. 423
terms ought to be accepted, and would be advantageous to
Christianity ; nor is it to be wondered at, as the Christians
would have been contented with much less advantageous
terms of peace, which had been offered them before this, if
they had not been prevented by wise counsel. The legate,
however, in his desire of gaining possession of Damietta,
and owing to him, the patriarch and all the clergy, opposed
these terms, constantly asserting that Damietta above all
other places ought to be taken possession of ; this difference
of opinion caused disagreement, at which the soldan's mes-:
sengers departed much pleased. When the soldan was told
of this, he secretly sent a large force of foot soldiers through
the marshes to Damietta ; two hundred and forty of these,
when the Christians were sleeping on the Sunday night
after All Saints' day, attacked their camp, but by the shouts
of the sentries the army was roused, and they were taken
prisoners or slain, and the captives amounted to a hundred
or more. Of the miraculous capture of the city of Damietta.
After these events, the Christian army having made fierce
assaults on the city of Damietta, they at length saw that the
ramparts were destitute of defenders, on which the crusaders
with all haste applied their scaling-ladders to the walls and
eagerly entered the city ; and thus by the interposition of
the Saviour of the world, on the fifth of November the city
of Damietta was taken without opposition, without noise,
and without pillage ; so that the victory is to be ascribed to
the Son of God alone ; and although the city was taken in
sight of the king of Babylon, he did not dare as usual to
attack the Christians, but fled in confusion and burnt his
own camp. Under the guidance of Christ then his soldiers
entered Damietta, and found the streets strewed with the
corpses of the dead, and were met by an intolerable stench
from them and the most squalid-looking human beings. The
dead had killed the living; husband and wife, father and
son, master and servant, had perished from the stench of one
another. And it was not only the streets which were full of
;he dead, for corpses were lying about in houses and bed
chambers ; boys and children had asked for bread, and there
was no one to break it for them; infants hanging at the

424 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-D- 1219.
breasts of their mothers were rolUng over the bodies of the
dead ; the pampered rich died of hunger though surrounded
with heaps of corn. From the commencement of the siege
eighty thousand persons had died in that city, except those
whom the crusaders found there healthy and sick, who
amounted to three thousand and more ; of these three
hundred of the higher ranks were kept by the Christians
ahve to exchange for their countrymen who were prisoners
of the infidels, except those who had beUeved in Christ and
were baptized. This city was first besieged by the Greeks,
who failed in capturing it; it was next besieged by the
Latins under Almeric king of Jerusalem, but they did not
succeed ; on this, the third time, the King of kings and Lord
of lords delivered it to his servants, even our Lord Jesus
Christ, who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever.
Of the costly spoils of Damietta.
The crusaders found in the city great quantities of gold
and silver, silk, cloth, costly garments, with worldly orna
ments, and various kinds of goods in great abundance. They
all swore in common that the spoil should be carried away,
and given up to be equally divided amongst the conquerors.
This had been ordered by the legate under pain of excom
munication, but the greediness of the eyes made many
thieves. They took for the general use a great portion of
the wealth of Egypt in gold and silver, pearls, fruit, amber,
gold thread, phylacteries, and costly cloths, which were dis
tributed amongst the army of the Lord, together with the
corn found in the city. The bishop of Acre baptized aU the
children who were found alive in the city, thereby giving to
God the first fruits of souls. The legate also, out of the
great mosque in the city, constructed a church in honour
of the blessed Virgin Mary and all the apostles, to the glory
and exaltation of the faith of the Trinity. The city of
Damietta, besides the natural position of the place by which
it is defended, is surrounded by three waUs, having a low wall
outside to protect the outer ditch, a second higher than the
first, and the third higher than the second. The middle
wall had twenty-eight principal towers, with double and
treble breastworks, which all remained uninjured, except
one, which had been somewhat battered by the frequent

A.D. 1219.] CAPTURE OF TANNIS CASTLE. 425
missiles from the trebuchets of the templars, for God wished
to dehver that city to his servants entire, as the key and
outwork of all tho land of Egypt. The city lies between
Bamesses and the plain of Tannis in the land of Gersen,
which, as the Christians conjectured, was the pasture whither
the children of Israel fled from Pharaoh at the time of the
famine, as is related in the Old Testament.
Of the capture of the castle of Tannis.
Damietta being thus taken, about a thousand men were, on
the feast of St. Clement,* sent as scouts in boats up a small
river called Tannis, to seek for provisions from the fortresses
and towns, and carefully to note the situations of places.
On their approaching a castle called by the name of the
river the Saracens who garrisoned it, on seeing the Chris
tians, thought that the whole army was approaching, therefore
they secured the gates and took to flight, and the Christians
with only Christ as their leader eagerly entered the castle.
The crusaders, on their return, declared that they had never
seen a stronger castle on a plain; for it had seven strong
towers, and breastworks above it all round ; it was sur
rounded by a double ditch, walled on both sides, and had an
outwork ; a lake spread itself around it to a distance, and on
this account it was difficult of access to horse-soldiers in
winter, and in summer so inaccessible that it could never be
taken by siege by any army. This lake greatly abounded in
fish, for from the sale of fish from it four thousand marks
were paid to the soldan yearly. The place also abounded in
birds and salt-pits. Many castles around were subservient
to this one, for the city before the castle was once a well-
known place, and larger than Damietta, but was afterwards
a heap of ruins. This is the Tannis of which the prophet
David has made mention in the psalm, as also Isaiah, " The
foolish chiefs of Tannis," &c. In this city Jeremiah is said
to have been stoned, as you are told in the Old Testament.
Tannis is a day's journey distant from Damietta, on the way
by sea towards the land of promise, so that it would be easy to
place a garrison there, and to send provisions either by land
or sea from Acre or Damietta. It had done much injury to
the Christians during the siege of Damietta, when their
• November 23rd.

426 ROGER OF WENDOVER. 7 [A-D- 122°-
ships, in going to or coming from the army had gone near
that plao<:, for the beach before Tannis is sandy, and there is
no harbour there, but there is a wide bay, and ships which
are driven into it cannot clear it without a fair wind. In
this year, the noble Ealph earl of Chester, after fighting for
nearly two years in the service of God, obtained permission
of the legate, and returned home with his blessing and the
good wishes of all the army.*
How Louis attacked Toulouse, but was obliged lo retreat in confusion.
About this time Louis, eldest son of Philip king of the
French, at the instigation of his father, coUected a large
army to attack the heretic Albigenses, and marched with aU
his forces to lay siege to the city of Toulouse, whose inhabit
ants were said to have been long tainted with heresy. After
disposing their engines round the city, the French kept up con
tinued assaults on it, but the citizens on seeing this prepared
for defence, and erected engine against engine; and after
the siege had been carried on for a long time without effect,
a great famine arose amongst the French army, which was
followed by dreadful mortaUty both of men and horses.
Simon earl of Montfort, the commander of the besieging
army, was wounded before the gate of the city by a stone
hurled from a petraria, and, his whole body being crushed,
he died on the spot ; his brother too, at the siege of a castle
near Toulouse, was in the same way wounded by a stone,
and died to the great grief of many. Louis therefore, after
a great mortaUty in his army from famine, as has been men
tioned, and having suffered great loss of aU his property,
returned in confusion to France with the remains of his
troops. Of the second coronation of king Henry.
A.D. 1220. At Christmas king Henry was at Marlbo
rough, being stiU under the guardianship of Peter, bishop
of Winchester. In this year, on Whit- Sunday, which was
the seventeenth day of May, the said king, in the fifth
year of his reign, was again crowned at Canterbury by
* Paris adds here: " In this year about Easter, Hugh de Maneport bishop
of Hereford died, and was succeeded by Hugh Foliott, who was consecrated
at Canterbury on the feast of All Saints."

A.D. 1220.] CANONIZATION OF ST. HUGH. 427
Stephen, archbishop of that place, in the presence of the
clergy and people from aU parts of the kingdom. On the
foUowing feast of St. Barnabas* the apostle, Henry king of
England, and Alexander king of Scots, had an interview at
York, where treaty was entered into for the contracting a
marriage between Alexander king of Scots and the king of
England's sister, and the contract having been confirmed,
the king of Scots returned home.
Of the canonization of St. Hugh bishop of Lincoln.
In this same year, St. Hugh bishop of Lincoln was
canonized by pope Honorius, and admitted into the number
of saints, an inquisition of his miracles having been first
held by Stephen archbishop of Canterbury and John abbat
of Fountain's abbeys, which circumstance was set forth in
the foUowing warrant of our lord the pope : " Honorius,
bishop, servant of the servants of God, to aU his beloved
and faithful children in Christ, to whom these presents
shaU come, health and the apostolic benediction. The divine
mercy assigns a place of felicity in heaven to its saints and
elect, and whilst they are on earth honours them with
miracles, that the devotion of the faithful may be thereby
excited to ask for their intercession. Whereas, we have
enrolled in the number of saints, Hugh bishop of Lincoln, of
sacred memory, whom, as it is plainly evident to us, the
divine goodness has rendered iUustrious by the number of
his glorious miracles, as well during his life as after he had
put off the garb of mortality, we command, and in the name
of the Lord exhort the whole brotherhood of you, devoutly
to implore his mediation with God ; and in addition to this,
we order, that from the day of his death a feast in honour
>f him shall be solemnly observed each year thenceforth.
Given at Viterbo, this seventeenth of February, in the
fourth year of our pontificate."
The capture of the castles of Sanney and Rockingham.
In the same year, on the feast of the apostles Peter and
Paul,f king Henry suddenly took possession of the castles of
Eockingham and Sanney, against the wiU of Wilham earl
of Albemarle. When the said king arrived at the castles to
* 11th of June. + June 29th.

428 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1221.
attack them he found them destitute of aU kinds of pro
visions, for they had not so much as three loaves of bread in
both of them.* Translation of St. Thomas archbishop of Canterbury.
In the same year, on the day after the octaves of the
apostles Peter and Paul, the body of St. Thomas the arch
bishop and martyr was taken out of its marble tomb by
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, in the presence of the
king and almost all the bishops, abbats, priors, earls, and
barons of the kingdom. It was then placed with due
honours in a coffin elaborately worked with gold and jewels.
At this translation were also present archbishops, bishops,
abbats, priors, and numbers of others of the French king
dom, and various other countries, who eagerly assembled to
be present at this great solemnity ; for they considered it a
most proper duty to honour and worship this holy martyr in
Christ's cause, who shed his blood for the universal church,
and had unflinchingly fought for it to the last.
Of the siege of the castle of Biham, and the troubles in the kingdom.
A.D. 1221. At Christmas king Henry held his court at
Oxford, at which the earls and barons of the kingdom
attended. At this place, when all the royal services had
been discharged with success and peaceably, he UberaUy dis
tributed to all what was due, according to the old custom of
the kingdom. William de Foret,"|" however, wishing to dis
turb the peace of the kingdom, went away without leave on
the foUowing night, and proceeded in aU haste to the castle
of Biham, where after a few days he collected some troops,
and attacked and plundered the town of Tenham, and carried
away the corn belonging to the canons of Bridlington to
Biham castle ; he also plundered the town of Deping and
other places in the same county, made prisoners of the
inhabitants, and, after torturing them severely, obUged them
to ransom themselves. He was instigated to these acts, as
was said, by Falcasius, Phihp Marc, Peter de Mauleon,
* Paris adds : " In this year a new chapel dedicated to Saint Mary
was begun at Westminster, of which king Henry was the founder, he
himself laying the foundation stone."
+ The earl of Albemarle before-mentioned.

A.D, 1221. J TROUBLES IN THE KINGDOM. 429
Engelard d'Athie, and many others, who privately sent him
soldiers to disturb the peace of the kingdom. During these
disturbances the inhabitants of that part of the country
flew to the churches for safety, carrying all their property
into the cemeteries. In the meantime, the nobles of England
assembled before the king at Westminster to discuss the
affairs of the kingdom ; but the earl, who had been sum
moned amongst the rest, although he pretended that he
would come there, hke a cunning traveller, changed his
purpose and went to the castle of Fotheringay. That
castle was then in charge of Ealph earl of Chester, but
almost destitute of knights and soldiers ; and when the afore
said earl found this out, he apphed his scahng ladders to it,
and gained admission to it with his soldiers, and soon sub
dued it, making prisoners of the few guards he found there.
Then putting some of his own soldiers in charge of it, he
made aU haste to the town of Biham. He next plundered
the whole of the adjacent county with his soldiers, and
suppUed his own castle from the spoils of others. But when
this piece of audacity became known to the king and his
council, he soon assembled an army, and on the sixth day
after the purification of St. Mary, he surrounded the castle
with his troops; and in short, they placed their engines
round the castle, and in a short time destroyed the waUs and
buildings, so that the besieged had no place of safety to lay
their heads in ; they, therefore, having no other resource,
all left the ruins of the castle, and on the eighth day of
February went before the king, who ordered them to be
imprisoned till he should consult as to what ought to be
done with them. The earl of Albemarle, in the meantime,
came, under the conduct of Walter archbishop of York, to
the king, who at the recommendation of Walo the legate
pardoned him, on account of his having bravely and faith
fully served the said king and his father in their wars ; all
the knights and soldiers also were released without punish
ment or ransom by the king, who thus gave a bad example
to others to rebel against him with confidence in a like case.
Of a disagreement which arose between Richard bishop of Durham and
the monks.
About this time a great dispute arose between Bichard

430 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1221.
de Marisco bishop of Durham and the monks of that church,
about some ancient rights and customs which the monks had
enjoyed for a long time past. The bishop fraudulently sent
word to the monks aforesaid to come to him with their
privileges and the writings of their church, in order that if
anything was deficient in them, it might be suppUed by his
decision : the prior, however, and the monks, who had sus
picions of the bishop's deceit, would not on any account
show their writings to him. The bishop, therefore, not
being able to get sight of their writings, swore that he
would convert all their property to his own uses, adding
also, that if he found any one of them outside the gate of
his convent, he would accept no other ransom from him than
his head ; he also swore that as long as he hved the church
of Durham should have no peace. Not long afterwards, the
followers of the bishop dragged a monk by force from a
church, and on the latter laying his complaint for this
treatment before the bishop, that prelate rephed, that his
servants would have done better if they had kiUed him ;
and from that time the said bishop was so hostile, and in
flicted such injuries on the aforesaid monks, that, out of
necessity, they appealed to the pope, and placed themselves
and all their property under his protection ; they then sent
clerks and some of the monks to Borne, who laid many ac
cusations against the bishop, in answer to which they ob
tained the following letter from his hohness : " Honorius,
bishop, to the bishops of Salisbury, Ely, and others, greeting,
&c. So seemly is it for us to take pleasure in the good
opinion of our brothers and coUeagues, that we will not
connive at the vices of the pestilent, since it does not become
us, out of regard to our order, to support sinners, whose sin
makes them worthy of death, in proportion to the examples
of sin which they set to their people, who imitate only such
crimes, as they behold with their own eves. Hence it is
that when things have often been intimated to us con
cerning' our venerable brother the bishop of Durham, which
are entirely at variance with the episcopal dignity, we were
at length so excited by the appeals which are forced on our
notice, that we could not suffer the said bishop to continue
any longer unchecked in his enormities ; for a glaring accu
sation has been mpde against him, that since his elevation to

A.D. 1221.] CHARGES AGAINST THE BISHOP OF DURHAM. 431
the pontifical dignity, he has been guilty of bloodshed,
simony, adultery, sacrilege, robbery, perjury, and manifold
offences, of audaciously oppressing clerks, orphans, and
reUgious men, of obstructing the testaments of dying people,
of defending the rights of the king in opposition to the
learning of our beloved son, Pandulph, bishop elect of
Norwich, and, although under the ban of excommunication,
of interfering in the performance of divine services. Also,
according to the appeals laid before us he does not pay
deference to the church of Borne, he does not observe the
statutes of the general council, he never preaches the word
of God to his people, and in his discourse and by the
practice of his life, he sets a bad example to those under
him. In the presence of a great many people he has sworn
that the church of Durham shaU have no peace during his
life. When a certain monk of Durham complained to him
that he had been dragged from a church by his the bishop's
servants, and beaten till his blood was shed, he repUed that
it would have been better if his servants had kiUed the
monk. He has, moreover, in all respects entirely trodden
under foot the apostolic rule, which sets forth what sort of a
person a bishop ought to be. That we may not therefore
increase the fault of another, which we should do if we
were to pass over the great and numerous offences of the
said bishop, since such an outcry has reached us in this
matter, that we can no longer dissemble matte's, we have
thought proper to descend from the dignity of our office to
see whether these complaints are true or not. Wherefore,
we, by these apostolic letters, command the brotherhood of
you to make inquiries on these matters, and when you have
found out the exact truth, to send the result of your in
quiries enclosed under your own seal to us, that, by God's
assistance, we may determine what ought to be done in the
matter. Given at Viterbo, in the fourth year of our pon
tificate." How the bishop of Durham went to Rome to answer the monks.
When the letters of our lord the pope came to the hands
of his agents, they, in compliance with the duty enjoined on
them, summoned the bishop of Durham, together with the
abbats, priors, archdeacons, and deans to their consistory

432 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1221.
court at Durham, as weU as all others of the laity and clergy
of that province, whom they beUeved to be cognizant of this
matter. When they had aU appeared at a fixed time and
place before these agents, the letters of the pope were read
in the hearing of aU of them for the clear and distinct infor
mation of every one ; and after they had been read and were
understood, the clerks of the bishop of Durham rose up and
set forth some frivolous and fallacious excuses in reply to the
said agents, and, that they might not proceed in the said
inquisition, they appealed to the presence of the pope ; and
having made this appeal, the bishop departed with his clerks
after appointing a day for his accusers to appear against him
in the presence of the pope. Having thus interposed his
appeal, the aforesaid bishop went to the court of Borne, after
sending his clerks before him to procure favour for him with
the pope against his arrival ; so that, before the monks of
Durham arrived at Borne, the aforesaid clerks had greatly
weakened their cause; therefore after much altercation on
either side in the pope's presence, the bishop as weU as the
monks, after spending a great deal of money, were sent back
to England to the aforesaid agents, for them to determine
definitely what was right. This disagreement, having once
arisen amongst them, continued for a length of time, until
the death of the bishop put an end to the strife, as he had
himself declared. Of the building of a new castle at Montgomery.
In the same year, about the nativity of St. Mary, Llewehyn
king of Wales, with a large army, laid siege to a castle caUed
Buet(Builth); Eeginald de Brause, whose town itwas, earnestly
besought assistance from the king that by his means the siege
might be raised, as he was not able to effect this by his own
means. The king, therefore, as he ought not to desert his
nobles, marched thither with a large army, and raised the
siege, the Welsh, as was their custom, taking to flight. The
king then marched towards Montgomery with his army,
ordering aU the property of the Welsh which they met with,
and their cattle, to be coUected for the support of his foUowers
who were with him. On their arrival at Montgomery, after
roving through the country there, the commanders of the
army thought that it was a fit place to build a castle as the

A.D. 1221.] CONDITION OF THE HOLY LAND. 433
position of it seemed impregnable. The king, therefore, for
the security of that district ordered a castle to be built there,
on account of the well-known incursions of the Welsh ; and
then all, having obtained permission, returned home, the
nobles being allowed to depart on payment of two marks of
sUver for each scutcheon.
Of the condition of the Holy Land after the capture of Damietta
and Tannis.
[About this time the master of the knights of the temple
sent the foUowing letter on the state of affairs in the Holy
Land:] — "To our reverend brother in Christ N, by the
grace of God, bishop of Elimenum, Peter de Montacute,
master of the knights of the temple, greeting. How we
have proceeded in the business of our Lord Jesus Christ
since the capture of Damietta and the castle of Tannis, we
by these present letters set forth to your hohness. Be it
known to you then that, in the first passage after the afore
said captures, such a number of pilgrims arrived at Damietta
that, with the rest of the army which remained, they were
sufficient to garrison Damietta and to defend the camp. Our
lord the legate and the clergy, desirous to advance the cause
of the army of Christ, often and earnestly exhorted the
people to make an attack on the infidels, but the nobles of
the army, as well those of the transmarine provinces as
those on our side of the water, thinking that the army
was not sufficient for the defence of the aforesaid cities and
castles, and at the same time to proceed further for the
advantage of Christianity, would not consent to this plan ;
for the sultan of Babylon, with an innumerable host of
infidels, had pitched his camp near Damietta, and on each
arm of the river had built bridges to obstruct the progress of
the Christians, and was there waiting with such an immense
army that the crusaders, by proceeding further would incur
the greatest danger. Nevertheless we fortified the, said city
and camp and the coast round with trenches in all directions,
expecting to be consoled by the Lord with the assistance of
those who were coming to help us ; the Saracens, however,
seeing our deficiency, armed all their galleys and sent them
to sea in the month of September, and these caused great loss
VOL. II. F F

434 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1221.
amongst the Christians who were coming to the assistance of
the Holy Land. In our army there was such a great defici
ency of money that we could not maintain our ships for any
length of time. Therefore, knowing that great loss would be
incurred by the Christian army by means of these said
galleys of the Saracens, we immediately armed our gaUeys,
galliots, and other vessels to oppose them. Be it also
known to you that Coradin the sultan of Damascus
assembled an immense army of Saracens, and, finding that
the cities of Acre and Tyre were not sufficiently suppUed
with knights and soldiers to oppose him, continuaUy did
serious injury to those places both secretly and openly;
besides this he often came and pitched his camp before our
camp which is caUed the Pilgrims', doing us aU kinds of
injury ; he also besieged and reduced the castle of Caesarea
in Palestine, although numbers of Pilgrims were staying in
Acre. I have also to inform you that Seraph, a son of
Saphadin, and brother of the sultans of Babylon and
Damascus, is with a powerful army fighting against the
Saracens in the eastern parts, and has prevailed much against
the more powerful of his enemies, although not against aU,
for, by God's favour, he wiU not be able easUy to conquer aU
of them ; for if he could bring that war to a conclusion, the
county of Antioch or TripoU, Acre or Egypt, whichever of
them he might turn his attention to, would be in the greatest
danger, and if he were to lay siege to any one of our castles,
we should in no wise be able to drive him away ; this said
dissension amongst the pagans however gives us pleasure and
comfort. Moreover we have long expected the arrival of the
emperor and other nobles by whom we hope to be relieved,
and on their arrival we hope to bring this business, which
has commenced by the hands of many, to a happy termina
tion ; but if we are deceived in our hope of this assistance in
the ensuing summer, which I hope wiU not happen, both
countries, namely Syria and Egypt, and that which we have
lately gained possession of as well as that which we have
held for a long time, will be placed in a doubtful position.
Besides, we and the other people on our side of the water are
oppressed by so many and great expenses in carrying on this
crusade, that we shall be unable to meet our necessary
expenses, unless by the divine mercy we shortly receive

A.D 1222.] LOSS OF DAMIETTA. 435
assistance from our feUow Christians. Given at Acre the
20th of September."*
Of the pilgrimage of Philip de Albeney to the Holy Land.
a.d. 1222. King Henry spent Christmas at Winchester,
where Peter bishop of that place provided the necessary
entertainment for him. In this year too, Philip de Albeney,
a brave and honest knight, and who had been a faithful
instructor of the king of England, set out on his way to
Jerusalem, and arrived there after a prosperous voyage with
out suffering any loss of property; aRd as soon as he found
out the state of affairs at the Holy Land, he sent the foUow
ing letter to Ealph earl of Chester : —
Of the loss of Damietta.
" To his worshipful lord and friend E. earl of Chester and
Lincoln, his ever faithful P. de Albeney, health and sincere
affection. I have to inform your exceUency that on the day of
the Assumption of the Virgin Mary we sailed from the port
of Marseilles, and on the Monday before the Nativity of the
same virgin we arrived before Damietta, and there we saw
many ships leaving the town, and I spoke with a certain
vessel, and made presents to the crew, on which they
came to speak to us, and brought us very sad reports.
These were that our people at Damietta and the nobles in
that city, namely, the king of Jerusalem, the legate, the
* Paris here adds: — "In this year too, William of the church of
St. Mary, bishop of London, of his own accord resigned his bishopric on the
day after the conversion of St. Paul. On the 25th of February Eustace de
Falconborg, then treasurer of the exchequer, was elected bishop of London ;
his election was confirmed by the legate Pandulph, and on the 25th of
April he was consecrated at Westminster. In the same year ended the
legateship of Pandulph, who returned to Rome. King Henry gave his
elder sister, Johanna, in marriage to Alexander king of Scots ; she was
betrothed to him on the day after St. John the Baptist, at York, and the
nuptials were solemnized in the presence of both kings ; in th%same city of
York, Hubert de Burgh espoused the sister of the king of Scotland. In
this year William de Albeney earl of Albemarle, died on the continent when
on his return from Damietta, and his body was brought into England by
Thomas a monk of St. Alban's, and was buried at Wymondham, a priory of
St. Alban's, of which the earl was patron. Eustace bishop of London,
demanded from abbat William and the conventual assembly of St. Alban's
the right of procession, procuration, visitation, and general jurisdiction ;
owing to which demands an appeal was made to the pope."
F F 2

436 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1222.
duke of Bavaria, the templars and hospitaUers, with many
others, amounting to about a thousand crusaders and five
thousand other knights with forty thousand foot-soldiers,
had all gone on an expedition towards Babylon, against the
wish of the king of Jerusalem, as was said, having set out on
the feast of St. Peter ad vincula ; that they had been now
absent on that expedition three weeks or more, and were
about half way between Damietta and Babylon. The sultan
of Babylon and his brother Coradin, then came with aU the
forces they could muster, and often attacked our people, and
often lost some of their own men ; and when our people
wished to return to Damietta, the river became swoUen,
and for several days overflowed its banks, and our people
were between two branches of the river ; the Saracens then
made a canal from one branch to the other in the rear of our
army, whilst the river increased so in height, that our people
were in water up to their legs and waists, to their great
misery and suffering, and thus might have been either slain
or taken prisoners if the sultan of Babylon wished it. In
this condition our people agreed to a truce for eight years
with the sultan, on the condition that they should give up
Damietta and all the prisoners whom they held in captivity.
For the due observance of this truce, the king of Jerusalem,
the legate, the duke of Bavaria, and other influential people,
remained as hostages; and the sultan had given twenty
hostages for the due observance of the truce on his part.
When we heard these reports we were much grieved, as all
Christians must need be; we therefore thought it best, as
we did not wish to be present at the surrender of Damietta,
to make our way to Acre, where we arrived on the day
after the Nativity of the Virgin Mary ; on the day foUowing
Damietta was given up to the sultan, and he himself set free
all the prisoners in it. I have also to inform you that his
majesty the king of Jerusalem is about to go to your coun
try ; therefore I beg of you that you afford him assistance
according to promises made towards the king and other
nobles, for it is difficult to describe his great and admirable
merits." Another letter about the same matters.
" Brother P. de Montacute, humble master of the knights
of the temple, to his weU-beloved brother in Christ, A.

A.D. 1222.] LETTER OF DE MONTACUTE. 437
Martel, holding the office of preceptor in England, greeting.
— Although we have from time to time informed you of the
prosperity which attended us in the affairs of Jesus Christ,
we now by this present letter relate to you in the order they
have happened the reverses which we, owing to our sins,
nave met with in the land of Egypt. The Christian army
after the capture of Damietta having remained quietly at that
place for a long time, the people of our side of the water, as
weU as those of the transmarine provinces, cast reproofs and
reproaches on us on that account ; and the duke of Bavaria
having arrived, as lieutenant of the emperor, explained to
the people that he had come for the purpose of attacking the
enemies of the Christian faith. A council therefore was
held by our lord the legate, the duke of Bavaria, the masters
of the templars and hospitallers, and the Teutonic order, the
earls, barons, and all the rest, at which it was unanimously
agreed by all to make an advance. The iUustrious king of
Jerusalem also, having been sent for, came with his barons,
and with a fleet of galleys and armed ships to Damietta, and
found the army of the Christians lying in their camp outside
the hnes. After the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul,
then his majesty the king and the legate, with the whole
Christian army, proceeded in order both by land and water,
and discovered the sultan with an innumerable host of the
enemies of the cross, who however fled before them ; and so
they proceeded without loss till they arrived at the camp of '
the sultan; this was surrounded by the river which they
were unable to cross ; the Christian army therefore pitched
its camp on the bank, and constructed bridges to cross over
against the sultan, from whose camp we were separated by
the river Tannis, which is a branch of the great river Nile.
Whilst we made some stay there, great numbers left our
army without leave, so that it was decreased by ten thousand
men or more. In the meantime the sultan, by means of a
trench constructed previously, when the Nile rose, sent galleys
and galliots into the river to obstruct our ships, that no sup-
pUes might come from Damietta to us, we being then desti
tute of provisions ; for they could not reach us by land, as
the Saracens prevented them. The road both by sea and
land, by which necessary supphes could reach us, being thus

438 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1222.
blocked up, the army held council as to returning ; but the
brothers of the sultan, Seraph and Coradin, the sultans of
Aleppo and Damascus, and other sultans, namely, of Camela,
Haman, and Coilanbar, with many pagan kings, and a countless
host of infidels, who had come to assist them, had cut off our
retreat. Our army however departed by night by land and
water, but lost all the provisions in the river, besides a great
many men ; for when the Nile overflowed, the sultan turned
the water in different directions by means of hidden streams,
canals, and rivulets, which had been made some time before
to obstruct the retreat of the Christians. The army of
Christ therefore, after losing amongst the marshes all its
beasts of burden, stores, baggage, carriages, and almost all
their necessaries, and being destitute of provisions, could
neither advance nor retreat, nor had it any place of refuge,
neither could it give battle to the sultan on account of his
being surrounded by the river, and it was thus caught in the
midst of the waters like a fish in a net. Being therefore in
this strait, they, although unwilUngly, agreed to give up to
the sultan the city of Damietta, with aU the prisoners which
could be found in Tyre and Acre, in exchange for the true
cross and the Christian prisoners in the kingdoms of Baby
lon and Damascus. We therefore, in company with other
messengers deputed by the army in common, went to Dami
etta, and told the people of the city the terms which were
imposed on us ; which greatly displeased the bishop of Acre,
the chancellor, and Henry count of Malta, whom we found
there : for they wished to defend the city, which we should
also have much approved of, if it could have been done with
any advantage, for we had rather been consigned to per
petual imprisonment, than that the city should be given up
by us to the infidels to the disgrace of Christianity; we
therefore made a careful search throughout the city of aU
persons and effects, but found neither money nor people
wherewith it could be defended. We therefore acquiesced
in this agreement, and bound ourselves by oath and by
giving hostages, and agreed to a confirmed truce for eight
years. The sultan, till the arrangement was made, strictly
abided by what he had promised, and suppUed our famished
army with loaves and flour for about fifteen days. Do

A.D. 1222.] A WRESTLING-MATCH. 439
you therefore, compassionating our sufferings, assist us as
far as you are able. FareweU." *
Of a wrestling match and disturbances in the city of London.
In the same year, on the apostle St. James's day, the
inhabitants of the city of London met at the hospital of
queen Matilda, outside the city, to engage in wrestling with
the inhabitants of the district round the city, to see which
of them was possessed of the greatest strength. After they
had contended for a length of time amidst the shouts of
both parties, the citizens having put their antagonists into
disorder, gained the victory. Amongst others, the seneschal
of the abbat of Westminster was defeated, and went away
in deep deliberation as to how he could revenge himself and
his companions. At length he fixed on the following plan
of revenge ; he offered a prize of a ram on the day of St.
Peter ad vincula, and sent word throughout the district
for all to come to wrestle at Westminster, and whoever
should prove himself the best wrestler should receive the
ram for a prize. He in the meantime coUected a number of
strong and skilful wrestlers, that he might thus gain the
victory; but the citizens being desirous of gaining another
victory, came to the sport in great strength, and the contest
having been commenced by both parties, they continued for
* Paris adds : " In this year, a few. days before the council held at
Canterbury by Stephen archbishop of that place, a man was discovered with
five wounds like those of Christ when crucified, on his body and limbs,
namely, in his side and in his hands and feet; and at the same council,
together with him a man of both sexes, or an hermaphrodite, was brought
before the council, accused of the same crime as the former one ; and being
convicted of the crime, they made a public confession, and were punished
by the decision of the church An apostate Jew was likewise brought
before them who had become a Christian, and afterwards a deacon, and he
was likewise punished judicially, for Faulkes had him seized and hung.
And m the same year also died Hugh de Neville, who, during his whole
youth, in king Richard's time, had been a familiar friend of that king.
Amongst other examples of his prowess and daring, when he was in the
Holy Land he slew a lion, first transfixing him with an arrow, and after
wards with his sword; hence we have the following rhyme:
' Viribus Hugonis vires periere leonis.'
[' Before Hugh's strength, so goes the tale,
A lion's strength was found to fail.']
His body was buried in the church at Waltham, in * handsome carved
marble vault."

440 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1222.
some time to throw each other. The seneschal, however,
with his suburban companions and feUow provincials, who
sought revenge rather than sport, without any reason, flew
to arms, and severely beat the citizens, who had come there
unarmed, causing bloodshed amongst them. The citizens,
shamefully wounded, retreated into the city in great con
fusion. After they had got into the city, a tumult arose
amongst the populace, and a general signal having been
given, the citizens of aU ranks assembled, and the circum
stances of the matter having been told, they aU proposed
different plans of revenge. Serlo, the mayor of the city, how
ever, a wise and peaceable man, gave it as his opinion that
the abbat of Westminster should be summoned to answer
for this insult, and if he would give proper satisfaction for
himself and his foUowers, this would satisfy them alL In
reply to this, a great man of the city, named Constantine,
amidst the acclamations of the populace, gave it as his
opinion that all the buildings of the abbat of Westminster,
as weU as the house of the aforesaid seneschal, should be
razed to the ground, and when he had done speaking, the
edict went forth, that the plan of Constantine should be
carried into effect. What more is to be said ? The irra
tional populace, with others of the city, went forth in
disorder, Constantine at their head, and entered upon a
civil war, destroyed numerous buildings, and did no small
injury to the abbat.* But this circumstance, as it could not
be long a secret, having come to the knowledge of Hubert
de Burgh, justiciary of England, he collected a force, and
proceeded to the tower of London ; thence sending mes
sengers into the city, he ordered the older inhabitants to
come with aU haste to him. On their appearing before him,
he inquired of them who were the chief authors of this se
dition and disturbers of the king's city, and who had dared
to break the king's peace. Then Constantine, who was bold
in his sedition, was more bold in his answer, declaring that
he would answer for what had been done, and in the hearing
of all complained that he had done less than he ought. The
* Paris adds : " The said Constantine calling out in a loud voice, as a
sort of watchword, ' Mountjoy, Mountjoy ; may the Lord assist us, and
our lord Louis !' And this cry chiefly exasperated the friends of the king,
and provoked them to take the vengeance below related."

A.D. 1222.] THUNDER-STORMS. 441
justiciary, however, on hearing this admission, without any
noise detained him and two others besides ; and in the morn
ing sent Falcasius with a body of soldiers by way of the
Thames, who took Constantine away to be hung. When
the rope was placed round his neck, and he had-lost all hope,
he offered fifteen thousand marks of silver for his life to be
spared, but to no purpose. He was then hung, as well as
his nephew Constantine, and one Geoffrey, who had pro
claimed the edict of Constantine in the city ; and thus, as
the citizens did not know of it, the sentence pronounced on
him was carried into execution without any tumult. After
this, the justiciary went into the city with Falcasius and a
body of soldiers, and seized on all who were discovered to be
guilty of the said sedition, and committed them to prison,
and after cutting off the feet of some and the hands of
others, he permitted them to depart ; on this account num
bers fled from the city and never afterwards returned. The
king, as a greater punishment, deposed all the magistrates of
the city, and appointed new ones.
Of thunder-storms and other tempests.
On the eighth of February in the same year, dreadful
thunderings were heard, and the hghtning darting forth at
their collision set fire to the church of Graham in the county
of Lincoln, from which there proceeded such a stench that
many who were in the church, being unable to endure it,
took to flight ; at length, however, by Ughting the holy taper,
and sprinkling holy water, the fire was after some trouble
extinguished, but the traces of the conflagration stiU remain
in that church. In the same year, too, at the exaltation of
the holy cross,* there was much thunder throughout all
England, and this was foUowed by deluges of rain, with
whirlwinds and violent gusts, and this tempestuous weather,
together with an unseasonable atmosphere, continued till the
Purification of Saint Mary, doing great damage to numbers
of people, and especiaUy the farmers ; and in the following
summer a measure of corn was sold for twelve shillings.
In the same year also, on the feast of St. Andrew the
apostle,f thunder was again heard throughout England in
* September 14th. + November 30th.

442 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1222.
general, which destroyed churches and church-towers, houses
and other buildings, waUs and ramparts of castles. In a
town called Pilardeston, in the county of Warwick, the
storm destroyed the house of a certain knight, burying his
wife, and eight persons of both sexes, to the great awe of
numbers who saw the calamity. After this, the storm
gaining power in its rage, in the same town feU on a
turf-pit surrounded by a lake of deep water, and in an
instant dried it up so that it left neither grass nor earth in
it, and only the dry stones remained. Again, on the eve of
St. Lucy* the virgin, a strong and sudden storm of wind
arose, which raged more fiercely than the before-mentioned
tempest, for throughout England in general it threw
down buildings, as if they were shaken by the breath of
the devil, levelled churches and their towers to the ground,
tore up by the roots the trees of the forest and fruit trees,
so that scarcely a single person escaped without suffering
loss.t * December 13th.
t Paris here adds : " In the same year, master Stephen de Langton held
a general council at Oxford, when a number of statutes were made for the
reformation of the church and monastic orders in England, as is elsewhere
more fully mentioned in the said council. On the twentieth of May in the
same year, William de Humeto abbat of Westminster died ; he was
succeeded by Richard Berking, prior of that church, who, on the eighteenth
of September in the same year received the benediction from Peter
lord bishop of Winchester, in the church of Westminster. In this year,
too, Ralph bishop of Chichester, formerly an official and afterwards prior
of Norwich, went the way of all flesh, and was succeeded by Ralph
Neville, who had before this been the keeper and bearer of the royal seal ;
he was a faithful chancellor of the king, and he accepted of this see by
the assent of the whole kingdom, on the condition that he should not be
deposed from his office unless with the wish and consent of the whole
kingdom, so he still continued chancellor after he became a bishop. He
was elected about the feast of All Saints, but was not confirmed till the
following year. In the same year, died William of Ely, treasurer of
England. In this year too the controversy between Eustace bishop of
London and the chapter of St. Paul's of the one part, and abbat William
and the monks of Westminster of the other part, was settled by Stephen
archbishop of Canterbury ; the bishops, P. of Winchester and R. of
Salisbury, and the priors, Thomas of Merton and Richard of Dunstable,
whom both parties had agreed on as arbiters and to arrange the terms of
agreement, and these umpires declared the monastery of Westminster to
be entirely exempt from all subjection to, and jurisdiction of, the bishop of
London, and they decreed that the church of Staines with its appurte
nances should be converted to the proper uses of the church of West-

A.D. 1223.] WILLIAM MARSHALL AND THE WELSH. 443
How Stephen archbishop of Canterbury demanded the rights of the
charter from the king.
A. d. »1223. At Christmas king Henry held his court at
Oxford. Afterwards, in the octaves of the Epiphany he
came to London to a conference with the barons, and was
there asked by the archbishop of Canterbury and other
nobles to confirm to them the rights and free customs, to
obtain which the war had been entered on against his father ;
and as the archbishop plainly proved, the said king could not
avoid granting this, since, on the departure of Louis from
England, he and all the nobles of the kingdom with him
swore to observe aU the aforesaid liberties, and to cause them
to be observed by aU. William Briwere, one of the king's
counsellors, on hearing this demand, made reply for the king
and said, " The Uberties which you demand, since they were
extorted by force, ought not by right to be observed." The
archbishop becoming angry at this reply rebuked him saying,
" WiUiam, if you loved the king you would not disturb the
peace of the kingdom." The king then seeing the arch
bishop excited to anger, said, " We have sworn to observe aU
these liberties, and what we have sworn we are bound to
abide by;" he then immediately held a council and sent
letters to each sheriff of the kingdom, ordering them to cause
an inquisition to be made on oath by twelve knights or liege
men of each county, as to what liberties there existed in the
time of king Henry his grandfather, and to send the par
ticulars of the inquisition to him at London within fifteen
days after Easter.
Of a dispute between the Welsh and William Marshall.
In the same year whilst WiUiam Marshall earl of
Pembroke was in Ireland, Llewellyn king of the Welsh, with
a strong force, seized on two castles belonging to the said
WilUam, and beheaded all the people he found in them, and
then went away leaving his own Welsh followers in these
castles. This circumstance, however, after a few days
reached the ears of William Marshall, and he returned in aU
haste to England, where he coUected a large force, and then
minster, and the manor of Sumnebus to the possession of the bishop of
London, and the church belonging to the same manor should be ceded to
the proper use of the church of St. Paul for ever.

444 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1223.
besieged and retook the two castles ; and, because all his
followers who had been taken in these castles by Llewellyn
had been beheaded by him, so WiUiam Marshall, in retaha-
tion, now beheaded all the Webh he took prisoners ; and
afterwards, the further to revenge himself, he invaded
Llewellyn's territory and ravaged the country wherever he
went with fire and sword. LleweUyn, on hearing this, came
to oppose MarshaU with a large force ; but he having fortune
on his side, boldly attacked the enemy, and, after slaying
numbers of the Welsh, put aU the rest to flight, and hotly
pursuing them slew them without mercy ; nine thousand of
them were computed to have been slain and made prisoners,
only a very few having escaped by flight. In the same year
about the time of the feast of our Lord's Ascension, William
Mauclerc was consecrated bishop of Carhsle by Walter arch
bishop of York. About the same time in the great church
at York, a clear oily liquid flowed from the tomb of
St. WiUiam, formerly archbishop of that church. In the
same year it rained blood-coloured earth at Eome for three
days, to the great wonder of numbers of people.
Of the death of Philip king of the French.
In. the same year about the feast of St. Peter ad vincula,
died Phihp king of the French, whose death was indicated
by a fiery-tailed comet, which had appeared a short time
before; and on his death being made pubhc, Henry the
English king sent the archbishop of Canterbury with three
bishops to Louis his son, as soon as he was crowned, asking
him to restore Normandy and the other transmarine provinces
to him, as he had sworn to do with the consent of aU his
nobles on his departure from England, when peace was made
between him and the said king of England. To this demand
Louis replied that he held possession of Normandy and other
lands as his right, as he would be prepared to prove in his
own court if the king of England would appear to support
his claim there. He also added that the oath, which had
been made on the part of the king of England, had been
violated, inasmuch as his followers, who had been made
prisoners at Lincoln, had been compeUed to pay a heavy
ransom ; and with regard to the liberties of the kingdom of
England, to obtain which war had been made, and which

A.D. 1223.] ELECTION OF AN ANTIPOPE. 445
had been granted at his departure and sworn to be observed
by aU, the king of England had acted in such a manner, that
not only were the bad laws brought into force again in their
old state, but others had been made even worse than they,
throughout England in general- The archbishop and
bishops on this reply, being unable to obtain any other
returned home and told the king.
An antipope elected by the Albigenses.
About that time the heretic Albigenses in the provinces of
Bulgaria, Croatia, and Dalmatia, chose for themselves an
antipope in the person of one Bartholomew, whose erroneous
doctrines gained such force in those districts that he enticed
bishops and many others of those countries to join in his
depravity ; and to oppose him the bishop of Portus, the legate
of the apostolic see in those provinces, wrote as follows to
the archbishop of Bouen : " To our venerable fathers, by the
grace of God, the archbishop of Eouen and his suffragan
bishops, greeting in our Lord Jesus Christ. Whilst we are
compelled to ask your assistance on behalf of the spouse of
the true crucified One, we are afflicted to sighs and tears.
However what we have seen we will tell you, and what we
know we will bear witness to. That lost man, who is
elevated beyond everything which is worshipped or which is
called God, has now a forerunner in his infidelity in the
person of that arch-heretic, whom the heretic Albigenses call
their pope, and who dwells on the confines of Bulgaria,
Croatia, and Dalmatia, near the people of Hungary. The
heretic Albigenses flock to him to obtain from him answers
to their questions ; this vicegerent of that antipope, Bar
tholomew by name, a bishop of the heretics, was born at
Carcassone, and pays most impious reverence to that man ;
he has given up his abode and dwelling in the town called
Porlos, and has betaken himself to the district near Toulouse.
This Bartholomew, in his letters which are sent about in all
directions, at the commencement of them thus intitules him
self, ' Bartholomew, servant of the servants of the holy faith,
to such a one, greeting.' Amongst his other enormities he
creates bishops and wickedly presumes to ordain churches.
We, therefore, by the authority of the apostoUc see, whose
vicegerent we are in this district, earnestly beg and beseech

446 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1223.
you by the blood of Jesus Christ, to come in the octaves of
the apostles Peter and Paul to Sens, at which place the other
prelates of France will, under God's favour, assemble to give
your advice on the above matter, and, together with others,
who will be there, to take precautions against this heresy of
the Albigenses ; otherwise we shall inform the pope of your
disobedience. Given at Planium the 2nd of July." The
death of the above named antipope however soon put an end
to this disturbance.
How some of the barons endeavoured to cause a quarrel.
In the same year loud murmurs arose amongst the nobles
of England, who wished to disturb the peace of the kingdom,
against Hubert de Burgh the justiciary ; for they said
amongst themselves that he exasperated the king against
them, and did not act impartially in his government of the
kingdom. Besides this their iU-wiU was increased by the
arrival of the king's messengers, whom he had sent to Eome,
who brought with them a buU from our lord the pope to the
archbishops of England and their suffragan bishops, which
contained a decree, that his hohness the pope had adjudged
the king of England to be of full age, thenceforth to take the
chief management of the affairs of the kingdom with the
advica of his councillors. The pope too in these letters gave
orders to the aforesaid agents, by the apostoUc authority, to
order the earls, barons, knights, and all others, who held
charge of castles, honours, and towns, which were under the
king's authority, at sight of these letters to give them up to
the king at once, and to compel all gainsayers to give satisfac
tion under penalty of the censure of the church ; therefore a
large party of the barons, whose hearts were full of greedi
ness, were indignant at these commands and assembled
together to endeavour to get up a war, and as conspiracy is
blown abroad without beUows, they laid hold of the afore
said matters as excuses for disturbing the peace of the king
dom ; they refused on the orders of the archbishops and
bishops to deliver up their charges as above mentioned, pre
ferring to resort to arms rather than to give satisfaction to
the king in the aforesaid matters. But of this hereafter.
The cross of our Lord brought to Bromholm.
In the same year divine miracles became of frequent

A.D. 1223.] OUR lord's cross. 447
occurrence at Bromholm, to the glory and honour of the life-
giving cross, on which the Saviour of the world suffered for
the redemption of the human race ; and since Britain, a place
in the middle of the ocean was thought worthy by the divine
bounty to be blessed with such a treasure, it is proper, nay
most proper, to impress on the mind of our descendants by
what series of events that cross was brought from distant
regions into Britain. Baldwin count of Flanders, was from
a count made emperor of Constantinople, at which place he
reigned with vigour for many years ; it happened at one time
that he was dreadfuUy harassed by the infidel kings, against
whom he marched without dehberation, and on this occasion
neglected to take with him the cross of our Lord and other
relics, which always used to be carried before him by the
patriarch and bishops whenever he was about to engage in
battle against the enemies of the cross, and this carelessness
he found out on that day by dreadful experience : for when
he rashly rushed on the enemy with his small army, paying
no regard to the multitude of his enemies, who exceeded his
own army tenfold, in a very short time he and all his men
were surrounded by the enemies of Christ, and were all slain
or made prisoners, and the few who escaped out of the
whole number knew nothing of what had happened to the
emperor, or whither he had gone. There was at that time
a certain chaplain of English extraction, who with his clerks
performed divine service in the emperor's chapel, and he was
one of those who had the charge of the emperor's relics, rings,
and other effects. He therefore, when he heard of the death
(for aU told him he was killed) of his lord the emperor, left
the city of Constantinople privately with the aforesaid relics,
rings, and many other things, and came to England ; on his
arrival there he went to St. Alban's, and sold to a certain
monk there, a cross set with silver and gold, besides two
fingers of St. Margaret, and some gold rings and jewels, all
which things are now held in great veneration at the
monastery of St. Alban's ; the said chaplain then drew from
his mantle a wooden cross and showed it to some of the
monks, and declared on his oath that it was undoubtedly a
piece of the cross, on which the Saviour of the world was
suspended for the redemption of the human race ; but as his
assertions were disbelieved at that place, he departed, taking

448 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1223.
with him this priceless treasure, although it was not known.
This said chaplain had two young clnldren about whose sup
port and for the preservation of whom he was most anxious,
for which purpose he offered the aforesaid cross to several
monasteries on condition that he and his children should be
reeeived amongst the brethren of the monastery ; and having
endured repulse from the rich in many places he at length
came to a chapel in the county of Norfolk, caUed Bromholm,
very poor and altogether destitute of buUdings ; there he sent
for the prior and some of the brethren, and showed them the
above-mentioned cross, which was constructed with two pieces
of wood placed across one another, and almost as wide as the
hand of a man ; he then humbly implored them to receive
him into their order with this cross and the other rehcs
which he had with him, as weU as his two children. The
prior and his brethren then were overjoyed to possess such a
treasure, and by the intervention of the Lord, who always
protects honourable poverty, put faith in the words of the
monk ; they then with due reverence received the cross of
our Lord, and carried it into their oratory, and with all
devotion preserved it in the most honourable place there. In
this year then, as has been before stated, divine miracles
began to he wrought in that monastery to the praise and
glory of the Ufe-giving cross; for there the dead were
restored to life, the bUnd recovered their sight, and the lame
their power of walking, the skin of the lepers was made clean,
and those possessed by devUs were released from them, and
any sick person, who approached the aforesaid cross with
faith, went away safe and sound. This said cross is fre
quently worshipped, not only by the Enghsh people, but also
by those from distant countries, and those who have heard of
the divine miracles connected with it.*
* Paris inserts here ; " On the eleventh of August, as has been before
stated, died Philip, the wise king of the French, and was buried at St.
Denis ; he had received the crown of the kingdom during his father Louis's
lifetime, when he was fifteen years old, and reigned forty-four years ; he was
succeeded by his son Louis ; but how dissimilar were the father and son !
About the octaves of the apostles Peter and Paul, John of Brienne king
of Jerusalem, and the grand master of the hospitallers at that place, came
to England to ask assistance in the cause of the Holy Land. In the same
year, about the feast of the exaltation of the holy cross, master S. of Apuleia,
bishop of Exeter, died, and near about the same time William de Cornhill

A.D. 1224.] HENRf AND THE BARONS. " 449
How the king of England took into his own hands the castles of the crown,
against the wish of the barons.
a.d. 1224. At Christmas king Henry held his court at
Northampton, the archbishop of Canterbury being with
him, as weU as a great number of knights; the earl of
Chester, however, with his fellow conspirators, kept that
festival at Leicester, blustering and uttering threats against
the king and the justiciary, on account of the king's re
quiring him to give up the custody of his castles and lands.
On the following day, after the solemnization of mass, the
archbishop of Canterbury and his suffragan bishops, clad in
white robes, and with lighted tapers, excommunicated all
the disturbers of the peace of the kingdom, and the invaders
of the holy church and church property ; the said archbishop
then sent special messengers to Leicester to the earl of
Chester and his accomplices, informing each and all of
them that, unless by the following day they resigned into the
king's hands aU the castles and honours pertaining to the
crown, he and all the bishops would assuredly excommuni
cate them by name, as they had been ordered to do by the
pope. The earl of Chester then, and his accomplices, were
in great consternation, having been informed by their spies
that the king had a larger force than they, for, if they had
sufficient means, they would make war against the king on
account of the justiciary ; but, knowing their deficiency,
they were afraid to enter upon a doubtful struggle, and
moreover, they were afraid that the archbishop and bishops
bishop of Chester. In this year too, during each successive month deluges
of rain fell, causing the rivers to burst forth, attended also by an unhealthy
atmosphere, so that owing to the inclemency of the season, the crops were
so late in ripening, that in November there was scarcely any corn stored
away in the barns. In the month of January the towers and walls of the
churches, togetherwith the trees of the forest, were shaken and fell by the con
flict of the winds. About the same time too, Llewellyn prince of North
Wales and some English, namely, Hugh de Lacy and his followers, uniting
together out of hatred to the king, and giving up all hopes of good fruit
coming from an evil tree, that is, despairing of a good heir from king John,
made frequent expeditions against some of the barons of the king, and
amongst the first against William Marshal the elder, and afterwards againBt
the younger Marshal, and some others ; but the whole country was excited
to arm against them, and they themselves were irreverently driven to the
same course, and those who became enemies in chief fell under the hands
of their enemies, never to rise a^ain,
VOL. n. G G

450 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1224.
would excommunicate them unless they desisted from their
purpose ; therefore, foUowing the wisest plan, they all went
to the king at Northampton, and each of them, commencing
with the earl of Chester, resigned to the king the castles and
towns, honours and charges, which pertained to the crown.
Their ill-will against the king, however, stiU remained,
because he would not dismiss the justiciary. The promoters
of this disturbance were the earl of Chester, the earl of
Albemarle, John, constable of Chester, Falcasius with his
castellans, Robert de Vipont, Brian de L'isle, Peter de
Mauleon, PhiUp Marc, Engelard deAthie, WilUam de Cantelo,
WiUiam his son, and many others, who were aU using their
utmost endeavours to disturb the peace of the kingdom.
How Louis the French king subdued Rochelle and the rest of Poictou.
In the same year, Louis the French king led a large army
to Eochelle, to subdue it by force or by bribery ; and on his
arrival there he offered the inhabitants a large sum of money
to give up the city, make their allegiance to him, and obey
him for the future. They, thinking that they were aban
doned by the king of England, and being overcome by the
entreaties and bribes of Louis, deUvered BocheUe up to
him. He then placed his knights and soldiers in the city
and castle, and, having taken security from the whole
of Poictou, he returned home peaceably without blood
shed. Eochelle is a port in Poictou, where the kings of
England and their knights usually landed for the defence
of those districts ; but now the way was closed against the
king, owing to the plots which were being prepared against
him by his barons in England.*
Of the siege of Bedford castle and the council of Northampton.
In the same year, in the octaves of the Holy Trinity, the
king, the archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, and many others,
* Paris adds here : " Oh, innate treachery of Poictevins ! There was
only one citizen who put himself forward for the defence of his lord the
English king, and he was afterwards discovered to have hidden the standard
of the king where he could produce it when that monarch was again re
stored, and he was seized by his treacherous fellow citizens, and hung ; but
as he died for a just cause, it is clear that he was a glorious martyr ; his
son, named Wilham, was promoted to the government of the church of
St. Julian at St. Alban's."

A.D. 1224.] SIEGE OF BEDFORD CASTLE. 451
assembled at a conference at Northampton to discuss the
affairs of the kingdom ; for the king wished to have the
advice of his nobles about the transmarine possessions,
which Louis had seized on by degrees, but other matters
occurred which he did not expect. There were at that
time at Dunstable some of the king's justiciaries, whom we
caU " itinerants," * namely, Martin de Pateshulle, Thomas de
Muleton, Henry de Braibroc, and others, who were there
holding the king's pleas for this new act of disseizin ; and
there Falcasius, amongst others, who had robbed numbers of
people, was thrown on the mercy of the king for more than
thirty pairs of letters, for each of which he was liable to the
payment of a fine of a hundred pounds to the king. When
Falcasius was informed of this, he was greatly enraged, and
in a most unadvised manner, ordered the knights who com
posed the garrison of the castle of Bedford, to proceed to
Dunstable with a body of soldiers, seize on the aforesaid
justiciaries, and, after securing them prisoners, to bring them
to Bedford castle, and place thorn in close confinement there.
The justiciaries, however, found this out, and departed in
haste wherever chance led them ; of this number, Henry de
Braibroc, flying without due caution, was taken prisoner
by the above-mentioned knights, and after being most cruelly
treated, was imprisoned in the castle of Bedford. A report
of this being spread abroad, the wife of the said Henry
went to the king at Northampton, and with tears laid a com
plaint of the detention of her husband, in the hearing of the
whole council. The king was highly incensed at this deed,
and asked the advice of the clergy and people assembled as
to what ought to be done to punish such an offence. They
all unanimously gave it as their opinion that they should
without delay, putting off aU other business, proceed with a
strong armed force to the aforesaid castle, to punish such
audacity ; this opinion meeting the king's views, he gave the
order, and they all flew to arms, and, clergy as weU as people,
marched to the castle of Bedford. The king, on his arrival
there, sent messengers to the chief castellans, asking ad
mission, and demanding the restoration of Henry de Brai
broc, his justiciary. WilUam de Breaute, however, brother
of Falcasius, and the others of the garrison, told the mes-
* Justices in Eyrie.
gg2

452 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1224.
sengers in reply that they would not give up the castle unless
they had orders to do so from their lord Falcasius, especially
as they were not bound by homage or allegiance to the king.
Whon this answer was brought back to the king, he was
very indignant, and in his anger, ordered his troops to sur
round the castle ; the besiegers, too, prepared to oppose
them, and defended the walls and ramparts in aU parts.
Then the archbishop and all the bishops, with tapers Ughted,
laid the ban of excommunication on Falcasius, and aU the
garrison of the castle. The castle was laid siege to on the
16th of June, which was the Thursday next after the octaves
of Trinity. By orders of the king, the engines of war, such
as petrariae and mangoneUes, were brought up, and, being
disposed round the city, the besieging army made constant
fierce assaults on the castle ; the besieged, however, bravely
defended the walls, and sent forth' showers of deadly missUes
on the besiegers. To be brief, many were wounded and
slain on both sides. The king, whilst the siege was being
carried on, sent a body of eoldiers to search for Falcasius,
and when found, to bring him into his presence ; the latter
was, however, forewarned of this by his spies, and fled into
Wales, and the king's messengers returned, acknowledging
that their labour was vain. The king being roused to anger,
swore, by the soul of his father, that if the garrisons were
made prisoners by force he would hang them all ; they,
however, being provoked to do further wrong by the king's
threats, forbade the messengers of the king to speak to them
again on the subject of giving up the castle. This deadly
hatred increased from the numbers of the slain, so that
brothers spared not brothers, nor fathers their children. At
length, after great slaughter on both sides, the king's work
men constructed a high tower of wood, built on geometrical
principles, in which they placed cross-bow men, who could
watch every proceeding in the castle; and from that time
no one in the castle could take off his armour without being
mortaUy wounded. The besieged, however, did not on this
account, cease to strike down their enemies ; for, to the con
fusion of the king's army, they killed two knights of his,
who exposed themselves to death too rashly, thus provoking
the anger of their enemies against them by all the means
possible.

A.D. 1224.] TAKING OF BEDFORD CASTLE. 453
The capture of the castle and hanging of tlie knights.
In the mean time the king ordered the corn and cattle on
the manors and lands of Falcasius throughout the kingdom
to be seized and confiscated, that by these means he might
during this lengthened siege obtain supphes at the expense
of his enemy. At length the king's soldiers brought up,
though not without much loss, two penthouses, which the
French call brutesches, and, attacking the castle in aU direc
tions, forced the besieged to retire. The king's troops then
entered the castle, and gaining possession of horses, arms,
provisions, and innumerable other things, returned in
triumph ; the victors then attacked the tower, and destroyed
a great portion of the walls. After this, the besieged seeing
that they could hold out no longer, on the eve of the assump
tion of St. Mary, sent some of the garrison from the castle to
entreat the king's mercy ; but the king ordered them to be
kept in close confinement till he reduced the rest to subjec
tion. On the following day aU the rest came out of the
castle dreadfully bruised and wounded, and were taken before
the king, who ordered them all to be hung ; of the knights
and soldiers of the garrison, twenty-four were hung, who could
not obtain mercy from the king on account of the audacity
which they had showed to him in the late siege. Henry de
Braybrook came to the king safe and sound and returned him
his thanks. Falcasius, in his false sense of security, believed
that his foUowers could defend the castle from capture for a
whole year ; when however he learned for certain that his
brothers and the rest of his friends were hung, he came.
under the conduct of Alexander bishop of Coventry, to the
king at Bedford, and, falling at his feet, begged him to show
mercy to him in consideration of his great services and ex
pensive undertakings on behalf of him, the king, and his
father, in times of war. The king then having taken ad
vice on the subject, deprived him of all his castles, lands,
and possessions, and delivered him into the custody of
Eustace bishop of London, till he should determine what
ought to be done with him ; and thus, as it were in a mo
ment, this Falcasius, from being the richest became one of the
poorest of men, and would afford a good example to many,

454 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1224.
and especially to the guilty. Concerning thi3 change of
fortune, some one thus writes : —
" Thus in a month fierce Falco lost
What he had gained by years of strife ;
Fate stripped him now of what had cost
Him all his former life."
The wife of the said Falcasius came before the king and the
archbishop, and said that it was not with her own consent
that she had been married to him ; she therefore, as she had
been seized by force in time of war, and been married to him
without her consent, asked for a divorce from him. The
archbishop then appointed a day for her to come to him, that
he might in the meantime determine what ought to be done.
The king however granted her all her lands and possessions
throughout England, and placed her under the care of Wil
liam earl Warrenne. The king, for the great labour and
expense he had been at, was granted a tax on ploughed land
throughout England, namely two marks of sUver for each
plough ; and he granted a scutage to the nobles, namely two
marks of sterUng money for each scutcheon ; and then they all
returned to their homes. The king ordered the castle to be
pulled down and reduced to a heap of stones, and gave the
houses and all other buildings to WiUiam Beauchamp.*
* Paris adds : — " In the same year the following bishops were conse
crated : Master Alexander de Stavensby to the see of Chester by his
holiness the pope at Rome, on Easter-day; and William, nephew of
William Briwere the elder to the see of Exeter, and Ralph de Neville to
that of Chichester, by Stephen archbishop of Canterbury: of these, Ralph
bishop of Chichester was the king's chancellor, and in many dangers after
wards he was found faithful and conspicuous in the king's business, and
was a firm pillar of fidelity and truth. About this time there was one
Faulkes de Breaute, a native of Normandy, a bastard by his mother's side,
who had lately come on a Bcurvy horse, with a pad on his back, to enter
the king's service, and had fortified Bedford castle, although on the land of
another, when John had given it to him in the time of the war. This man
trusting in his castle, his money, and some friends he had amongst the
king's courtiers, all of which turned out to be no better than a reed to sup
port him, began to seize on the lands and property of his free men and
neighbours; above all he dispossessed, without judgment, thirty-two free
men in the manor of Luyton of their tenements, and appropriated some
common pastures to his own use. When a complaint on the matter was
laid before the king, the latter appointed Henry de Braibroc and some other
justiciaries, to take recognizance of the disseizing of the complainants ; and
when after hearing the case and the aforesaid premises which had been

A.D. 1225.] BALDWIN RETURNS TO FLANDERS. 455
The fifteenth portion of all moveables is granted to the king.
A.D. 1225. At Christmas king Henry held his court at
Westminster, at which were present the clergy and people
taken from them, were restored to them by the decree of the judges, the
said Faulkes was condemned in a fine for damages and loss. Faulkes, an-
noyed at this and carried beyond himself, in violation of the peace of the
kingdom, seized by force on Henry de Braibroc and imprisoned him in
his castle of Bedford. On hearing this, the king, who was at Northampton
holding a council about giving assistance to Poictou, changed his intentions
at this circumstance, and turning off to the castle of Bedford, where the
said Henry was confined, laid siege to it ; for three successive days he sent
summonses to the knights in the castle to surrender it, and S. archbishop of
Canterbury, with the bishops, abbats, and other prelates, who were present
excommunicated Faulkes and those who were united with them, and declared
them to be outlaws. The royal troops fiercely assailed the castle by engines
and by assault, and some of the king's knights fell by the arrows of the besieged
cross-bow men, amongst others a distinguished knight named Giffard fell
pierced by an arrow. After they had continued the siege for about nine
weeks the castle was at length taken, and all the followers of Faulkes found
there with their commander Mantel de Breaute, Faulkes's brother, were
made prisoners, besides several English and Norman nobles, who were all
condemned to be hung, as had been fully declared to them.
Count Baldwin the emperor returns into Flanders.
"After a long imprisonment of some years and a repentant pilgrimage,
Baldwin count of Flanders and emperor of Constantinople, returned into
Flanders, and, on being recognized by a great many people who formerly
knew him, although he was much altered, he received homage and fealty
from many of the cities and towns of Flanders. His daughter, however,
hating him, excited the king against him, declaring that he was not her
father, and the person he made himself out to be, and caused him to be
hung ignominiously, for when he was hung she caused two old dogs to be
hung one on each side of him. Many, to whom he made confession, assert
that he deserved this fate for his sins, for he and his imprisoned followers,
who had been taken in battle with him, escaped from their prison by the
assistance of a certain noble lady, on condition that she should be baptized
as soon as the liberated prisoners arrived in' a Christian country ; but
Baldwin on arriving with his companions and the lady herself, amongst the
Christians, caused her, whom he had promised to marry, to make a
Christian, and to instruct in Christian customs, to be secretly slain before
the font of regeneration, for which, whenever he reflected in himself, he
did penance so as scarcely to be known by his followers, for the pope
enjoined such severe penance on him, because he had slain the lady before
she was baptized. All who gave their consent to this wicked crime perished
by a shameful death ; one of them on reaching his wife, and being recog
nized by her, was by her orders thrown into a well, because she had taken
another husband, and had children by him; and so also the rest perished,
each as it happened, through the anger of God, who does not choose evil
to be returned for good. Nor did their chief escape punishment, for he
did not continue his repentance, did not persevere in his humility and con
trition, nor give forth fruit worthy of repentance,"

456 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1225.
and the nobles of the district. After the feast had been kept
with due solemnity, Hubert de Burgh the king's justiciary,
on the said king's behalf, set forth in the presence of the
archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, and aU the rest, the losses
and injuries which the king had suffered in the transmarine
jirovinces ; by which, not only the king, but also many earls
and barons besides him had been deprived of their inherit
ances ; and since many were concerned in the business, the
assistance of many would be necessary. He therefore asked
the advice and assistance of aU as to the means by which the
English crown could regain its lost dignities and old rights;
i n order to effect this properly, he believed that it would be
sufficient if the fifteenth part of all moveable property
throughout England were to be granted to the king, aUke
from clergy and laity. This proposal having been made, the
archbishop and all the assembly of bishops, earls, barons
abbats, and priors, after some deliberation, gave for their
answer, that they would wilUngly accede to the king's de
mands, if he would grant them their long-sought Uberties.
The king therefore was induced by covetousness to grant
their request, and charters having been drawn up under the
king's seal, one was sent to each of the counties of England,
and to those counties which were situated in a forest, two
charters were sent, namely, one of the common liberties, and
the other of the liberties of the forest ; the contents of these
charters have been before written, in the history of king
John's reign, and the charters of the two kings do not differ
in any point. Then a day was determined on in the Easter
month for twelve knights and liege men to be chosen from
each county of the kingdom, who should on their oath dis
tinguish the new from the old forests, in order that all
those which should be discovered to have been afforested since
the coronation of the present king's grandfather Henry,
should be immediately deforested ; and thus the council
broke up, and the charters were sent each to their proper
county, where, by the king's command, they were ordered
under oath in writing to be observed by aU.
How the English king sent his brother Richard into Gascony.
In the same year, on the day of the purification of St. Mary,
Eichard the kins of England's brother, was made a belted

A.D. 1225.] COUNT RICHARD AT GASCONY. 457
knight, and ten others with him, who were appointed to
attend him. In the spring following, on Palm Sunday, the
said Bichard was sent by the king into Gascony, accompanied
by Wilham earl of Salisbury, Philip de Albeney, and forty
knights, and after a prosperous voyage they all arrived safely
at the city of Bourdeaux ; and on their arrival being made
known to the archbishop and citizens, they were received
with honours by all. Bichard then, having called the citi
zens together in presence of the archbishop and the king's
messengers, showed them his brother's letters, in which he
humbly begged that all his faithful subjects in those districts
would receive his brother amicably, and would give him ad
vice and assistance, by which he would be able to recover his
lost territories ; all parties therefore received him on friendly
terms, and made their submission to the king of England
through him. A number of knights and soldiers then came
to him from those provinces, and remained in his service on
receiving sufficient pay from him ; for the king, before he
sent him into the transmarine provinces, had given him the
county of Cornwall, with the whole of Poictou, for which
reason he was called count of Poictou. Count Bichard then
with his uncle WilUam, earl of Salisbury, and Philip de Albeney,
attended by a large body of knights, marched through the
towns and amongst the castles of that district, ami wherever
they found any opposers who would not do homage and give
their allegiance to the king, they besieged their castles and
towns and reduced them to subjection by force of arms; he
after a long siege took the castle of Eieux, together with the
town, obtained possession of the city and castle of St. Ma-
caire, and besieged the castle of Bregerac, and brought the
lord of it back to his allegiance to the king. But whilst he
was besieging the castle of Bieux, and continually making
assaults on it, Louis the French king sent orders to the count
of Marche and other nobles of Poictou to march to the
aforesaid castle, raise the siege, and bring count Bichard a
prisoner before him. The count de la Marche then, being
joined by some barons and knights in arms, marched with a
strong force to raise the siege of the above castle; count
Eichard however with his friends, being informed by their
scouts of the approach of the enemy, laid an ambuscade for
them, and leaving part of his army to carry on the siege, he,

4C8 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1225;
with a tried body of troops, proceeded to a wood which was
near, and there awaited their arrival, and when the latter
were passing the ambuscade, count Eichard and his followers
rushed on them amidst the sound of trumpets, brandishing
their lances ; a severe conflict then took place between the
two parties, but the enemy were at length put to flight, on
which count Eichard hotly pursued them, and after slaying
numbers of the fugitives, captured their carts, baggage-
horses, silver vessels, and other spoil, and thus he in a short
time reduced the whole of Gascony to subjection. In this
same year John bishop of Ely died, and was succeeded by
Geoffrey de Burgh, archdeacon of Norwich.
Of the banishment of the traitor Faulcasius.
About this time, namely in the month of March, the king
of England and his nobles assembled in council at Westminster,
at which the king ordered them to come to a final determina
tion as to what was to be done with the traitor Falcasius.
The nobles agreed with the king, that as he had for many
years faithfully served his father, he should not be deprived
of life or limb, but all unanimously agreed in condemning
him to be for ever banished from England ; the king then
ordered William earl Warrenne to conduct him in safety to
the coast, and having placed him on board a ship, to send
him at once to sea. When they arrived at the coast and
Falcasius was embarking on board ship, he begged of the earl
with tears to carry his greeting to his lord the king, and
declared on his oath, that the disturbances which he had
caused in England, he had excited at the instigation of the
nobles of the kingdom.] He then set sail with only five
retainers for Normandy, and immediately on his arrival there
he was made prisoner by the French king's agents, and taken
before Louis ; but as he bore the sign of the cross, they set
him free, and he went to Eome, where, in company with
Eobert Paslew his clerk, he appeared before the pope, as
will be related in its proper place.
Of the inspection of the forests, as to which ought lo be exempt from
forest laws.
In the same year, about the month of Easter, Hugh de
NeviUe and Brian de L'isle, with other appointed persons,

A.D. 1225.] PUNISHMENT OF CONCUBINES. 459
were sent throughout England for the purpose of choosing,
in each of the forest districts, twelve knights or free and
liege men, to perambulate the bounds of the forests, and to
determine, on their oath, what forests ought to remain in
their present state, and which ought to be deforested. The
king's commands being very soon fulfilled, not, however,
without great opposition from many, each and all put these
liberties in practice, selling the produce of their own woods,
making essarts, hunting game, and ploughing the land which
was before uncultivated, so that all did as they chose in the
deforested woods ; and not only men, but dogs also, who
used formerly to be footed, enjoyed these liberties. In short,
the nobles, knights, and free tenants took advantage of these
liberties, so that not one iota contained in the king's charter
was omitted.
Of the collection of the fifteenth part of property for the king's use.
About this same time a moiety of the fifteenth part of all
moveable property was collected for the king's use, a respite
being granted for the payment of the other portion till
Michaelmas. In this year too, Hugh Bigod earl of the East-
Anglians, paid the debt of nature, and the king consigned all
his possessions and dignities to the charge of the justiciary.
Of the concubines of priests.
In the same year, a warrant was issued by the archbishop
of Canterbury and his suffragan bishops, to the following
effect. The concubines of priests and clerks, who are in
holy orders and endowed with benefices, shall not receive
church burial, unless they truly reform their lives, or show
such repentance in their last days as will entitle them to a
dispensation. Moreover, they shall not be admitted to the
kiss of peace, nor shall they partake of the consecrated
bread in the church, as long as their paramours keep them
in their houses, or openly elsewhere. Also, if they bring
forth children, they shall not be purified, unless they shall
previously give to the archdeacon or his official, sufficient
security that they will make proper reparation at the next
chapter after their purification. Moreover, all priests in
whose parishes the concubines of such persons dwell, unless
they give notice of it to the archdeacon or his official, shall
be suspended; and before they are absolved, they shall be

460 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1225.
subjected to severe penance. Also, any woman who shaU
be convicted of having been carnally acquainted with a
priest, shall do pubhc and solemn penance, as though she
were convicted of adultery, even though she may have been
absolved; but if a betrothed woman be convicted of an
offence of this kind, she shall be punished as if for twofold
adultery, lest impunity for such an offence shall lead others
to commit that fault.
How the earl of Salisbury was preserved from shipwreck.
About this same time, the earl of Salisbury, who had
been fighting with count Bichard in the transmarine pro
vinces, embarked to return to England ; but being exposed
to great danger at sea, and being driven in different directions
by the violence of the winds for several days and nights, in
common with his sailors and aU the rest of those on board
his ship, gave up all hopes of safety, and therefore, com
mitted to the waves his costly rings, and all his property in
silver, gold, and rich garments, which he had on board, in
order that as he had entered naked into mortal hfe, so he
might pass to the regions of eternity deprived of all earthly
honours. At length, when they were in the last state of
despair, a large and brightly shining light* was seen at the
top of the mast by all on board the ship, and they also saw
standing near the light a female of great beauty, who kept
the light of the taper, which illumined the darkness of the
night, alive, notwithstanding the force of the winds and
rain which beat upon it ; from this vision of heavenly
brightness, the count himself, as weU as the sailors, con
ceived hopes of safety, and felt confident that divine help
was at hand. And though all the rest of the people in the
vessel were ignorant what this vision portended, the afore
said earl William alone assigned the honour of this mercy to
the blessed virgin Mary ; for the aforesaid earl, on the day
when he was first made a belted knight, had assigned a wax
taper to be kept constantly burning before the altar of the
blessed mother of God, during the mass which was usuaUy
chanted every day at the hour of prayer, in honour of the
said virgin, and that he might receive an eternal in exchange
for a temporal light.
* Sailors often see lights at the mast-head just after a storm, but the
Virgin Mary no longer interferes on such occasions.

A.D. 1225.] 3IEDIATI0N OF OTHO. 461
How the said earl escaped the snares of his enemies.
When the next morning broke, the earl and his com
panions were driven by the force of the storm towards the
isle of Ehe, about three miles from Eochelle, and, having
got into their small boats, made their way to the island. In
that island was a convent of the Cistercian order, to which
the earl sent messengers, asking leave to hide himself from
his enemies, till a more favourable breeze should arise ; the
abbat of the place wilUngly granted this, and received him
and his fellow voyagers with all honour. This island was
then in the charge of Savaric de Mauleon, who was then
fighting under Louis, the French king, and was watching
several of the islands, with a large body of soldiers : two
followers of his who knew the earl weU, and who had been
appointed with several others to guard this island, went in a
friendly manner to the earl, after he had lain hid there for
three days, and told him that, unless he left the island before
daylight of the foUowing day, he would be taken prisoner by
their companions, who with them were watching the islands
and seas round. The earl then made the two soldiers a
present of twenty pounds of sterling money, and at once em
barked, and put to sea, where he was tossed about on the
waves for three months before he landed in England.
How Master Otho came to England on the business of his holiness the
pope.
In the same year, Master Otho, a legate of the pope,
arrived in England, and presented letters to the king on
urgent business connected with the Eoman church ; but the
king, on learning the purport of the letters, repUed that he
could, not and ought not of himself to give a definite answer on
a matter which concerned aU the clergy and laity of the
kingdom in general. Therefore, by the advice of Stephen
archbishop of Canterbury, a day was appointed by the king,
in the octaves of the Epiphany, for all the clergy and laity
to assemble at Westminster, then to discuss the aforesaid
matter, that whatever seemed right to aU might be deter
mined on.
How the said Otho endeavoured to make peace between Falcasius and the
king.
Shortly afterwards, Master Otho, on behalf of the pope,

462 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1225.
humbly begged the king of England to become reconciled to
Faulkes, and to restore to him his wife and all the pos
sessions which he had lost, and to receive him again on
terms of friendship, as he had so faithfully served his father
and himself in time of war. To this the king replied, that,
for his open treachery he had, by the decision of his court
and with the consent of all the clergy and people of the
kingdom, been banished from England, and although the care
of the kingdom belonged especiaUy to him, yet he ought to
observe the laws and estabhshed customs of the kingdom ;
and when Otho heard thi3, he ceased to ask anything further
of the king on behalf of Faulkes. Otho then took two
marks of silver from aU the conventual churches of England,
under the name of procuration-money. It should also be
known, that when Master Otho came to England, the pope
sent messengers throughout the world, making unjust
exactions, as wiU be hereafter told.
Of a certain girl who gave up the world and retired to the order of the
Minorites.
About this time there was a certain girl of noble extrac
tion in the province of Burgundy, whom her parents had
appointed heiress to large possessions, and wished to give in
marriage to a man of illustrious descent ; but the girl, who
from her early years had been imbued with a Uberal educa
tion, had in the secret purity of her heart dedicated her
virginity to God. She therefore left her parents' abode dis
guised in the habit of a pilgrim, the more easily to escape
their sight, and betook herself to a convent of some brothers
of the order of Minorites ; there, at her own request, she
in accordance with the rigorous rules of that order, laid aside
her shoes, clothed herself in sackcloth, and contemptuously
cut off her luxuriant hair, thus endeavouring, by all the
means in her power, to transform her natural beauty of
person into every kind of deformity. After she had attempted
to do this but ineffectually, since she could not, against the
will of God, deform the beautiful arrangement of her body,
which was incomparable in all its proportions, she made it
her only endeavour to consecrate to the eternal Spouse, who
is in heaven, that purity of flesh which was internal ; and,
the more easily to carry this purpose into effect, she of her

A.D. 1225.] TEMPTATIONS OF A VIRGIN. 463
own will chose a life of poverty, took on herself the office of
holy preaching, clothed herself in rough garments, had a mat
on a pallet to lie upon and a stone for a pillow, and punishing
the flesh by continual watchings and fastings, she in urgent
prayer employed herself in the contemplation of heavenly
things. At length when she had for many years, in all per
fection and sanctity of life, studied to please God and to
preach the gospel of peace through cities and castles, and
especially to the female sex, the enemy of the human race
became envious of her perfection, and for seven months sur
rounded her with so many and great temptations, that, unless
she had been supported by divine assistance, she would have
lost all the virtuous aspirations of her former life ; for day
and night the devil brought back to her mind the abundant
possessions of her parents which she had left, the produce of
the fruitful vineyards, the pleasant meadows adorned with
various kinds of flowers, the delightful sound of the gushing
fountains and pleasantly murmuring rivulets, the lofty trees
of the forests, fertility in offspring, the embraces of a husband
and the enjoyments of love, the soft beds of the rich, the mirth
of jesters, the splendour of rings and jewels, and the sweet
taste of fish, poultry, and venison. Amidst these and other
similar temptations the girl was almost in despair and
frequently indulged in divers reflections, as to whether she
should return to what she had left, or persevere in the
pursuit of religion, and in this state of torture both of body
and mind she passed days and nights ; but the merciful God,
who does not permit those that trust in him to be tempted
beyond endurance, restored to the girl the eye of reason, that
she might discover how great and how full of care are all
temporal things and the pleasures above-mentioned, what
disgrace in carnal intercourse, with how much toil temporal
wealth is gained and with what sorrow it is lost, of how
much importance virgin purity is with God, who wished his
own mother to be productive and yet to remain in virginity,
the reward which follows good works, the pleasure there is
in holy and divine contemplation, the union of the inhabitants
of heaven, how sweet and delectable is the enjoyment of holy
spirits to reign with Christ, where cold affects not, where
hunger and thirst afflict no one, and where none are oppressed
by anger, quarrels, vain glory, envy, pride, animosity, avarice,

4G4 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1225.
covetousness, or drunkenness. This blessed virgin often
entertained these and the like thoughts, and amidst aU this
whirl of temptation she still preserved her former virtues, and,
being armed with the weapons of God, she happily defeated
all the deceitful wiles of the devU and sent him in confusion
to hell. How this girl was released by a devil from a ravisher.
After a few days, when this girl had been altogether freed
from these attacks of the devil, he returned to her and,
saluting her, said, " Save you mistress of mine, and virgin
weU beloved of the God of heaven ; I am that Satan, who
have for seven months lately led you, although to no purpose,
into so many temptations, in order to recaU you from your
intentions and to ensnare you in those toils ; but since I have
been overcome by you and failed in my deceitful arts, a
punishment has been imposed on me by the Lord of heaven,
which is, that I shaU never henceforth be aUowed to tempt
any race of beings or to hinder any one from good works.
Moreover I am commanded by the Lord, whom I must obey,
at once to perform whatever you order me, and also to
undergo any punishment you may impose on me." The girl
on hearing this, said to the devil, " May God preserve me
from any intercourse with you and from any attendance of
yours, for He knows that I never liked such a servant."
Soon after this, the said girl, happening to go to a certain
city to obtain a lodging, entered the house of a woman
and procured a lodging with her. In the evening a young
man, the son of the aforesaid woman, returned from his
accustomed business, and when he saw the young woman to
whom his mother had given a lodging out of charity, he
began to admire the natural disposition of aU the girl's limbs,
which were covered by such humble clothing, though she
was pale and thin ; for in her the work of nature was so
perfect, that from the soles of her feet to the top of her head
there was no defect, but by the disposition of her whole body
she plainly showed the nobihty of her race. The young man
was fired with desire for the virgin, and approached her ask
ing her to grant his wish. She in reply firmly refused the
young man's request, and declared that she had from her
youth consecrated her virginity to the Lord ; and she more-

A.D. 1225.] OF A RECLUSE. 465
over declared, that as chastity was imposed on her by the
vow of religion and of her order, it would be wicked to
break that vow ; and with these words she went away to
take her nightly repose in a corner of the house where,
according to the strict rules of the order, she placed a mat
under her for a bed and a stone under her head for a pillow.
The young man, inflamed with lust, determined in his heart
that if he could not obtain the girl's voluntary consent he
would effect his purpose by force, he therefore went to her
and told her his determination. The religious woman then
was in great agony of mind lest her virgin purity should be
destroyed by the youth's burning desire, but calling to mind
what the devil had told her, namely, that he would im
mediately fulfil any wish of hers, she raised her voice and
said, "Demon, where art thou?" The devil immediately
replied, "Mistress, here am I. What is your will?" The
girl then said, " Free me from this villain who disturbs me,
and does not permit me to sleep." The demon immediately
took the young man forcibly by the feet and threw him to a
distance from the young woman; three times during that
night was she freed by the devil from the violence of the
young man, and in the morning she left the city a virgin as
she entered it. What became of the girl in the end is un
known to me, therefore what I have related must content
those who love piety and chastity.
Of a certain recluse who took no food for seven years.
In the same year there died in the city of Leicester a cer
tain recluse, who for seven years before her death had taken
no food of any kind, except when on Sundays she partook of
the communion of the body and blood of our Lord ; and when
this miracle reached the ears of Hugh bishop of Lincoln, he
put no faith in the truth of the story, but disbelieved it
entirely ; he however ordered the said recluse to be closely
confined and watched by his priests and clerks for fifteen
days, when it was proved that during the whole of* that time
she partook of no bodily nourishment. Her complexion was
always white as a lily and tinged with a rosy red colour, as
an indication of modesty and virgin purity.
How the countess of Salisbury refused lo marry.
About this time news was brought to the king of England
VOL. u. H H

466 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1226.
that William earl of Salisbury, his uncle) had been drowned
when on his return from the transmarine provinces, and
whilst he was indulging in grief at the event, Hubert
justiciary of the kingdom came to him, and asked him to
give the wife of the said earl WiUiam in marriage to his
nephew Baymond, to whom the honour of that earldom
belonged by hereditary right. The king having granted his
request on condition that he could bring the countess herself
to consent to the match, the justiciary immediately sent the
aforesaid Baymond in his knightly apparel to the countess, to
endeavour to gain the affections of that lady. But when the
said Eaymond by soft speeches and great promises en
deavoured to gain her consent, she with great anger repUed,
that she had lately received letters informing her that her
husband was safe and well; she also added that if her
husband had indeed been dead, she would not on any account
accept of him as a husband, because the nobility of her family
prevented such a marriage. " Seek elsewhere," said she, "for
a wife, because you will find by experience that you have
come here to no purpose." Eaymond on receiving this reply
went away in confusion.
How his holiness the pope demanded prebends for his own use.
a.d. 1226. King Henry kept Christmas at Winchester in
the company of some bishops and several nobles. After this
festival had been duly observed, he went to Marlborough,
where, he was seized with illness and lay for many days in a
hopeless state. In the meantime the period fixed on for
holding the council at Westminster at the feast of St. Hilary
was now come, at which the king, the clergy, and nobles
of the kingdom were bound to appear to hear the pope's
message. Many bishops therefore, with others of the clergy
and laity, assembled at the above place, and master Otho the
messenger of our lord the pope, of whom mention has been
before made, read the pope's letters in the hearing of them
all. In these letters the pope set forth a great scandal and
old abuse of the holy church of Eome, namely, an accusation
of avarice, which is said to be the root of all evil, and
especiaUy because no one could manage any business at the
court of Eome, without a lavish expenditure of money and
large presents. "But since the poverty of the Eoman

A.D. 1220.] DEMANDS OF THE POPE. 46?
church is the cause of this offence and evil name, it is the
duty of all to alleviate the wants of their mother and father
as natural sons : because unless we received presents from
you and other good and honourable men, we should be in
want of the necessaries of life, which would be altogether in
consistent with the dignity of the Eoman church. In order
therefore utterly to destroy this abuse, we, by the advice of
our brethren the cardinals of the holy Eoman church, have
provided certain terms, to which if you will agree, you may
free your mother from insult, and obtain justice at the court
of Eome without the necessity of making presents. Our
provided terms are these : in the first place we require two
prebends to be granted to us from all cathedral churches, one
from the portion of the bishop and another from the chapter ;
and from monasteries in the same way where there are
different portions for the abbat and the convent ; and from
convents the share of one monk, on an equal distribution
being made of their property, and the same from the abbat."
After making these proposals, Master Otho, on behalf of
our lord the pope advised the prelates to consent, setting
forth the above-mentioned advantages contained in the
letters. The bishops and prelates of the church who were
present in person, then moved apart to consult on the matter,
and after having deliberated on the proposals for some time,
they deputed John archdeacon of Bedford to give their
answer, who went before Master Otho, and gave the following
reply to his demands : " My lord, the things which you set
forth to us refer to the king in particular, and to all the
patrons of the church in general ; they refer to the arch
bishops and their suffragans, and to numbers of the prelates
of England. Since, therefore, the king on account of illness,
and some of the archbishops and bishops and other prelates
of the church are absent, we cannot, and ought not in their
absence, give you an answer ; for if we were to presume so
to do, it would be to the injury of all who are absent."
After this, John Marshal and other messengers of the king
were sent to all the prelates who held baronies in chief of
the king, strictly forbidding them to engage their lay fee to
the church of Eome, by which he would be deprived of the
service which was due to himself. Master Otho, on hearing
this, appointed a day in the middle of Lent for those who
H H 2

468 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1220.
were then present to meet, when he would procure the
presence of the king and the absent prelates, that the affair
might then be brought to a conclusion ; they, however,
would not agree to the before-mentioned day, without the
consent of the king and the others who were absent, and in
this way aU returned home.
Of the glorious death of William earl of Salisbury.
The king of England, in the meantime, had entirely re
covered from his illness at Marlborough, and at that place
there came to him Wilham earl of Salisbury, who, after
being' long exposed to the dangers of the sea, had with
much: difficulty landed in Cornwall at Christmas. He was
received with great joy by the king, and at once laid before
him a serious complaint against the justiciary, namely, that
while he had been in foreign parts on the king's business, he,
the justiciary, had sent some man of low birth, who en
deavoured to form a criminal connexion with his wife during
his ' life-time, and to contract an adulterous marriage with
her by force ; he also added, that unless the king would
make the justiciary give him fuU satisfaction, he would
himself take revenge for this great offence, to the serious
disturbance of the peace of the kingdom. The justiciary
then, being present, confessed his fault, and made peace
with the earl by presents of expensive horses and other
large gifts ; and having thus made friends with the earl, the
justiciary invited him to his table, where, it is said, he was
secretly poisoned, for he went to his castle at Salisbury, and
took to his bed, seriously indisposed. The disease gaining
power, and as he felt certain symptoms of death, he sent for
the bishop of the city to come to him, that he might receive
the rites pertaining to the confession and the viaticum of a
Christian, and also make a legal statement as to his property.
When the bishop entered the room where the earl lay, with
no other clothing than his trousers, the latter leaped from his
bed in front of the bishop, who was carrying the body of our
Lord, and fastening a rough cord round his neck, he threw
himself on the floor, and with incessant lamentation con
fessed himself a traitor to the supreme king, and would not
alk)w himself to be raised till he had made confession and
partaken of the communion of the life-giving sacrament, to

A.D." 1226.] COUNCIL AT BOURGES. 469
prove himself a servant of his Creator; and thus he con
tinued in the greatest state of repentance for some days,
until he resigned his spirit to his Eedeemer. When his
body was being carried from the castle to the new* church,
about a mile distant, to be buried, the tapers, which, -accord
ing to custom, were carried, lighted with the cross and cerisdrs,
continued, notwithstanding showers of rain and the violence
of the wind, to shed a light during the whole journey;
thereby plainly showing that the earl being thus sincerely
penitent, belonged to the number of the sons of light.*
How Master Otho endeavoured to reconcile the king to Faulkes.
About this same time, Master Otho the pope's messenger
came to the king of England, requesting him on behalf of
his holiness to receive Faulkes into favour, and to restore to
him his wife, lands, and possessions, and all other property
which had been taken from him ; but the king replied, that
Faulkes had, for open treachery, been condemned to per
petual banishment by aU the clergy and people, which sen
tence he could not invalidate without acting in opposition to
the old-estabUshed customs of the kingdom. Master Otho,
on receiving this reply, desisted from making further re
quests in the matter. He then sent his letters to aU the
cathedral and conventual churches throughout England,
demanding of them the procuration money; due to the mes
sengers of the Boman church, and limited the, 'amount of
each procuration to forty shillings.
Of the council at Bourges, at which Romanus the legate to . the French
presided.
About this same time Master Bomanus was sent by our
lord the pope into France, to discharge the ..functions of
legate there ; on his arrival, he summoned the French king,
the archbishops, bishops, and the GalUc clergy, together
*
* His epitaph is thus given by Paris : —
" Flos comitum, Willelmus obit, stirps regia, longus
Ensis vaginam caepit habere brevem."
When William, flower of earls, resigned
His princely breath,
His long sword was content to find
A shorter sheath.

470 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1226.
with the count of Toulouse, to attend at a council, for which
purpose he had been sent to that country, as the following
narrative will show. The councU therefore assembled at
Bourges, at which were present the archbishops of Lyons,
Eheims, Eouen, Tours, Bourges, and Auxienne ; the arch
bishop of Bordeaux was at Borne, and the church of Nar
bonne was without one. About a hundred suffragans from
the nine provinces assembled, together with abbats and
priors, and proxies from each of the chapters, to hear the
pope's message ; but as the archbishop of Lyons claimed
supremacy over the archbishop of Sens, and the archbishop
of Bouen over those of Bourges, Auxienne, and Narbonne,
and their suffragans, fears were entertained of disagreement,
therefore they did not sit as it were in councU, but only as
if in consultation. When they were all seated, and the
pope's letters had been read, there came before them the
count of Toulouse on the one part, and Simon de Montfort
on the other, the latter of whom demanded the surrender to
him of the lands of Eaymond count of Toulouse, which lands
the pope and PhiUp the French king had conferred on him
and his father, and he produced the writings both of the
pope and Phihp concerning the said gift ; he, moreover,
added that count Eaymond had been abjudicated at the
general council at Eome, on account of heresy, at least of
the greater part of the land which he now possesses. Count
Eaymond in reply set forth that he would do whatever he
ought towards the French king and the Eoman church to
retain his inheritance. The adverse party then asked him
to abide by the judgment of twelve peers of France, to
which Eaymond repUed, " Let the king receive my homage,
and then I shall be ready to undergo the trial, otherwise
they will not perhaps recognize me for a peer." After much
altercation on both sides, the legate ordered the archbishops
and bishops then present, each of them to convoke his
suffragans to a separate place, to dehberate on the aforesaid
matter, and to deliver to him the result of their deliberations
in writing ; he then excommunicated aU who should disclose
his plans on this matter, saying that he wished to explain
them to the pope, and to teU them to the French king
himself.

A.D. 1226.] ROMAN THE FRENCH LEGATE. 471
How the legate deceitfully gave the proxies permission to depart.
After this council, the legate deceitfully gave leave to the
proxies of the chapters to return home, but detained the
archbishops, bishops, abbats, and common prelates ; for this
reason the latter were afraid, and not without cause, that, in
the absence of those of greater skill and experience, and on
account of their numbers, more able to oppose the legate,
some determination would be come to detrimentary to the
absent prelates. The said proxies, therefore, after long
dehberation, sent proxies from the metropolitan churches to
the legate, who thus stated their business to him : " My
lord, we have heard that you hold letters from the court of
Eome concerning the maintenance of prebends in all churches
conventual as well as cathedral; wherefore, we are much
astonished that you did not at the late consultation make them
pubhc in the hearing of us whom they especiaUy concern.
We, therefore, beseech you in the name of the Lord not to
let that scandal arise in the French church by your means,
inasmuch as we know that such a plan could not be carried
into effect without great offence and inconceivable harm ;
because, supposing any one person should agree to it, his
assent would be of no avail in a matter which concerns all of
us, when almost all the elders and the people in common, as
well as the king himself and all the nobles, are prepared to
gainsay and oppose it, even to the danger of their lives and
the loss of aU their dignities, especially as by their offensive
demand the ruin of the kingdom and the church in"'general
would be imminent. The reason for our fear is, that' you
have not discussed this matter with other kingdoms, and have
ordered some bishops and abbats, whenever the prebends are
vacant, to reserve them for the benefit of the popeV"
How the legate demanded two prebends of the prelates for the use of the
church of Rome. ,
On receipt of the above message, the legate* who was
endeavouring to induce all to agree to his demand, then for
the first time showed the pope's warrant, in which he
demanded two prebends from each of the cathedral churches,
one from the chapter and another from the bishop ; and in
the same way in monasteries, where there were different
portions, namely that of the abbat and of the convent, he

472 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1226.
demanded two prebends, one from the abbat and another
from the convent ; from the convent he demanded the share
of one monk, when an equal distribution of property was
made, as the legate himself interpreted it, and the same also
from the abbat. He then set forth the advantages which
would arise from it, namely, that it would remove from the
Eoman church, which is the mother of aU churches, the
charge of avarice which is the root of all evil, as no one
would be obliged to offer any presents for transacting busi
ness at the court of Eome, and no one would receive presents
when offered. The objections of the proctors to the above demands.
The proxy of the archbishop of Lyons, in reply to this
demand, said, " My lord, we by no means wish to be without
friends at your court, or to fail in bestowing of presents."
The other proxies in like manner set forth the disadvantages
which they would labour under, such as loss of property,
advice, assistance, and other attentions, in this way : " For
there will be continually in each diocese, or at least in a
province, a messenger, a Eoman agent, who wiU Uve not on
his own means, but will make heavy exactions and procura
tions from the larger churches, and perhaps from the lesser
ones, so that no one will remain with impunity, and the
person called a proctor will discharge the duties of the
legateship." They also said that disturbances in the chapters
would ensue, for perhaps the pope would if he chose, order
his proctor or some other person to be present on his behalf
at the elections, who would disturb them ; and thus, in course
of time, the election would devolve on the court of Eome,
which would appoint Bomans, or those who were most
devoted to them, in all, or at least in most of the churches ;
and thus there would be no party of native prelates or chiefs,
inasmuch as there were many ecclesiastics who would pay
more regard to the court of Borne than to the king or
kingdom. They also added, that if a proportionate distribu
tion of property was to be made, all that court would
become rich, since they would receive more than the king
himself ; and thus the elders would become not only rich,
but the richest of men. And since the worm of the rich is
pride, the superiors would scarcely listen to complaints, but

A.D. 1226.] OTHO RETURNS TO ROME. 473
would put them off without end, and their inferiors would write
them unwillingly; the proof of which is evident, for even now
they prolong business, after receiving presents and taking
security; and thus justice would be endangered, and com
plainants would be obliged to die at the doors of their
sovereign masters, the Bomans. Also, since it is hardly
possible for the fountain of avarice to be dried up, what they
now do themselves they would then do by means of others,
and would procure much larger gifts for their agents then
than now, for small gifts are of no weight with avaricious rich
men. Moreover, great wealth would put the Eoman citizens
beside themselves, and thus, such great seditions would arise
amongst the different cliencies, that fears would be enter
tained for the destruction of the whole city, from which it is
not altogether free even now. They also said, that although
they who were present might pledge themselves to this, they
would not bind down their successors, nor would hold the
obUgation as ratified. Lastly, they thus wound up the
matter : " My lord, may the ardent affection of the whole
ohurch and of the holy Eoman see move you, because, if
this general oppression were to be carried into effect, we
should fear that a general secession would be imminent,
which may God avert." The legate, on hearing this, as
though he were moved to good-will towards them, rephed.
that he had never agreed to this demand when at the court
of Eome, and that he had received the letters after he had
come to France, and that he was very sorry for these things;
he also added, that he understood all his orders in this
matter to be on the tacit understanding that the empire and
other kingdoms should consent to it ; he also said that he
would make no further attempts in the matter till the
prelates throughout the other kingdom should give their
consent, which he did not believe could happen.
How master Otho returned unwillingly to Rome. •
In Lent of the same year, Master Otho, the pope's messen
ger, was on his way to Northumberland to levy the aforesaid
procuration-tax, and had reached Northampton, at which
place there were brought to him letters from the pope,
granted on the application of the archbishop of Canterbury ;
these letters contained an order for the said Otho imme-

•474 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-D- 1226,
diately at sight of them to come to Eome, as his influence
there was entirely destroyed. After having glanced at these
letters, he dejectedly threw them into the fire, and at once
changing his plans, he left England in confusion, having
ordered Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, as was expressed
in the letters of the pope, to convoke the king and all the
prelates of the kingdom, and to send to the pope their answer
on the matter for which he, the said Otho, had been sent
into England. When therefore he had turned his back on
England, Stephen archbishop of Canterbury summoned all
concerned in the business to a council at Westminster after
Easter, and there he, in the presence of the king and the
prelates of England who had aU assembled at his summons,
read the above-mentioned letters concerning the gift of
presents to the Eoman church ; after they had heard the
letters read and understood their purport, they aU laughed
amongst themselves at the greediness of the Bomans who did
not understand the moral —
" It is not wealth but virtue that will make a man content ;
Nor needy is the man who's poor, but who on gain is bent."
The king then called the prelates and some of the nobles
apart, and they gave the foUowing answer to the archbishop :
" These grants, which the pope advises us to agree to, con
cern the whole Christian community ; and as we are situated
in an extreme corner of the world, we wiU see how other
kingdoms act in regard to these demands, and when we have
their example our lord the pope shall find us more ready in
our acquiescence with his demands than others." And with
these words aU were aUowed to depart.
Of the great movement made against the count of Toulouse.
About the same time a crusade was preached through
out the French provinces in general by the Boman legate,
that all who could carry arms, should assume the cross
against the count of Toulouse and his followers, who were
said to be infected with the foul stain of heresy. At his
preaching, a great number of prelates as weU as laity as
sumed the cross, being induced to do so more by fear of the
French king or to obtain favour with the legate, than by
their zeal for justice; for it seemed to many to be a sin to
attack a true Christian, especially as aU were aware that,

A.D. 1228.] CRUSADE AGAINST COUNT TOULOUSE. 475
at the council lately held at Bourges, the said count had with
many entreaties begged of the legate to go to each one of
the cities in his territory to inquire into the articles of their
faith, and had declared that if he, the legate, should find the
inhabitants of any city to hold opinions contrary to the
catholic faith, he himself would exact full satisfaction from
them ; and if he found any city in a state of disobedience, he
would, as far as lay in his power, compel that city and its
inhabitants to make atonement; and as for himself he
offered, if he had sinned in any way, which he did not
remember to have done, to give full satisfaction to God and
the holy church, as a faithful Christian ; and if the legate
wished it, he would undergo a trial of his faith. All these
offers the legate refused, nor could this catholic count find
any favour with him without abandoning and forswearing
his inheritance for himself and his heirs after him. The
French king at the preaching of this legate assumed the
cross, but would not proceed in this expedition unless
he first obtained letters from the pope to the king of Eng
land, forbidding him, under penalty of excommunication,
to annoy him the French king, or to make war against him
concerning any territory he at present held, whether justly
or unjustly, as long as he was engaged in the service of the
pope and the church of Borne, in exterminating the heretic
Albigenses, and their abettor and accompUce the count of Tou
louse, but should aid him with assistance and advice in for
warding the cause of the faith. After this the French king
and the legate appointed our Lord's ascension-day for all
those who had assumed the cross to assemble, under penalty
of excommunication, at Lyons, equipped with horses and
arms, to follow them on the proposed expedition.
How the king of England altered his intention of crossing the sea.
The king of England in the meantime, who was ardently
longing to invade the transmarine provinces, assembled his
counsellors and read to them the letters of the pope which
had been sent to him, and asked their advice as to what he
ought to do in such a prohibition. All the prelates and
nobles' gave it as their opinion that the wished-for expedition
should be put off until they should see the result of this
difficult and expensive undertaking of the French king.

176 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1226.
The English king was at that time very anxious about his
brother Eichard, who was then in Gascony carrying on the
war, and longed for, him to return home ; but whilst the king
was thus anxious about his brother and was wishing to
assist him, messengers from his said brother came to him
telUng him that he was safe and well, and that every thing
went on favourably with him. Amongst the king's coun
sellors at that time was one master William, surnamed Piere-
punt, an astronomer, who boldly declared before the king
that if the French king attempted to fulfil the expedition he
had entered upon, he either would not return ahve, or would
suffer great loss of his property and of his foUowers. The
king was overjoyed at hearing this, and agreed to the plan
of his counsellors. Of the death of Richard bishop of Durham.
In the same year Bichard de Marisco, bishop of Durham,
when hastening with a great number of noisy lawyers to be
at London on the appointed day to carry on the disgraceful
cause against the monks, lodged in the convent at Peter
borough, where, after a rich repast, he retired at night to
his couch; and early in the morning, just as the sun was
rising, his clerks entered his room for the purpose of waking
him, when they found him dead ; they were all in the great
est consternation and kept his death a secret tiU the evening
of that day, because he had died without confession and the
viaticum ; they then told the dreadful event to the prior and
monks of the convent, and then hastily constructed a Utter
and carried his body away to the church at Durham for
burial. This prelate died on the first day of May, after
holding his bishopric about nine years.* A circumstance
connected with him we think ought not to be passed over in
silence, which was, that about two years before his death,
the late king John appeared one night in a vision to a certain
* Paris inserts his epitaph as written by a monk of Durham : —

" Culmina qui cupi "i laudes pompasque siti
Est sedata si ! si me pensare veli

Qui populos regi I ,. memores super omnia si
(.Imiil mors immi ' ' nnn narrir. honnrp nr\t\

Quod mors immi
Vobis pracposi
Quod sum vos eri

non parcit honore poti
similis fueram bene sci
ad me currendo veni

- tis."

A.D. 1226.] DEATH OF THE BISHOP OF DURHAM. 477
monk of St. Alban's, who was then staying at Tynemouth ;
this monk was a familiar of the kings Eichard and John, and
in performing their business had been sent sometimes to
Borne, sometimes to Scotland, and to a great many other
places, and by his ready services had gained the favour of
the said kings. Whilst this monk then was sleeping on his
paUet, the before-named king stood before him in his royal
robes of the cloth called imperial ; the monk at once recog
nized him, and, recollecting that he was dead, asked him
how he was. The king replied, " No one can be worse than
I am, for these robes of mine, which you see are so burning
and heavy that no living being could touch them on account
of their heat or wear them on account of their weight with
out being kUled ; but I nevertheless hope, by the clemency
and unspeakable grace of God, at some time to obtain mercy.
I therefore earnestly beg of your brotherhood, to tell Bichard
Marsh, now bishop of Durham, that unless, before his death,
he alters his wicked life, and amends it by proper repentance
and atonement, a place is prepared for him in hell ; and if he
refuses to put faith in your words and my message, let him
lay aside all doubt by these tokens, namely, that when we
were alone together in a place well known to him, he pro
posed to me a plan, prejudicial ahke to me and to himself,
which was, that I should take from the Cistercian monks
their crop of wool for a year, and that he proposed to
me many other wicked designs, for which I now suffer
unspeakable torments, which also await him. And if he
should stiU hesitate to believe my message, let him recoUect
that at the same place and the same time he gave me a
precious stone, which he had purchased at great expense."
With these words the king disappeared, and the monk awoke
in astonishment.
On the death of Eichard bishop of Durham, the prior and
monks of the convent asked leave of the king to elect a
pastor, on which he proposed to them his chaplain Luke, and
begged them to receive him as their pastor. The monks
however replied that they would receive no one unless
eanonically elected ; on which refusal the king declared with
an oath that they should remain without a bishop for seven
years, unless they would admit the aforesaid Luke to the
pontifical dignity. The monks however, not thinking him a

478 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1226.
person worthy of such a high station, by the common consent
of the community, elected their clerk Wilham, archdeacon
of Worcester, a learned and honourable man, and presented
him to the king; the latter however made some frivolous
objections and refused to receive him, on which the monks
sent some of their order to Eome, to obtain a confirmation
of the election by the authority of the supreme pontiff. The
king, when he heard of this, sent the bishop of Chester and
the prior of Lantony to Eome, to oppose the monks and to
frustrate their intentions ; and as they continued the dispute
for a long time, the matter continued undetermined.
Of the siege of Avignon by Louis the French king.
In the meantime our Lord's ascension arrived, on which
day all the French crusaders had been ordered by the king
and the legate to assemble without fail. The king, having
made all the necessary preparations for the expedition at
Lyons, proceeded on his journey with, as it seemed, an
invincible army, followed by the legate, the archbishops,
bishops, and other prelates of the churches ; the army was
computed to consist of about fifty thousand knights and
horse-soldiers, besides foot-soldiers, who could hardly be
counted. The legate then publicly excommunicated the
count of Toulouse and all his abettors, and laid aU his
territory under an interdict. The king, as we have said, set
out with shields and standards glittering, and his march was
so awful that it looked Uke an army of castles in motion, and
at length entered the province of the count of Toulouse. On
the eve of Whit-Sunday they all reached Avignon, which
was the first city in the count's dominion that they came to,
and they determined to commence their attacks there, and
thus to subdue the whole of the count's territory with the
inhabitants of it from beginning to end. The king and the
legate on their arrival there deceitfully asked leave of the in
habitants to pass through the city, saying that they had come
thither with peaceable intentions, and asked a passage
through the city only to make a short cut in their march.
The citizens, however, after dehberating on this request, put
no faith in their assertions, and said that they wanted to get
into the city with treacherous intentions rather than to make
a short cut. The king then becoming enraged, swore that

A.D. 1226.] MORTALITY AMONGST THE BESIEGERS. 479
he would not leave the spot till he had taken the city, and
immediately ordered his engines to be arranged round the
place and a fierce assault to be made. A severe attack was
then commenced, and petrarise, cross-bows, and all other
kinds of military weapons were now put in constant use.
On the other hand the city, till that time unattempted by
hostile troops, was weU defended by trenches, walls, turrets,
and ramparts outside, whilst within it was well garrisoned
with knights and thousands of soldiers, and well supplied
with horses, arms, collections of stones for missiles, engines
and barriers, and was well stored with provisions, and did
not therefore fear the assaults of the besiegers ; for the
defenders of the city bravely hurled on them stone for stone,
weapon for weapon, spear for spear, and dart for dart,
inflicting deadly wounds on the besieging French.
Of the mortality and famine amongst the besiegers.
After the siege had been carried on for a length of time,
the provisions of the besiegers failed them and numbers of
the troops died; for the count of Toulouse, like a skilful
soldier, had, before the arrival of the French, removed out of
their way aU kinds of provisions, together with the old men,
women, children, and the horses and cattle, so that they were
deprived of all kinds of sustenance. And it was not only the
men who suffered, but also the horses and cattle of the army
perished of hunger ; for the count had caused all the fields
throughout the district to be ploughed up, so that there was
no supply of fodder for the cattle except what had been
brought from the French provinces ; therefore large bodies of
troops were obliged to leave the camp to seek for provisions
for the men and food for the horses, and on these excursions
they took many towns which opposed them, and they often
suffered great loss from attacks by the count of Toulouse,
who with his troops lay in ambuscade for them. At this
siege the French were exposed to death in many ways, from
the mortaUty which was raging dreadfully amongst their
men and horses, from the deadly weapons and destructive
stones of the besieged who bravely defended the city, and
from the general famine which raged principally amongst the
poorer classes, who had neither food or money. In addition
to the other miseries, which assailed the army without inter-

480 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1226.
mission, there arose from the corpses of the men and horses,
which were dying in all directions, a number of large black
flies, which made their way inside the tents, pavilions, and
awnings, and affected the provisions and liquor ; and being
unable to drive them away from their cups and plates, they
caused sudden death amongst them. The king and the
legate were in dismay, for if such a great and powerful
expedition were to return, with their purpose unaccompUshed,
the French as well as the Eomans would incur much taunt
ing. The chiefs of the army, then, to whom the delay seemed
long on account of such numbers of deaths, begged the
inferior ranks as weU as their chiefs to attack the city ; on
this such a multitude of troops marched against the city, that,
in marching over a bridge which was built over the Bhone,
the bridge was broken, either by the citizens, or by the
weight of the troops who were fighting there, and about three
thousand men were precipitated into the rapid stream. Then
there arose a cry of exultation from the citizens, but dismay
and confusion pervaded the French army. After this the
citizens, watching their opportunity, sallied from the city one
day in great force when the French were sitting at table
eating and drinking, and rushing on them when unprepared
for them, slew two thousand of the French, and then returned
into the city without loss to themselves, and these saUies they
continually made against them. The French king was in
dismay, and ordered the slain to be thrown into the Bhone,
to avoid the stench, for with such a number of dead bodies
they had no other burial place. They then made a wide
deep trench between them and the city, and the operations of
the siege were carried on at a greater distance from it. The
legate and the whole assembly of prelates during this time,
having no other means of punishment, excommunicated the
count of Toulouse, the citizens, and all the inhabitants of the
province. The death of Louis the French king.
At this time Louis king of the French, to escape the
pestilence which was committing great ravages in the camp,
retired to a monastery called Montpensier, near the besieged
town, to await the capture of the city ; at that place Henry
oount of Champagne came to him, having been employed forty-
days in the siege, and, according to the French custom, asked

A.D. 1226.] DEATH OF THE FRENCH KING. 481
leave to return home, and on the king's refusing his permis
sion, he said that having served his forty days of duty he
was not bound to, nor would he, stay any longer. The king
then, roused to anger, declared with an oath, that if the
count went away in this way he would ravage his territory
with fire and sword. The count then, as report goes, being in
love with his queen, caused some poison to be administered
to the king, and being urged on by the impulses of desire
he could not abide longer delay. After the departure of the
count, as he had said he would, the king was taken danger
ously ill, and, the poison working its way to his vitals, he
was reduced to the point of death ; some however assert that
he died not by poison but of dysentery. On the death of the
king, Eoman the legate of the apostoUc see, who was present
at the siege, and the prelates his secret advisers, who were
also there, concealed the death of the king until the city
should be surrendered ; for if the siege were to be now raised,
a great reproach would be cast on them. The legate and the
prelates, therefore, who were at the siege, pretended that the
king was detained by severe illness, but said that in the
opinion of his physicians he would soon be convalescent, and
then exhorted the chiefs of the different battalions to attack
the city with all their power. They preserved the king's
body with large quantities of salt, and, burying his entrails in
the convent, they ordered his body to be wrapped in waxed
linen and buUs' hides ; it was then placed in safe custody in
the convent, and the legate and the prelates then returned to
the siege. However finding that they gained no advantage,
but were entirely failing owing to different misfortunes, the
legate, by the advice of the elders in the camp, sent a
message into the city asking them, on receipt of security, for
safe conduct to and from the city, to send twelve of the
elders of the city to the legate as soon as possible to make
terms of peace.
How the city of Avignon was taken by the French by treachery.
After hostages had been given for their safety, twelve
citizens came out to a conference with the legate, when, after
a long discussion about peace, he earnestly advised the
citizens to surrender themselves saving their persons, their
property and possessions, and all their liberties, to the utmost
VOL. H. II

482 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1226.
extent that they had ever enjoyed them. To this the mes
sengers rephed, that they would on no account surrender
themselves to live under the dominion of the French, whose
pride and fierce insolence they had often experienced. After
much disputing on both sides, the legate at length asked per
mission to go into the city with the prelates who were
present, to put the faith of the inhabitants to the test,
declaring on oath that he had prolonged the siege only to
provide for the safety of their souls ; he also added, that the
cry of infidelity, which had gained power in the city, had
reached ,the pope, and he therefore desired to know whether
they supported this cry by their actions. The citizens then,
trusting to the promises of the legate^ and having no suspi
cions of treachery, after an oath had been taken on both sides,
on the above-named condition, gave permission to the legate
and the prelates to enter the city without any others, and in
company with them. But, as had been pre-arranged, as soon
as the gates were open, the French treacherously, and in dis
graceful disregard of the oath which had been made by the
legate, forced their way into the city and made prisoners of
the inhabitants, and having thus treacherously gained a
victory they destroyed the towers and walls of this noble
place. The legate then consigned the city to the charge of
the French, and raising the siege he ordered the body of the
king to be carried to Paris by the priests assembled, to be
buried amongst his ancestors as was the custom with kings.
The king died, as they say, in the month of September, but
they concealed his death for a month or more. Of those who
went to the siege with the king, twenty-two thousand died
at the place, including those who were slain and drowned,
as well as those who died of the pestilence or by natural
death, and thus left great cause of tears and sorrow to their
wives and children ; hence it seems clearly evident that an
unjust war had been undertaken, of which covetousness was
the cause rather than the wish to exterminate, heresy.
Of the coronation of Louis king of t lie French, son of the late Louis.
On the death then of Louis the French king, his queen
the lady Blanche, summoned the archbishops, bishops, and
other prelates of the churches, as well as the nobles who
owed allegiance to the crown, to assemble at Paris on the

A.D. 1226.] CORONATION OF LOUIS. 483
thirtieth of November to crown Louis the son of the late
king. The principal party of nobles before the appointed
day asked, according to the French custom, for the release
of aU prisoners, and especiaUy Ferrand count of Flanders,
and Eeginald count of Boulogne, who, for subverting the
liberties of the kingdom, had been now kept in close confine
ment for twelve years. Some moreover demanded ' the
restoration to them of their lands, which Louis the father,
and Philip the grandfather, of the young king, had for a long
time unjustly retained possession of. They also added that no
one in the French kingdom ought to be deprived of his rights
unless by a decision of twelve peers, and no one ought to be
made war on without a year's previous notice ; and as soon as
all these amendments had been made, they would not then
delay coming to the coronation. The queen, however, fear
ing that delay would cause danger, by the advice of the
legate, summoned the clergy of the kingdom and the few
nobles that she could muster, and on the day of St. Andrew
the apostle, caused her son, a boy scarcely ten years old, to
be crowned king. The duke of Burgundy however absented
himself from . the coronation, as did also the count of Cham
pagne, the count de Bar, the count of St. Paul, and the
count of Brittany, and, in short, almost all the nobles who
owed duty to the crown, and they made ready for fighting
more than for peace and good fellowship.*
The English king, on hearing of this disagreement amongst
the aforesaid nobles, sent Walter, archbishop of York, and
the knight Philip de Albeney to the transmarine provinces,
together with other special messengers, to the nobles of Nor
mandy, Anjou, Brittany, and Poictou, who were bound to be
under aUegiance to him, and demanded admission amongst
* Paris adds, " In the meantime an unmentionable and, .sinister report
was spread abroad that the legate had behaved in an improper manner to
the lady Blanche ; but it is wicked to believe this, because his rivals spread
this report, but a good disposition alway puts the best interpretation on
doubtful circumstances. On Sunday, the 4th of October in*this year, St.
Francis took his flight to heaven at the city of Assise where he was born,
at St. Mary de Portiuncula, where he himself founded the order of
Minorites, having passed twenty years, from the time when he became a
perfect follower of Christ, following the mode of life and the steps of the
apostles; and after having thus gained the glory of God, and receiving the
reward of his good works, he was buried in the said city, and in the fol
lowing year, namely 1227, his life, morals, and rule, are more fully set
forth. I I 2

484 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1227.
them ; at the same time making large promises if they would
receive him in good faith.
Of the death of Falcasius, and the presage of that event.
In this same year Falcasius, who had been banished from
England, when on his return there, after arranging matters at
the court of Eome, closed his wicked life at St. Cyr. This
iniquitous robber, Falcasius, had, during his Ufetime, cruelly
pillaged the town of St. Alban's, slain some of the inha
bitants, made prisoners of others, and had extorted a large
sum of money from the abbat as weU as from the town, to
save the monastery, convent, and town 'from being burned by
him ; soon after this he happened to go to St. Alban's again,
to have an interview with Pandulph bishop of Norwich ; the
latter, on seeing him, in the hearing of the abbat himself
and many others, asked him if he had in any way offended
St. Alban. On Falcasius replying that he had not, the bishop
added, " I asked you the question, because one night lately,
whilst sleeping on my couch, I in a dream saw myself in the
church of St. Alban's, standing before the great altar, and, on
turning round after paying my devotions, I saw you standing
in the monk's choir, and on iooking upwards I saw a large
heavy stone fall from the tower on your head with such force,
that your head and your whole body were crushed, and you
disappeared suddenly as though you had sunk into the
ground. Wherefore I advise you, if you have given the least
offence to the martyr, to make proper amends to him and his
foUowers, before the stone does faU on your head." But
afterwards, that wretch when he asked pardon of the abbat
and monks for his offences, expressly declared that he would
not restore any of the property he had carried off; therefore
it was evident that such an atonement as that was of no
effect; for "the sin is not forgiven unless the stolen property
is restored." He also felt the fall of the stone * on his head,
• Paris amplifies this passage as follows : — " Again when the abbat com
plained of the lake, which he had formed at Luiton, to his great injury
and loss, because the water, which would fall on his crops in the coming
autumn would be all drawn away from them, this wicked Falcasius replied
that he was sorry he had not waited till all his corn was stored in the barns,
so that the water, when it overflowed, might have destroyed it all. He did
indeed feel the stone descend on his head when, after having beheld his
brother and friends hung at Bedford a short time afterwards, he himself
went forth into exile a poor man, and now closed his life by a miserable

A.D. 1227. J DEATH OF FALCASIUS. 485
when, a short time after this at Bedford, his brothers and
friends having been already hung, he was himself sent into
exile a poor man, and now closed his life by a wretched death.
In the same year too died the bishops, Benedict of Bochester,
and Pandulph of Norwich ; Pandulph was succeeded by
Thomas de Blundeville, a clerk of the king's treasury, who
was consecrated by Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, on
the Sunday next before Christmas.
Of the extortion of money by the English king.
a.d. 1227. King Henry kept Christmas at Beading, and
in the same Christmas week, to the grief of many, died
William earl of Essex, a brave young man, and one lavish
in his generosity. The king then went to London and
accused the citizens of having, to his loss, given five thou
sand marks of silver to Louis the lately deceased French
king, on his departure from England; he therefore, by the
advice of quarrelsome counsellors, compelled them to pay
him the like amount. He moreover took from them the
fifteenth part of their moveables as well as of their whole
substance, the same as had been formerly granted to him by
all throughout England. He also took from the inhabitants
of Peterborough and the Northumbrians twelve hundred
pounds, besides the fifteenth part, which all paid throughout
the kingdom in general. Even the religious men and bene
ficed clergy were obliged to give up the fifteenth part of aU
their goods, as well of ecclesiastic as lay property ; and an
appeal to the pope was of no use, for, the order of things
being changed, archbishops and bishops, by authority of the
pope and the church's censure, compelled those to pay whom
the la}r power could not, and they were thus deprived of all
relief.
How the king annulled the charters of liberties, at a council held at
Oxford.
In the month of February in the same year, , the king
assembled a councU at Oxford, and before aU present he de-
death. And oh, that that formidable stone in hell may not still crush
him ! He died poisoned, having surfeited himself with strongly poisoned
fish ; after taking his supper he lay down to sleep, and was discovered dead,
black, stinking, and rotten, and without receiving the viaticum, or any
rites, and was at once ignobly buried ; and thus reaping the fruits of his
works, he miserably closed his sinful life, unlamented ; or, if any tears were
shed for him, they were dry ones.

486 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1227.
clared himself of legitimate age to be released from wardship,
and to take the chief management of the kingly duties. And
thus the former pupil and ward of William Marshall during
his life, and after his death of Peter bishop of Winchester,
now, by the advice of Hubert de Burgh justiciary of Eng
land, freed himself from aU counsel and restraint of the said
bishop and his friends, who had formerly been, as it were,
his school-masters, and dismissed them aU from his court
and from all connection with him. At the same council too
the said king annulled and canceUed the charters of the
liberties of the forests in all the counties of England, after
they had been in practice throughout the whole of England
for two years ; and as a reason for this he aUeged that the
charters had been granted, and the liberties written and
signed, whilst he was under the care of a guardian, and had
no power over his own body or his seal, and therefore as it
had been an unreasonable usurpation it could no longer stand
good. On this a great murmur arose amongst the councU,
and all decided that the justiciary was the author of this
trouble ; for he afterwards became so intimate with the king
that all the other councillors of the kingdom were thought.
nothing of. Orders were then given to the religious men
and others, who wished to enjoy their liberties, to renew
their charters under the new seal of the king, as they knew
that he held the old charters to be invalid ; and for this
renewal a tax was levied, not according to the means of each
of them, but they were compeUed to pay whatever the jus
ticiary determined on.
How the king's messengers who had been sent into Franee returned,
without effecting their purpose.
In the same year, pope Honorius died on the eighteenth of
March, and was succeeded by Gregory bishop of Ostia. In
the same year about Easter, the archbishop of York, the
bishop of Carlisle, and Philip de Albeney, the king's mes
sengers, returned to England from the continent. They had
been sent to the nobles of those countries, who by right
of old owed allegiance to the king of England ; and they
had been ordered by the king to induce them by soft speeches
and large promises to receive him the said, king, and to ac
knowledge him as their natural lord. But, not to prolong
the account uselessly, before the king's messengers had

A.D. 1227.] RISING OF BARONS. 487
arrived in those provinces, the French king, by the inter
ference of his mother, had made peace with the barons
there and received their allegiance, after lavishly distributing
amongst them the lands and castles of the royal domain, thus
making friends of the " mammon of unrighteousness." The
count of Brittany, whose daughter the said messengers de
manded in marriage for the English king, replied that he had
made a treaty of peace with the king of the French, which
he would not violate on any account. The messengers
therefore returned and told king Henry what they had done.
In the month of May of the same year, Eichard the king's
brother arrived in England, and was received with much joy
by the king and nobles. And about the same time Henry
de Sanfort archdeacon of Chester, who had been canonically
elected bishop of Bochester, received consecration at the
hands of Stephen archbishop of Canterbury. On the fifth
of February in the same year Hubert, justiciary of England,
was presented by the king with the sword of the county of
Kent. How the barons rose against the king.
On the ninth of July in the same year, a disagreement
sprang up between the king of England and his brother
Bichard, Earl of Cornwall, the cause of which was as fol
lows ; king John, the father of the present king, had, during
his lifetime, given to WaUeran, a German, then castellan of
Berkhamstead, a certain manor belonging to the earldom of
Cornwall. Earl Eichard, who had lately arrived from the
continent, on hearing that that manor belonged to his earldom,
ordered the town to be seized on his behalf, until he could
find out what right WaUeran had to it, and when WaUeran
was told of this he came with all haste to the king, and laid
a complaint against his brother Bichard. The king then
sent letters to his brother, ordering him immediately on re
ceipt of them to give up the manor to WaUeran ; Bichard
however, after reading the letters, hastened to the king, and
without any advocate, pleaded alike reasonably and elo
quently, that the manor belonged to his right, wherefore he
was prepared to abide by the decision of the king's court and
the nobles of the kingdom. The king and the justiciary
were highly indignant at hearing him mention the nobles,
and the king, in an imperious and indiscreet tone, ordered his

488 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1227.
brother immediately to give the manor up to WaUeran, or to
leave the kingdom never to return. To this the earl replied
that he would neither give up his right to WaUeran, nor
would he leave the kingdom without the decision of his
peers, and with these words he directly proceeded to his own
house. The justiciary then, fearing that the earl would
disturb the peace of the kingdom, advised the king, as it is
reported, to send some armed knights to seize his brother in
his sleep on the next night, and to consign him to close
custody, that he the king might enjoy lasting peace ; earl
Eichard was, however, forewarned of this by a friend, and
secretly hurried from the city with only one knight in his
company, and did not draw rein till he arrived at Beading.
His soldiers followed him in the morning, and found their
lord safe and sound at a place agreed on with them ; the earl
then took his way towards Marlborough, at which place he
met William Marshall, his friend and sworn ally, to whom
he told all that had happened to him. The two together
then went to the earl of Chester and duly related all these
circumstances, they then swore to be true to one another,
and sending letters abroad they coUected a large army ; and
in a short time there assembled at Stamford, equipped with
horses and arms, the earls Ealph of Chester, WiUiam Mar-
shaU, Bichard the king's brother, Gilbert of Gloucester,
William of Warrenne, Henry of Herefortl, WiUiam earl
Ferrers, and William of Warwick, besides a great number
of barons and a large body of soldiers ; they then with
haughty threats gave the king notice at once to repair the
injury he had inflicted on his brother ; but the blame of this
offence they imputed not to the king, but to the justiciary.
They moreover insolently demanded that the king would,
without delay, restore to them, under his seal, the charters
of the liberties of the forests, which he had lately annulled
at Oxford ; otherwise they would by force of arms compel
him to give them adequate satisfaction in these matters.
The king on receiving this message, ordered them to meet
him at Northampton the 3rd of August, that he might then
grant due justice to them. The parties then assembled at
the above city on the appointed day, and the king, at the
urgent request of the nobles, gave to his brother, earl
Bichard, the whole of his mother's dowry, adding to it all
the lands which belonged to the domain of the count of

A.D. 1227.] THE CRUSADE. 489
Brittany in England, and aU the possessions of the lately
deceased count of Boulogne ; and after this they all returned
peaceably to their homes.
In this same year, a certain hermit dwelling in the Alps
beyond sea was one day, as was his custom, reading his
psalter, and on his coming to the psalm commencing with
" Let God arise," he found that psalm erased, and in the
place of it these words written : — " Boman shall rise against
Eoman, and Boman shall be put in the place of Boman ; the
rods of shepherds shall become light, and there shall be
comfort in rest : the diligent shall be disturbed and shall
pray, and in the tears of the multitude shall there be rest ;
the lowly shall sport with the madman, and extinguishing
favour shall be soothed ; a new flock shall creep to the tomb,
and those who are cleansed in the woods shall be fed with
slight nourishment ; the hope of the confident and the rest
of the consolers is frustrated in the assurance on which they
depended; those who walk in darkness shall return to the
light, and the things which were different shall be consoled
by things different ; no small cloud shall begin to rain, be
cause the changer of the age is born ; favour shall arise
against the simple, and simplicity shall breathe attenuated ;
honour shall be turned to dishonour, and the joy of numbers
into grief." The interpretation of'this prophecy, ensuing
events will declare more clearly than the light, if they are
carefuUy searched into.
How a great stir was made at this time to assist in the crusade.
In the same year at the end of June, a great stir was made
to aid the cross by all the crusaders throughout the world,
who were so numerous, that from the kingdom of England
alone forty thousand tried men were said to have marched,
besides women and old men. This was declared by master
Hubert, one of the preachers in England, who asserted that
he had in fact set down as many as that in his roll. All
these, and especially the poor, on whom the divine pleasure
generally rests, entered upon the crusade with such devotion
that they, without doubt, obtained favour with the Almighty,
as was shown by manifest indications ; for on the night of
the nativity of St. John the Baptist, the Lord showed himself
in the sky as when crucified; for on a most shining cross
there appeared the body of our Lord pierced with nails and

490 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1227,
with a lance, and sprinkled with blood, so that the Saviour
of the world by this showed his faithful foUowers in the
world that he was appeased by the devotion of his people.
This vision was seen by numbers, and amongst others by
a trader, who was carrying fish for sale near the town of
Uxbridge ; being struck with astonishment at the strange
apparition, and awed by the brightness of it, he was, as it
were, lost in ecstasy and stood in amaze, not knowing what
to do. His son, however, who was his only companion,
comforted his father, and asked him to stop his cart and
give praise to God for having condescended to show them
such a vision. On the next day, and indeed every day
after, wherever he exposed his fish for sale, he publicly told
every one of the heavenly vision he had seen, and added his
son's evidence to his own ; many put faith in their story, but
some disbelieved it, till they were induced to believe it by
the number of visions which appeared about the same time to
many in various places ; and in these the crucified One himself
deigned to open the heavens and to show to the incredulous
his wonderful glory with immense splendour. Amongst
others who went from England to join in the crusade were
the bishops Peter, of Winchester, and WiUiam of Exeter,
who had now fulfilled their vow of pilgrimage for nearly
five years. Of the progress of the crusade at this time.
How the- business of the cross prospered in this crusade
wUl plainly appear by the foUowing letter which pope Gre
gory sent to all the faithful followers of Christ ; " Gregory,
bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all faithful Chris
tians, greeting, &c. Be it known to the whole community of
you that we have received letters from the country beyond
sea to the following purport : — Gerald, by the divine mercy,
patriarch of Jerusalem, P. archbishop of Caesarea, the
humble and unworthy legate of the apostolic see, and N.
archbishop of Narbonne, P. bishop of Winchester, and
W. bishop of Exeter, the masters of the hospitaUers, of
the knights of the temple, and of the Teutonic order of
hospitaUers, to all to whom these letters may come, health
in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are compelled to inform the
whole community of you of our most urgent necessities, and
of our progress in the cause of Jesus Christ, who shed his

A.D. 1227.] PROGRESS OF THE CRUSADE. 491
blood for all of the true faith. It is with much fervour of
mind and shedding of tears, that his serene highness the
emperor did not, as we all hoped, come into Syria in the
month of August last past as he had promised. On this the
pilgrims from those districts, hearing that the said emperor
had not arrived in the aforesaid passage, amounting to more
than forty thousand strong men, returned in the same ships
as they had come, putting their trust in man rather than
God. After their departure there remained here nearly
eight hundred knights, who continued to cry with one con
sent, " Either let us break the truce or let us all depart to
gether ;" and they have been detained here not without great
difficulty, because the duke of Limburg, a man of noble
birth, has been appointed to command the army in the place
of the emperor. A council was therefore held, especially
of the hospitaUers, templars, and of the German hospitallers,
and it was agreed that the duke aforesaid should act as
seemed most expedient for the cause of Christianity and the
Holy Land ; the duke then, having asked and received ad
vice on these points, appeared on a day specially appointed
for the purpose before us and some of the nobles of that
country, and there openly declared that he wished to break
the truce, and asked the assistance and advice of those
present, as to how he could proceed most advantageously in
that intention. And when the duke and his counsellors were
told that it would be dangerous to break the truce, and, as it
was confirmed by oath, dishonourable as well, they replied
that his holiness the pope had excommunicated all those
crusaders who would not join in this crusade, although he
knew that the truce was to continue for two years more ; and
by this they understood that he did not wish the truce to be
kept, and, besides this, the pilgrims would not remain there
idle. There were also many who said that, if the pilgrims
were to go away, the Saracens would, after their departure,
attack them, notwithstanding the truce. Some also thought
that Coradin was engaged in a fierce war with the rulers of
Haman, Camyle, and Aleppo, and on that account was more
than usually afraid of the truce being broken by the Chris
tians ; and if the truce were broken, they thought that
Coradin, on seeing himself pressed by war on all sides,
would probably offer terms of peace. At length after a long
discussion on these matters, all unanimously agreed to march

492 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1227,
to the holy city, which Jesus Christ consecrated with his own
blood ; and that the approach might be more eas)r, it was
unanimously determined to fortify in the first place Csesarea,
and' then Joppa, which they hoped undoubtedly to be able to
do before the passage of the ensuing August, and then they
would be able in the following winter to set out joyfuUy for
the house of the Lord, under his protection. This deter
mination was made public outside the city of Acre on the
feast of the apostles Simon and Jude, in the presence of
all the pilgrims, and there they were solemnly enjoined to be
ready on the day after All Saints' day, to set out towards
Cassarea ; the pilgrims, who did not know of the plan which
the army had determined on, on hearing this, after strength
ening the above-mentioned fortresses, were suddenly seized
with such a great desire to proceed to Jerusalem that they
wept abundantly, and they felt so strengthened by the grace
of the Holy Spirit, that each man felt as if he could over
come a thousand enemies, and two could conquer ten thou
sand. We need not therefore use many entreaties in urging
it on you, when such pressing necessity speaks for itself and
demands immediate assistance ; for delay brings danger, and
speed will be productive of the greatest advantages. The
blood of Christ calls from this country on each and every
one ; this small and humhle, though devout, army entreats
for speedy assistance, hoping and trusting in the Lord that
this business, commenced in all humility, may be by his
favour brought to a happy termination. Do you, therefore,
each and all of you, exert yourselves to assist the holy land,
since this may be considered the common cause both of your
faith and of the whole Christian people. And we, under
God's care and guidance, will not cease to promote the
cause, confidently hoping, that it may prosper in the hands of
the faithful who persevere with confidence. Given at the
Lateran, the 23rd of December, in the first year of our
pontificate." How the crusade was impeded through the absence of the emperor.
In the mean time the emperor Frederic, who with other
crusaders had, under penalty of excommunication by the
pope in the before-mentioned passage, determined to fulfil
his vow of pilgrimage, went to the Mediterranean sea, and
embarked with a small retinue ; but after pretending to make

A.D. 1227.] FRANCIS THE MINORITE. 493
for the Holy Land for three days, he said that he was seized
with a sudden illness, so that he could not at the risk of his
Ufe any longer endure the roughness of the sea and an
unhealthy climate, therefore he altered his course, and after
three days' sail landed at the port where he had embarked ;
and on this, the pilgrims from different parts of the world,
who had preceded him to the Holy Land in hopes of having
him as a leader and protector in fighting the enemies of the
cross, were struck with consternation at hearing that the
emperor had not come, as he had promised in the passage of
August, and therefore, embarking in the ships in which they
had sailed to the Holy Land, they returned home to the
number of about forty thousand armed men ; and this
conduct of the emperor redounded much to his disgrace,
and to the injury of the whole business of the crusade. It
was on this account, in the opinion of many, that the Saviour
of the world showed himself, as above related, to the Chris-
dans suspended on the cross, pierced with nails and sprinkled
with blood, as if laying a complaint before each and every
Christian, of the injury inflicted on him by the emperor.
Of the death of the brother, who first instituted the order of the
Minorites.
About that time a brother of the Minorite order, named
Francis, who was said to be the founder and master of that
order, departed this life at Eome. This said Francis was
distinguished for the nobility of his birth, but more distin
guished by the correctness of his morals. He from his
boyhood began to reflect on the attractions of this life and
the mutability of worldly things, and constantly to consider
how vain and transitory are all temporal things ; for he had
learnt in books and by the theological studies which he had
pursued from his childhood, till he had acquired perfect
knowledge of it, how to despise the mutability of perishable
things, and to pant after the heavenly kingdom. But, the
more completely to carry out the resolves of his mind, he
gave up his large paternal inheritance and all the pleasures of
life, assumed the cowl and sackcloth, laid aside his shoes,
mortified his flesh with watchings and fasting, and choosing
a voluntary poverty, he determined to have nothing at all of
his own; for bodily sustenance he only took what he received
from those of the faith by way of charity, and, after partaking

494 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1227.
of a slight meal, if any thing remained, he put nothing away
for the morrow, but gave it to the poor. He slept in his
clothes by night, having a mat for a bed, and a stone for a
pillow, and for covering by night he used only the cowl and
cloak in which he walked by day. In this manner walking
barefooted in the preparation of the gospel, and embracing
the life of an apostle, he fulfiUed the duties of preaching on
Sundays and feast days in the parochial churches and other
religious assemblies of the Christians ; and . the more he
refrained from satisfying the desires of the flesh and from
good living, the more powerful impression he made on the
minds of his hearers. This man of God, Francis, in order to
carry his wholesome purpose into effect, had committed to
writing the above mentioned articles with some others which
are most strictly observed by the brothers of that order tiU
the present time, and presented them to pope Innocent when
sitting in the consistory court at Eome, asking at the same
time ,for a confirmation of his petition by the apostolic see.
How the pope confirmed the aforesaid order by a privilege.
The pope gazed fixedly on the iU-favoured mien of the
aforesaid brother, his mournful countenance, lengthened
beard, his untrimmed hair, and his dirty, overhanging brow,
and when he beard his petition read which it was so difficult
and impracticable to carry out, despised him, and said, " Go,
brother, go to the pigs, to whom you are more fit to be com
pared than to men, and roU with them, and to 'them preach
the rules you have so ably set forth." Francis,' on hearing
this bowed his head and went away, and having found some
pigs he rolled with them in the mud tiU he had covered his
body and clothes with dirt from head to foot ; he then,
returning to the consistory, showed himself to the pope, and
said, " My lord, I have done as you ordered me ; grant me
now, I beseech you, my petition." The pope was astonished
when he saw what he had done, and felt sorry for having
treated him with contempt, at the same time giving orders
that he should wash himself and come back to him again ; he
therefore cleansed himself from his dirt, and returned
'directly to the pope. The pope, being much moved, then
granted his petition, and, after confirming his office of
preaching as weU as the order he applied for, by a privilege
from the church of Eome, he dismissed him with a blessing.

A.D. 1227.] PREACHING OF FRANCIS. 495
This servant of God, Francis, then built an oratory in the
city of Eome, where he might reap the fruits of his con
templations, and, like a noble warrior, engage in battle
against evil spirits and carnal vices.
Of the preaching of the aforesaid brother, and his wonderful death.
Francis then devoutly fulfilled the duties of his preaching
throughout all Italy and other kingdoms, and especially in
the city of Eome ; but the Eoman people, the enemies of all
righteousness, so despised the preaching of this man of God,
that they would not hear him or attend at his holy exhor
tations. At length, as they continued for a long time to
despise his preaching, he severely rebuked their hardness of
heart ; " I much grieve," said he, " for your wretchedness,
because you not only reject me as a servant of Christ, but.
also despise him in me, since I have preached the gospel of
the Eedeemer of the world to you ; I therefore caU on him
to bear witness to your desolation, who is my faithful witness
in heaven, and go forth from the city to your shame to
preach the gospel of Christ to the brute beasts and to the
birds of the air, that they may hear the life-giving words of
God, and be obedient to them." He then went out of the
city, and in the suburbs found crows sitting amongst the
dead bodies, kites, magpies, and several other birds flying
about ip the air, and said to them, " I command you in the
name of Jesus Christ, whom the Jews crucified, and whose
preaching the wretched Bomans have despised, to come to
me and hear the word of God, in the name of Him who
created you and preserved Noah in the ark from the' -waters
of the deluge." All that flock of birds then drew near and
surrounded him, and having ordered silence, all kinds of
chirping was hushed, and those birds listened to the words of
that man of God for the space of half a day without moving
from the spot, and the whole time looked in .the face of the
preacher. This wonderful circumstance was discovered by
the Bomans passing and repassing to and from the city, and
when the same had been repeated by the man of God to the
assembled birds, the clergy, with a crowd of people, went out
from the city and brought back the man of God with great
reverence ; and he then by the oil of his supplicatory
preaching softened their fruitless and obdurate hearts and
changed them for the better. His fame then began to be

496 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.d. 1227.
spread abroad throughout all Italy, so that many of noble
birth, following his example, left the world and its vices and
desires, and submitted themselves to his teaching. This
order of the brethren above mentioned soon increased
throughout the world, and they dwelt in cities and castles,
and went forth in those days by sevens and tens preaching
the word of life through the towns and in the parochial
churches, and even amongst the field labourers they planted
the roots of virtue, and offered to the Lord abundance of
fruit even with usury ; and it was not only amongst the
Christians that they scattered the seed of the word of God
and the dew of the heavenly doctrine, but they also went to
the provinces of the Gentiles and Saracens, bearing testimony
to the truth, and, by their means many of those nations
attained the glory of martyrdom.
Of the assembling of the people at the death of the aforesaid brother.
At length, after this friend of God, Francis, had, with his
brethren, preached the gospel of peace for many years in the
city of Eome and the adjacent country, and like a good
usurer had restored the talent entrusted to him to the Giver
with interest many fold, the hour came for him to depart from
this world to Christ, and as a reward for his labours to
receive the crown of life which God has promised to those
who love him. On the fifteenth day before his death there
appeared wounds in his hands and feet, continually emitting
blood, such as appeared in the Saviour of the world on the
cross when he was crucified by the Jews. His right side
also was laid open and sprinkled with blood, so that the
secret recesses of his heart were plainly visible. On this
being known great crowds of people of both sexes flocked to
him who were astonished at such a strange circumstance :
amongst others cardinals came to him and inquired what the
vision meant. To this he replied, " This vision is shown in
me that you, to whom I have preached the mysteries of the
cross, may believe in Him who, for the preservation of the
world, suffered on the cross the wounds which you here see,
and that you may know that I am a servant of him whom I
have preached to you, crucified, dead, and restored to life,
and that, all doubt being removed, you may persevere in this
faith to the end ; these wounds in me which you now see
open and bloody, will, as soon as I am dead, become healed

A.D. 1228.] NEW LAWS ENACTED. 497
and closed, so that they will appear like the rest of my flesh ;"
and immediately without any bodily pain or suffering he was
released from the flesh, and resigned his spirit to his Creator.
After his death no marks of the wounds appeared either in
his side, hands, or feet. This man of God was buried in his
oratory, and the Eoman pontiff admitted him into the
number of saints, and ordered the day of his death to be
observed as a solemn feast.*
Of certain new laws made by the king of England.
a.d. 1228. King Henry kept Christmas with all due
solemnity at York, and immediately afterwards set out by the
direct road for London. In this journey he found a deficiency
in the measures of corn, wine, and beer, on which he broke
some and burnt others, and substituting larger ones, he
ordered the bread to be made of heavier weight, and that
those who broke this law should be heavily fined.
In the month of January of the same year Eoger de
Theoney, a brave knight of noble birth, closed his life near
Beading ; this noble's elder brother, Ealph, who was then
absent, desired to converse with him before he died, and
came with all haste to him ; but before he arrived his much
beloved brother was dead, and he found neither voice nor
sense in him. Ealph, who was in great grief for the death
of his brother, then began with tears and cries to adjure his
brother although he was dead, out of brotherly affection to
speak to him ; and after reiterating his cries and entreaties
in the presence of his soldiers and many others, he said that
he would never take food again, unless he could converse
with him. The dead man on this sat up in the bed, and
severely reproached his brother for disturbing his spirit, and
having recalled him to the body again. " I have already,"
said he, " seen the punishments inflicted on the wicked, and
* Paris gives some long letters of the pope as to how far the powers of
the Minorite order were to extend ; the method of receiving brothers into
the order ; stating their holy duties and how they are to live ; forbids
them to receive money ; as to the manner of performing their duties ;
forbids them to have any property of their own ; fixes the penance to be
imposed on them ; the election of a general minister and the chapter at
Whitsuntide ; forbids any of the brothers to preach without leave from
the diocesan, and concludes with an admonition, and forbidding them to
enter the convents of nuns, and instructs those who go amongst the infidels
how they are to proceed.
VOL. II. K E

498 ROGER OF WENDOVER. fjA.D. 1228,
the joys of the blessed, and with my own eyes have I also
beheld the great tortures to which I, wretch that I am, am
doomed. Woe, woe, is me, why did I employ myself in
tournaments and love them so devotedly ?" His brother then
asked him, " And will you not be saved?" To this he replied,
" I shaU be saved, for I have done one deed in honour of the
perpetual virginity of the blessed Mary, by which I shaU
obtain salvation." Ealph then said, " Cannot the torments to
which you are doomed, as you teU me, be lessened by good
works, masses, and alms ?" To which Eoger replied, " They
can." " Then," said Ealph, " I faithfully promise you that
I will, for the salvation of us and our ancestors, buUd a
religious house, and, when I have filled it with monks, they
shall continually call on the Lord to release your spirit as
well as those of our ancestors." Eoger then said, " I am in
great need of what you promise, but I do not want you to
promise any thing which you do not mean to fulfil ;" and
then, taking leave of his brother and the others who stood
by, he again breathed forth his spirit. His brother Ealph
then in the same year built a convent in the west of
England, and placed in it some monks of the Cistercian
order, and endowed the place with estates and large benefits.
Of the translation of Richard bishop of Salisbury to Durham.
In the same year, the election of master WiUiam Scott
bishop elect of Durham having been annuUed, Eichard
bishop of Salisbury was elected and translated to that
bishopric ; and on his promotion the canons of Salisbury
elected master Eobert Bingeham, their feUow canon, to be
their bishop, and the pastor of their souls. In the same year
a dispute between the monks of Coventry and the canons of
Lichfield, about the election of a bishop, was decided by a
definitive decree of the church of Eome, by which it was
arranged that from that time they should elect the bishops
alternately, the monks should elect the first, and on his death
the canons should elect the next ; on the condition, however,
that the prior of Coventry should always have the first vote in
the election. This decree seemed very much to lessen the
privileges of the monks, who till this time had always elected
the bishops without asking the consent of the canons. In this
year too the emperor of Constantinople paid the debt of
nature, leaving as his heir a young son who was not fit to
assume the imperial dignity.

A.D. 1228.] EXCOMMUNICATION OF THE EMPEROR. 499
Of the sentence passed upon the emperor.
About that time, pope Gregory, who had, as it seemed to
him, permitted the emperor's contumacy and contempt of
Christ to go too long unpunished, at length, that he might
not seem like a dog unable to bark, by the advice of his
cardinals excommunicated the said emperor, and by apostolic
letters ordered this sentence to be published in the various
parts of the world. Amongst others whom he ordered to
make it public was Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, to
whom he wrote as follows : — " Gregory, bishop, to Stephen
archbishop of Canterbury, greeting, &c. The large vessel of
Peter is placed on the wide ocean, or rather is exposed to the
storms and billows so continually, that it sometimes happens
that its pilots and rowers can scarcely breathe amidst the
violence of the deluging showers ; for if at one time it is
making for port with full sail before a fair wind, the wind
suddenly rushes on it from an opposite quarter and, driven
on by Him who breathes forth flames of fire, the ship is
carried into deep water and to the wide ocean, where it is
surrounded by the billows, and yet it is not overwhelmed, for
the Lord, who sits in it, is awaked by the cries of his
disciples, puts the stormy spirits to flight, commands the sea
and the winds, and there is a calm. Four gusts are attack
ing this ship ; for the infidel host of pagans impiously retain
possession of the famous land which is rendered holy by the
blood of Christ ; the fury of tyrants, plundering worldly
possessions, destroys justice and tramples under foot the
Uberty of the church ; the madness of heretics endeavours
to rend asunder the garment of Christ, and to subvert the
sacrament of the faith ; and the deceitful perversity of false
brethren and sons shakes the bowels and rends the side of
their mother. And thus, outside there is fighting, but fear
within ; the sword slays abroad, and in the houses death is
likewise threatened ; and thus it often happens that the
church of Christ is overwhelmed with troubles ; whilst she
thinks she is cherishing sons, she is nourishing in her bosom
fire, serpents, and cockatrices, which endeavour to destroy all
things with their breath, their gnawing, and their flames.
Hence it is, that, to destroy monsters of this kind, to defeat
hostile bands, and to assuage the rough tempests, the
apostolic see at this time, with much care, educated a certain
pupU, namely the emperor Frederic, whom it received charge
K K 2

500 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1228.
of as it were from his mother's womb, suckled at its breast,
carried on its shoulders, and whom it has frequently rescued
from the hands of those seeking his life, whom it has brought
up to perfect manhood at much trouble and expense, exalted
to the honours of the kingly dignity, and finaUy advanced to
the summit of the imperial station, trusting to have him as
the wand of defence and the staff of its old age. And he,
when he went into Germany to assume the reigns of govern
ment, presented to his mother's eyes what was believed to be
a happy omen, but which might more truly be considered a
dangerous one ; for, of his own accord, not by our advice,
and unknown to the apostolic see, he affixed the cross to his
shoulders, making a solemn vow that he would go to the
assistance of the Holy Land. He then obtained a decree of
excommunication against himself and others who had
assumed the cross, if they did not set out at a certain time ;
subsequently, however, he asked, and received absolution,
having first given an oath to abide by the decision of the
church in this matter. The apostolic see, shedding its over
flowing grace on him, called him to the crown out of due
order, that he might more speedily proceed with succour to
the Holy Land, and he, not unwilling but invited thereto by
many intercessors and magnificent messages, has used the
banner of the cross till this time, for his own purpose.
Afterwards, when he had received the crown from the hands
of Honorius, our predecessor, of happy memory in the
church of St. Peter, he re-assumed the cross from our hands,
who were then holding an inferior station, and publicly
renewed his vow. He induced several to assume the cross in
the hopes of his support, and fixed on a time for crossing the
sea. He afterwards held a conference with the Eoman
church at Veroli, when he publicly swore that he would set
out with all honours and like an emperor, at a fixed time to
be pre-arranged by the church of Eome. After this he, at
a similar conference at Ferentino, fixed on a period of two
years from that time to be the time for his saUing ; he also
promised on a solemn oath that he would cross the sea, and
take in marriage the noble daughter of our well-beloved son
in Christ, John king of Jerusalem, who was also the heiress
of that illustrious monarch ; he added, that by these means he
should bind himself to the service of the Holy Land, not like
the other pilgrims, but hke the templars, and hospitallers,

A.D. 1228.] FAITHLESSNESS OF THE EMPEROR. 501
for ever. When, however, the appointed time drew near, he
began to make many exc i-es, declaring that he was not pre
pared to go ; and he offered many advantages and presents
that a delay of three years might be granted to him. But in
order that the whole affair, which chiefly devolved on this
prince next to the Boman church, might not be put an end
to, and such great labour expended to no purpose, the apos
tolic see took counsel with several bishops and other men,
omitting none of the circumstances of the case, and then
sent our venerable brother P. bishop of Albano, and G.
cardinal presbyter under the title of St. Martin, to confirm
the promises, which the emperor had voluntarUy made, of
giving assistance to the cross. They therefore convened a
councU of several chiefs of Germany at St. Germain's, and
there the emperor, of his own accord, swore, that in two
years from that time, that is, in the passage of August last
past, he would, laying aside all pretext for delay, set sail,
and would keep there for two years at his own expense a
thousand knights for the assistance of the Holy Land, and
would, in the five passages next ensuing, send a hundred
thousand ounces of gold to be paid to certain persons there.
The cardinal priests then, with the consent of the emperor,
and by the authority of the apostolic see, in sight of the
chiefs and the surrounding people, publicly proclaimed the
sentence of excommunication which the emperor would
incur if he should fail in any one of the above-named
promises. The emperor, moreover, bound himself to bring
and to keep beyond sea a hundred chelanders and fifty
galleys, and that, besides this, he would at certain times
grant, a passage to two thousand knights, swearing on his
soul that he would fulfil these promises which we have men
tioned, and wiUingly consenting to the fulfilment of the
sentence against him and his kingdom, if they were
not kept. But you are now to learn how he fulfilled
these promises ; for, at his pressing solicitation, many
thousands of crusaders, under penalty of excommuni
cation, had proceeded at the preconcerted time to the port of
Brundusium ; the emperor had withdrawn his favour from
almost all the cities of the coast, and although he had been
often warned by our predecessor and by us to make all the
necessary preparations, and faithfully to fulfil all that he had
promised, yet he disregarded those promises which bath by

502 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1228.
messengers and by his own letters, he had made to the
apostolic see and to the crusaders, of sending provisions and
other necessaries, and paying no heed to his own salvation,
he detained the Christian army in the height of the summer
heat in a foul and deadly climate so long, that not only great
numbers of the common soldiers, but also a considerable
number of the nobles and men of rank perished from
disease, thirst, heat, and many other causes, and amongst
them died the bishops of Anjou and Augsburgh, of good
memory. The remaining part of the army, oppressed by
sickness, retraced their steps, and great numbers of them
died in the woods and plains, mountains and caves. Those
who remained with difficulty obtained leave to depart, and
although there were not sufficient vessels at hand to carry the
men provisions and horses as had been promised, yet on the
feast of the blessed Virgin, when the season for returning
was at hand, they set sail, exposing themselves to danger for
the name of Christ, and believing that the emperor would
follow in their footsteps. He, however, evading his promises,
and severing the bonds by which he was bound, casting
aside all fear of God, paying no reverence to Jesus Christ,
and little heeding the censure of the church, abandoned the
Christian army, left the Holy Land exposed to the infidels,
despised the devotion of the people of Christ, and, to the
disgrace of himself and Christianity, was enticed away to
the usual pleasures 'of his kingdom, and departed, making a
frivolous pretence of bodily infirmity, as is said. Pay
attention, then, and see if there is any grief like that of the
apostolic see, your mother, who has been so often and so
cruelly deceived in the son, whom she suckled, in whom she
placed confidence that he would carry out this matter, and on
whom she has heaped such abundant benefits. In the
meantime he concealed his intention of abandoning the
cause of the Holy Land when an opportunity offered, paying
no attention to the banishments of priests, spoliations,
captivities, and manifold injuries, which he had inflicted on
the churches, religious professions, and clergy, and hearing
the many complaints of the poor, both populace and nobles,
who cry out against him, and whose prayers we believe have
entered the ears of the Lord God of sabaoth. And although
the church of Borne ought to protect a son brought up with
such care and so highly exalted, it now mourns for him,

A.D. 1228.] LAMENTATIONS OF THE CHURCH. 503
conquered without a battle, borne down without an enemy,
and, to his utter disgrace, so ignominiously debased. It no
less bewails the extermination of the Christian army, which
has failed not owing to the swords of the enemy, or to want
of valour, hut has been wasted away by such a dreadful
calamity. It also mourns that the remaining portion of the
tToops, exposed to the dangers of the sea, and to the
tempestuous waves, without a guide, preceptor, or chief, are
driven they know not whither, doing but little good to the
cause of the Holy Land ; and we are unable according to our
vow to afford them consolation or assistance, owing to the
stormy state of the sea, and the inclemency of the season.
It moreover mourns for the ruin of the Holy Land, which we
were hoping was now to be rescued from the hands of the
pagans ; which the Christian army would formerly, as it is
reported, have recovered in exchange for Damietta, had they
not been several times forbidden to do so by the letters of the
emperor ; and he himself would not have been a prisoner in
the hands of the pagans, if a supply of ships had been pro
vided as had been promised on his part, and as could
have been done ; for Damietta, which, as was said, was
deUvered into the charge of his messenger, and was decorated
with the imperial eagles, was on the same day cruelly
pillaged, and, after being shamefully damaged, was by them
restored to the infidels. It also adds to our sorrow and losses
aforesaid, when we recollect the labour and expense incurred
at Damietta, as well as the mortality amongst the Christians,
and the time spent, all which were expended to no purpose ;
and there is no one of all its children to comfort it, or to
wipe the tears from its cheeks. Since therefore her voice has
already sounded in Eama, and Eachel is with incurable grief
mourning, not only for her children but for all these mishaps,
what Christian can refrain from lamentation ? Which of the
sons, on seeing the floods of tears flowing from the eyes of
the mother, will not shed tears ? What one will not pity the
sorrows of the mother, and share in her deep grief ? What
Christian will not, on account of these events, be inflamed
with more ardent desire to assist the Holy Land, that the
Christian youth may not seem to be entirely prostrated and
panic-struck by these unexpected events ? Ought not wise
men, and the sons of Jesus Christ, to be the more
encouraged to assist the Holy Land, the more they see that,

504 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1228.
from unlooked-for calamities, disgrace rebounds on the
Father and the Son, the Eedeemer and the redeemed, on
Christ and on the people of Christ ? We therefore the more
ardently long to take this business in hand again, and by
more careful plans purpose to find remedies, in proportion to
our necessities and the many sorrows we have endured ; and
thus when the Lord shows himself slightly angry with his
people, and does not receive the sacrifice from their hands,
yet the mercies of God are not yet expended, nor is his com
passion entirely worn out. For we trust in the compassion
of God, who shows us the way by which we may arrive at a
successful issue in this matter, and he wiU send men after his
own heart who will with pure hearts and clean hands lead on
the Christian army. We, therefore, by these apostolic letters,
beseech and order your brotherhood, faithfuUy to set these
matters forth to the clergy and people entrusted to your
charge, and to induce them to prepare their minds to carry
out this business ; and also by dihgent exhortation to call
on them to revenge this insult to Jesus Christ, so that when
the apostolic see, after more mature deliberation, shaU think
proper to ask their aid, it may- find them prompt and ready.
However, that we may not be like dumb dogs unable to bark,
and that we may not seem to give way to this man in
disregard of God, without punishing him who has brought
such great injury on the people of God, we, although
unwillingly, publicly declare the said emperor Frederic to
be excommunicated, inasmuch as he did not cross the sea at
the appointed time, nor did he send thither the pre-arranged
sum of money, neither did he bring there the thousand
soldiers to be kept for two years at his expense for the
assistance of the Holy Land, but failing in these three articles
of his agreement, he has of his own accord involved himself
in the net of the aforesaid excommunication ; and we order
him to be strictly avoided by aU, and command you publicly
to announce this sentence yourselves, and to cause it to be
published by the other prelates of the churches, and we wiU
proceed against him more severely if his contumacy calls for
it. We, moreover, trust in the mercy of our holy Father,
who wishes no one to perish, that the darkened eyes of his
mind, when anointed with the salve of the church, will, if he
be not rebellious in heart, be enlightened, so that he may see
his nakedness, and may avert the disgrace which he is falUng

A.D. 1228. PROTEST OF THE EMPEROR. 505
into, may have recourse to the true Physician, and may
return to the church his mother, and, by due humility and
meet atonement, may receive salvation. For we do not wish
his everlasting salvation in the Lord to be at stake, for we
formerly loved him sincerely when we were in an inferior
station. Given at the Lateran, in the second year of our
pontificate." .How the emperor declared that he was unjustly excommunicated.
When the emperor learned that he was excommunicated
he was greatly alarmed ; and as the pope had by his letters
ordered the sentence to be published in all the countries of
Christendom, so the said emperor wrote to all the Christian
kings and chiefs, complaining that the sentence was wrong-
fuUy passed on him. He also told each and all of them, that
he had not abandoned the pilgrimage which he had entered
upon on frivolous pretexts, as the pope lyingly charged him
with, but on account of very serious illness, and in this he
invoked the testimony of Him who is a true witness in
heaven. He moreover declared that as soon as God should
grant him bodily health, he would, with all due honour, fulfil
to the Lord his vow of pilgrimage in a manner befitting an
emperor. Amongst other catholic kings to whom he wrote,
he sent letters sealed with gold to the English king, declaring
in them that the Boman church was so inflamed with the
passion of avarice and with such evident greediness, that, not
being satisfied with appropriating the property of the
churches at will, it dared even to disinherit emperors, kings,
and princes, and to make them tributary to it. And the
English king would himself find an example of what he had
stated in the case of his father, king John, whom the said
church had kept under excommunication for a length of time
until he had made himself and his kingdom tributary to it.
They also had an example in the case of the count of
Toulouse, and many other chiefs whose lands and .persons it
contrived to keep under an interdict until it reduced them to
a like state of subjection. And at the conclusion of his letter
he advised all the princes of the world to guard against such
iniquitous avarice in these words,
" Give heed when neighbouring houses burn,
For next perhaps may be your turn."

506 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1228.
How the emperor aroused a spirit of persecution against the pope.
By these means of excitement the emperor aroused a severe
persecution against the pope and the inheritance of the
Eoman church, and attacking cities and seizing the castles
belonging to it, of which the pope informed Eoman the
legate in France in the letter which follows.
Complaints of the pope against the emperor.
" Gregory bishop to Eoman legate amongst the French,
greeting, &c. Give attention, we beg of you, and see if
there is any sorrow like ours, for in the son whom the church
of Borne has brought up and raised to a high station in the
hopes of having in him a champion against the infidels, it
now finds a cruel persecutor and active enemy. And, not to
pass over in silence the atrocious injuries and dreadful
damage which the said emperor Frederic has continually
inflicted on the church and the ecclesiastics, he is now, by
means of the Saracens and others, attacking the inheritance
of the apostolic see, and, what is more detestable, he is
making treaties with the sultan and other Saracens, and
shows kindness to them, but open hatred to the Christians,
to the extermination of the orders of the hospitaUers and
templars, by whom the relies of the Holy Land have been
hitherto protected. For after the treaty between the Saracens
and Christians was by his command broken off, the Saracens
made an incursion into the territory of the above-mentioned
orders, and when, after slaying and making prisoners of
a great number of their followers, they had carried off a great
quantity of booty, the templars attacked them and took from
them some of the booty to the value of six thousand marks ;
but Thomas count of Aterrse, the emperor's minister,
furiously attacked them as they were returning, and by force
took from them this booty, they, in obedience to the rules of
their order, not daring to raise an armed hand against
Christians, and this booty the said Thomas restored to the
Saracens with the exception of some of it, which he is said
to have retained for his own use. And if the Saracens took
booty from the Christians he not only did not endeavour to
recover it, but even did not allow the Christians ever to take
booty from the Saracens ; and by these means they became
more insolent and boldly attacked our people, and our people
fearing treachery were less bold in resisting them, and thus

A.D. 1228.] REPLY OF THE POPE. 507
the effusion of Christian blood sometimes turned out
unluckily to the gain of the emperor. And this said Thomas,
or rather the emperor by his agency, is even now cruelly
persecuting the above-named orders, and has by violence
robbed them of their houses and possessions which they
held, and, to the manifest subversion of the liberty of the
church, is endeavouring to deprive them of the privileges of
the apostolic see, and to bring them under the imperial juris
diction ; he also collected a hundred slaves which the
hospitallers and templars had in Sicily and Apulia, and
gave them up to the Saracens without making any recom
pence for them to the said orders ; and thus, as is plainly
shown from the foregoing circumstances, he takes more
account of the servants of Mahomet than those of Christ.
And you may believe it for a fact, that, although the said
emperor is reported to have put to sea with a few knights, he
has sent a large army of Christians and a host of Saracens to
attack the inheritance of the church, hereby giving a
manifest proof to all of his malignity. But, as I said, we
have confidence in Him, who establishing his church on the
rock of faith, will not allow it to be thrown down, however
much the winds may vent their fury on it, or the waters
overwhelm it. Since therefore we see that he is thus wickedly
conspiring for the subversion of the Christian faith, and is
venting his impious rage, we may well fear extreme peril ;
but however long the iniquity of this impious man may
continue, he can never prevail in his sin, but will rather be
lost in it. Since, therefore, by the duty imposed on us,
unworthy though we are, we are compelled to prevent this
agent of Mahomet from any longer venting his rage against
the servants of Christ, but rather that he may be confounded
in his rage, and the glory of the Christian name be exalted,
we, by these apostolic letters command you to publish these
matters throughout the land of your legation, that, the
faithful people of Christ may stand up bravely for the faith
in the observance of true religion, as if they were pursuing
each his own interest, in accordance with the exhortation
which you will employ. Given at the Lateran, this 5th of
August, in the second year of our pontificate."
How the people of Rome seditiously rose against the Roman pontiff.
During the festival of Easter in the same year the people

508 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-Di 1228.
of Eome rose in sedition against pope Gregory, and drove
him from the city ; they then pursued him to his castle of
Viterbo, and there increasing in strength they drove him to
Perusium. The pope, having no other means of punishing
them, excommunicated them aU. In the same year the
French king sent a large miUtary expedition into Provence
against the count of Toulouse, to drive that noble from
those districts. They, hearing that the count was then at a
Saracen castle belonging to his domain, determined to
besiege him there ; he, however, was forewarned of their
approach, and prepared an ambuscade against their arrival,
and with a large force hid himself in a wood, by which the
French would pass, and there awaited the arrival of his
enemies. When the French arrived at the place of ambus
cade the count with his troops rushed on them, and a severe
conflict took place, in which five hundred French knights
were taken prisoners and a great many were slain. About
two thousand soldiers were taken prisoners, and after they
had been all stripped to the skin, the "count ordered the eyes
of some to be torn out, the ears and noses of others to be
slit, and the feet and hands of others to be cut off, and, after
thus shamefully mutilating them, he sent them to their homes,
a deformed spectacle to their fellow Frenchmen ; and the
captive knights he committed to close custody, after stripping
them of all their property. This battle was fought on the
18th of May at the Saracen castle. And to speak briefly,
expeditions were sent three times during that summer, and in
each case the French were put to flight, or taken and
imnrisoned by the said count.
Of the death of Stephen archbishop of Canterbury.
On the ninth of July in the same year, Stephen archbishop
of Canterbury closed his life at his manor of Slindon, and
was buried at Canterbury on the 6th of the same
month.* After he was buried, the monks of Canterbury
cbtained the king's permission, and on the third of August
elected master Walter de Heinesham, a monk of their
church ; but, when they presented him to the king, he, after
long deliberation, refused to receive him on certain grounds.
The first objection which he stated to the monks was that
* I leave the reader to explain this absurd anachronism iu the best way
he can.

A.D. 1228.] IRRUPTIONS OF WELSH. 509
they had chosen a man who was useless to himself and to
the kingdom ; the second was that the father of their
elected had been convicted of theft and been hung ; the
third was that he had taken part against king John, his
father, at the time of the interdict. The suffragan bishops
of the Canterbury church, moreover, objected to the election
of the said Walter, because he had formerly violated a nun
and had had children by her ; and they also added that the
election of an archbishop ought not to take place without
their being present. The archbishop elect however firmly
adhered to the election, and an appeal having been
made, he took some of the monks of Canterbury with him
and made his appearance in the presence of the pope,
asking him to confirm his election ; the pope, however,
on hearing that the election was opposed by the king and
bishops, postponed the business till he could learn the facts
of the matter. The king and the bishops when they learned
that the archbishop elect had gone to the court of Borne,
committed the above-mentioned objections to writing, and
sent them, under the seals of the king and the bishops, to the
pope in the care of the bishops of Bochester and Chester,
and appointed master John archdeacon of Bedford to
manage this business. These messengers then went to Eome,
and delivered the letters of the king and the bishops to the
pope, who, after a careful inspection of them, by the advice
of his cardinals fixed on the day after Ash Wednesday for
the parties to appear, that he might then with due regard to
justice definitively decide the dispute.
During the whole of the summer of this year dreadful
storms of thunder and lightning happened, which set fire to
numbers of buildings in various places, and destroyed men
and cattle. In the following autumn constant deluges of rain
fell, which did much harm to the farmers at harvest time.
Of the irruptions of the Welsh.
In the month of August of the same year the knights
and soldiers of the garrison of the castle of Montgomery,
situated on the Welsh borders, sallied forth with the
inhabitants of the district, to widen and render more safe a
road near the castle, on account of the Welsh banditti who
robbed and murdered travellers there. They therefore
marched to the place with swords, axes, staves, and other

510 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1228.
weapons, and commenced cutting down the trees, hedges, and
shrubs, to render the road wider for travellers. This circum
stance having reached the ears of the Welsh, they came in
great force and attacked them, forcing them to retreat into
the castle, though not without some slaughter on both sides ;
they then laid siege to the castle, but the garrison immediately
sent word to Hubert, the justiciary, to whom the king had
lately given that honour together with the castle, on which
the king marched in person with all haste to the place, and
compelled the Welsh to raise the siege. The king, who had
arrived with only a small force, expecting reinforcements, was
soon after joined by them, on which he marched with a large
body of soldiers to the above-mentioned wood, which as was
said was very large, extending for about five leagues ; but
although it was large and very difficult to destroy on account
of the thick growth of the trees, it was after much difficulty
cut down and burnt. The king then led his army further
into the country, and arrived at a place inhabited by some
monks of the White order, called Cridia, which, as the king
had been told, was a receptacle for the plunder taken by the
Welsh. On the orders of the king these buUdings were set
fire to and reduced to ashes ; and Hubert seeing the impreg
nable nature of the place, by the king's consent, ordered a
castle to be built there. Before this was completed, however,
numbers were slain on both sides, and the noble William de
Braose, when on a foraging expedition, was seized by the
Welsh and taken away a prisoner. A knight too, who had
been lately belted by the king, had gone out with others to
forage, and was with his companions cut off by the enemy,
on which he boldly dashed into the midst of them ; but, after
slaying numbers who opposed him, he at length fell slain
together with some other of the king's army. Amongst the
chiefs of the king's army were many who were in confederacy
with Llewellyn, although they pretended to adhere to the
king ; on this account, and as all kinds of provisions faUed
the army, he was obliged to make a disgraceful peace, by
which he agreed that the castle, which was almost com
pleted, and had cost great labour and expense, should be
pulled down at the king's own cost, and that Llewellyn
should give to the king, for his trouble and expenses, three
thousand marks, and, this treaty having been ratified, each of
them returned home. And thus the king of England

A.D. 1228 j FREDERIC IN THE HOLY LAND. 511
returned in shame, after having spent nearly three months in
building this said castle, wasted an endless amount of money,
and left the noble WiUiam de Braose a prisoner in the
hands of Llewellyn. The ridicule of many was then aroused,
because, when the building of the castle was commenced, the
justiciary had given it the name of Hubert's Folly, where
fore, when, after so much trouble and expense, they saw it
razed to the ground, they all said that the justiciary was not
only a prophet, but even more than a prophet.
How the emperor Frederic arrived at the Holy Land and promoted the
cause of the crusade.
In the same year the Eoman emperor, Frederic, took ship
at the Mediterranean sea, and on the feast of the blessed
virgin Mary, landed at Acre, where the clergy and people of
that place came to meet him, and received him with the
honours due to such a great man ; but when they found out
that he was excommunicated by the pope they did not confer
on him the kiss of peace, nor did they sit at table with him,
but they advised him to give satisfaction to the pope and
return to the community of the holy church. The templars
and hospitallers, however, on his arrival, went on their
knees and worshipped him, kissing his knees ; and the whole
of the Christian army which was present there gave praise to
God for his arrival, being now in hopes that by his means
there would be salvation in Israel. The emperor then com
plained bitterly to the whole army against the Boman
pontiff, that the latter had unjustly pronounced the sentence
against him, asserting that he had delayed marching to the
assistance of the Holy Land on account of serious Ulness.
The sultan of Babylon, when he heard of the emperor's
arrival in Syria, sent him a number of costly presents of gold
and silver, silks and jewels, camels and elephants, bears and
monkeys, and other wonderful things which are not to be
found in western countries. The emperor, on his arrival at
Acre, found the Christian army under the command* of the
duke' of Limburgh, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the arch
bishops of Nazareth, Csesarea, and Narbonne, the English
bishops of Winchester and Exeter, the masters of the
hospitallers, templars, and of the Teutonic order of
hospitallers, who had under their joint command about
eight hundred red pilgrim knights, and about ten thousand

512 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1228,
foot soldiers assembled from different parts of the world ;
and all these, inspired with a common feeling of devotion,
marched to Csesarea, and had garrisoned some castles there,
so that it now only remained for them to restore Joppa and then
to march on the holy city. The emperor on learning the con
dition of the Holy Land, fully approved of the plan of the
pilgrims, and, having made all necessary preparations to
march forward, they set out preceded by the emperor, and
on the 15th of November arrived without obstruction at
Joppa. But as it was impossible for each man to carry by
land provisions enough for himself and his horses for several
days, as well as his baggage, ships had been procured at
Acre for the purpose of bringing provisions to the army, but
a sudden storm arose and the sea became so rough that for
seven successive days the Christian pilgrims were without
provisions. Great alarm then arose amongst many of them,
that the Lord in his anger would destroy his people from
the face of the earth ; however, the unspeakable mercy of
God, which allows no man to be tried beyond endurance, was
at length aroused by the lamentations of his faithful people,
and he commanded the winds and the sea and there was a
calm ; then a great number of ships arrived, under the
guidance of the Lord, at Joppa, loaded with immense
quantities of corn and barley, wine, and aU kinds of pro
visions, so that there was always an abundant supply of
provisions in the army till the said, fortress was rebuUt.
Of the Jew Joseph who is still alive awaiting the last coming of Christ.
In this year a certain archbishop of Armenia Major came
on a pilgrimage to England to see the relics of the saints,
and visit the sacred places in this kingdom, as he had done
in others ; he also produced letters of recommendation from
his holiness the pope to the religious men and prelates of
the churches, in which they were enjoined to receive and
entertain him with due reverence and honour. On his arrival
he went to St. Alban's, where he was received with all
respect by the abbat and monks ; at this place, being fatigued
with his journey, he remained some days to rest himself and
hie foUowers, and a conversation was commenced between
him and the inhabitants of the convent by means of their
interpreters, during which he made many inquiries concern
ing the religion and religious observances of this country,

A.D. 1228.] THE WANDERING JEW. 513
and related many strange things concerning eastern countries.
In the course of conversation he was asked whether he had
ever seen or heard anything of Joseph, a man of whom there
was much talk in the world, who, when our Lord suffered,
was present and spoke to him, and who is still alive in
evidence of the Christian faith, in reply to which a knight in
his retinue, who was his interpreter, replied, speaking in
French, " My lord well knows that man, and a little before
he took his way to the western countries the said Joseph ate
at the table of my lord the archbishop in Armenia, and he
had often seen and held converse with him." He was then
asked about what had passed between Christ and the same
Joseph, to which he replied, " At the time of the suffering of
Jesus Christ, he was seized by the Jews and led into the hall
of judgment, before Pilate the governor, that he might be
judged by him on the accusation of the Jews, and Pilate
finding no cause for adjudging him to death, said to them,
" Take him and judge him according to your law ;" the
shouts of the Jews, however, increasing, he, at their request,
released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus to them
to be crucified. When therefore the Jews were dragging
Jesus forth, and had reached, the door, Cartaphilus, a porter
of the hall in Pilate's service, as Jesus was going out of the
door, impiously struck him on the back with his hand, and
said in mockery, " Go quicker, Jesus, go quicker, why do you
loiter?" And Jesus looking back on him with a severe
countenance said to him, " I am going, and you will wait till
I return." And according as our Lord said, this Cartaphilus
is still awaiting his return ; at the time of our Lord's suffer
ing he was thirty years old, and when he attains the age of a
hundred years, he always returns to the same age as he was
when our Lord suffered. After Christ's death, when the
catholic faith gained ground, this Cartaphilus was baptized
by Ananias, (who also baptized the apostle Paul,) and was
called Joseph. He often dwells in both divisions of
Armenia, and other eastern countries, passing • his time
amidst the bishops and other prelates of the church ; he is a
man of holy conversation and religious, a man of few words
and circumspect in his behaviour, for he does not speak at all
unless when questioned by the bishops and religious men ;
and then he tells of the events of old times, and of the
events which occurred at the suffering and resurrection of
our Lord, and of the witnesses of the resurrection, namely
VOL. II. h L

514 R3GEK OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1229.
those who rose with Christ, and went into the holy city, and ap
peared unto men ; he also tells of the creed of the apostles, and of
their separation and preaching ; and aU this he relates without
smiling or levity of conversation, as one who is weU practised in
sorrow and the fear of God, always looking forward with fear to
the coming of Jesus Christ, lest at the last judgment he should find
him in anger, whom, when on his way to death, he had provoked
to just vengeance. Numbers come to him from different parts of
the world, enjoying his society and conversation, and to them, if
they are men of authority, he explains all doubts on the matters
on which he is questioned. He refuses aU gifts that are offered to
him, being content with slight food and clothing. He places his
hope of salvation on the fact that he sinned through ignorance, for
the Lord when suffering prayed for his enemies in these words,
" Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
How master Roger succeeded Eustace, bishop of London.
In the same year Eustace bishop of London closed his Ufe ; and
in his place the canons elected master Eoger, surnamed the Black,
a canon of their church, who was then presented to the king and
received by him without any opposition. In the same year too, in
the month of December, Geoffrey bishop of Ely died, and was
buried in the cathedral church on the 12th of the same month ;
and on his death the monks by common consent elected Hugh ab
bat of St. Edmund's, who, when presented to the king, was wil
lingly accepted of by him, and was invested with aU the property
of the bishopric.
How the continental nobles invited the king of England to come to them.
a.d. 1229. At Christmas king Henry held his court at Oxford,
at which the nobles of the kingdom were present. At that place
the archbishop of Bourdeaux, who was sent by the nobles of Gas
cony, Aquitaine, and Poictou, came to him, and was received
with due honour by the king, and he kept Christmas with him.
Special messengers also came to him from Normandy, all of whom
had one and the same business with him, which was, on behalf of
the nobles of the above-named provinces, to invite him to come in
person to those parts, and promising that they would all come to
him with horses and arms, and foUowed by the people of the
province, and would stand by him without flinching, so that he
might regain his lost territories. Henry in his simplicity was
doubtful how to act, and therefore consulted the justiciary, who
was his only counseUor, who advised him to postpone the matter
tiU a more favourable opportunity. And the messengers being
unable to obtain any other answer returned home.
How the astronomers of Toledo wrote concerning the planets.
In the same year the astronomers of Toledo sent letters to aU
Christian people to the following effect : — " To aU the faithful fol
lowers of Christ to whom these letters shaU come, master John

A.D. 1229.] ASTRONOMERS OF TOLEDO. 515
David of Toledo, and ah the other masters of the same place, health
and the consolation of the Holy Spirit. From the year of our
Lord one thousand two hundred and twenty-nine for seven years,
in the month of September, the sun wDl be in the sign of Libra ;
all the planets wiU then come together, and the sun will be in the
tail of the Dragon ; and this will be a sign of wonderful and
dreadful events ; and there wiU be a storm of wind throughout
Saturn and Mars, and the sea will rise unusuaUy high ; and there
wiU be such a great clashing together of the winds that they wiU
stand almost together, and will obscure and darken the whole
world ; and they will give forth dreadful sounds, putting the hearts
of men in disorder, destroying buildings and trees ; and several
valleys wiU be raised to a level with mountains ; and they wiU
hurl many cities to the ground, especially Babylon, Baldach, Me-
thas, and Tripolis, and chiefly cities lying in gravelly and sandy
places ; but before all these things come to pass there will be an
ecUpse of the sun, and from the third hour of the day till mid-day
the sun will be of a fiery red colour, which denotes great effusion
of blood; and after this will foUow an eclipse of the moon of
mingled colours, which wiU denote great confusion among nations ;
and after this there will be battles and slaughter in the east and
in the west, and there wiU be universal earthquakes throughout
the whole world, and a great mortality and disputing of nations
and kingdoms one with another, and a great emperor will die ;
and after this tempest of winds few wifl remain alive, but as many
as do survive will abound in delicacies and wealth ; a doubtfulness
wiU spring up amongst the Saracens, and they shaU leave their
mosques and shaU become one with the Christian. Therefore we, in
common with all the magistracy and aU our learned fellow astro
logers of Toledo, having discovered these facts, have thought proper
to disclose them to you, and enjoin you in remission of your sins
and for the salvation of your souls, to publish them to persons not
aware of them, and to provide places of safety for yourselves to re
main in as long as these winds shaU continue ; they wUl blow in
the month of September, and then it wiU be difficult to find on the
earth a safe dweUing place. Prepare therefore caves on plains sur
rounded by mountains, not covered with sand or gravel, and let the
caves be covered with planks, and place earth upon them, and let no
trees be near, by which the mouth of the cave can be blocked up,
and in these caves lay up food for yourselves for forty days ; know
also that in this aU the philosophers and astronomers of Spain,
Greece, Arabia, Armenia, and the Hebrews, are of the same opin
ion as ourselves. We have heard too that the king of Manichin is
buUding a tower of exceUent materials, in which all his neigh
bours are assisting him, and the tower wUl be as large as a moun
tain. And we also declare of the king of Sicily, the dangers which
seem to us impending. Nothing therefore remains for Christians
I.L2

516 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1229.
at this present crisis, but for each and all of them to endeavour to
prepare their minds by fruitful repentance, by pure and humble
confession, and by proper atonement, that when the Bridegroom
cometh they may not meet him with empty lamps, like the foolish
virgins who had no oil, and, which God forbid, find the door shut
against them ; but rather, like the wise virgins, with their lamps
trimmed, and may be allowed to enter with the Bridegroom to the
marriage-feast." We confidently beUeve that within the seven
years foUowing we shall see some things happen to which, either
in reality or by analogy, we may find some adaptation to these let
ters of the astronomers. But of this hereafter.
How pope Gregory made war against the Roman emperor Frederic.
About this time, pope Gregory, being annoyed because the Ro
man emperor Frederic had gone to the Holy Land an excommu
nicated and rebeUious man, entirely despaired of his ever repenting,
and make satisfaction so as to return to the unity of the church ;
he therefore determined, as he saw that he was rebeUious and con
tumacious, to drive him from his imperial dignity, and to appoint
some other son of peace and obedience in his stead. But since our
information on this matter could only have reached us by means
of others, we wiU here give a letter from a certain count Thomas,
whom the emperor at his departure had appointed, in conjunction
with some others, to be guardian and agent of the empire, which
letter that noble sent to the emperor, concerning this affair, and
which we obtained from a pilgrim : " To the high and mighty
Frederic, by the grace of God, the august emperor of the Romans,
and the most potent king of Sicily, Thomas count of Atterae, his
faithful and devoted subject in afi respects, health, and victory
over his enemies. After your majesty's departure, Gregory the
Roman pontiff, the open enemy of your exceUency, assembled a
large army by the agency of John de Brienne, ex-long of Jerusa
lem, and some other bold men, whom he appointed chiefs of his
expedition, and invaded your territories and those of your subjects,
and in disregard of the Christian law, resolved to subdue you by
the sword of steel, since he could not, as he says, humble you by
the spiritual one ; for the aforesaid John is coUecting a large body
of soldiers from the kingdom of France and other adjacent coun
tries, being in hopes of obtaining the empire, if he can conquer you,
and supplies his soldiers with pay from the treasury of the apos
toUc see. This said John then, and the other chiefs of the army
of the apostolic see, have invaded your territory and that of your
subjects, and are setting fire to the buildings and towns, seizing
the cattle and other booty, making prisoners of the inhabitants,
and after torturing them in various ways, compel them to pay a
heavy ransom ; they spare neither age nor sex, and show no
mercy to any one outside of the churches or cemeteries ; they are
taking towns and castles, and give no heed to the fact of your

A.D. 1229.] THE POPE AND THE EMPEROR. 517
being in the service of Jesus Christ ; and if any one makes men
tion of the emperor, this Jtohn de Brienne declares that there is
no other emperor besides himself. Your friends, most mighty
emperor, are astonished at these things, and especially the clergy
wonder by what advice and with what conscience the Roman
pontiff can do such things, and make war against Christians, es
pecially as the Lord said to Peter as he was about to strike the
man with his sword of steel, " Put up your sword into the scab
bard ; for every one who strikes with the sword shall perish by
the sword." And they equaUy wonder by what right he, who
every day as it were excommunicates robbers, incendiaries, and
tormentors of the Christians, and excludes them from the com
munity of the church, can authorize and give his consent to such
proceedings. I beseech you, therefore, most mighty emperor, to
take measures for your own safety, and to preserve your honour
touching the aforesaid matters, for your enemy, the aforesaid John
de Brienne, has garrisoned aU the ports on this side the water with
large numbers of armed spies, in order that, if you should happen
to return from your pilgrimage, he may make prisoner of you,
which God forbid.*
* Paris adds : " In the same year, on the second and third days of the
week before Ash Wednesday, on which days the student clerks are accus
tomed to make holiday, some clerks left the city and went to St. Marcel,
to enjoy the sports there on account of its healthy air; and on their
arrival there, after refreshing themselves for » while with their games,
they discovered somo very good and sweet wine in a tavern there. After
some time a quarrel arose between the clerks drinking there and the
vintners, as to the price of the wine, and they proceeded to strike one
another and tear each other's hair, until the villagers came up and
rescued the vintners from the hands of the clerks, inflicting severe blows
on the opposing clerks, and at length after beating them soundly, put
them to flight. They returned bruised to the city, and aroused their com
panions to revenge them ; they all accordingly sallied forth the next day
with swords and clubs, and on arriving at St. Marcel, they forcibly entered
the heuse of one of the vintners, broke all his wine vessels, poured the wine
about the floor of the house, and then, proceeding through the streets, they
fiercely attacked every one they met, and after beating them severely, left
them half dead. The prior of St. Marcel, on learning the great injuries
inflicted on the people whom he was1 bound to protect, laid a complaint
before the Roman legate and the bishop of Paris, who at once proceeded
together to the queen, who then managed the government of the kingdom,
and begged of her to give orders for the punishment of such an insult. The
queen, with a woman's sauciness, and at the first impulse ordered the
prefects of the city and some of her soldiers to arm themselves immediately,
sally forth from the city, and punish the authors of this act of violence,
showing mercy to none. These men being always ready to perform any
cruelty, went through the gates of the city, and found a number of clerks
outside engaged in their games, but who had not been at all concerned in
the above violence. The tumultuous clerks, who had caused the origin of

518 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1229.
In the same year, as Ash Wednesday approached, which was
the day appointed for the archbishop elect of Canterbury aud the
king's messengers to hear the definitive decision of the pope as to
what ought by right to be done in the matter of the election, the
said messengers, and especially Master John de Houton, made
continual petitions to the pope and the cardinals, but finding
the contest were from the provinces adjoining Flanders, commonly called
Picards. Notwithstanding this however, the officers of the city, although
the officers saw that the aforesaid clerks were unarmed and innocent,
rushed on them, slaying some, wounding some, and beating and mercilessly
ill-treating others ; some of them however escaped and hid themselves in the
vineyards and caves. Amongst the wounded, two rich clerks of high
station were found slain, one of whom was of Flemish race, the other a
Norman. When this enormous crime came to the ears of the heads of
the university, they all went in a body before the queen and the legate,
having first suspended all reading and disputation, and demanded instant
justice for the injury; for they thought it highly unjust that, on such slight
grounds, the offence of a few contemptible petty clerks should redound to
the prejudice of the whole university; but that the one who had been guilty
of the offence ought to give satisfaction. But as all justice was denied
them both by the queen and the legate as well as by the bishop of the city,
the whole body of masters and scholars departed in different directions ; the
teaching of the doctors and the discipline of the scholars ceased, and not one
distinguished scholar out of the whole number remained ; and the city
which used to glory in its clericals was now deprived of them. The renowned
English scholars, masters Alan de Beccles, Nicholas de Fernham, John
Blundus, Ralph de Maidstone, and William of Durham departed amongst
the rest, and many others too numerous to mention ; the greatest part of
them however chose the city of Anjou as the metropolitan city for universal
learning. Thus therefore the clerks left the city of Paris, once the nurse of
philosophy and wisdom, execrating the Roman legate, and cursing the
womanly haughtiness of the queen, and the infamous unanimity between
them. Some servants 01 dependants of the departing scholars, or
those who are called Goliardenses, composed the following ridiculous
verse : — ' Heu ! morimur strati, vincti, mersi, spoliati ;
Mentula legati nos facit ista pati.'
' Woe to us all, for die we must,
All owing to this legate's lust.'
Some better versifier, however, by an apostrophe, makes the city of Paris
say, ' Clere, tremisco metu, quia vis contemnere me tu
Perfundor fletu, mea damna fleo, tua fie tu.'
' Ye clergy I tremble with fearing,
You are too proud to give me a hearing ;
I am thoroughly drenched with crying,
We are each for his own losses sighing.'
At length by the intervention of discreet persons peace was made between
the clergy and the citizens and the scholars were recalled."

A.D. 1229.] RICHARD ARCHBISHOP. 519
them difficult of persuasion, they were in great fear of being
deceived in their expectations ; whereupon they held an abomi
nable councU on the above matters, and at length, on behalf of
the king of England, promised the pope a tenth part .of. all move
able property from all England and Ireland, to maintain, his, war
against the emperor, on condition that he would favour the king's
designs. The pope, who above aU things desired to humble the
rebeUious emperor, was delighted at these promises, and induced
to consent to their terms, and accordingly, taking his seat in the
consistory, he delivered sentence as follows.
The election of Walter the monk, elect of Canterbury, annulled.
The election in the church of Canterbury of a certain monk
named Walter has lately been brought to our notice, and we have
since heard what the said monk has pleaded on behalf of himself,
and in favour of his election ; we have also heard the objections
and exceptions made by the bishops of England, as well against
the aforesaid election as against the character of the elect, which
have been set forth in our presence by our venerable brothers the
bishops of Coventry and Rochester, and our well-beloved son the
archdeacon of Bedford, and we entrusted it to our venerable
brothers, the lord bishop of Albano, master Thomas de Sta. Sabina,
and master P., our cardinals, to make an examination into the
quahties of the archbishop elect. And when the said elect ap
peared before them, and was asked concerning the descent of our
Lord into heU, whether he descended in the flesh, or was released
from it, he answered unsatisfactorily. Also when asked about
the consecration of the body of Christ at the altar, he answered
improperly. Again, when asked about Rachel,. how. she. wept. for
her children, he improperly replied, " When she ;was ifirst dead."
Again, when asked about the sentence of excommunication if
pronounced contrary to law, he answered improperly. Also, when
asked about marriage, if either of the contracting parties should
die an unbeliever, he gave an improper answer. On all < these
points he has been carefully examined by the cardinals, 4nd we
say that he has answered not only indifferently, but even most
improperly. Since, therefore, the church of Canterbury is noble,
and should have a noble prelate, a discreet and modest man, and
one taken from the bosom of the Roman church ; , and since this
present elected one, whom we not only pronounce to be unworthy
for the office, but of whom, if we were to act with strict regard to
justice, we should be compeUed to^ say something more, is quite
unfit to be raised to such a high station ; we therefore altogether
annul the election that has been made with regard to him, reserv
ing to ourselves to provide for the said church.
Of the promotion of Richard to the archbishopric of Canterbury.
The above election then having been thus annuUed, the agents
ef the king of England and of the suffragan bishops of the church

520 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1229.
of Canterbury, in the pope's presence, produced authentic letters
from the same, namely, the king and bishops, in which they made
a proposal in favour of master Richard, chanceUor of the church
of Lincoln, declaring that he was a man of eminent wisdom and
learning, and of goodly conversation, and that he would greatly
promote the welfare of the church of Rome, aa well as of the king
and kingdom of England ; and thus bestowing all kinds of praise
on this person, they induced the pope and his cardinals to consent
to his election : and thus the aforesaid Richard having been not
elected, but given to the archbishopric, his holiness the pope sent
letters to the suffragan bishops of Canterbury to the foUowing
effect, " Gregory, bishop, <fec, &c. In our care of the pastoral
"office which is entrusted and granted by our Lord to us, unworthy
as we are, we, in the plenitude of our apostolic power, are, by
emergencies daUy arising, compelled to undertake the care and
management of all churches, and when necessary, out of regard tr>
justice and in kindness, to provide for them with paternal dili-
genoe. Amongst aU other particular churches and metropolitan
sees we open the eyes of our consideration to the church of Can
terbury, in its necessities, as the most noble limb of the apostolic
see, and which the mother of churches, the apostohc see, ought to
regard with the greater favour, inasmuch as the divine mercy has
_shed more abundant grace on the temporal and spiritual concerns
of that see. This church, the Most High, in his disposal of things,
has planted as the paradise of pleasure and the garden of sweets,
in which he has produced the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil in his institution of the metropolitan dignity, the tree of life
in the religious order of monks, and the discipline of regular
observance of their tenets, trees bearing fruit in the suffragan
bishops, which by their good works give deUght to the sight, by
the doctrines of faith please the taste, and by good opinion refresh
the smell. From the same place flows forth a river by which is
denoted the blood of the glorious martyr Thomas, which in its
course is divided into four heads, since it restores hfe to the dead,
health to the sick, Uberty to slaves, and courage to the timid.
And when in careful meditation we discuss his excelling miracles,
we find the rare and extraordinary dehghts of the divine planta
tion. Whereas, the guardian of this paradise, Stephen of good
memory, lately archbishop of Canterbury, a cardinal of the Roman
church, and a man most signaUy imbued with the gifts of science
and with the heavenly grace, has been taken from the workshop
of the flesh, and removed as we hope and trust to the enjoyments
and tranquillity of the heavenly paradise, our beloved sons of the
conventual assembly at Canterbury have brought to our notice an
election they have made of one Walter, a monk of Canterbury ;
and whereas, after discussing the merits of that election, and exa
mining into the learning of that person, we in due regard to

A.D. 1229.] RESTORATION OF THE HOLY LAND. 521
justice, have annulled that election, and have thought proper to
place in that paradise, to manage and guard it, master Richard,
chancellor of Lincoln, a man of dignity, one by his life and know
ledge, understanding and disposition, made after the. image and
likeness of God, and one by his wholesome doctrines having the
breath of life, and whom, as weU from the evidence of our bre
thren who knew him when pursuing his studies, as from that of
our venerable brethren the bishops of Rochester and Coventry,
and of several others, we have discovered to be a man of distin
guished learning, goodly conversation, unblemished fame, and
great perseverance, and a zealous protector of souls and of the
liberty of the church, and have, by the advice of our brethren, and
in the presence of the above-mentioned bishops, appointed the
said Richard archbishop and pastor of the church of Canterbury.
Wherelore, by these apostohc letters, we warn and exhort the
brotherhood of you, as the sons of charity and. devotion, to receive
and give heed to him, to the honour of God, the apostohc see, and
the church of Canterbury, with due humility and sincere devotion,
and humbly and devoutly to obey him as your father, and the
pastor of your souls, and as your metropolitan bishop. You ought
indeed to rejoice in the Lord that, chiefly by the co-operation of
the grace of him who both prevents and assists our exertions, a
praiseworthy provision has been made for that widowed church.
Given, <fcc."*
How the Holy Land was restored lo the emperor Frederic.
In the same year, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Con
soler of the world, visited his people in his compassion, and in
compliance with the prayers of the universal church, restored to
the Christian people in general, but to the Roman emperor Fre
deric in particular, the city of Jerusalem and the whole country
which the Lord our Redeemer and Son of God had consecrated by
his blood. Such was the good-will of our Lord to his people, of
him who exalts the merciful to eternal Ufe, that he may work
vengeance on the nations, and dissension amongst the tribes of the
Saracens. For at that time the sultan of Babylon was so severely
harassed by internal wars in aU directions, that not being able to
attend to more, he was compeUed to make a truce of ten years
with the emperor, and to give up the Holy Land to the Christians
without bloodshed. And thus a good war was sent by the Lord
that a bad peace might be broken ; but that this kindness of the
* C. inserts here : " It is known, however, that the deposition of master
Walter monk of Canterbury, was obtained by the agency of master Alex
ander de Stavenesby bishop of Chester, and master Henry de Sandford
bishop of Rochester, and some others, the chief of whom was master John
de Hetotoft archdeacon of Bedford, not in a proper manner, nor as was ad
vantageous to their souls. But this is, however, shown at sufficient length
above."

522 R03SS OF WENDOVER. [a.d. 1229.
divine grace may be more clearly shown to the reader, let him
read the following letter of the Roman emperor which he sent
sealed with gold, to Henry king of England.
Letter of the emperor to -the English king on the above matter.
"Frederic, by the grace of God, the august emperor of the
Romans, king of Jerusalem and Sicily, to his weU-beloved friend
Henry king of the English, health and sincere affection. Let aU
rejoice and exult in the Lord, and let those who are correct in
heart glorify him, who, to make known his power, does not make
boast of horses and chariots, but has now gained glory for himself
in the scarcity of his soldiers, that all may know and understand
that he is glorious in his majesty, terrible in his magnificence, and
wonderful in his plans on the sons of men, changing seasons at
will, and bringing the hearts of different nations together ; for in
these few days, by a miracle rather than by strength, that business
has been brought to a conclusion, which for a length of time past
many chiefs and rulers of the world amongst the multitude of
nations, have never been able till now to accomplish by force,
however great, nor by fear. Not therefore to keep you in sus
pense by a long account, we wish to inform your holiness, that we,
firmly putting our trust in God, and believing that Jesus Christ
his Son, in whose service we have so devotedly exposed our bodies
and lives, would not abandon us in these unknown and distant
countries, but would at least give us wholesome advice and assist
ance for his honour, praise, and glory, boldly in the name set
forth from Acre on the 15th day of the month of November last
past and arrived safely at Joppa, intending to rebuild the castle
at that place with proper strength, that afterwards the approach
to the holy city of Jerusalem might be not only easier, but also
shorter and more safe for us as well as for all Christians. When
therefore we were in the confidence of our trust in God engaged
at Joppa and superintending the building of the castle and the
cause of Christ as necessity required, and as was our duty, and
whilst aU our pilgrims were busUy engaged in these matters,
several messengers often passed to and fro between us and the
sultan of Babylon ; for he and another sultan called Xaphat his
brother, were with a large army at the city of Gaza, distant about
one day's journey from us ; in another direction in the city of
Sichen, which is commonly called Neapolis, and situated in the
plains, the sultan of Damascus, his nephew, was staying with an
immense number of knights and soldiers also about a day's jour
ney from us and the Christians. And whilst the treaty was in
progress between the parties on either side of the restoration of
the Holy Land, at length Jesus Christ the Son of God, beholding
from on high our devoted endurance and patient devotion to his
cause, in his merciful compassion of us, at length brought it about
that the sultan of Babylon restored to us the holy city, the place

A.D. 1229.] LETTER OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR. 523
where the feet of Christ trod, and where the true worshippers
adore the Father in spirit and in truth. But that we may inform
you of the particulars of this surrender each as they happened, be
it known to you that not only is the body of the aforesaid city
restored to us, but also the whole of the country extending from
thence to the sea-coast near the castle of Joppa, so that for the
future pilgrims wUl have free passage and a safe return to and
from the sepulchre ; provided, however, that the Saracens of that
part of the country, since they hold the temple in great venera
tion, may come there as often as they choose in the character of
pUgrims, to worship according to their custom, and that we shall
henceforth permit them to come, however only as many as we may
choose to allow, and without arms, nor are they to dwell in the
city, but outside, and as soon as they have paid their devotions
they are to depart. Moreover the city of Bethlehem is restored to
us, and all the country between Jerusalem and that city ; as also
the city of Nazareth, and all the country between Acre and that
city ; the whole of the district of Turon, which is very extensive,
and very advantageous to the Christians ; the city of Sidon too is
given up to us with the whole plain and its- appurtenances, which
wiU be the more acceptable to the Christians the more advanta
geous it has till now appeared to be to the Saracens, especiaUy as
there is a good harbour there, and from there great quantities of
arms and necessaries might be carried to the city of Damascus,
and often from Damascus to Babylon. And although according
to our treaty we are allowed to rebuild the city of Jerusalem in as
good a state as it has ever been, and also the castles of Joppa,
Cesarea, Sidon, and that of St. Mary of the Teutonic order, which
the brothers of that order have begun to build in the mountainous
district of Acre, and which it has never been allowed the Chris
tians to do during any former truce, nevertheless the sultan is not
aUowed, till the end of the truce between him and us, which is
agreed on for ten years, to repair or rebuild any fortresses or
castles. And so on Sunday the 18th day of February last past,
which is the day on which Christ the Son of God rose from the
dead, and which, in memory of his resurrection, is solemnly che
rished and kept holy by all Christians in general throughout the
world, this treaty of peace was confirmed by oath between us.
Truly then on us and on aU does that day seem to have shone
favourably, in which the angels sing in praise of God, " Glory to
God on high, and on earth peace, and good-will towards men."
And in acknowledgment of such great kindness and of such an
honour, which, beyond our deserts and contrary to the opinion of
many, God has mercifully conferred on us, to the lasting renown
of his compassion, and that in his holy place we might personaUy
offer to him the burnt offering of our lips, be it known to you that
on the 17th day of the month of March of this second indiction,

524 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1229.
we, in company with aU the pUgrims who had with us faithfuUy
followed Christ the Son of God, entered the holy city of Jerusalem,
and after worshipping at the holy sepulchre, we, as being a
catholic emperor, on the foUowing day, wore the crown, which
Almighty God provided for us from the throne of his majesty,
when of his special grace he exalted us on high amongst the
princes of the world ; so that whilst we have supported the honour
of this high dignity, which belongs to us by right of sovereignty, it
is more and more evident to all that the hand of the Lord hath done
aU this ; and since his mercies are over aU his works, let the worship
pers of the orthodox faith henceforth know and relate it far and
wide throughout the world, that He, who is blessed for ever, has
visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up the horn of
salvation for us in the house of his servant David. And before we
leave the city of Jerusalem, we have determined magnificently to
rebuUd it and its towers and waUs, and we intend so to arrange
matters that, during our absence, there shall be no less care and
diligence used in the business than if we were present in person.
In order that this our present letter may be full of exultation
throughout, and so a happy end correspond with its happy begin
ning, and rejoice your royal mind, we wish it to be known to you
our aUy, that the said sultan is bound to restore to us aU those
captives whom he did not, in accordance with the treaty made
between him and the Christians, deliver up at the time when he
lost Damietta some time since, and also the others who have been
since taken. Given at the holy city of Jerusalem, on the 17th
day of the month of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand
two hundred and twenty-nine."
Of the signs preceding the restoration of the Holy Land.*
It should be remarked concerning this restoration of the land of
promise and Jerusalem to the Christians, that as the astronomers
of Toledo,' before this cause of general rejoicing and exultation
amongst Christians, wrote concerning the concourse of the planets,
and of the dreadful storms of wind, so that they would stand
together, and at the same time that there would be an earthquake,
and an eclipse of the sun as weU as the moon, which has been
before mentioned amongst the events of this year, in the same way,
* These two chapters are omitted in Paris, instead of which is a descrip
tion of the great seal attached to the emperor's bull. " The form of the
emperor's golden bull was as foUows: — On one side was the royal figure,
and around it was written, ' Frederic, by the grace of God, the august
emperor of the Romans.' On the same side as the royal figure, over the
left shoulder, was written, ' King of Jerusalem ;' in another part, over the
left shoulder, were the words, ' King of Sicily.' On the other side of the
bull was engraved a city, representing Rome, and around it was written,
' Rome, the head of the world, holds the reigns of the round world.* This
bull was somewhat larger than the pope's.

A.D. 1229.] OF THE LOSS OF THE HOLT LAND. 525
before the taking of the Holy Land and the cross of our Lord by
that perfidious and cruel man Saladin, some other astronomers
then living in the same city also wrote to pope Clement as foUows :
— From the present year, which is the one thousand one hundred
and seventy-ninth year of our Lord's incarnation, tUl the ex
piration of seven years, in the month of September, the sun being
in Libra and the tail of the Dragon, there wiU be, if God so permit,
an assembling of the planets in Libra and the tail of the Dragon,
and this is a wonderful signification of a change of immutable
events. And there shaU foUow a dreadful earthquake, and the
accustomed places of perdition shaU be destroyed by Saturn and
Mars, <fec. This conjunction of the planets will produce a strong
wind, which wiU thicken and darken the air, and infect it with
poison, and the sound of this wind wiU be dreadful, disturbing the
hearts of men ; and from sandy regions it shall raise the sand and
overwhelm the cities lying nearest to them in the plains, and in
the first place the eastern cities of Mecca and Babylon, and all
cities lying near to sandy places ; not one will escape being
overwhelmed with sand and earth. But signs of these events will
preoede them ; in the same year there will be, before the planets
assemble in Libra, a total eclipse of the sun, and in the preceding
conflict the moon wiU be totally eclipsed ; and the eclipse of the
sun wiU be of a fiery and unsightly colour, denoting that there
will be a war amongst chiefs near a river in the east, and likewise
in western countries ; and a doubtfulness shaU faU amongst the
Jews and Saracens, until they shall altogether abandon their
synagogues and mosques, and their sect shall at the command of
God be entirely destroyed and annihilated ; wherefore, when you
see the ecUpse, know that you are to leave that land with aU your
foUowers. How on account of the sins of man the Holy Land was lost.
At that time there was much evU amongst men on earth, so that
" aU flesh almost had corrupted its way before the Lord ;" for the
practice of sin had burst forth amongst the people to such a
degree, that all, casting aside the veU of shame, everywhere
inclined to wickedness openly. Too tedious is it to enumerate the
slaughters, robberies, adultery, obscenities, Ues, treasons, and other
crimes, especiaUy so to us, who design to write of the events
which occurred. However the old enemy of man after having
disseminated the spirit of corruption far and wide* in the world,
invaded Syria in particular, from which place other nations
received their religion in the first place, and from that place they
then took the example of aU uncleanness. For this reason there
fore the Lord and Saviour of the world, seeing that the land of his
nativity, suffering, and resurrection had fallen into the depths of
wickedness, scorned his inheritance, and aUowed the rod of his
anger, namely Saladin, to vent his rage to the extermination of

526 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1229.
that obstinate race ; for he preferred that the Holy Land should
for a short time be a slave to tho profane rites of nations, than that
those people should any longer flourish, who were not restrained
from unlawful actions by any regard to probity. The approach of
the destruction which was to happen, was prognosticated by divers
events, namely by a great famine, frequent earthquakes, and
eclipses of the sun and moon ; but the storm of wind, which the
astronomers of Toledo, from an inspection of the stars, had
pronounced would come from the assembling of the planets,
together with a mortality and foul atmosphere, was without doubt
changed to signify this event ; for in the spring there was a heavy
wind which shook the four quarters of the world, and signified that
its different nations would be stirred up to battle and to the
destruction of the Holy Land. And the holy city of Jerusalem,
with the whole land of promise, and also the Ufe-giving cross of
our Lord, remained in the hands of the enemies of Christ for
forty-two years up to this present year, which is the one thousand
two hundred and twenty-ninth year of our Lord's incarnation,
when at length the time arrived for our Lord in his compassion to
give heed to the prayers of his humble servants, and to rebuild
Sion, to appear in his glory in the place of his holy nativity,
suffering, and resurrection, to hear the lamentations of his
enslaved people, and to release the sons of the destroyed ones.
Truly and without doubt did the Lord hear the groans of his
enslaved people at the restoration of the Holy Land, which at that
time was brought about by the dihgence of the emperor Frederic,
with the co-operation of the divine clemency, inasmuch as aU the
captives who were in the power of the pagans and subjected to the
vilest kinds of slavery, were now released from the yoke of
bondage and came to the holy city of Jerusalem, where they
showed themselves to many, and, after having paid their devotions
in the sacred places of the holy city, returned to their own
countries in various parts of the world, praising and blessing God
in all things, for they had heard and seen what wonderful works
the Lord had done for them and showed to them.
Of the reconciliation of the ho'y city of Jerusalem and other places.
The army of the Christians then, as we have said, entered the
holy city of Jerusalem, and the patriarch, with the suffragan
bishops, purified the temple of the Lord and the church of his
holy sepulchre and resurrection, and aU the other sacred churches
of the city ; they washed the pavement and waUs -with holy water,
and forming processions with hymns and psalms they reconciled to
God all his places which had been so long defiled by the filth of the
pagans, but as long as the emperor, who was excommunicated,
remained inside the city, no prelate dared to perform mass in it.
However a certain master Walter, a religious, wise, and discreet
man, of the order of preachers, who had been entrusted by the

A.D. 1229.] COMPLAINTS AGAINST FREDERIC. 527
pope with the duty of preaching in the army of Christ, which
duty he had for a long time prosperously fulfilled, performed
divine services in the suburban churches, by which he greatly
excited the devotion of the Christians. After then the prelates,
inferior as weU as superior, and all the religious men had had their
churches and old possessions restored to them, and had rejoiced ia
aU the heavenly gifts which had been bestowed on them far beyond
their expectations, they aU set to work in conjunction with the
rest of the pilgrims, at great expense and trouble, to rebuild the
city, to surround the waUs with trenches, and to repair the
ramparts of the towers ; and not only was this done in the holy
city of Jerusalem, but also in aU the cities and fortresses of that
land, which Jesus Christ had trodden with his holy feet, and con
secrated with his sacred blood.
The pope's causes of complaint against the emperor*
In the same year master Stephen, a chaplain and messenger of
the pope, came to England to the king to collect the tithes
promised by the messengers of the said king to his holiness for
carrying on his war against the Roman emperor ; for the pope had
heard of many detestable offences against the Christian law
committed by the said emperor, on account of which he had
committed to writing, and caused to be published in letters from
the apostolic see throughout the different parts of the world. In
the first place he set forth against him that, on the day of the
annunciation of the blessed Mary, he, although excommunicated,
had gone into the church of the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem, and
there, before the great altar, had with his own hands crowned
himself, aud when thus crowned, had sat there in the patriarchal
seat, and made a speech to the people extenuating his wickedness,
and accusing the Roman church of having acted unjustly against
him ; and then going forth from the church, attended by a crowd
of his own followers, without any ecclesiastic official, had worn the
crown to the palace of the hospitallers. Also, that in his palace
at Acre he had eaten and drunk with Saracens, and introduced
Christian dancing women to perform before them, and, as was said,
that they had afterwards had connection with them. Also, that no
one except himself knew the terms of the treaty which he had
entered into with the sultan ; and it plainly appeared, as far as
could be judged from external appearances, that he approved of.
the law of the Saracens rather than that of our faith, inasmuch as
he foUowed their customs in several points. Also, that in the
written agreement between him and the sultan, which in the
Arabic tongue is caUed mosepha, there was contained a condition,
* Paris greatly enlarges on the dispute between the pope and the
emperor, and gives a long letter from Gerald patriarch of Jerusalem,
complaining of the emperor, written in the usual style of the letters-of
those days. — Ed,

52b ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1229
that, during the truce, he would assist the sultan against aU men,
Christians as well as Saracens, and on the other hand the sultan
would in the same way assist him. Also, that he had deprived the
canons of the holy cross at Acre of Borne revenues, which were
their due at the port of Acre. Also, that he had plundered the
archbishop of Nichosia in Cyprus. Also, that in opposition to the
patriarch, he had by the secular power protected a certain bishop
of the Syrians who had been ordained by one who was excom
municated and schismatical. Also, that he had robbed the canons
of the holy sepulchre of the offerings at that sepulchre, and the
patriarch of the offerings at Calvary and Golgotha, and had also
robbed the canons of the holy temple of their offerings, coUecting
all these offerings by his agents, for which offences his brother
Walter had excommunicated him and aU his foUowers in the city
of Jerusalem. Also, that on Palm Sunday he had ordered the
preachers to be dragged by force from the pulpits where they were
preaching, and had maltreated and imprisoned them. Also, that
about the time of our Lord's passion he had besieged the patriarch,
the bishops of Winchester and Exeter, aud the templars in their
houses, but when he saw that he could not gain his ends he
departed in confusion. For these reasons, although there were not
wanting others, his holiness the pope paid no regard to whatever
he had done in the Holy Land, and made war against him,
asserting that it was just and necessary to the Christian faith, that
a disturber of the church should be deposed from the imperial
station, and what was still more abominable than aU these offences,
he had stirred up such a grievous persecution against his mother,
the church of Rome, had taken possession of the castles, lands, and
possessions belonging to it, and even now detained them as a
declared enemy. Of the tithes collected in England for pope Gregory.
About this same time tnaster Stephen the pope's chaplain and
messenger explained the pope's business and the cause of his
coming to England to the king, on which the latter, on the second
Sunday after Easter, convoked a councU at Westminster of the
archbishops, bishops, abbats, priors, templars, hospitaUers, earls,
barons, rectors of churches, and aU who held in chief from him, to
hear the aforesaid message, and to discuss necessary business in
.common. When therefore they were aU assembled, laymen as weU
as prelates and their dependants, master Stephen, in the presence
of them aU, read the letters of the pope, claiming the tenth part of
all moveable property throughout all England, Ireland, and Wales,
from clergy as weU as laity, in order to enable his hoUness to carry
on the war which he had undertaken against the Roman emperor
Frederic. He also declared in these letters that he alone had
undertaken this expedition on behalf of the church universal,
which the said emperor, so long excommunicated and rebeUious,

A.D. 1229.] COLLECTION OF TITHES. 529
was endeavouring to overthrow, as was plainly evident, wherefore,
as the apostoUc see was not rich enough to destroy him, he was
forced by necessity to beg assistance from all the sons of the
church, by which means he might be able to bring to the desired
conclusion the expedition which he had commenced, and which
was in a measure now going on prosperously. At length, at the
conclusion of the letter the pope advised each and aU of them as
hmbs of the church, inasmuch as they were natural sons of the
church of Rome, which is the mother of aU churches, to give
powerful assistance to her, lest, which God forbid, if they failed in
so doing, the whole body as weU as the limbs should give way. By
such and such like arguments set forth in the pope's letter, master
Stephen endeavoured to persuade aU who were present to agree to
the demand, setting forth the honour and advantage that would
accrue to those who were obedient. The king, whom all the rest
hoped would assist them in opposing this exaction, could not
oppose them, as he had by his messengers at Rome, as has been
above-stated, promised to pay these tithes, and as he made no
answer, he seemed by his silence to give consent. But the earls,
barons, and aU the laity plainly declared that they would not give
these tithes, as they did not wish to pledge their baronies or lay
possessions to the Roman church. The bishops, abbats, priors, and
other prelates of the churches, after two or three days' dehberation
and no sUght grumbling, at length consented to it, being afraid
that they should incur , the sentence of excommunication or
interdict if they opposed the apostolic commands. Master Stephen
then showed to aU the prelates letters procuratory from the pope,
by which his holiness had appointed him his agent to coUect the
said tithes, and that they were to be coUected, not as was done in
levying the tax of the twentieth part, which had been a Uttie
whUe before given to the king to obtain their rights, but in the
best way they could to the advantage of the pope, and that aU the
goods and moveable property of each was to be taxed so as to
yield the most ; namely, a tenth part of aU incomes, yearly profits,
produce of ploughed lands, offerings, tithes, provisions for men
and beasts, and of aU the revenues of the churches and other
possessions, under whatever name they were enroUed, on no
occasion deducting any debts or expenses. By these Bame letters,
too, he was authorized to excommunicate aU gainsayers, and to lay
the churches under interdict ; wherefore, after appointing his
agents in each county of England, he excommunicated aU those
who, either themselves or by means of others, should practise any
collusion or deceit, make any unjust compacts, or any deduction
in the matter of paying the aforesaid tithes. And, since imme
diate assistance was necessary in the matter, he ordered aU the
prelates and others, under penalty of excommunication, either
amongst themselves or in some way or other, to give him up at
VOL. II. M M

530 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1229.
once the money which was required, that he might send it directly
to the pope, and that afterwards they could recover the same in
full from the tithes which were to be taken from every one. For
he said that the pope was involved in so many debts, that he did
not at all know how he should sustain the war which he had
commenced. And then dissolving the councU aU went away
murmuring. Of the grievous exaction of the said tithes.
After this master Stephen sent letters to each of the bishops,
abbats, priors, and religious men of every condition throughout the
kingdom, ordering them, under the penalty of excommunication
and interdict, to send to him on such a day a certain sum out of
the money which had been lately proved, and made by the penny
weight, in order that he might satisfy the pope's creditors, and
that they might avoid the punishment of an interdict ; in his exe
cution of this business he practised such unjust extortion, that he
compelled every one to give him the value of the tenth part, even
from the crops of the coming autumn, which were still in the
blade. The prelates then, having no other resource, took the
chalices, goblets, phylacteries, and other holy vessels from the
churches, some of which they sold, and pledged others at interest.
The country was filled with incessant, although secret, maledic
tions, and all prayed that such an exaction might never be pro
ductive of advantage to their exactors. Ealph earl of Chester was
the only one who refused to reduce his territory to bondage, and
did not permit the religious men and clerks to contribute these
tithes from his fee, although England and Wales, Scotland and
Ireland, were aU compeUed to pay them. However in this tithing
one circumstance gave some sUght consolation and comfort, which
was that the continental kingdoms and those at a distance were not
free from this taxation. When at length the fuU amount of money
coUected in this way reached the supreme pontiff, he Uberally
distributed it to John de Brienne and the other chiefs of his army,
and this caused serious injury to the emperor, for in his absence
they destroyed his towns and castles.
In the same year, on the 27th of May. Robert de Bingeham
bishop elect of Salisbury, was consecrated at Shepton, by William
bishop of Worcester, assisted by the bishops Jocelyn of Bath and
Alexander of Coventry.* In this year too, on Whit-Sunday, the
* Paris adds : — '' Who undertook the episcopal office under happy
auspices and, with the help of God, the king, and the people, he vigorously
prosecuted the building of the new church which his predecessor, Richard,
had, with no small boldness, commenced. Hence some poet has composed
a clever verse, as follows : —
* Rex largitur opes, fert praesul opem, lapicida;
< Dant opeTam ; tribus his est opus ut stet opus.' '
It is impossible to express this in English.

A.D. 1229. J CONSECRATION OF ,THE ARCHBISHOP. 531
3rd of June, king Henry conferred the belt of a knight on John,
son of Hubert the justiciary of England.
Of the consecration of Richard archbishop of Canterbury, <Jc.
In the same year, on Trinity-Sunday, the suffragan bishops of
the church of Canterbury assembled at that city, and on that day
master Richard the archbishop elect was consecrated by Henry
bishop of Rochester, without the paU, bo that he was allowed
either to ordain or to dedicate churches. Together with him on
the same day, which was the 10th of June, Roger bishop elect of
London, and Hugh of Ely, were consecrated by the same bishop
before the great altar in the church of the Holy Trinity.*
Of the great preparations of the king of England to cross into France.
About the same time, at Michaelmas, king Henry assembled at
Portsmouth aU the nobUity of the kingdom of England, namely,
the earls, barons, and knights, with such a host of soldiers, horse
and foot, as was believed none of his predecessors had ever before
got together ; for such a host of knights and soldiers came to him
from the countries of Ireland and Scotland, Wales and Galway,
that aU were wonder-struck ; for with this great force the king
intended to cross the sea, to recover possession of the territories
which his father had lost. But when the chiefs and marshals of
the king's army came to embark the provisions and arms on board
the ships, they found only such a few of them that there were not
enough to transport half the army ; when the news of this was
carried to the king he was greatly enraged and laid the whole
blame of this on Hubert de Burgh the justiciary, and, in the hear
ing of aU, caUed him an old traitor, accusing him of having received
five thousand marks from the queen of the French to cause this
deficiency in order to frustrate his plans, and at length in a trans
port of rage he drew his sword and endeavoured to kiU the justici
ary ; on this Ralph earl of Chester, and several others who were
present, interposed and saved him from death, but he withdrew
himself fro*n the king's presence, untU his anger against him
should cool down. In the meantime on the 9th of October, Henry
count of Brittany + arrived at that port, to conduct the king in
safety to his territory, as had been agreed on and confirmed by oath
between them ; but he, in conjunction with some other prudent
men of the army, advised the king to put off the expedition tiU
after the ensuing Easter, as it was dangerous to undertake such a
difficult voyage during the winter ; on this the king gave permis
sion to aU of the army to return home, and he and the justiciary
* Paris adds: — "In the same year, on the 14th of November, died
Martin de Pateshull dean of London, a man of remarkable skill and well
versed in the laws of the kingdom."
t This should be Peter Mauclerc count of Brittany, Henry was the
name of the duke of Burgundy. M M 2

532 ROGF.R OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1229.
became reconciled. The count of Brittany then did homage to the
king against all men for Brittany ; and the king restored to him
aU his rights in England, and, after giving him five thousand
marks for the defence of his territory, he sent him back to his own
province. In this same year, on the 23rd of November, Richard
archbishop of Canterbury received the paU which had been trans
mitted to him by the pope, and in the presence of the king and
the suffragan bishops, performed divine service with the paU in
the cathedral church at Canterbury.
Of the wicked death of a usurer.
About this time there dwelt in Lesser Britain a certain usurer,
who by lending his money out at interest had amassed immense
wealth. Although often told by the bishop of the place that it was
not lawful for him to increase his property by usury, he would not
listen to the bishop, but stiU persisted in his endeavours to amass
wealth, although in this improper way ; on this, the bishop, seeing
that he was incorrigible, excommunicated him and excluded him
from the community of Christians, but of this he made light, and
not long afterwards closed his hfe miserably, an excommunicated
man. After he was dead, without the viaticum or making confes
sion, his wife and sons went to the priest of the town and asked
him to bury the deceased with the ceremonials of the church,
which the priest refused to do, because he had died excommuni
cated, and ordered them to bury him outside the town at a place
where two roads met. On this the widow went with her sons to
the count and laid her complaint before him, that the priest re
fused to bury a parishioner of his, but she concealed the reason,
namely, that he had died excommunicated. The count then flew
into a rage with the priest, and ordered his servants to go to him
and in his name order him to bury the dead man, and, if the priest
refused to do so to tie him to the dead man and bury them both
together. This order was carried into effect, and aU the bishops of
Brittany excommunicated the count ; on which an enmity sprang
up between the two parties, and aU the bishops were driven into
exUe by the count, and he himseU remained under sentence of ex
communication, untU it could be confirmed by the pope.
Of the return of the Roman emperor Frederic to his own country.
In the same year the Roman emperor Frederic, after restoring
the Holy Land to the Christian rule, the truce for ten years, which
he had obtained from the sultan of Damascus, having been mutu
ally confirmed by oath, embarked on the day of the finding of the
holy cross, to cross the Mediterranean sea on his return to his own
country ; but as he had heard that John de Brienne was laying
snares for him in the ports on this side of the water, he did not
dare to land incautiously, and, therefore, that his enemies might
not have to rejoice in his capture, he touched at a safe place, and
sent out spies to conduct him to a harbour of safety. He at length

A..O. 1230.] KING HENRY'S COURT HELD AT YORK. 533
arrived safely with a smaU retinue in SicUy, and there heard that
his enemies had already subdued many of his castles and towns,
and were even now making free inroads in the imperial territory,
there being no one to oppose them ; but when his arrival was
made known, the. lawful subjects of the empire, who were bound
by aUegiance to him, flocked to him, and surrounded by these, and
being reinforced by others who came to him, he boldly burst forth
amongst his enemies, and began by degrees to recover the lands
and castles he had lost.
H6w the king of England spent Christmas at York.
A. d. 1230: At Christmas king Henry held his court at York, in
company with the king of Scots whom he had invited to the fes
tival ; the archbishop of the city too was present there with the
earls, barons, knights, and a large retinue, and there the two kings
distributed many festive dresses amongst their knights. The
English king was profuse in his UberaUty to the king of Scots,
presenting him with valuable horses, rings, and jewels ; and for
three days they continued the festival, banqueting splendidly every
day, and observing this great anniversary with all joy and exul
tation. On the fourth day the party broke up and the king of
Scots returned home, whUst Henry hastened to London.
In the same year, on the day of the Conversion of St. Paul, the
bishop of the city of London was standing before the great altar of
the cathedral church of that city wearing his mitre, and about to
perform divine service in the presence of the citizens who were
assembled in honour of St. Paul, when on a sudden the sky became
covered with such dense clouds and the sun became so obscured
that one person could scarcely see his neighbour in the church.
Whilst aU were in a state of astonishment and suspected that the
day of judgment was come, such a dreadful clap of thunder burst
suddenly over the church, that the building itself, together with
the lofty tower, seemed to be falling on their heads, and from the
mass of clouds there darted forth such a flash of Ughtning that the
whole church seemed on fire. In the midst of this too there arose
such an intolerable stench, that aU present were afraid they would
be suffocated, and on this about a thousand persons of both sexes
who were in the church, fearing certain death, made a hasty escape
from the church, and in their alarm feU to the earth, remaining
there for some time without sense or motion. Out of aU the mul
titude assembled, only the bishop and one of the deacons, who stood
before the great altar clad in their sacred robes, remained undis
mayed awaiting the Lord's pleasure. At length when the sky
again became clear, and aU the multitude, having recovered confi
dence in their safety, had again entered the church, the bishop
devoutly completed the remaining part of the service. Great as
tonishment was caused throughout the whole city by this occurrence,
and aU feared that it prognosticated some great and wonderful event
about to happen.

534 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1230.
In the same year, during Lent, the Roman emperor had gained
so much ground against his enemies that he had by force regained
possession of aU the castles and possessions which belonged to the
empire ; and aU those whom he took prisoners in the castles he
either flayed aUve or hung on the gibbet. John de Brienne, his
declared enemy, afraid of falling into his hands, fled into France,
his native country. After this, on the interposition of friends and
reUgious men, a truce was agreed on between the pope and the
emperor, untU they could arrange terms of peace. In the month
of April in this same year, the noble chief, William de Braose,
was hung by LleweUyn the Welsh chief, being caught, as was said,
in adultery with the wife of that prince.
In the same year, on the demand of the king, the archbishops,
bishops, abbats, and priors throughout aU England, gave to the
king a large sum of money to enable him to recover the provinces
on the continent which had been taken from his father. The
citizens of London too were compeUed to redeem themselves by
the payment of a heavy amount for the same purpose ; and the
Jews, whether they would or not, were compeUed to give up a
third of aU their property.
How the king of England crossed with his army into Brittany.
At Easter king Henry assembled a large army at Reading, com
prising all the nobles of the kingdom who owed bim military
service, and great numbers of others from different countries, and
then moving his camp from that place he marched to Portsmouth,
where on the 30th of AprU he embarked with his whole army.
He then set saU, and by the exertions of his ship's crews he landed
at St. Malo in Brittany on the 3rd of May ; a great part of the
army who were unable to follow the king's track closely, landed in
different places, but, by God's assistance, they all came to the king
in Brittany without injury and without loss of their property. The
count of Brittany received the king with due reverence and
honour, and delivered to him the towns and castles of that
province, and many others of the nobles of the province came and
did homage and swore fealty to him. Andrew de Vitre, however,
and a few other noblemen refused to give their allegiance to the
king, and, supplying their castles with provisions, made strong
preparations for resistance. The French king, when he was
informed of the arrival of the king of England, assembled a
powerful army, and marched with shields and standards gUttering
to the city of Anjou, where he measured out his camp, and made
a long halt, to obstruct the EngUsh king's progress into Poictou.
King Henry was at this time at the city of Nantes, awaiting the
arrival of a further reinforcement of troops which were coming to
him from various quarters, and during his stay there the French
king with his army laid siege to a weak fortress caUed Oudon,
nearly four leagues distant from Nantes, and, easUy eaininc:

A.D. 1230.] DISSENSIONS AMONG THE FRENCH. 535
possession of it, destroyed it, after which he again returned to the
city of Anjou.
In the same year on the 14th of May, which was the Tuesday
in Rogation week, an unusual eclipse of the sun took place very
early in the morning, immediately after sun-rise, and it became
so dark that the labourers, who had commenced their morning's
work, were obUged to leave it, and returned again to their beds to
sleep, but in about an hour's time, to the astonishment of many,
the sun regained its usual brightness. In this same year too the
duke of Saxony, a relation of the EngUsh king, came to England,
and was received with aU honour by the citizens of London ; this
noble was so taU and of such a size, that he excited every body's
wonder, and the people assembled to gaze at him as if to see a
pageant. Of the dissensions which arose amongst the French barons.
About this time almost aU the nobles of France were engaged
in war one against another, and the duke of Burgundy, the counts
of Boulogne, Dreux, Macon, St. Paul, and Bar, and the nobles
Enguerrand de Courcy, Robert de Courtenaye, and many others,
who were, as was reported, sworn aUies of the king of England
and Henry count of Brittany, declared war against the counts of
Champagne and Flanders ; and all of them having completed their
forty days of service at the siege of Anjou, obtained leave from
the French king, and returned to their own provinces. The king
then, not being able to detain them, followed them, in order to
bring about a reconciUation amongst them, but this he could not
effect by any means, for the above-mentioned nobles invaded the
territory of the count of Champagne, and commenced ravaging it
with fire and sword. This count came to oppose them with a large
force, and gave them battle ; but the above-mentioned nobles were
too powerful for him and his troops, and made prisoners of two
hundred of his knights, and slew thirteen. The count of Champagne
seeing his troops defeated, fled from the field of battle, having lost
all his companions ; the enemy gave pursuit to him, putting to the
sword any of his adherents they met, and did not desist from the
pursuit tiU they had driven the count inside the gates of the city
of Paris. Then, not choosing to foUow him further, they returned
into Champagne, and piUaged the whole of the province, razing
castles and towns to the ground, burning villages and cities,
cutting down the vine and fruit trees, and sparing nothing which
they found outside the churches. These nobles were carrying on
this war against the count for his treachery to the king, inasmuch
as at the siege of Avignon he had, as they said, poisoned their lord
king Louis, on account of his love for the queen ; and although
they had often laid this accusation against him at the court of the
French king and in the king's presence, and wished to prove the
count guUty by the ordeal of single combat, yet the queen, who,

536 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1230.
on account of the king's youth and inexperience, managed aU the
business of the kingdom, refused to listen to them. For this reason
they, the nobles aforesaid, had withdrawn from their aUegiance to
the king and queen, and had disturbed the kingdom by war ; for-
they scorned to have such a mistress as the queen to rule over
them, who, as was said, had been defiled, not only by the said
count but also by the Roman legate.
Of the slaughter amongst the Irish, and the capture of one of their kings.
In the same year, in the month of July, a certain petty king of
Connaught in Ireland, when he learned that the king of England
and Wilham MarshaU were engaged in war upon the continent,
and that the kingdom of Ireland was as it were entirely free from
military force, coUected a large army from aU parts of the
country, in hopes to expel all of English race from the Irish
boundaries ; he therefore invaded the territories of the English
king, spreading fire and destruction, and indulging in rapine and
piUage. News of this incursion was at length brought to
Geoffrey de March, who performed the functions of justiciary under
the king in those parts, on which he sent for Walter de Lacy and
Richard de Burgh to join him, and with them and a strong force
he boldly proceeded against the enemy ; his army he divided into
three bodies, giving the command of two of these to the said
Walter de Lacy and Richard de Burgh, and retaining the command
of the third himseU ; the two companies commanded by the said
Walter and Richard he hid in the woods by which the enemy
would pass, and thus laid an ambuscade for them ; and the third,
which he himself commanded, he drew up to meet the enemy face
to face, and provoke them to a battle. The Irish at length
approached them, and seeing only one battalion of the Enghsh,
rushed on them, as if certain of obtaining victory ; the English
then feigned flight, and were pursued by the Irish tiU they had
entered the place of ambuscade. Those in ambush then rushed
forth from then1 concealment, and rending the air with their shouts
attacked the enemy in flank and rear ; the first body too, which
had fled before them, now turned on the Irish, and a dreadful
slaughter ensued ; for of the Irish soldiers there were said to have
been twenty thousand slain, and their king was taken and
imprisoned. About the same time Fulke Paisnel, a noble of Normandy, and
WUUam his brother, abandoned their castles and territory, and
came to Brittany, where they did homage and swore fealty to the
king of England. With them also came sixty bold and powerful
knights, and they aU advised the king to invade Normandy, telling
him he would be sure to subdue that province ; the king wfllingly
acquiesoed in their plans, but Hubert de Burgh would not aUow
them to be carried into effect, saying that it would be beyond
measure dangerous to attempt it. The knights hearing this, then

A.D. 1230.] KING HENRY AT GASCONY. 537
asked the king to allow them two hundred knights from his army,
to join them in invading Normandy, and promised the king that
they would without fail expel all the French race from that
province ; this also Hubert the justiciary refused to aUow, assert
ing that it would be unwise for the king to expose his soldiers to
death just at his own pleasure. And thus these nobles found
themselves wofully deceived, for the French king immediately dis
inherited them, and converted their castles and aU their property
to his own uses.
How the English king marched into Gascony, and received homage there.
After this the king of England, by the advice of Hubert de
Bourg, marched from Brittany with his army through Anjou, and
arrived in Poictou ; from this latter province he proceeded into
Gascony, where he received the homage of the people, and, after
making arrangements for the security of that district, he returned
into Poictou, and there he received the homage of a great many
of the inhabitants. In this expedition, the king besieged the
castle of Mirebelle, and owing to the .commendable valour of the
English, who kept up fierce and continued assaults on it, he com
peUed the besieged to surrender, and then departed, taking them
away as prisoners. In the month of August of this year, his
hohness pope Gregory and the Roman emperor Frederick, by
means of the interposition of Christians and allies on both sides,
came to terms of peace ;»the Roman emperor went to Rome and
was absolved, and aU the places under the jurisdiction of the
empire were restored to him in their former condition. This
great priest and the most mighty emperor then feasted together
for three days in the palace of the supreme pontiff, and the cardi
nals and the nobles of the empire rejoiced in this sudden confirm
ation of a peace of which they had given up all hope.
In the same year, Ralph earl of Chester garrisoned and supplied
with provisions and arms the castle at St. John de Beveron, which
by hereditary right belonged to the countess his wife ; for Henry
count of Brittany had given up that castle to the earl, when he
joined the side of the king of England, and received from the king
aU his possessions and rights in England.
Of the peace made between the French king and the barons.
In this year, in the month of September, the French king and
his mother the queen, and the nobles of that kingdom, who, since
the death of king Louis had been at war one with another, as has
been stated above, met at a conference to treat about a peace,
which was arranged on the following terms : it was unanimously
determined by the aforesaid nobles that the count of Champagne,
who had been the principal cause of this discord, should assume
the cross, and with a hundred knights should undertake a pilgrim
age to the Holy Land, there to fight against the enemies of Christ ;
and the French king and his mother swore on the holy gospejs,
that they would restore to each of them their rights, and that

538 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-D- 1231-
they would administer justice to all the subjects of that kingdom,
in accordance with the customs which were right and due to all.
Of the king's return into England from Brittany.
The king of England aU this time was lying with his army at
the city of Nantes, doing nothing except spending his money.
The earls and barons too, as Hubert the king's justiciary would
not aUow them to engage in battle against the enemy, gave enter
tainments to one another, as was the custom of the EngUsh, and
devoted themselves to eating and drinking by turns, as though they
were keeping Christmas, and those amongst them who were poor
disposed of their horses and arms, so that from that moment they
led an unhappy Ufe.* At length, in the month of October, the king
having made all necessary arrangements for the country, left there
five hundred knights and a thousand mercenaries, under the com
mand of Ralph earl of Chester, WilUam Marshall, and William
earl of Albemarle, with some other chosen chiefs ; he himself took
ship, and after being exposed to a great many dangers, on the
26th of October landed at Portsmouth, where numbers of his
subjects of different ranks came to pay their respects to him with
divers presents. GUbert earl of Gloucester and Clare died when
on his return from the continent, and the king gave the justiciary
Hubert the charge of aU his lands and honour.
After the king of England's departure from the continent, the
earl of Chester and the other chiefs of the king's army there, with
their whole force made an incursion through the province of
Anjou, and were absent in that part of the country fifteen days.
During this time they took the castle of Gonnord, razed it to the
ground, and burned the town ; they next took a new castle on
the Sarte, destroyed it, and set fire to the town at that place, after
which they returned again into Brittany with immense booty. Not
long afterwards they made a hostUe descent upon Normandy, and
took the castle of Pontoise, which they destroyed, and after burn
ing the town, they returned into Brittany without loss to them
selves. In the same year, on the 22nd of November, an eclipse of the
moon took place, which lasted for three hours, only a very smaU
portion of it being visible, it being then thirteen days old.
Of the exaction of the scutage for the expedition to the continent.
a.d. 1231. At Christmas, king Henry held his court at Lam
beth, where he was entertained by Hubert the justiciary. On the
26th of January foUowing, the king convened liie prelates and
other nobles of the kingdom to a conference at Westminster, at
which he demanded a scutage of three marks for each escutcheon,
* Paris adds : — " In the same year, Raymond de Bourg, a brave and
noble knight, nephew of Hubert de Bourg, chanced to be riding on the
banks of the Loire, when his horse by unlucky chance got into the stream.
On attempting again to climb the bank, which was very steep, he fell back
with his rider, and both were drowned."

A.D. 1231.] RAVAGES BY LLEWELLYN. 539
from aU laymen as weU as ecclesiastics, who held baronies. This
demand was boldly opposed by Richard archbishop of Canterbury,
and some of the bishops besides, who said that ecclesiastics were
not bound to be subservient to the lay jurisdiction, as the scutage
had been granted on the continent, when they were not present.
At length, after many arguments on both sides, the business, as
far as the opposing prelates were concerned, was postponed tiU a
fortnight after Easter ; all the rest, however, laymen as weU as
clergy and people, yielded to the king's pleasure.
Of the disagreement between the king and the archbishop.
About this time Richard archbishop of Canterbury came to the
king, and laid a complaint against Hubert the justiciary, for
unjustly detaining the castle of Tunbridge, with the town and its
appurtenances, and other lands late belonging to GUbert earl of
Clare deceased, which belonged to the jurisdiction of himself and
the church of Canterbury, and for which the said earl and his
predecessors had given acknowledgment, and done homage to him
and his predecessors ; he therefore for that reason asked the king
to restore to him the custody of the said castle, with its appurte
nances, and to preserve uninjured the rights of the church of
Canterbury. To this demand the king replied that the aforesaid
earl was a tenant in chief from himself, and that the vacant trusts
of the earls and barons, and their heirs, (till they arrived at the
age of maturity,) pertained to his crown, and that he was at
Uberty to sell or give them to whom he chose. The archbishop
then, being unable to obtain any other answer, excommunicated
aU intruders on the aforesaid possessions, and all except the king
who should hold communication with them, and then for this as
weU as for other reasons he set out to Rome to obtain his rights
and those of his church. The king on the other hand sent master
Robert de Cantelo and some other messengers to Rome to plead
his cause.
In the month of AprU of this year, after the feast of Easter,
Richard the king's brother married the countess of Gloucester,
who was the sister of William MarshaU earl of Pembroke, and
scarcely were the nuptial festivities concluded, when that bold
knight WiUiam Marshall closed his life lamented by many, and on
the ISth of AprU was buried in the New Temple at London near
his father.* Of the dreadful ravages committed by Llewellyn in Wales.
In the month of May in this year, the Welsh burst forth from
their hiding places hke rats from their holes, and spread fire and
devastation over the lands which formerly belonged to William de
* Paris adds : " The king, who loved him immoderately, when he heard
of it, and saw his body covered with a pall, drew a deep sigh and ex
claimed, ' Woe is me, is not the blood of St. Thomas the martyr yet
entirely avenged ?' "

540 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1231.
Braose ; but on the king of England's marching thither with a
small mUitary force, they, according to custom, retreated to their
fastnesses. The king then went to the northern parts of the
country, leaving Hubert the justiciary in this quarter to repel the
incursions of the Welsh ; they however, as soon as they heard of
the king's departure, again resumed their piUaging expeditions,
and invading the districts near the castle of Montgomery, they
commenced committing their ravages in that quarter. When this
news was brought to the knights of the garrison, they salUed
forth to give battle to the Welsh, in order to prevent their roving
about the country thus unopposed, and cutting off their retreat,
they slew and made prisoners-of a great number of them ; they
then deUvered aU whom they had taken ahve to the justiciary,
who ordered them to be decapitated, and their heads to be sent to
the king. Llewellyn, in great indignation at this deed, coUected
a large army and committed severe depredations on the lands and
possessions of the barons, who Uved on the borders of Wales,
sparing neither the churches nor ecclesiastics ; and burnt several
churches, together with some noble women and girls who had fled
there for safety.
How Llewellyn was excommunicated, and the king invaded Wales.
When king Henry received inteUigence of this great crime, he
coUected a large army at Oxford on the 13th of July, and there,
when the whole of the nobility of the kingdom, clergy and people,
had assembled, aU the bishops and other prelates of the churches,
in the presence of the king, excommunicated LleweUyn and his
adherents, who had burnt the churches ; after which he led his
army forward and marched with all haste to Hereford. LleweUyn
was then lying with his army near the castle of Montgomery, in a
field near the river, covered with marshes, where he was waiting
in ambuscade to attack the knights of the garrison. From that
place, as was said, he sent to the castle a certain monk from a con
vent of the Cistercian order in the neighbourhood, caUed Cumira ;
when the knights of the castle saw him coming to them, they went
out from the castle to speak with him, and asked him if he had
heard anything of king LleweUyn, to which the monk rephed that
he had seen him with a smaU retinue in afield near, where he was
waiting for a larger force. The knights then asked the monk if
horsemen could cross the river and the field safely, to which he
rephed, " The bridge by which passengers used to cross the river
has been broken by LleweUyn, because he feared an attack on your
part ; but you can safely cross the river and the field on horseback
wherever you choose, and with a few horsemen easily conquer the
Welsh, or put them to flight." Walter de GodarviUe, the governor
of the castle, gave credit to this false information of the monk,
and at once gave orders to his feUow knights and the soldiers to
fly to arms, and then, mounting their horses, they soon reached the

A.n. 1231.] PEACE BETWEEN HENRY AND LOUIS. 541
place. The Welsh, seeing them advancing impetuously, immedi
ately feigned a flight to a wood that was near ; the knights of the
castle pursued them hotly tUl they were immersed in the before-
mentioned river and marsh up to their horses' beUies, and espe
ciaUy the foremost of them ; those behind were forewarned by
the immersion of their companions, for whose misfortune they
sorrowed greatly. The Welsh, seeing the condition of their enemies,
then rushed impetuously on them, and with their lances caused a
cruel slaughter amongst them, as they rolled about in the mud. A
severe conflict then ensued, but at length, after much slaughter on
both sides, the Welsh were victorious. In this battle GUes sod of
Richard d'Argenton, a brave knight, was taken prisoner, and some
others with him, whose names I have not heard.
Of the vengeance taken by the king for this treachery of the monk, Src.
When the calamity which had befallen his knights was told to
the king of England, he marched with aU haste to the convent to
which the monk belonged who had betrayed the aforesaid knights,
and as a punishment for his treachery burnt a farm belonging t>
the convent, after plundering it of everything, and then plundered
the convent, ordering that also to be burnt ; the abbat, however,
to save the buUdings which had cost so much money and labour,
paid the king three hundred marks, and thus his anger was averted
for a time. After this the king ordered the castle of MatUda in
Wales, which had been some time ago destroyed by the Welsh, to
be strongly rebuilt of stone, and when it was finished at great
expense, he placed in it a garrison of knights and soldiers, to check
the incursions of the Welsh.
Of the treaty made between the French and English kings.
In t'ie month of June of the same year, the French king led a
large army to invade Brittany ; but Henry count of Brittany and
Ralph earl of Chester were informed of his approach, and lying in
ambush for him, attacked the waggons and carriages which were
transporting the arms and provisions in the rear, and took
possession of aU his baggage, after which they burnt his engines of
war, and carried off sixty horses. The French then began to con
sider that Brittany was impregnable, and despaired of a favourable
issue to such a weak commencement, so a treaty was entered into
by the archbishop of Rheims and PhUip count of Boulogne on
behalf of the French king, and the count of Brittany and the
earl of Chester on behalf of the EngUsh king, and on the 5th of
July a truce for three years between the two kings was agreed on
and confirmed by oath.
In this same month of July, Peter bishop of Winchester
returned to England, after having passed nearly five years in the
land of promise, in the fulfilment of his vow of pUgrimage, and
on the 1st of August was received with a solemn procession in the
cathedral church of Winchester. In the same year, after the con-

542 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1231.
firmation of the truce, the count of Brittany and the earl of
Chester, with Richard Marshall, came to England from the conti
nent, and set out to the king, who was etUl engaged in the buUding
of the castle of MatUda in Wales, and were graciously received by
him. Richard Marshall presented himself to the king as the heir
of his brother WiUiam MarshaU, and offered to do homage to the
king for his inheritance, and whatever else he was bound to do for
his rights. The king in reply, by the advice of the justiciary
Hubert, told him he had heard that his deceased brother's wife
was pregnant, on which account he could not listen to his demand
till the truth of this matter was discovered. The king also accused
the said Richard of having associated with his declared enemies
in the French provinces, and for this he ordered him at once to
leave the kingdom for ever ; and declared, that if he was found in
the kingdom at the expiration of fifteen days, he should be con
signed to perpetual imprisonment. Richard then, not being able
to obtain any other answer, at once saUed to Ireland, where he
was received with joy by all the knights and followers of his late
brother, who gave up to him all the castles which had belonged to
his said brother, and did homage and made allegiance to him ; he
also regained possession of the castle of Pembroke, with all the
honours pertaining thereto, and then coUected an army, determin
ing to regain the possession of his inheritance, even against the
consent of the king, if necessary. But the king at length changed his
mind, and fearing that the said Richard would disturb the peace
of the kingdom, received his homage and fealty, and granted to
him all his rights, saving only the customary fine due to himself.
How Richard abp. of Canterbury went to Rome, and died on his return.
In this year, Richard archbishop of Canterbury went to the
court of Rome, and made the foUowing complaints to the pope. In
the first place, he complained against the king of Fngland, that he
managed aU the business of the kingdom according to the advice
of Hubert the justiciary alone, thus slighting all the other nobles.
He also complained of the justiciary that he had married a woman
who was a relation of his former wife, and that he seized on, and
was stiU unjustly detaining, some of the possessions of the church
of Canterbury. He also complained that some of his suffragan
bishops, neglecting their pastoral duties, sat in the king's exchequer
court, examining into the causes of the laity, and giving judgment
in cases of Ufe and death. He also complained that the beneficed
clergy and men in holy orders held several churches to which the
care of souls belonged, and that like the bishops, and foUowing
their example, these men intermeddled with secular business and
lay judgments. Having thus laid these and other hke complaints
before the pope, he asked that pontiff to apply the rod of correction
for such delinquencies. After a careful consideration of these
matters, bis holiness the pope, seeing that all the archbishop's com-

A.D. 1231.] RALPH ELECTED ARCHBISHOP. 543
plaints were supported by justice and reason, immediately gave
orders that the business or petition of that prelate should be
attended to, and due justice administered. The king's clerks
pleaded a great many excuses in reply, on behalf of the king and
the justiciary, but without effect ; for, to speak briefly, the arch
bishop's influence obtained for him whatever he demanded. He
then, having completed his business to his satisfaction, set out on
his return, but died on the journey at St. Gemma's, on the 3rd of
August, and with him died also aU the advantages which he had
gained in the above business.*
How Henry was dissuaded from marrying the sister of the king of Scots.
In the same year in the month of October, the king of England,
having completed the castle of MatUda in Wales, returned to Eng
land. He had determined then to marry the sister of the king of
Scots much to the indignation of aU the earls and barons ; for it
was not proper, they said, for the king to marry the younger
daughter, when Hubert the justiciary was married to an elder one ;
he was finaUy dissuaded from his purpose by the count of
Brittany, and he then gave to that noble five thousand marks of
sUver, who then returned into his own country.
^Of the election of Ralph as archbishop of Canterbury, and its annulment.
On the death of Richard archbishop of Canterbury, above
related, the monks of Canterbury determined to demand as a chief
priest over them, Ralph de NeviUe bishop of Chichester, who was
the king's chanceUor. Accordingly, after making the election,
they on the 24th of September presented him to the king, who
willingly accepted of him, as far as he was concerned, and imme
diately invested him in the manors and other possessions per
taining to the archbishopric. The monks, who were about to go
to Rome, then went to the archbishop elect and asked him for
assistance in defraying the expenses of their journey, but he
plainly told them that he would not give them one farthing for
that purpose. They nevertheless set out for Rome, and demanded
of the pope a confirmation by the apostoUc authority of the elec
tion or proposition they had made. The pope then caused an
inquisition to be made, as it is said, by master Simon Langton as
to the character of the proposed archbishop, and then repUed that
the archbishop elect was a courtier and an Uliterate man, for which
reason he annuUed the said election and gave orders to the
conventual assembly of Canterbury to choose a profitable pastor of
• Paris adds : " Connected with him a wonderful event occurred : his
body, as was the custom, had been laid out in his pontifical robes to be
buried, and in the night some of the men of that country who had beheld
his ornaments with a greedy eye, opened his coffin, wishing to steal his
ring and other episcopal ornaments, but could not effect their purpose
either by force or skill, on which they went away, beating their wicked
breasts in alarm."

544 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1231.
their souls, and one that would promote the welfare of the English
church, on which the monks returned and told their brethren how
they had been foiled in their wishes.
Of the insolence of the Roman clergy.
About this time there arose in England a great excitement, yea,
we may truly call it an indiscreet act of presumption, on account
of the insolence of the Roman clergy, which drove the nobles of
the kingdom as weU as those of inferior rank, to a rash mode of
punishment, as is related in the foUowing writing : — " To such a
bishop and such a chapter, the whole connnunity of those who
would rather die than be put to shame by the Romans, greeting.
How the Roman pontiffs and their legates have hitherto behaved
themselves towards us and other ecclesiastics of England, we are
sure is no secret to you, and how you have conferred the benefices
of the kingdom on their followers, at their pleasure, to the great
prejudice and injury of yourselves and all others of the kingdom ;
and that they have fulminated sentences of excommunication
against you and your feUow bishops and other ecclesiastics, to
whom the coUation of benefices properly belongs, to the intent
that you shaU confer no benefices on a native until five Romans,
whose names are not yet known, namely, the son of Rumfred, and
the sons of such and such persons, shall have been provided for in
each of your churches throughout England, each of them with a
revenue of a hundred pounds, besides other burdens which they
have imposed, both on the laity and nobles of the kingdom, in the
matter of their advowsons and charities bequeathed by them and
their ancestors for the maintenance of the poor, as well as on
clerks and other religious persons, concerning their property and
benefices. And not content with this, they wish to take away from
the clergy of the kingdom, to the very last, the benefices which
they hold in order to bestow them on their Roman followers, not
according to justice but at their own pleasure, and in this way
they endeavour to fulfil the prophecy, ' They have robbed the
Egyptians to enrich the Hebrews, multiplying their people, not
increasing their joy ;' and thus they heap sorrow upon sorrow on
us and you, so that it seems to us to be better to die than to Uve
to be thus oppressed. Wherefore, although it may be difficult for
us 'to kick against the pricks,' since he who wipes his nose too
hard draws blood, we, considering the severity of those who first
came here as Roman strangers, but who now aim not only at
judging but also condemning us, imposing on us unbearable
burdens, which they wiU not move with even one of their fingers,
have, by common consent, determined, late as it is, to oppose them,
rather than any longer to subject ourselves to their intolerable
oppression or to endure a worse slavery. We therefore strictly
forbid you, when we are endeavouring to rescue the church, as
weU as the king and kingdom from the yoke of such oppressive

A.D. 1231.] REVENUES TO ROME PROHIBITED. 545
slavery, to interfere in the case of those who introduce themselves
in matters concerning the Romans and their revenues ; and rest
assured that if you by any chance transgress this order, which God
forbid, aU your property wiU be hable to be burnt, and the punish
ment which the Romans incur in their persons you wiU incur.
Farewell." The prohibition against the paying of farms or revenues to the Romans.
" To the reUgious men, and others who hold churches in farm
from the Roman priests, the above community, greeting. Whereas,
after the innumerable oppressions and injuries, which as you know
have been inflicted by the Romans on the kingdom of England up
to this time, to the injury of the king and the nobles of the
kingdom, in the matter of their advowsons and their alms, and
since they are endeavouring to deprive the clergy of this kingdom
of their benefices, in order to confer them on the Romans, to the
greater prejudice and shame of the kingdom and ourselves, we, by
the common consent of the nobles, have determined, late as it is,
to oppose them, rather than henceforth to submit to their
intolerable oppression, and so to check them by withdrawing from
them aU their benefices throughout the whole kingdom, that they
may cease from harassing it any longer. Wherefore we strictly
order you henceforth not to pay to the Romans the farms of the
churches or the revenues of the lands which you hold from them or
owe to them, but to have the said farms and revenues ready, and
deUver them to our agent appointed by us by letter for the
purpose on the Sunday on which is chanted the psalm, 'Let
Jerusalem rejoice ;' the abbats and priors in their own churches,
and the other presbyters, and the clergy, and laity in their own
churches; and rest assured that if ye do not obey this, your
property wiU be Uable to be burnt, and you wUl incur the danger
to which the Romans in person are Uable. FareweU." After this
the community aforesaid by means of their knights and agents
promulgated these letters, sealed with a new seal, on which were
engraved two swords, and between the swords was this inscription,
" Behold two swords are here," as was the custom with citations to
cathedral churches, signifying, that whomsoever they found
opposing them they would punish according to their decrees.
Of the consistory court held at St. Alban's, and of the capture ofdncius.
About the same time on the 17th of December, a large consistory
court was held at St. Alban's consisting of the abbats, priors, arch
deacons, and almost all the nobility of the kingdom, who had all
assembled by command of the pope, for the purpose of effecting a
divorce between the countess of Essex and her husband, if there
were good reason for it. On the foUowing day after the council
was dissolved, as they were aU returning to their different homes,
a Roman clerk, named Cincius a canon of St. Paul's church at
London, was, by the agency of the above-mentioned society, as was
VOL. II. N H

546 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1232.
said, seized and carried off by some armed men with their heads
covered ; master John a Florentine archdeacon of Norwich, who
had been present at the council, escaped being captured, and fled
to London, where he remained concealed for several days. After
a lapse of five weeks too, Cincius was brought back safe and
sound to London, though, as was said, with his purse emptied.
Of the forcible seizure of corn at Wingham.
a.d. 1232. At Christmas king Henry held his court at Win
chester, where Peter, the bishop of that city provided the necessary
entertainment for him, and made presents of festive dresses to the
king as well as his own foUowers. During the week of Christmas the
weU-stored barns at Wingham, belonging to a Roman priest were
plundered by a smaU body of armed men with their heads covered,
who acted, as was said, by orders of the above-mentioned society.
The proctor and guardian of that church, when he heard of this
deed of violence, went to the sheriff of the county and informed
him of this violation of the king's peace and the injury inflicted on
his lord. The sheriff then sent his agents with some soldiers to
the place, and ordered them to discover what the matter was ; on
arriving at the barns the sold ers there saw these armed men, who
were entirely unknown to Mip"> and who had by this time nearly
emptied the granaries, and sold the corn on good terms for the
benefit of the whole district, and had also charitably given a
portion of it to the poor who asked for it. The soldiers, on coming
up to them, asked them whence they came, and how they dared to
disturb the king's peace and commit such depredations, on which
they caUed the soldiers aside and at once showed them warrants
from the king forbidding any one to obstruct them, and on seeing
these the soldiers themselves, as well as others who had come
there, went away quietly, and within fifteen days these armed men
having sold all the corn, went away with their pockets weU filled.
Information of this occurrence having been carried to Roger
bishop of London, he summoned ten bishops, and on the day after
the feast of the blessed virgin Scholastica,* in St. Paul's church at
London, they excommunicated aU the authors of this deed of
violence, and including in this sentence aU those who had laid
violent hands on Cincius the canon of the church at London, and
also the whole of the above-mentioned society, and aU those who
had written and sealed the letters above-mentioned.
How the king demanded pecuniary assistance.
On the 7th of March in this year, the nobles of the kingdom,
laity as weU as prelates, assembled in councU at Westminster at
the summons of the king, who there explained to them, that he
was involved in heavy debts by reason of the war which he had
lately carried on on the continent, and was therefore driven by
necessity to ask the assistance of them aU in general. On hearing
* The 10th of February.

A.D. 1232.] OF A KNIGHT WHO STOLE VENISON. 547
this, Ralph earl of Chester, speaking for the rest of the nobles, re
pUed to the king, that the earls, barons, and knights, who were
tenants of the king in chief, and were there present in person, had
expended their money so lavishly to no purpose, that they had all
left the continent poor men, and therefore by right were not bound
to give the king assistance ; and then aU the lay nobles asked leave,
and retired from the council. The prelates, in answer to the king's
demand, said that many of the bishops and abbats, who had been
summoned were not present, and they therefore asked for a post
ponement of the matter tiU they should aU assemble on a day ap
pointed. A day was then appointed a fortnight after Easter for
them aU to assemble and determine what ought to be done by
right. In this same year, the conventual assembly of Canterbury elected
John their prior to be their archbishop and the pastor of their
souls, who on his presentation to the king was accepted of by him,
and then set off to Rome to obtain a proper confirmation of his
election from the apostolic see.
Of a remarkable vision concerning king Richard.
About this same time Henry bishop of Rochester was performing
divine service, on the Sunday when is chanted the psalm, " Come to
the water, aU ye that are thirsty," at a place caUed Sittingbourn, in
the presence of the archbishop elect of Canterbury, and surrounded
by the clergy and people, when he confidently made the foUowing
declaration to them, " Rejoice aU of ye, my brethren in the Lord,
who are here present, for be assured for certain that on one and the
same day lately, Richard formerly king of England, and Stephen
late archbishop of Canterbury in company with a chaplain of the
said archbishop, went out of the places of torture and appeared
before the divine majesty, and only those three left purgatory on
that day ; and you may put sure confidence in my words, for this
has been revealed by a vision to me or some one else three times,
so plainly that aU doubt is removed from my mind." And as men
tion has here been made of the noble king Richard, I will relate an
occurrence which happened to him, for the edification of my
readers.
How Richard saw the image of Christ bend its head towards a worshipper.
During the reign of the said king Richard, a certain EngUsh
knight Uving in the New Forest, who had long made a practice of
clandestinely hunting the king's deer, was on one occasion caught
with some stolen venison, and by a decree of the court of the said
king was condemned to exUe. This merciful king had mitigated
the law in reference to stolen venison, which, amongst his prede
cessors had been so severe, that when any were caught committing
that offence, their eyes were plucked out, their members lopped
off, together with their hands and feet ; but to' the pious king
Richard such a punishment seemed inhuman, that men, who are
WW 2

548 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1232.
made after God's image, should be periUed of life or Umb for beasts,
which, according to the law of nature, were given for the general
use of all, by which man was made to appear of less importance
than the wild beasts. He however considered it quite a sufficient
punishment for any one, who was caught committing that offence,
either to be banished from England or to undergo imprisonment
saving his life and limbs. The above-mentioned knight then was
sent into exUe, and he, who had formerly enjoyed aU the dainties
of life, was, with his wife and chUdren, obhged to beg his bread
amongst foreigners. The knight, after some reflection, at length
determined to implore the king for mercy, and for his estate to be
restored to him, and he accordingly went to the king in Normandy,
where he found him early in the morning in a church, about to
hear mass. The knight tremblingly entered the church and did
not dare to raise his eyes to the king, for although he was the
most handsome of men to look upon, there was still something
dreadful in his look ; he therefore went to an image of Christ on
the cross, and, weeping incessantly, he humbly on his bended
knees besought the Crucified One through his unspeakable grace
compassionately to make his peace with the king, by which means
he might recover his lost inheritance. The king seeing the knight
thus earnestly and with unfeigned devotion praying and weeping,
witnessed an occurrence wonderful and worthy of narration ; for
whenever the knight, who he knew was not of his retinue, bent
his knees to worship the image, the image in aU humiUty bowed
its head and shoulders as it were in answer to the knight, and the
king was struck with wonder and astonishment to see this repeated
frequently. As soon as the service of mass was ended, he sent for
the knight to speak with him, and inquired of him who he was
and whence he came. The knight then repUed with fear and said,
" My lord, I am your Uege subject as my ancestors also have been ;"
and then beginning his history, he told the king how he had been
deprived of his inheritance and banished together with his famUy,
having been caught with some stolen venison. The king then
said to the knight, " Have you ever in your Ufe done any good
action in respect, and to the honour, of the holy cross 1 " The
knight then, after carefuUy thinking over the events of his past
life, related to the king the foUowing deed which he had done in
his reverence for Christ.
How the knight spared his enemy out of his reverence for Christ.
"My father," said he, "and another knight divided between
them a town which belonged to them by hereditary right ; and
whUst my father abounded in aU kinds of wealth, the other knight,
on the contrary was always poor and needy, and, becoming envious
of my father, he treacherously murdered him. I was then a boy,
but when I arrived at manhood and was instaUed in my paternal
inheritance, I made a resolute determination to slay that knight in

a.d. 1232.] the king's patience. 549
revenge for my father's death ; he was however forewarned of my
purpose, and for several years by his cunning escaped the snares
I had laid for him. At length, on the day of the Preparation, on
which day Christ Jesus bore his cross for the salvation of the world,
as I was going to church to hear mass, I saw my enemy before me,
also on his way to church. I hastened on behind him, and drew
my sword to kUl him, when by some chance he looked round, and,
seeing me rushing upon him, fled to a cross which stood near the
road, being worn down by age and unable to defend himself.
And when I endeavoured with upraised sword to slay him and
dash out his brains, he encircled the cross with his arms, and ad
jured me in the name of that Christ, who on that day was suspended
on the cross for the salvation of the whole world, not to slay him,
and faithfuUy promised and vowed, that he would appoint a chap
lain to perform a mass every day from that time for the soul of my
father whom he had killed. When I saw the old man weeping I
was moved to pity, and thus in my love and reverence for him
who, for my salvation and that of aU, ascended the cross and con
secrated it by his most holy blood, I forgave the knight for my
father's murder." The king then said to the knight, " You acted
wisely, for now that Crucified One has repaid one good turn by
another." He then summoned the bishops and barons who were
there with him, and, in the hearing of aU, related the vision he
had seen, how at each genuflection made by the knight, the image
of Christ had humbly bowed its head and shoulders. He then
summoned his chanceUor to him, and commanded him by his let
ters patent to order the sheriff, whom the knight should name to
him at sight of the warrant, to restore to the knight the whole of
his property in the same condition as he received it at the time of
his banishment. Of the king's patience in his persecutions.
WhUst we are speaking of the virtues of the noble king, we
ought not to omit to mention, that as soon as he was crowned, he
always afforded strict justice to every one, and never aUowed it to
be subverted by bribery. AU the vacant bishoprics and abbacies
he at once bestowed without purchase on canonicaUy elected
priests, nor did he ever consign them to the charge of laymen ; he
held all ordained prelates and especiaUy reUgious men, in such
respect, and in his reverence of Jesus Christ, was so afraid of
offending them, that once on a time when aU the prelates of the
kingdom were assembled before the king by order of the pope, to
make a grant of the twentieth part of aU moveable property for
the assistance of the Holy Land, and were sitting apart discussing
the matter, the king said in a low voice to Geoffrey Fitz-Peter
and WUUam Briwere, who sat at his feet, "Do you see those
prelates who are sitting there?" They answered, "We do, my
lord." The king then said to them, " If they knew how much I,

550 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 123?.
in my reverence of God, am afraid of them, and how unwilling I
should be to offend them, they would trample on me as on an old
and worn-out shoe." It is also to be remarked, how he gave up
the pleasures of his newly-gained kingdom in his love for the
Eternal King, and how UberaUy he expended his own money and
that of his late father in the service of Christ and for the libera^
tion of the Holy Land, and how bravely he wrested the whole
land of promise, besides the holy city of Jerusalem, from the
hands of the enemies of the cross. And when his money failed
him there he made a truce for three years and obtained permis
sion from Saladin for a priest to perform the mass of the cross at
the sepulchre of our Lord on each day tiU the termination of the
truce at his own expense ; and then departing to his own country,
he recruited his forces and collected money, and at the end of the
truce returned, leaving the kingdom and all the possessions of
which he was Lord in the western countries, that he might be
crowned king in the holy city of Jerusalem, take command of the
troops, fight the battles of the Lord of sabaoth, and endeavour to
subdue the enemies of the cross as long as he Uved. But the
enemy of the human race, who is always envious of good works
aud of the prosperity of Christians, stirred up against this devoted
king the duke of Austria and the Roman emperor, who laid snares
for him on his return from the Holy Land, when he was taken by
his enemies, and, hke a buU or an ass, sold to the Roman empe
ror. He was then imprisoned and vUely treated far otherwise
than was fit for such a great man, and was obliged to pay a heavy
sum for his ransom. The French king moreover obstructed his
plans by invading his dominions when he was employed in the
service of the cross ; and being thus hindered by enemies in all
quarters, he kept in mind the martyrdom which he had not yet
undergone in body, as he had determined to do, in the land of
promise, for he longed to return and to die in the service of the
cross. In addition to all these trials of the said king, whilst he
was absent on the crusade, earl John his brother conspired to
subdue England, besieged castles, and made war on his brother,
but by the commendable fidelity of the English, his plans were
frustrated. 0 wonderful firmness of this noble king, which could
never be bowed down by adversity, and was never elated in pros
perity, but he always appeared cheerful, and in him there never
appeared any sign of diffidence. These and other Uke virtues had
rendered our king Richard glorious in the sight of the most high
God ; wherefore now, when the time of God's mercy had arrived,
he was deservedly removed, as we beUeve, from the places of
punishment to the everlasting kingdom, where Christ his king,
whom he had faithfuUy served, had laid by for his soldier the
crown of justice, which God had promised to those who love him.
Rejoicing in company with him are those saints whose rehcs he

A.D. 1232.] SALE OF THE CROPS. 55L
redeemed at the land of promise from Saladin for fifty-two thou
sand bezants, with the understanding that those saints should in
his extreme necessity assist him by their intercessions in gaining
God's favour. These said relics had been collected by the Sara
cens throughout aU Judea and GalUee at the time of the capture
of the Holy Land and the revered cross, and were placed in four
ivory chests, each of which was so heavy that four men could
scarcely carry it. But these circumstances have been more fuUy
related amongst the events in the reign of the said king Richard.
Of the sale of the crops of the Roman clergy.
In the same year the corn of the Roman clergy throughout
almost aU England was carried off and sold by some men who
were unknown, on good terms and for the benefit of many ; this
audacious business they commenced at Easter, and carried it
through without any opposition. They were liberal in bestowing
alms on the needy who came to them, and sometimes they threw
money amongst the poor. The Roman clergy lay concealed in the
convents, not daring to murmur at the injuries inflicted on them,
for they preferred losing all their property to being condemned to
death. The agents in this audacious proceeding were about eighty
in number, and sometimes fewer ; and their chief was one William,
surnamed Wither, whose instructions they obeyed in every thing.
Soon afterwards however, these proceedings came to the know
ledge of the supreme pontiff, who was highly incensed, and sent a
severe letter to the king of England, reproaching him for aUowing
such robberies to be perpetrated on the ecclesiastics in his king
dom, paying no respect to the oath which he had taken at the
time of his coronation, not only to maintain peace towards the
church, but also to observe strict justice towards the clergy as weU
as the laity. In the same letter too, he strictly ordered the king,
under penalty of excommunication and interdict, to cause a dili
gent search for the authors of this violence, and to punish the
guilty ones severely, in order that by punishing them, he might
strike fear and dread into others. He also sent letters to Peter
bishop of Winchester, and the abbat of St Edmund's, ordering
them to make a strict search in the southern parts of England,
and to denounce aU whom they could find guilty of this offence,
as excommunicated, untU they should come to Rome to be ab
solved by the apostoUc see. In the same way in the north of
England he entrusted the same inquisition to the archbishop of
York, the bishop of Durham, and John, a canon of York and a
Roman by birth, and ordered them to send those guilty of this
violence to Rome to be absolved, notwithstanding any appeal.
Of the inquisition made in the matter of the aforesaid robbery.
An inquisition was therefore instituted concerning this robbery
by the king ; the bishops and the above-mentioned agents, and by
means of examinations upon oath and the production of witnesses,

552 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1232.
many offenders were discovered, some of them principals, and
others as abettors ; and some of these were the king's bishops and
clerks, some of the archdeacons and deans, and numbers of knights
and laymen. Some of the sheriffs also and their provosts were, by
the king's orders, taken and imprisoned for this offence, and others
in their alarm consulted their safety by flight and could not be
found. Hubert de Burgh the king's justiciary is said to have been
the chief transgressor in this matter, because he had given those
robbers warrants from the king and himself, to prevent any one
from obstructing them in the said robbery. Amongst the rest there
came to the king, Robert de Tuinge, a bold man, who had assumed
the name of WilUam Wither, and with others abetting him had
sold the crops of the Roman clergy, and had engaged five armed
attendants to assist him in his violence. This man openly declared
that he had transgressed the law in hatred of the Romans, and for
a just retaliation ; for these said Romans, by a decree of the Roman
pontiff, were fraudulently endeavouring to deprive him of the only
church which he held : he also added, that he would rather be
unjustly excommunicated for a time than be robbed of his benefice
without a trial. The king and the agents aforesaid then advised the
knight, as he had incurred the sentence pronounced, to hasten to
Rome, and to urge his claim before his holiness the pope, and to
prove to him that he held the church ahke legally and can onically ;
the king also gave him letters testimonial to the pope, and begged
that pontiff in his kindness to grant the knight's request.
How the election of the prior of Canterbury was annulled at Rome.
In the Whitsun week of the same year, the prior John, arch
bishop elect of Canterbury, went to Rome and showed the warrant
of his election to the pope, who then ordered master John de
Colonna and some other cardinals to question him, and discover if
he was a fit person to be promoted to that dignified station. After
an examination of three days, during which they carefully questioned
him on nineteen points, as was said, they declared to the pope
that they found no legitimate cause for rejecting him. It appeared
however to the pope that he was too old and simple, and therefore
unfit for such a high station, he therefore advised him to resign ;
and the archbishop elect humbly renounced the election which had
been made, and asked leave to return home. The pope then granted
permission to the monks to elect another, and ordered them to
choose one to whom he could entrust his duty and pastoral charge.
How the English king dismissed some of his ministers from their offices.
About this time, Llewellyn, the Welsh chief, invaded the terri
tories of the EngUsh barons, and, in his usual way, commenced
ravaging the country with fire and piUage. Peter bishop of Win
chester, and some other counseUors of the king, therefore went to
him, and declared that it was a great scandal on his crown, that
those worthless robbers, the Welsh, roved with impunity through

A.D. 1232.] CHARGES AGAINST HUBERT. 553
their lands and those of the barons, devastating aU the places with
fire, and leaving nothing uninjured. The king in reply to them
said, " I am told by my treasurers, that the whole of the revenue
in my treasury is scarcely sufficient to procure me common food
and clothing and to pay the usual bounties, wherefore poverty pre
vents me from engaging in war." The king's counsellors in reply
to him said, " If you are poor, blame yourself for it, for you transfer
aU the vacant honours, trusts, and dignities on others, and so
alienate them from the exchequer, that you cannot be called a king
from your riches, but only in the name ; for your ancestors, who
were noble and rich in the glory of their wealth, collected an end
less amount of money from the produce and emoluments of the
kingdom." The king then being incited by those whom it would
be wicked to mention by name, and provoked by the insults of his
counsellors, at once demanded of the sheriffs, bailiffs, and other
agents of his, an account of the revenues, and every thing pertain
ing to the royal exchequer, and whoever of them he discovered to
be guilty of fraud, he deposed from their offices and demanded the
money due to him with interest, and kept them in prison tiU they
paid the whole debt. Ralph, surnamed the Breton, a treasurer of his
chamber, he deposed from office, took from him a thousand pounds
of sUver, and appointed Peter de Rivaux, a native of Poictou, in
his stead. And so in a short time the king replenished his empty
coffers although not yet full to repletion.
How the king demanded an account from Hubert the justiciary.
About the same time the king, by the advice of Peter bishop of
Winchester, dismissed Hubert de Burgh, the chief justiciary, from
his office, and on the 29th of July appointed Stephen de Segrave
a knight, in his stead ; and a few days afterwards, being enraged
against the lately dismissed Hubert, he demanded of him immedi
ately an account of aU the money paid into his treasury, and the
debts which were due to him during the time of his father, and
also in his own time. He also demanded an account of his domains
which had come into his possession on the day of the death of
WiUiam earl of Pembroke, his then justiciary and marshal, and as
to who held possession of them in England, Wales, Ireland, and
Poictou; also concerning the liberties which he thenheldintheforests,
warrens, counties, and other places, as to how they were maintained
and ahened; also concerning the tax of the fifteenth ,and sixteenth
parts, and other incomes due to his treasury, as well as to the New
Temple at London and elsewhere. Also concerning the fines levied
for relaxing his rights in land as weU as in moveable property ;
also concerning the losses he, the king, had sustained by Hubert's
negligence ; also respecting what had been wasted either in war or
in any other way, without any advantage to himself ; also respect
ing the Uberties which Hubert himself enjoyed in the lands,
bishoprics, and trusts, which had been assigned to him without

554 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1232.
warrant, and which belonged to the king himself ; also respecting
the harm and injuries inflicted on the Roman and Italian clergy,
and on the pope's messengers, against the king's wish, by the said
Hubert, who would not give any advice that they might be
remedied, which he was bound to do by the duties of his office as
justiciary ; also as to how the king's peace had been kept towards
his subjects in his kingdom of England, Ireland, Gascony, and
Poictou, as well as towards foreigners ; also as to what had been
done with the scutages, plough-land taxes, gifts, and presents, or
the proceeds of trust which belonged to the crown ; also as to the
marriage portions left in his care by king John at the time of his
death, and others entrusted to him in his the present king's time.
In reply to this, Hubert told the king that he held a warrant from
his the king's father, by which he released him from giving any
account of the money received or to be received in his treasury, for
he was so weU assured of his fidelity towards him the king that he
did not wish to hear any account from him. Peter bishop of Win
chester then said, that that warrant lost its power at the death of
king John, and that therefore it did not become him, the present
king, to abide by the warrants of his father, but demand an account
of the above matters. These are some of the fighter matters on
which the king required a reckoning from Hubert. Several other
serious charges foUow, in which the king accused Hubert of treason
against his royal person, and which were as follow :—
The king's first charge against Hubert was, that when he sent
letters to the duke of Austria, asking for that prince's daughter in
marriage, he, Hubert, had at the same time sent letters to the duke
to the prejudice of the king and the kingdom, and dissuading the
duke from giving him his said daughter in marriage. Also, that
when he had led his army to the continent to recover his lost
territories, Hubert had dissuaded him from invading Normandy or
the other possessions belonging to his jurisdiction; whereby he
had spent his money to no purpose, as well as the nobles who
accompanied him. The king also accused him of having treacher
ously had connection with the daughter of the king of Scots, whom
king John had entrusted to his care in order to marry her himself,
and had begotten illegitimate chUdren by her, thus prostituting a
noble lady, and had kept her to himseff in hopes of obtaining the
kingdom of Scotland if she should survive her brother. Also that
he, Hubert, had surreptitiously taken from his treasury a certain
jewel, which rendered the wearer invincible in battle, and had
treacherously sent it to his enemy Llewellyn the Welsh chief. Also
that it was owing to letters sent by him to the said chief, Llewellyn,
that the noble William de Braose had been treacherously hung like
a robber. AU these charges, whether true or mahciously false, had
been suggested by the rivals of the said Hubert to the king, who
with great eagerness ordered satisfaction to be taken from the said

a.d. 1232.] Hubert's flight to merton. 555
Hubert according to the decision of his court. The justiciary in
this strait, as he had no other resource, asked for time to be
allowed him to deliberate on the aforesaid matters, declaring that
the charges were heavy and difficult to answer which the king had
made against him ; and so having with great difficulty obtained a
respite till the exaltation of the holy cross, Hubert left London in
great alarm, and went to the priory of Merton. Thus this Hubert,
who had formerly excited the envy of all the barons of England
against him on account of the king's regard and his care for the
kingdom, now deserted by the king, and without friends, was alone
and comfortless ; Luke archbishop of Dublin, was the only one
who spoke to the king in his behalf, which he did with tears and
urgent entreaties, but as the justiciary's offences were so great, his
request could not be granted.
Of some serious charges made against the justiciary.
When people saw the king's regard for Hubert, whom he had
once bo particularly favoured, changed into hatred, many of his
enemies rose against him and accused him of many enormous
crimes. Some accused him of having caused the death of the two
nobles, William earl of Salisbury and William Marshall earl of
Pembroke, by poison, and that he had killed Falcasius and Richard
archbishop of Canterbury by the same wicked means. The citizens
of London laid a complaint before the king that the said Hubert
had hung their feUow citizen Constantine unjustly, and without
any trial, for which crime they demanded justice ; the king there
fore issued a proclamation throughout London, calling on all who
had any complaint against Hubert, for any injury to them soever,
to come to him when they should have justice done them. When
Hubert heard of this, he fled in alarm to the church at Merton,
where he concealed himself amongst the canons.
In the autumn of the same year, Master John, surnamed le Blund,
a clerk and student of theology at Oxford, was elected to the arch
bishopric of Canterbury ; and after being accepted by the king, he
started with some of the monks for Rome to obtain a confirmation
of his election from the apostolic see.
Of the grant to the king of the fortieth part of property, S[C.
In the same season, about the time of the exaltation of the holy
cross, the bishops and other prelates of the churches and the
nobles of the kingdom, assembled in council before the king at
Lambeth, when a grant was made to the king to discharge the
debts he owed to the count of Brittany, of the fortieth part of all
moveable property from bishops, abbats, priors, clergy and laity,
according to what they had when the corn was gathered in autumn,
in this the sixteenth year of his reign. Hubert de Bourg, to whom
the king had appointed a fixed time to appear to answer the above-
mentioned charges and demands against him,1 fearing the king's
anger, did not dare to appear, for it had been hinted to him that

556 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1232.
the king intended to condemn him to a disgraceful death ; he there
fore fled to the church at Merton, and hid himself tiU his affairs
assumed a more favourable appearance. The king at length sent
word to him to come to his court to answer to the charges against
him ; but he told the king through his messenger, that, dreading
his anger, he had taken refuge in the church, the last resource of
aU who suffered injury, and that he would not leave it tiff he knew
that the feelings of him the king had taken a more favourable turn
towards him. The king at this flew into a rage, and, although it
was then evening, he sent orders by letter to the mayor of London
to take with him aU the inhabitants of the city who could carry
arms to attack Merton, and to bring Hubert before him dead or
ahve. The mayor then having rung the common beU, ordered the
citizens to assemble, and read the letter of the king to them, order
ing them aU to fly to arms and to execute the king's orders early
the next morning. The citizens were delighted when they under
stood the purport of the letter, for they had conceived a mortal
hatred of Hubert,* they therefore left the city before it was light
* Some of the more prudent citizens, namely Andrew Buckrell, John
Travers, and some others, taking a better view of these matters, and weighing
in their minds the scandal which would arise, went in haste to the house of
Peter bishop of Winchester, at Southwark, and, awaking him out of a
heavy sleep, asked his advice in this matter; " for," said they, " danger
will accrue to the church of Merton, as well as to the city, since the rage
of such a disorderly and, unrestrainable rabble could not be curbed, but
they would plunder and destroy every thing, and would not stop even
at shedding blood." To this the bishop replied by the following cruel
advice: "It is hard on the one side, and dreadful on the other; how
ever I unhesitatingly advise you above every thing else to fulfil the com
mand of your lord." They were astounded at hearing such advice from a
bishop, and proceeded in alarm with their expedition; moreover the
populace, greedy for revenge, ardently longed to carry it out ; and on the
following day, before it was light, the citizens went forth armed to the
number of twenty thousand men, and marched towards Merton to execute
the king's order. Hubert however, getting information of this, prostrated
himself in prayer before the great altar, and with confidence entrusted his
life to God. In the meantime, whilst the armed citizens were on their
march, uttering threats against Hubert, it was hinted to the king by the
earl of Chester that if he excited such sedition amongst an irrational and
froward multitude, there would be reason for him to fear that he might not
be able to check it if once commenced, when he wished to do so ; and it
would be made a subject of invective and irony throughout the world,
especially by the French, who of great faults always make greater, and of
evil deeds always make worse, and it would be said, " What sort of a child
is this English prince, who can thus oppress his subjects and those who have
nursed him under their wing V And of Hubert it would be said as of the
sparrow feeding the cuckoo,
" Alis, ales, alis, alium ne longius ales.'1
Two messengers then were sent to recall the multitude thus tumultuously

A.D. 1232.] HUBERT IMPRISONED IN THE TOWER. 557
the next morning to the number of twenty thousand men, and
marched in array towards Merton, to carry the king's orders into
effect. During these proceedings however it was suggested to the
king by the earl of Chester, that if he stirred up such strife amongst
the irrational and foolish populace, there might be a chance of his
being unable, when he wished to do so, to calm the disturbance
once commenced; the king therefore altered his mind, and sent
orders to the mayor at once to reeall the force he had sent out. So
the citizens returned in a state of astonishment without having
accompUshed their purpose.
How Hubert was dragged out of a chapel and thrown into the tower.
After these events the archbishop of Dublin, after much entreaty,
obtained for Hubert a respite till the octaves of the Epiphany, in
order that he might have time to deliberate on the above-named
demands, which were of a most urgent nature, and might then be
able to give a reasonable answer, and to make proper amends to
the king. Hubert then having received a guarantee for his security,
as was beUeved, by letters patent from the king, took the road to
St. Edmund's where his wife was staying, and then passing through
Essex, he took up his abode in the house of the bishop of Norwich
in a town which was under the jurisdiction of the said bishop ; this
greatly enraged the king, who was afraid that if Hubert thus got
away from him, he would cause a great excitement in the kingdom ;
therefore, repenting of the respite he had granted to him, the king
sent the knight Godfrey de Craucumbe after him with three hun
dred soldiers, ordering him, on pain of being hung, to bring
Hubert back a prisoner, and to imprison him in the tower of
London. This party then marched with all haste, and found
Hubert in a church near his abode, holding the cross of our Lord
in one hand, and the body of Christ in the other : for he had been
forewarned of the approach of those who sought his life, and rising
from the couch where he had been sleeping, he fled naked to the
church. The aforesaid Godfrey however entered the chapel with
his armed followers, and ordered him in the king's name to leave
rushing to shed innocent blood ; one of these mounted on a swift horse and
carrying the king's warrant, recalled the foremost of them by its authority;
the other messenger, however, who hated the earl of Kent, Hubert, and
would rather have seen him slain than set free, although ordered to use all
speed, took his own time, and did not reach the middle of them ; for which
he was visited by the Divine anger, for his horse happening to stumble at
some obstacle, although only proceeding at a slow pace, he fell flat to the
ground, and, breaking his back, expired. This pious mission was effected by
Ralph bishop of Chester, then chancellor, a just man, and one faithful to
the whole of the kingdom, and who grieved for the sufferings of Hubert.
At sight of the warrant then, this army of citizens and populace was brought
to a stand; and thus the king changed his intentions and sent messengers
with all speed to recall the army he had sent forth, and the citizens returned
disappointed to the city without effecting their object.

558 . ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1232.
the chapel and come to London to speak with the king. Hubert
replied that he would not leave the chapel on any account; on
which Godfrey and his accomplices snatched the cross and the
body of our Lord out of his hands, and, after securing him, placed
him on a horse, and conducted him to the tower of London,* where
they placed him in close confinement. When this was effected they
told the king, who had been anxiously waiting their arrival,
what they had done, on which he retired to his couch satisfied.
How Hubert was brought back lo the chapel.
Early the next morning Roger bishop of London, on hearing
how Hubert had been dragged from the chapel, hastened to the
king, and, boldly rebuking him for having violated the sanctity of
the holy church, told him that unless he released Hubert and sent
him back to the chapel from which he had been dragged by force.
he would excommunicate all the authors of this deed of violence.
The king then, however unwillingly, knowing Hubert to be guUty,
sent him back on the 27th of September to the chapel from which
he had been dragged by the soldiers ; after this he gave orders to
the sheriffs of Hereford and Essex, on pain of death, in person and
with all the inhabitants of the two counties to blockade the chapel
and to see that Hubert did not escape, or receive provisions from
any one. The aforesaid sheriffs then went according to their orders,
and commenced blockading it as weU as the bishop's house which
was near, and dug a deep wide trench around the chapel and the
house, determining to keep watch there for forty days. Hubert
however bore aU this with equanimity, having a clear conscience, as
* Paris adds: — " Because they had not found a willing workman. A
certain" smith, who was summoned and ordered to put fetters on him,
asked on whose legs he was to fasten them, on which one of them said,
' On those of Hubert de Burgh, a convicted rebel and fugitive.' The smith
however said with a sigh, ' Uo with me as you please ; may God be merciful
to my soul, for the Lord liveth, but I will die rather than put fetters
on him. Is he not that most faithful and noble-minded Hubert, who so
often saved England from the ravages of foreigners, and restored England
to itself ? Is it not he who in Gascony and Normandy served his lord king
John so faithfully and boldly, that he was even obliged to eat horse-flesh,
so that even our enemies praised his remarkable boldness; who for a long
time preserved for us, against the king of France and a chosen army, the
castle of Dover, the key of England, and by defeating our enemies at sea,
wrought our safety? Need I mention his brave deeds at Lincoln and
Bedford S Let God decide between him and you, for you are treating him
unjustly and inhumanly, returning evil for good, yea even the worst for the
best.' Hubert on hearing these words, thought of the words of the gospel
where it said, ' I confess to thee, Father of heaven and earth, that thou hast
hiddenmy cause from skilful and wise men, andhast revealed it to thepoor and
humble ; to thee, my God, have I revealed my cause ; for my enemies have
risen against me,' &c. But Godfrey de Craucumbe and his followers
paying little heed to these remarks, Bound Hubert and took him away."

A.D. 1232.] IMPRISONMENT OF HUBERT. 559
he said, and trusting his cause to God, continually asking of the
divine mercy to protect him from all danger, as he himself had always
regarded the king's honour and safety above all things. The king
however paid little regard to the deserts of the man who had served
him with such zeal, that he made it his only business to please him,
and gave a general prohibition to all not to speak to him on behalf
of Hubert, or to make any mention of him in his presence. Luke
archbishop of Dublin, however, who was his only friend, incessantly
begged of the king with tears at least to tell him what he meant to
do with respect to Hubert ; to this the king is said to have replied,
that out of a number of alternatives there was a choice for him,
namely, either to abjure England for ever, to undergo perpetual
imprisonment, openly to acknowledge himself a traitor, or throw
himseff on the king's mercy. To this Hubert replied that he
would not accept of either of these alternatives, as he had suspicions
of the king's designs, for he did not recollect that he had ever done
anything deserving of such disgrace ; nevertheless, that he would
leave the kingdom for a time, to satisfy the king, but would not
entirely abjure it* After this he passed many days and nights
blockaded in this chapel with two retainers, who supplied him with
provisions tiU, by the king's order, all kinds of food were denied
them, and they themselves were ejected from the chapel. Hubert
in this extremity, thinking it disgraceful to die by hunger, left th*e
chapel of his own accord, and surrendered himself to the sheriffs
who were watching him ; for, he said, he would rather trust to the
king's mercy than die of hunger. The sheriffs then made him weU
secure, and, placing him on a horse, took him to London, where,
by the king's orders, he was closely confined and shackled in the
tower of the city.
Of the collection of the fortieth part of property granted lo the king.
" Henry by the grace of God, king of England, to Peter de
Thaneo, William Culworth, and Adam Fitz-William, collectors of
the fortieth part, greeting. Be it known to you that the archbishops,
bishops, abbats, priors, and clergy, who hold lands which do not
* Paris adds : — " In the same year, on the 28th of October, Ralph earl of
Chester and Lincoln closed his life at Wallingford ; his body was carried
to be entombed at Chester, but his bowels were buried at Wallingford..
When news of his death was brought to Hubert de Bourg, and it was told
him that one of his enemies was dead, he said with a sigh, ' The Lord be
merciful to him. He was my man by his own doing, and yet never did me
good wherever he could do me harm.' Then, taking a psalter, he placed
himself before the great altar in the chapel where he was blockaded, and
read a mass for the soul of the said Ralph. The latter was succeeded in
the earldom of Chester by John, his nephew, the son of his sister by earl
David, brother of the king of Scots; another nephew of his on his sister's
side obtained the earldom of Lincoln, and from being a baron thus became
an earl ; the earl of Arundel too, another nephew of his, came into possession
of five hundred librates of land."

560 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1232.
belong to their churches, and the earls, barons, knights, freemen,
and farmers of our kingdom, have, for our assistance, made a
grant to us of the fortieth part of all their moveable property as
held by them on the day following St. Matthew's day in the six
teenth year of our reign, namely, of corn, ploughs, sheep, calves,
pigs, studs of carriage and cart horses, and others employed on
their manors, excepting the property, which the aforesaid arch
bishops, bishops, and other ecclesiastical persons hold from
parochial and prebendal churches, as weU as prebends, and the
lands belonging or pertaining to prebends or parochial churches.
It has been also provided by our liege subjects aforesaid in general,
that the aforesaid fortieth part shall be assessed and collected as
foUows : namely, that four persons shall be chosen from the better
and more skilful men of each town, together with the provosts of
each of the towns, by whom on oath the fortieth part of all move
able property aforesaid shaU be assessed and taxed on each and aU
in the presence of the knights-assessors deputed for the purpose ;
and afterwards, on the oaths of two Uege men of the same towns,
the fortieth part of all moveable property, belonging to the aforesaid
four men and provosts, shaU be taxed and assessed ; and it shaU
be strictly and plainly enroUed in whose baroDy each town was
either partly or altogether. And after the fortieth part has been
assized and committed to writing, the Ust of aU particulars con
cerning each village and each county shall be deUvered to the
seneschal of each of the barons, or to the attorney of such senes
chal, or to the bailiff of the liberty, where any one may have
hberty, namely, that the baron or lord of the hberty may have the
power to coUect the aforesaid fortieth part and to distrain for it ;
but if he does not wish, or is not able to do so, the sheriffs shall
make the said distraint, so that they shall receive nothing from it,
but the whole of the said fortieth part shall be deUvered to the
aforesaid knights-assessors in the largest and most safe town of
each of the counties. And from each town there shaU be a chief
account kept between the seneschal of the baron, or his attorney,
or the seneschals of the lord of the hberty, and the aforesaid
assessors. And the money shah be placed by the assessors in some
safe place in the same town, so that they shall have their seals, locks,
and keys on the said money, and the sheriffs likewise shall put
their seals, locks, and keys on it. And immediately after the fortieth
part has been assessed, the assessors shaU send their roUs for their
whole circuit to the treasury ; and in Uke manner as soon as the
aforesaid money is coUected, they shall send their roUs of their
receipts to the treasury, and the aforesaid money shaU be kept in
the place where it has been deposited, until it is brought by our
orders to the New Temple at London. And,nothing shaU be taken
by way of the fortieth part from any man who is not possessed of
moveable property to the value of forty pence at the least. And we

A.D. 1232.] DEATH OF EARL RALPH. 561
have appointed you to assess the fortieth part in the county of
Hertford, and we have commanded our sheriff of Hertford, to
summon aU the vUlagers of his county, by our command, to appear
before you at a fixed time and place which you are to appoint for
him to do so, and also to assist and obey you in all matters con
nected with the said business. Farewell."
Of the death of Ralph earl of Chester.
On the 28th of October in the same year Ralph earl of Chester
and Lincoln died at WaUingford, and his body was taken to Chester
to be buried. He was succeeded in his earldom by his nephew John,
son of his sister by David, brother of William king of Scots ;
another nephew of his, a son of his second sister obtained the earl
dom of Lincoln, and from being a baron, became an earl ; the earl
of Arundel too, another nephew of his, came into possession of
five hundred librates.
About this time, just before Martinmas, it was hinted to the
king that the ex-justiciary Hubert had a large sum of money at the
New Temple in London, consigned to the care of the templars
there. He therefore summoned the master of the templars to an
interview with him and asked him plainly if it was the case, and
he, not daring to deny the truth to the king, confessed that a sum
of money had been confided to the care of him and the brethren,
but they were entirely unaware of the amount and quantity. The
king then with threats demanded this money of the monks, declaring
that it had been stolen by Hubert from the treasury ; the templars
however repUed that they would not deliver to any one the money
which had been entrusted to them in confidence, without leave
from the person who had deposited it in the Temple for safe keep
ing. As this money was consigned to the care of the church the
king did not think it advisable to resort to violence, he therefore
sent the treasurer of his court with the justiciaries of his exchequei
to Hubert, who was aU this time in fetters in the tower of London,
ordering him to assign aU the said money to the king. When the
aforesaid messengers told Hubert their message on behalf of the,
king, he immediately replied, that he would resign himself and all
he possessed to the king's will. He therefore gave instructions to
the knights of the Temple to defiver up all the keys in his name to
the king, that he might do as he chose with the property deposited
there ; this being done, the king ordered the money to be correctly
counted and lodged in his treasury, and a written list of the property
found there to be taken and shown to him. The king's clerks and
treasurer found there eight thousand pounds of silver of the best
coinage, a hundred and forty goblets of silver and silver set with
gold, with also such a quantity of jewels, that they exceeded in
value, it was said, aU the rest of the property found there. When
a report of this event was spread abroad some of Hubert's untiring
persecutors went to the king, making accusations against him and
vol. it. o o

562 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1232.
said, that now he was convicted of theft and fraud, he deserved to
suffer a disgraceful death; to which the king replied as follows :
" Hubert from his boyhood, as I am told, has faithfully served first
my uncle king Richard, next my father king John, and, although
he has acted ill towards me, he shall never by my means suffer an
unjust death ; for I would rather be considered a foolish and easy
king, than a cruel and tyrannical one ;" and with these words he
granted to Hubert aU the lands which he formerly held as a gift
from his father, or by purchase, that he might provide the necessary
support for himself and his followers therefrom. Soon after this
earl Richard, the king's brother, William earl of Warrene, Richard
earl Marshal, and Wilham earl of Ferrers, became sureties for
Hubert, and he was sent to the castle of Devizes under the charge of
the above four knights, where he remained a prisoner on parole.
In the same year, on the morrow of St. Martin's day, were heard
dreadful thunderings which continued at intervals for fifteen days
to the great alarm of many, and especially of the citizens of London,
who were now quite familiarized to them, for whenever they occurred
in England they were never unheard in London; this was followed
by a lamentable dissension in the kingdom between the king and
his nobles as the foUowing narrative wiU show.
Of the visitation of the religious men of every order throughout the world.
In this year also pope Gregory appointed inspectors to visit the
religious men throughout the whole of Christendom, by the foUow
ing warrant," Gregory bishop to his venerable brethren the suffragans
ofthe church of Canterbury, health and the apostoUc benediction.
Satan has gone from before the Lord's presence, putting forth his
hand to deeds of boldness, and, trusting to his cunningncss, hopes
to entrap into vice those who have been elected into God's inherit
ance, and prepares greater snares against those in whom he perceives
the deepest corruption. Whereas it has frequently come under our
notice that the churches of the Canterbury district have dreadfully
fallen off in spiritual and temporal matters, owing to the evU-
mindedness and carelessness of those employed in them, we do
not choose any longer to pass over their faults in silence, lest, if we
should suffer them to go uncorrected we should seem to take them
on ourselves, and have therefore appointed special visitors, reformers,
and correcters, as weU in the head as the other Umbs, to visit those
churches situated in that district which are known to belong imme
diately to the Roman church ; and have granted them full authority
in their visitation of those churches to correct and reform the
abuses which they may be certain require reformation and correction,
but so as not to disparage or in any way impair the constitutions
and amendments that have been duly made in the provincial
chapels. We however reserve to ourselves, to the full extent, the
feneral care of all which we have assumed ; nevertheless it is your
uty, who have been called to participate in our care, to be careful

A.D. 1232.] INSPECTION OF RELIGIOUS HOUSES. 563
and watchful over the flock especially entrusted to your care, that
the sickly sheep may not perish ; it is therefore our advice and
strict order to your brotherhood, that each and all of you make it
your business, both personally and by means of religious men in
structed for this purpose of visitation, to visit the abodes of the
monks, nuns, and regular as well as secular canons, which are
subject to you both in your cities and dioceses, and, by our
authority as well as your own, to make such general reformations
and corrections in their heads and other limbs, wherever you see
such reformations and corrections necessary, laying aside all favour
and appeal, saving all such regulations concerning religious persons
therein according to the decree of a. general council, and to check
aU gainsayers by the church's censure and postponing all appeal;
and you will so carry out our instructions that, at that awful award
of punishments, God, who will repay every one according to his
works, may not require their blood at your hands, and we may not
be obliged to apply the rod of apostolic punishment. Given at
Spoleto this 9th day of June in the sixth year of our pontificate."
Of the visitation to be made in the excepted churches.
With regard to the other churches and religious men, who
were under the immediate jurisdiction of the church of Rome, he
did not appoint bishops as visitors, but abbats and those especially
of the order of Cistercians and Prsemonstratensians, who were un-
discerning and severe men, and they proceeded in their visitation
so insolently and mercilessly that they exceeded the bounds of their
duties in several monasteries, and numbers were compelled to
resort to an appeal against them ; those who did so went to Rome,
and with much expense and labour obtained other visitors. In
short this visitation was carried on throughout the whole world
rather to the deformation than the reformation of the several orders,
inasmuch as those who had followed the rule of St. Benedict in the
various quarters of the world, in consequence of the rules of this
visitation are now so discordant, that, amongst all the monasteries
and religious houses there are scarcely two who agree in their rule
of life. A certain abbat of Montebello, being in doubt as to how
he should proceed in this visitation asked the pope's advice on some
doubtful points, on which he received the foUowing reply.
How the pope was consulted about the aforesaid visitation.
Those duties which are wisely ordained for the, honour of
reUgion and the safety of religious communities ought to be
strengthened by the apostoUc protection, so as to be undertaken
devoutly and observed diligently. Whereas therefore our weU-
beloved brother the abbat of MontebeUo has brought under our
notice some points which seemed for our honour and preservation,
laudably appointed for the correction of many transgressions and
offences which he had found in some monasteries, we have caused
the matter to be examined and corrections to be made, and we

564 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1232.
order you inviolably to keep the rules, which, by way of security,
we have sealed with the seals of our venerable brethren of Ostia
and Tusculum. And it is our wiU and by the apostoUc authority
we order you to summon the visitors to a general chapter, and
also the priors where there are no abbats, in person, exempt as
well as unexempt, who have not usuaUy held chapters ; and they
wiU preside at this general chapter, laying aside aU canonical im
pediment. And those who shall refuse or neglect to attend shaU
be compeUed to do so by the church's censure, and shaU not cease
tiU they cause them to make a meet atonement, such as they shaU
duly impose on them ; and by the same censure shall cause the
decrees of the same chapter to be strictly observed ; and they
themselves, as weU as the visitors and some others, shall at the last
judgment render an account of their ministry to the Lord, to
whom everything is clear and visible, and they shaU make it their
business at the visitation of the monasteries to use aU care and
dUigence in reforming and correcting the abuses of the several
orders. Moreover, when the visitors, according to the decrees of
the general council, shall proceed in the general chapter of abbats
to fulfil their duties of visitation, they shaU carefully examine into
the state of the monasteries, and as to how the regular observances
are kept, and shall make such amendments and reformations as
may seem to them to be necessary, both in spiritual and temporal
matters ; so that they shaU cause offending monks to be punished
by the abbat of the place, and wholesome penance to be imposed
on them, according to the rules of St. Benedict, and to the apostoUc
institutions, and not according to the wicked custom which has
now grown into a law in some churches. And the visitors them
selves by regular censure, and without regard to persons, shaU in
our stead punish any monks whom they may find contumacious
and rebellious, not sparing them on account of their own perti
nacity or the power of their friends, but shall eject the diseased
sheep from the fold that he may not infect the healthy ones. And
if the abbats are discovered to be neglectful in correcting them
selves or their monks, according to the mandate of the visitors
and the regular decrees, they shaU be proclaimed, seized, and
pubUcly punished in the general chapter, so that their punishment
will be an example to others. And if any abbat who is not
exempt is discovered by the visitors to be negUgent and remiss,
they shall denounce him to the diocesan of the place, who shall,
assign him a trustworthy and prudent person to cooperate with
hirn until the next general chapter. But if he is found guUty of
dilapidation or deserving of removal on any other account^he shaU
after he has been told of the matter by the visitor, be removed by
the diocesan from the government of his abbacy and from the
monastery without the bustle of a trial ; and in the meantime a
proper manager shall be provided to superintend the temporal

A.D. 1233.] DISMISSAL OF MINISTERS. 565
concerns of the monastery, until it is provided with another abbat.
But if the bishop by any chance shaU refuse or neglect to fulfil this
duty, the visitors themselves, or those who preside at the general
chapter, shaU, without delay, give information to the apostolic see
of the fault of that bishop. It is our order that these same
rules be observed with respect to the exempted abbats, only
reserving to the apostoUc see the business of deposing them ; and
that when any abbat, who is thought deserving to be removed, is
suspended from his office, a proper manager shaU be appointed to
the monastery, either by the visitors or those who preside at the
chapter. And the offences of these persons and other things
deemed proper to be intimated to the chapters, the presidents shall
communicate to us by trustworthy and prudent messengers, whose
expenses shaU be defrayed by a general contribution of the abbats,
each according to his means. And the visitors who come after
wards shall carefully inquire and examine into the proceedings of
the former visitors, and shall communicate any offence and neglects
of theirs at the next general chapter, in order that they may be
punished according to their fault. These particulars concerning
the visitation will suffice.
In the same year Roger bishop of London was accused,
amongst the rest, of abetting the plunder of the crops of the
Roman church ; he therefore went to Rome to prove bis innocence.
How the king dismissed some of his ministers from his court.
A. d. 1233. The seventeenth year of king Henry's reign he held
his court at Christmas at Worcester, where, by the advice of Peter
bishop of Winchester, as was said, he dismissed all the native offi
cers of his court from their' offices, and appointed foreigners from
Poictou in their places. He also dismissed William de Rodune, a
knight who carried on the duties of Richard the grand marshal at
his court. By the same person's advice the king also dismissed
Walter bishop. of Carlisle, from his office of treasurer, and then took
from him a hundred pounds of silver, and also spitefully deprived
him of some trusts, which he the king had by his own charter con
firmed to him for life. AU his former counsellors, bishops and
earls, barons and other nobles, he dismissed abruptly, and put
confidence in no one except the aforesaid bishop of Winchester and
his son Peter de Rivaulx ; after which he ejected all the castellans
throughout aU England, and placed the castles under the charge of
the said Peter. The bishop then, in order to gain the king's favour
more completely, associated with himself Stephen de Segrave, a
yielding man, and Robert Passelewe, who kept the king's treasury
under Peter de Rivaulx; and he entirely ruled the kingdom with the
assistance and advice of those men. The king also invited men from
Poictou and Brittany, who were poor and covetous after wealth,
and about two thousand knights and soldiers came to him equipped
with horses and arms, whom he engaged in his service, placing

566 ROOER OF WENDOVER. [A D. 1233.
them in charge of the castles in the various parts of the kingdom ;
these men used their utmost endeavours to oppress the nattnal
English subjects and nobles, calling them traitors, and accusing
them of treachery to the king ; and he, simple man that he was,
believed their lies, and gave them the charge of all the counties and
baronies, as also of all the youths of the nobility, both male and
female, who were foully degraded by ignoble marriages. The king
also entrusted them with the care of hi3 treasury, with the enforce
ment of the laws of the country and the administration of justice.
In short, judgment was entrusted to the unjust, laws to outlaws,
the preservation of peace to the quarrelsome, and justice to those
who were themselves full of injury, and when the nobles of the
kingdom laid complaints before the king of the oppression they en
dured, the said bishop interfered, and there was no one to grant
them justice. The said Peter too made accusations against some
of the other bishops of the kingdom, and advised the king to avoid
them as open enemies.
How the marshal remonstrated with the king.
By these and like injuries, high and low were alike oppressed,
and earl Richard, marshal of the kingdom, seeing this, and that the
laws of the kingdom were being destroyed, was incited by his zeal
in the cause of justice, and, in company with some other nobles,
boldly went to the king, and, in the hearing of numbers, reproached
him with having by ill advice introduced these foreigners of Poictou
to the oppression of the kingdom and of his natural subjects, and to
the subversion of the laws and liberties ; he therefore humbly beg
ged of the king at once to put a stop to such abuses, owing to
which, his crown and kingdom were in imminent danger of de
struction ; he moreover declared that, tf he refused to amend
matters, he and the other nobles of the kingdom would withdraw
themselves from his councils as long as he held communication
with these foreigners. To this Peter bishop of Winchester replied,
that his lord the king was surely allowed to summon as many
foreigners as he chose for the protection of his kingdom and
crown, and as many and such men as would be able to reduce his
haughty and rebellious subjects to their proper obedience. The
earl Marshal and the other nobles being unable to obtain any other
answer, left the court in dismay, and made a fixed determination
one with another to fight for this cause, which concerned them aU,
tiU their souls were separated from their bodies.
Of the thunder-storms.
In the same year, on the 23rd of March, dreadful thunderings
were heard, followed by inundations of rain throughout the whole
summer, which destroyed the warrens and washed away the ponds
and mills throughout almost all England ; and in the ploughed
and harvest fields and other unusual places in different parts, the
wat.p.r ran ahnnt in rivulets and fnrmpH int-n laVoc in tl,o ™;.lo« ~r

A.D. 1233.] THE KING AND THE NOBLES IN DISPUTE. 567
the crops, in which, to the astonishment of many, the fishes of the
rivers were seen ; and mills were standing in various places where
they had never before been seen.| In the same year, on the Sth of
April, about the first hour of the day, on the confines of Hereford
and Worcester, there appeared four spurious suns round the real
sun, of different colours, some of a semicircular form and others
round. These suns formed a wonderful spectacle, and were seen
by more than a thousand creditable, persons ; and some of them,
in commemoration of this extraordinary phenomenon, painted suns
and rings of various colours on parchment, that such an unusual
phenomenon might not escape from the memory of man. / This was
followed in the same year by a cruel war and terrible bloodshed in
those counties, and general disturbances happened throughout
England, Wales, and Ireland. About the same time in the month
of June, two immense snakes were seen by the inhabitants near
the sea-coast in the southern part of England, fighting in the air,
and after a severe struggle one overcame the other, and putting him
to flight, pursued him to the bottom of the sea, where they were
both lost to sight.
The election of the archbishop of Canterbury annulled.
About the same time, master John, surnamed le Blund, was
elected to the archbishopric of Canterbury. It was divulged at
Rome, that after his election he had received a thousand marks of
silver as a present from Peter bishop of Winchester, besides another
thousand marks which that bishop had lent him to help him in
obtaining his promotion, and it was therefore evident that the
friendship of the said bishop was rather injurious than beneficial
to him ; besides this the said John, it was reported, had confessed)
at Rome that he held two benefices, to which the cure of souls was
entrusted, in opposition to the decrees of the general council,
whereby he incurred the charge of presumption. But, inasmuch
as the election of three of the archbishops of the church of Canter
bury had been annulled lately, the aforesaid church had been for
a long time without a pastor, he therefore gave permission to the
monks, who had come with the rejected archbishop elect, to choose
master Edmund, a canon of the church of Salisbury, as the pastor
of their souls, in order that a metropolitan see of such importance
might not be any longer without a pastor, and at the same time
sent him the pall. The monks however resolved not to accept of
him or of any one else, except by the consent of their whole com
munity. Of discord which arose between the king and the nobles of the kingdom.
AU this time Peter bishop of Winchester and his colleagues had
so perverted the king's heart with hatred and contempt for his
Eng'ish subjects, that he endeavoured by all the means in his
power to exterminate them, and invited such legions of people from
Poictou that they entirely fiUed England, and wherever the king

568 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1233.
went he was surrounded by crowds of these foreigners ; and nothing
was done in England except what the bishop of Winchester and
this host of foreigners determined on. The king then sent letters,
and summoned aU the earls and barons of the kingdom to come to
a conference at Oxford on the feast of St. John ; but they refused
to come at his summons, both because they feared treachery from
these foreigners, and on account of the anger which they had con
ceived against the king for his having summoned aU these foreign
ers in contempt of them the said barons. On their refusal being
carried to the king by special messengers, he became much en
raged, and ordered a decree to be passed by which he could compel
them to attend his court. It was then decided that they should
be summoned thrice, in order to see if they would come or not.
At this conference a certain brother of the order of Preachers.
who was preaching the word of God in the presence of the king
and some of the bishops, plainly told the king with a loud voicej
that he would never enjoy a lasting peace till he dismissed Peter
bishop of Winchester, and Peter de Rivaulx his son, from his coun-
cUs. Many others who were present also told the king the same ;
whereupon he sent word to the nobles aforesaid to come to a con
ference at Westminster on the 1 1 th of July, when he would consult
with them as to any amendment which ought to be made by right.*
The nobles however, having heard that numbers of these robbers,
equipped with horses and arms, continued to arrive from time to
time on the king's invitation, and seeing no sings of tranquiUity,
decUned to attend at the appointed day, and, by special messengers,
demanded of the king the immediate dismissal of Peter bishop of
Winchester and his other counsellors the nobles of Poictou, other
wise they would, by common consent, unite to drive him as weU as
his evU advisers from the kingdom, and proceed to choose a new
king. How the king banished some of his nobles.
The king, as weU as his whole court, were struck with dismay,
and were in great alarm lest the error of the son should be worse
than that of the fatheriinasmuch as the nobles were determined
to drive him from the throne of the kingdom. The aforesaid bishop
Peter then advised the king to make war against his rebeUious
nobles, take their castles from them, and give them to the Poictevin
* Paris inserts here :— " The king, after some deliberation, inclined his
heart to reason, and a certain clerk of the court, named Roger Bacon, a
man of pleasant speech, on seeing him softened, said pleasantly and wittily
although churlishly rebuking him, ' My lord king, what is most dangerous
to sailors, or what frightens them most?' The king replied, ' Those whose
business is on the wide waters know best.' The cierk then said, ' My lord
I will tell you it is stones and rocks,' [petrse et rupes,] as though he meant
to hint at Peter de Rupibus, the name of the bishop of Winchester. The
king therefore, &c. &c,"

A.D. 1233.] TREACHERY AGAINST THE MARSHAL. 569
nobles, who would defend the kingdom against these traitors.
The first against whom the king vented his rage was Gilbert
Bassett, a nobleman, whom he deprived of a certain manor which
he had received as a gift from king John ; and when he asked the
king to restore him his rights, the latter caUed him a traitor, and
threatened that if he did not leave his court he should be hung.
He also ordered Richard Siward, a bold knight, to be made prisoner
and brought before him, for having, as he said, married the sister
of the said Gilbert without his permission. Being also suspicious
of all the other nobles and men of rank in the kingdom, he de
manded hostages of them, and sent orders to them by his warrants
to give up to him before the 1st of August such and so many hos
tages, by which all suspicion of rebeUion on their parts would be
removed from his mind.
How the marshal was warned of treachery against him.
The earls and barons in grand knightly array proceeded to Lon
don on the 1st of August to the appointed conference, and amongst
the rest was Richard earl marshal, who took up his abode with his
sister, the wife of Richard the king's brother ; she then asked him
the reason of his journey, to which he repUed, that he had come to
attend the conference. She then said to him, " Know, my dear
brother, that your enemies are plotting to take you prisoner, and
they wiU give you up to the king and the bishop of Winchester, in
order that they may serve you the samejas they did the earl of
Kent." The marshal would hardly believe these words of his
sister's, untU she showed by evident proofs the manner of his cap
ture, and by whom he would be taken. He then began to beUeve
her, and when night came on he took the road, and did not draw
rein tiU he arrived in Wales. There came to the conference the
earls of Chester and Lincoln, the earl of Ferrers, and earl Richard the
king's brother, with some other earls and several barons, but
nothing was done there on account of the absence of the earl mar
shal and GUbert Bassett, and some other nobles who did not make
their appearance ; on which the king, by the advice of Peter
bishop of Winchester, and Stephen Seagrave, sent letters to aUthe
nobles of the kingdom who owed him knight's service, inviting
them to come, provided with horses and arms, to Gloucester, on
Sunday before the Assumption of the blessed virgin Mary.
Richard Marshal and some others however, who were confederated,
refused to come at the time appointed, and the king, treating them
as traitors, burnt their viUages, destroyed their parks and warrens,
and besieged their castles. The nobles who were confederated
with one another, it was said, were the earl marshal, GUbert Bas
sett and his brothers, aU distinguished soldiers, Richard Siward, a
man trained to arms from his youth, Walter de CUfford, a chosen
knight, and many others who joined their cause ; aU of these the
king, without any trial in his court by their peers, ordered to be

570 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1233.
declared banished and proscribed men, and gave their lands to his
Poictevin servants, ordering their persons to be seized wherever
they were found in the kingdom.
How the bishop of Winchester bribed the confederates of the earl marshal.
Peter bishop of Winchester, who endeavoured by aU.the means
in his power to weaken the cause of the earl marshal and his con-
federatesforibed the earls of Chester and Lincoln by the gift of a
thousana marks to abandon the marshal and the cause of justice,
and to come over to the king's party ; for Richard, the king's
brother, who at first adhered to the cause of the marshal, had some
time before returned to the king's side. When the marshal dis
covered this, he entered into a confederacy with Llewellyn the
prince of Forth Wales, and some other chiefs of that province, and
they mutually made oath that neither of them would make peace
with king Henry without the consent of the other. On the day
foUowing the assumption of Saint Mary, a great many soldiers ar
rived at Dover from the continent and went to the king at Glouces
ter, on which he led his army forward to the city of Hereford,
attended by a host of these and many others.
Of the injury done to Walter bishop of Carlisle.
About the same time Walter bishop of Carlisle, on account of
some injuries inflicted on him by the king, as he sjated, embarked
at Dover to cross the continent, but some of the king's agents
arrived, and taking him and all his foUowers out of the ship, for
bade him, in the king's name, to leave the kingdom without the
royal permission. During this occurrence Roger bishop of London
landed at this place on his return from the court of Rome, and
hearing of the insult offered to the said bishop, he excommunicated
aU those who had laid violent hands on him, and then went to the
king, whom he found with a large army at the city of Hereford in
Wales, where, in the presence of the king and some of the bishops,
he renewed the above-mentioned sentence of excommunication on
account of the violence offered to the bishop of Carlisle, notwith
standing the king's murmurs, who forbade him to pronounce the
sentence ; and all the bishops who were present united with him
in excommunicating aU who had occasioned this disturbance^
Of the defiance sent to the marshal, and siege of a castle belonging to him.
After this the king, by the advice of the bishop of Winchester,
sent the bishop of St. David's to defy the marshal, and
gave orders for making war on him and for besieging his castles.
He therefore entered the territory of the earl marshal, and laid
siege to a certain castle of his, the name of which I do not remem
ber ; but, after keeping up a fierce assault on it for several days,
the provisions of the besieging army began to fail, and the king,
seeing he would be obliged to raise the siege, was ashamed of ever
having come there ; he therefore sent some of the bishops to the
earl marshal and asked him, in his respect for the royal person, and

A.D. 1283.] ESCAPE OF HUBERT. 571
that the siege might not seem to have been ineffectual, to sur
render the castle, on condition that he the king would restore it
to him within fifteen days uninjured, and stipulating that he would
in the meantime, by the advice of the bishops, who were his
securities for this, make all proper reformations in the kingdom.
To carry out this plan, the king appointed the Sunday next after
Michaelmas for the said marshal and the rest of the proscribed
parties to meet him at Westminster ; the castle was then given up
to the king and the siege raised.
Of the escape of Hubert de Burgh.
About this time Peter bishop of Winchester, who above all things
desired the death of Hubert de Burgh, who was a prisoner in
Devizes castle, without mentioning Hubert's name, earnestly begged
of the king to give him charge of the said castle, being, as was
said, in hopes of thus obtaining a chance of putting him to death.
Hubert however was forewarned of all these plans by his friends at
the king's court, and disclosed them to two retainers of the
garrison of the castle who attended on him, and they, pitying his
sufferings, devised a plan by which he might escape from death.
They therefore watched their opportunity, and on the night of
Michaelmas eve, when the garrison were asleep, one of them, whUst
the other kept watch, took Hubert, fettered as he was, on his
shoulders, and descended from the tower carrying his pious
theft with which he passed entirely through the castle, unheard by
the garrison^ tiU he reached the great gate, where he went out,
and, crossing a deep trench, though with much difficulty, made his
way to the parochial church, and did not set down his burden tUl
he arrived before the great altar. The two men who had set
Hubert at Uberty then refused to leave him, considering that it
would be to their glory if they should suffer a temporal death for
preserving the life of such a great man.
How Hubert was dragged by violence from the church and imprisoned.
When the garrison awoke and found that Hubert was not in
the usual place, they were greatly alarmed, and sallying forth in
troops with lanthorns and weapons, they traversed - the country
round in search of him ; after some time they heard that Hubert
was in the church, released from his fetters, on which they tumul-
tuously rushed thither and found him before the great altar, with
the holy cross in his hands ; they at once fiercely seized him, and
striking and driving him along with their weapons and fists, they
took him back to the castle aswell as his two liberators, where
they confined him more strictly than before. When this event
reached the ears of Robert bishop of Salisbury, he went to
the castle and ordered these violators of the church at once to
release Hubert and to restore him to the sanctuary of the church
in the same condition as they found him ; but the casteUans noisily
told him they would rather that Hubert should be hung than

572 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1233.
they ; on which, as they refused to give him up, the bishop, by
virtue of the power entrusted to him, excommunicated by name
aU those who detained him and who had laid violent hands on
him. The said bishop then, accompanied by Roger bishop of
London, went to the king and laid a complaint before him of the
injury inflicted on Hubert, and did not leave the king tiU he had
obtained his release ; bo on the 18th of October he was sent back
to the church much against the king's wish, who sent orders by
letter to the sheriff of that county to blockade the church in order
to starve Hubert to death^
How the marshal retook the castle which he had given up to the king.
About this time, the fifteen days having expired since the
marshal surrendered his castle to the king on condition that he
would restore it to him when he again asked for it, he sent to the
king, asking him, as the period was expired, to restore his castle
to him according to their treaty, for which he had made the bishop
of Winchester and Stephen Segrave, who at that time performed
the functions of justiciary, his guarantees, and which they had
also confirmed by oath. The king however angrily repUed that
he would not give it up, but would more likely reduce his other
Gastlesto subjection. The marshal then, seeing that no oath or
terms of peace were observed by the king's advisers, coUected a
large army and laid siege to the castle once bis own, and placing
his engines of war round it, easily regained possession of it.
The king was in the meantime at Westminster, where he attended
the conference on the 9th of October, as he had promised the
nobles, in order to consult with them as to the reforms necessary
to be made in the kingdom ; but the evil advice which he foUowed
prevented this being carried out. Several of the bishops present
humbly begged the king, in the Lord's name, to make peace with
his barons and other nobles whom he had condemned to banish
ment without any trial by the peers, burning their villages and
buUdings, cutting down their woods and fruit trees, and destroy
ing their parks and lakes-TThe king however said that they were
traitors, aUibeiigfc-it--wa£^y-their--^ssistancAJiukt he_onglit._io
arrange his plans and manage the business of the kingdom. Peter
bishop of Winchester also replied that the peers in England were
not hke those in France ; wherefore the king of England had a
right, by the justiciaries whom he appointed, to banish any guilty
persons from the kingdqm and to condemn them after trial. The
bishops,, on hearing these words, as if with one voice threatened to
excommunicate by name the principal amongst these evil advisers
of the king ; and amongst these they especiaUy named Peter
bishop of Winchester, and his son Peter de Rivaulx, Stephen
Segrave the justiciary, and Robert Passelewe the treasurer. To
these threats Peter of Winchester replied, that he had been con
secrated a bishop by the supreme pontiff at Rome, and was there-

A.D. 1233.] ATTACK ON THE KING'S ARMY. 573
fore exempt from their authority, and he appealed to the apostoUc
see against their pronouncing that sentence upon him. The
bishops aforesaid then excommunicated all those who had es
tranged the king's affection from his natural EngUsh subjects, and
disturbed the peace of the kingdom.
How the king summoned all who owed knight's service to appear before him.
During this conference, messengers came to the king informing
him that the earl Marshal had retaken his castle in Wales, and had
slain some of the royal knights and officers there. The king was
much enraged at this news, and ordered the bishops to excommuni
cate the marshal by name, for having seized on the said castle ; but
the bishops replied that he did not deserve to be excommunicated
for only taking a castle which was his own. The enraged king then
sent letters throughout all the English territories, ordering all who
owed him knight's service, to assemble at Gloucester on the morrow
of All Saints' day, equipped with horses and arms, to march where
he wished to lead them.
About this same time Hubert de Burgh the ex-justiciary, was
taken away from the church at Devizes hy some armed men, and,
after being properly clad in knightly apparel, was carried into Wales,
where he joined the enemies of the king about the first hour of the
day on the 30th of October.
How the proscribed nobles attacked the king's army at Grosmont.
The king had by this time collected a powerful army at Glouces
ter, with which he advanced towards Hereford in Wales, where he
invaded the marshal's territory, endeavouring by all the means in
his power to deprive him of his inheritance, and to seize his person.
That cautious soldier had, however, before the king's approach,
withdrawn all the cattle and provisions, wherefore the king, not being
able to stay there, owing to the failure of his provisions, turned off
with his army to the castle of Grosmont. After he had stayed
there some days, the marshal and his proscribed confederates found
out by means of their spies that the king passed the night inside that
castle while his army were encamped outside the waUs. The whole
body of therri therefore, except the marshal, who refused to attack
the king, marched for that place with the Welsh chiefs and a large
army a little after dusk on Martinmas day, and rushing on the king's
troops who were lying asleep in their tents, took possession of more
than five hundred horses, with aU their baggage and equipments,
the men themselves taking to flight nearly naked in aU directions.
The conquerors however did not wish to wound or make prisoners
of any of them, and there were only two knights slain out of the
whole number. They then took all the waggons and carts contain
ing the money, provisions, and arms, and having carefuUy disposed
of their booty, returned to their safe hiding-places. The foUowing
nobles all were witnesses of this occurrence, namely, Peter bishop of
Winchester, Ralph bishop of Chichester, Stephen Segrave the jus-

574 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1233,
ticiary, Peter de Rivaulx the treasurer, Hugh Bigod earl of Norfolk,
WiUiam earl of Salisbury, WilUam Beauchamp, William Daubeney
the younger, and many others, who fled nearly naked, losing all
their property; great numbers of the king's army then, and especiaUy
those who had lost their horses and aU their money, went away in
great trouble and returned to their homes. The king, who had
been thus left as it were alone, in the midst of his enemies, then put
his Poictevin freebooters in charge of the castles of Wales, to repel
the attacks of his enemies, and gave the command of his army to
the nobles, John of Monmouth, and Ralph de Thoeny, to the latter
of whom he also gave the castle of Matilda, which belonged to him
by old right ; whilst he himseff, after making these arrangements,
returned to Gloucester.
At the beginning of the month of November in this same year,
thunder was heard, and accompanied by dreadful flashes of light
ning, for several days ; and it came to be a usual proverb amongst
labourers, that a woman ought not to weep for the death of her
husband or her children, but rather for the thunder-storms, for they
always foreboded the approach of famine or mortaUty, or some such
things. Of the fierce battle between the marshal and the Poictevins.
In the same year the marshal, on one of his foraging incursions into
the territories of his enemies, came to the town of Monmouth, which
was hostile to him, where he ordered his army to proceed on their
expedition, whilst he with a hundred of his fellow knights turned
aside towards the castle of that place to examine its condition, as he
purposed to besiege it in a few days ; but as he was riding round the
walls of the town, he was seen by Baldwin de Guisnes, to whom
the king had entrusted the charge of that castle together with seve
ral Poictevins, and understanding that the marshal was there with
only a few followers for the purpose of examining the castle, he
sallied out with a thousand brave and weU-equipped soldiers, and
pursued him at fuU Sp'eed, designing to make him and his foUowers
prisoners and bring them into the town. The earl Marshal's com
panions however, when they saw the impetuous advance of the
enemy, advised him to consult their safety by flight, saying that it
would be rash for such a few of them to engage with such a number
of the enemy ; to which the marshal replied that he had never as
yet turned his back on his enemies in battle, and declared that he
would not do so now, and exhorted them to defend themselves
bravely and not to die unavenged. The troops from the castle then
rushed fiercely on them and attacked them with their lances and
swords : a severe though very unequal conflict then ensued, yet
although there were only a hundred of the marshal's party to op
pose a thousand of their adversaries, they fought for a great part of
the day. But Baldwin de Guisnes with twelve of his stoutest and
best armed soldiers made an attack on the marshal in person, and

A.D. 1233.] SLAUGHTER BY THE MARSHAL. ~" 575
endeavoured to take him prisoner and carry him off to the castle ;
he however kept them at a distance, brandishing hi3 sword right
and left, and struck down whoever came within reach, either killing
them or stunning them by the force of his blows, and although en
gaged single-handed against twelve enemies, defended himself for
a length of time. His enemies at length, not daring to approach
him, killed the horse he rode with their lances ; but the marshal,
who was well practised in the French way of fighting, seized one of
the knights who was attacking him by the feet, and dragged him to
the ground, and then quickly mounting his adversary's horse, he
renewed the battle. The knight Baldwin was ashamed that the
marshal defended himself single-handed against so many of his ene
mies for such a time, and made a desperate attack on him, and
seizing his helmet, tore it from his head with such violence, that
blood gushed forth from his mouth and nostrils ; he then seized the
marshal's horse by the bridle, and endeavoured to drag it with its
rider towards the castle, whilst others assisted him by impelling the
marshal on from behind. The latter however, sweeping his sword
behind him, struck two of his enemies to the earth stunned, but
could not then release himself from their grasp. At this juncture
however a cross-bowman amongst the marshal's company, seeing
his lord in danger, discharged an arrow from his bow, which,
striking Baldwin, who was dragging the marshal away, in the
breast, entered his body, notwithstanding his armour, and he fell to
the earth believing himself mortaUy wounded ; his companions on
seeing this, left the marshal, and went to raise Baldwin from the
ground, for they thought that he was dead.
Of the slaughter by the marshal at the castle of Monmouth.
Whilst these events were passing, news had been carried to the
marshal's army of the danger he was in, on which they marched
with aU haste to his assistance, and soon put his enemies to
flight. A bridge in the neighbourhood of the castle, over which the
fugitives hoped to make their escape, was found to be broken, on
which great numbers of them threw themselves into the river and
were drowned with their horses and arms ; others, having no means
of escape, were slain by their pursuers, and some were made
prisoners ; and few of those who had saUied out from the castle re
turned safe. On the side of the marshal, Thomas Siward, a brave
knight, and two of his companions, were taken prisoners and car
ried off into the castle. Of the troops of the garrison, fifteen knights
and great numbers of soldiers were taken and carried off by the
marshal, together with their horses, arms, and other booty. Num
bers of the slain remained lying on the field of battle, amongst
whom were to be seen Welsh, Poictevins, and other foreigners, and
Baldwin de Guisnes was carried to the castle severely wounded.
This battle took place near the above castle on St. Catherine's day.*
* November 25th.

576 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1233.
After this battle the marshal with Gilbert Basset, Richard Siward,
and his other proscribed confederates, laid ambuscades foi the
Poictevins who held charge of the king's castles, so that whenever
any of them went out foraging, they were attacked, and no quarter
was given them : the consequence of which was, that the whole
atmosphere in that part of the country was tainted by the numbers
of dead foreigners who lay about in the roads and other places.
Of the earl marshal's great prudence and regard for justice.
About this same time, on the Thursday next before Christmas,
the earl marshal happened to pass the night at the abbey of Mar-
gan, at whieh place a brother of the Minorite order, named Agnell,
an attendant and adviser of the king, came to him to tell him what
had been said concerning him at the court, both by the king and
his advisers. He "had heard the king say," he stated, "that,
although the marshal had traitorously and unjustly taken arms
against him, if he chose, without making any other condition, to
throw himself altogether on the king's mercy, he the king would
grant him safety to Ufe and limb, and would also allow him a suf
ficient portion of land in Herefordshire, to support him honourably.
He had also heard from Stephen Segrave that the terms of forgive
ness would be made known to the marshal by two of his trust
worthy friends, who would teU the marshal that he could with
safety trust to the king's mercy, but at the same time that they
were not to tell the marshal himself or any other person, for that
he was to do this without knowing the terms to be granted to him.
He had also heard from others at the court that it was advisable for
the marshal to do as above stated, that it was his duty, would be to
his advantage, and would be safe for him to do so. It was his duty,
because he had done injury to his lord, for he had, before the king
molested his property or person, invaded the king's territory, burning
and destroying the crops, and slaying the people. And if the marshal
pleaded that he did so for the defence of his person and inheritance,
they said it was not so, for there had never been any design against
his person or property; that therefore he ought not to have broken
out into violence against his lord the king tUl he discovered by
ocular demonstration that the king had such design against him,
when it would have been justifiable for him to act as he had now
done." To all this the earl marshal gave the foUowing reply to
brother AgneU: — " To the first argument," he said, " as to its being
my duty, because I have invaded the king's territory, this is not
true ; for although I was always ready to abide by the law and the
decision of my peers in his court, and often asked the king by
messengers to grant me this, he always refused it to me, and him
self invaded my territory and attacked me contrary to all the laws
of justice. And hoping to please him by my submission, I freely
entered into terms of peace with him, which were very injurious to
myself, by which it was agreed, that unless those terms were ob-

A.D. 1233.] CHARACTER OF THE MARSHAL. 577
served on the part of the king towards me, I should remain entirely
in the same condition as I was before the said peace was agreed
on, namely that I should be free from all homage to him, and in a
state of defiance towards him, as I had formerly been by the bishop
of St. David's ; and therefore, as he failed to observe the terms of
peace in every particular, I was justified according to my agreement
in endeavouring to recover what belonged to me, and in weakening
his power by every possible means, especially as he eagerly sought
my destruction, to deprive me of my inheritance, and to seize on
my person ; of this I have been weU assured, and, if necessary, can
prove it; and, what is more, after the truce of fifteen days, before
I entered Wales, or took any measures for my own defence against
any one, he, without a trial, deprived me of my office of marshal,
which belonged to me, and which I held by hereditary right, nor
would he on any terms restore it to me when I asked him; by this
I was plainly convinced that he did not mean to come to any terms
with me, since after the truce he treated me worse than before;
therefore I am not his subject, but am released from aU fealty to
him, although I would return to the terms of the first state of de
fiance above stated, according to the agreement. Wherefore I have
been justified and am still justified in defending myself, and in
thwarting the mahcious designs of his advisers by every means in
my power." The king's advisers also said, that it would be to the
marshal's advantange to throw himself on the king's mercy, be
cause the king was richer and more powerful than he was ; and if
the marshal relied on the assistance of foreigners, for every one
that he could induce to assist him the king could bring seven ;
for some of the foreign relations of the king had offered their assist
ance, who were neither Scotch, French, or Welsh, who would come
into England and find work for aU his enemies, for they would
come in such multitudes as to cover the whole face of the country.
To this argument the marshal replied, " It is true that the king is
richer and more powerful than I, but he is not more powerful
than God, who is justice itself, and in whom I place my hopes of
safety and of obtaining my rights in the kingdom : and I do not put
my trust in foreigners, nor do I seek their alliance, nor will I ask
their assistance, unless, which, God forbid, I am compelled so to
do by any unexpected and unavoidable era^rgency. And I well
know that the king can bring seven to myone, and I believe that
he will very soon bring so many of them to his councils, that he
will not have the means of freeing himseff and the kingdom from
them, for I have heard from credible people that the bishop of
Winchester has engaged to bring all England to subjection to him,
and this he engaged to do from the time-)s{H£n he was with the em
peror on the continent ; and so he commenced this war, that he
might take the opportunity first of asking assistance of the emperor,
and might then summon the emperor to come in person ; and this
VOL. II. P P

578 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1233.
appeared likely, because, when a disagreement arose between him and
the king, he left England, and now he swore that he would send so
many foreigners into England as would cover the whole face of the
country." Again, the king's advisers said that it would be safe for
the marshal to throw himself on the king's mercy, because he could
trust to the king and his advisers ; to the king, because he was
merciful and worthy of trust ; and to his advisers, because they
had never caused any harm to the marshal, for indeed in their
hearts they loved him. In reply to this the marshal said, "It may
be true that the king is merciful, but he is led away by the advice
of those men, by whom we feel ourselves seriously wronged. That
the king is to be beUeved is evident, as far as regards himself, but
with regard to his advisers I have this to say, namely, that no
promise made to me as yet has ever been kept. What his advisers
say about never having caused harm to me is false ; for they have
brought all my troubles on me, and to them I chiefly impute them
all. Nor can I believe them when they say that they love me untU
I see them acting differently to what I have always seen ; for they
have violated several corporal oaths, namely with respect to the earl
of Kent, to whom they all made three several oaths, which they
paid no heed to, and broke, as well concerning the terms provided
by the aforesaid earl, with regard to which they in Uke manner per
jured themselves, as in the oath concerning the Uberties contained
in the great charter, which they also broke, and for which they were
excommunicated as perjurers. They also perjured themselves with
respect to the good counsel they swore they would give to the king,
for they always advised him contrary to justice. Stephen Seagrave
too, who had sworn to observe just laws, was now corrupting them
and introducing laws long out of use ; for many other reasons too,
neither he nor his accomphces were worthy of being trusted by God
or man, for was he not, and were they not, excommunicated ? " The
next argument against the marshal urged by the king's advisers
was, that he had attacked the person of his lord the king at Gros-
munt before the king had entered his territory, and therefore had
offered an injury to him, wherefore it was his duty to give himself
up to the king's mercy as above mentioned, in order to do honour
to him, and give no pretext to others for making an insurrection
against him. To this the marshal replied that, as far as regarded
him personally, it was false that he was present at that attack ; and
if any of his retainers had by chance been present there, they only
attacked the king's attendants and not his royal person. " And if
they did so,'' said he, " it was not to be wondered at, when the king
came into my territory with his army to attack me and injure me
in every way ; and this is plainly proved by the letters by which
he summoned all throughout England to assist in destroying me.
And since the above offences imputed to me are false, and it is true
that the king behaved worse to me at the time I was looking for

A.D. 1233.] CONFERENCE WITH THE EARL MARSHAL. 579
his mercy than at any other time, and as he still has the same de
sign as he had then, and still relies on the counsels of those men,
by whose advice I know it is that all these injuries have been
brought on me and mine, we ought not and cannot submit to his
mercy. And it would not be any credit to the king if I were to
yield to his pleasure when it is not supported by reason, I should
then be rather offering an insult to him and to justice, which is a
king's duty to exercise and to observe towards his subjects. And
I should set a bad example to every one, namely, that of abandon
ing the cause of justice and the prosecution of my rights on ac
count of an error in judgment, contrary to all justice, and to the
injury of his subjects ; for in such a case it would seem that we
loved our worldly possessions more than justice." Again, the king's
advisers stated against the marshal that he was allied with the king's
principal enemies, the French, the Scotch, and the Welsh, and it
seemed to them that he had done this to the. annoyance and injury
of the king and kingdom. To this the marshal replied, " As regards
the French, this is clearly false : the statement as regards the Scotch
and Welsh is also false, except as regards the king of Scotland and
Llewellyn the Welsh prince ; they were not enemies, but faithful
lieges of his, until, by the injuries inflicted on them by the king and
his counsellors, they were unwUlingly obliged, like myself, to with
draw from their allegiance to him ; and it is for this purpose that I
have formed an alliance with these princes, namely, that we can
better when united, than divided, contend for and defend those
rights of which we have been unjustly deprived, and in a great
measure robbed." The said counsellors of the king again stated,
that the marshal need not put confidence in these allies of his, for
the king could, without any damage to his territories, estrange them
from him whenever he chose To this the marshal repUed, that " he
bad no doubt of that, and," says he, " this circumstance clearly
shows the wickedness of his advisers, for they would make the king
endure any kind of injury from those whom they call his chief ene
mies, in order to injure me, who have always been a faithful sub
ject of his, as long as he allowed me, and I would still be so if he
would restore to me and my friends our proper rights." The next
argument of the king's advisers was, that the pope and the Roman
church had a particular regard for the king and kingdom, and
would excommunicate all his enemies ; and this seemed now to
be at hand, because they had already sent for the legate. To
this the marshal replied, " I am glad to hear what they say respect
ing the pope and the Roman church, for the more regard they may
have for the king and kingdom, the more they will wish him to
govern his kingdom and his subjects according to the laws of jus
tice. And I am also pleased to hear that the pope will excommuni
cate the enemies of the kingdom ; for they are those who advise the
king contrary to justice, as their acts prove them to be ; for justice
p p 2

580 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1234.
and peace go hand in hand, and when justice ia corrupted, peace
also is violated. Again, I am glad that the legate is coming ; for
the more people there are to hear the justice of our cause, the more
will the enemies of justice be put to shame. And now, although
I have particularly dwelt upon my own grievances, I say the
same with respect to all my friends and alUes ; and on their behalf
I make the same complaint as on my own, and without them I can
do nothing at all towards coming to a durable arrangement.*
How king Henry kept Christmas at Gloucester.
jl. d. 1234. Which was the eighteenth year of his reign, king
Henry held his court at Christmas at Gloucester, with only a
small retinue ; for he had been deserted by a great many of the
nobles, who had a short time before been deprived of aU their
property at Grosmunt castle, as above related. At the same time
the frost set in with such severity that the crops in the fields were
destroyed, the roots of the trees in the gardens were rotted, and
those of the apple trees were frozen four feet down and died ; and
this continued without any faU of snow till the Purification of St.
Mary, putting a stop to aU agriculture ; and this was foUowed, in
the same year by such an unhealthy atmosphere, and such unsea
sonable weather, that a great scarcity ensued of all the produce of
the earth. How the marshal caused great slaughter amongst his enemies.
The day after Christmas day, John of Monmouth, a nobleman,
who had fought on the king's side in Wales, collected a large army
to surprise the earl marshal ; the latter was however informed of bis
intention, and betook himseff with his army to a wood by which
the enemy would pass, in order to delude those who thought to
deceive him. When therefore the enemy came to the place of
ambuscade, the marshal and his army rushed on them amidst the
din of horns and trumpets, and taking them unawares, soon put
them all to flight, and closely pursuing them, slew great numbers
* Paris adds : " About the same time, in the seventeenth year of his
reign, king Henry, at his own expense, built a handsome church, fit for an
assembly of monks, with outbuildings adjoining, near the Old Temple at
London, where he established an order of the ' Converted,' for the redemp
tion of the souls of himself, king John his father, and his other ancestors ;
and to this house all the converted Jews who had abandoned the darkness of
Judaism fled, in order to have a safe refuge, with a certain rule of living
for their lives, as well as sufficient sustenance, without performing servile
labour or living by extortion and usury. In a very short time a large num
ber of the Converted assembled there and were baptized and instructed in
the faith of the Christians, living a praiseworthy life, and under the rule of
a learned rector especially appointed for the purpose. King Henry also,
inspired by the Holy Spirit and incited by a pious motive, established a
noble hospital at Oxfurd, near the bridge, in order that sick men and pil
grims might there receive relief according to their wants and be restored to
health."

A.D. 1234.] EXPEDITION AGAINST SHREWSBURY. 581
of the Poictevins and others, and John himself with much diffi
culty escaped by flight. The marshal then marched forward with
his army, and pUlaged and burned the viUages and houses, and
other property belonging to the said John, thus making him a
poor man and a beggar instead of a rich man, as he had been ; and
then he returned to his own territory laden with immense booty,
and carrying off large herds of cattle.
How the proscribed nobles excited great opposition lo the king's counsellors.
At this same Christmas a grievous war was carried on against
the king and his counseUors, for Richard Seward, in conjunction
with others of the proscribed nobles, attacked the possessions of
earl Richard the king's brother, near Brehull, and burnt his
houses, crops, and even the very cattle as they stood in the
stables ; they also attacked Segrave, the native place of Stephen
the justiciary, burnt the splendid houses there with the cattle and
crops, and then went away taking with them some valuable horses
and other property ; they also destroyed by fire a viUage belonging
to the bishop of Winchester near the last named place, and carried
off a quantity of booty. These soldiers, however, observed one
good rule amongst them generally ; they did not do any one injury
or attack any one, except these unjust advisers of the king, by
whose means they had been driven into exile ; but whatever
belonged to these men they destroyed, burning their woods, and
plucking up their fruit-trees by the roots.
Of the expedition against Shrewsbury.
After this, during the octaves of the Epiphany, the earl marshal
and the Welsh chief Llewellyn coUected all the forces they could
muster, and penetrating a good distance into the king's territory,
spread fire wherever they went ; so that, from the confines of
Wales as far as the town of Shrewsbury, there was not a place that
escaped their ravages ; they then burned the town of Shrewsbury
and then returned home with valuable booty. King Henry,
during all these proceedings of his enemies, was lying inactive at
Gloucester together with the bishop of Winchester, for he had not
a mUitary force sufficient to oppose them, therefore he retreated,
overcome with shame, to Winchester, leaving aU that district
exposed to the ravages of the enemy as was plainly evident ; it
was a dreadful sight to travellers to see the corpses of the slain,
which were almost numberless, lying unburied and naked in the
roads, affording meals for the beasts and birds of prey, the stench
from which had so corrupted the air that the dead killed the living.
And so hardened was the king's heart become against the mar
shal, owing to the evil advice he Ustened to, that, although the
bishops advised him to make peace with that nobleman, who only
fought to obtain justice, he replied that he would never come to
any terms with him, unless he begged his mercy with a halter
around his neck, and acknowledging himself a traitor.

582 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1234.
Of the treachery which the king's advisers planned against the marshal.
About this time the bishop of Winchester, and Peter de Rivaulx
his son, with some others of the king's evU counseUors, finding
themselves everywhere defeated by the marshal, and seeing with
grief their towns burned, at length devised a plan to conquer him
by treachery as they could not do so in open fighting ; therefore,
being frustrated in their wishes, and seeing the countless numbers
of the Poictevins slain in Wales, they wrote letters containing
designs of unheard-of treachery, and forced the king, although
ignorant of their purport, to set his seal to them ; besides which,
eleven of them also affixed their seals, and then sent this bloody
missive into Ireland. This treacherous letter was sent to the
Irish nobles, Maurice Fitz- Gerald, who performed the functions of
king's justiciary in that kingdom, Walter and Hugh de Lacy,
Richard de Burgh, Geoffrey de Marisco, and others, who were sworn
alUes of the said marshal, although faithless to him ; and the
purport of these letters was as foUows. The king's counseUors, in
the first place, told the said nobles that Richard, formerly marshal
of the English king, had, by a decree of the said king's court, on
account of open treachery, been banished from England and his
possessions ; that his -villages and houses had been burned, his
parks and fruit trees cut down, his ponds and fish destroyed, and,
what was more than all this, had been for ever abjudicated from
his paternal inheritance ; and, notwithstanding he had been thus
deprived of all his property, he stiU annoyed the king, and perse
vered in his offences against him. " We therefore order you on
your oath, as faithful subjects of our lord the king, to seize him if
he should happen to come to Ireland, and bring bim, dead or
aUve, before the king ; and if you do this, all his inheritance and
possessions in the kingdom of Ireland, which are now at the
disposal of our lord the king, wUl be granted to you to be divided
amongst you, and to be held by you by hereditary right. And for
the faithful fulfilment of this promise to you by our lord the king,
aU of us, by whose advice the business of the king and kingdom is
managed, wUl become securities if you briu^ the above design to
effect. Farewell."
How the Irish nobles agreed to the offer of the king's counsellors.
When the Irish nobles heard the contents of the king's letters,
covetousness took possession of all their minds, and all conspiring
with one another, they sent messengers with letters to the afore
said counsellors of the king with an injunction to secrecy, telling
them that, if the promises contained in the king's warrant would
be confirmed to them they would endeavour to carry the plan
into effect. The king's advisers then, by a royal warrant made a
grant to them of all the rights of the marshal, to be divided
between them, setting forth the places, possessions, and rights
which would fall to the lot of each of them. When these traitor-

A.D. 1234.] MASSACRE OF THE ALBIGENSES. 583
ous Irish nobles received this document, they immediately bound
themselves by oath to accomplish the detestable design when they
saw an opportunity ; and thus conspiring against the life of an
innocent man, they at once invaded the territories of the marshal,
and took some of his castles, dividing the booty amongst them.
Of the slaughter of the heretic Albigenses in a pitched battle.
In this year the heretic Albigenses in Spain and those regions
became so audacious, that they ordained heretical bishops to preach
their evU doctrines, declaring that the Christian reUgion, and
especiaUy the mystery of the incarnation, was false and ought to
be altogether aboUshed ; they also coUected an army and invaded
the territories of the Christians, burning churches and slaying the
Christians of both sexes and aU ages without mercy. But when
news of this event was spread abroad, their superstitious presump
tion was soon checked by the faithful foUowers of Christ, who
assumed the cross at the summons of pope Gregory, and came
from the regions of the west to the defence of the Christian faith ;
and in a pitched battle fought in the spring, these heretics toge
ther with their bishops were slain to a man. The Christians then
took possession of their cities, and placed followers of Christ in
them ; they also ordained catholic bishops in them, and then
returned victorious to their own countries, and those who had
come thither poor men returned home rich.*
The bishops' advice to the king about the disturbances in the kingdom.
WhUst these events were occurring in Spain, the EngUsh king on
the day of the Purification of St. Mary, held a council at Westmin
ster, at which he severely reproached some of the bishops and espe
ciaUy Alexander, bishop of Chester, for being too friendly with the
marshal, and accused them of endeavouring to drive him from the
throne of the kingdom. That bishop, however, when he heard
himself thus accused, put on his pontifical robes and excommuni
cated aU who were the authors of this crime against the king, and
then, on the interference of the other bishops, the king became
reconciled to him. At this council master Edmund, archbishop
elect of Canterbury, was present with several of his suffragan
bishops, and all of them unanimously expressed their sorrow at
the desolation of the king and kingdom, and told the king, speak
ing from their hearts, " Lord king, we tell you in the Lord's name,
that the counsel which you now receive and act upont namely, that
of Peter bishop of Winchester, and Peter de Rivaulx, is not wise
or safe, but on the contrary is cruel and dangerous to yourselves
and to the whole kingdom, fin the first place, they hate the
EngUsh people, and both caU them traitors themselves, and cause
* Paris here says that the heretics in the provinces adjoining Germany
were also defeated by the Christians, and an immense number were slain.
He also mentions that in this year a truce was confirmed between the king
and William Marshall.

584 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1234.
others to call them so ; they estrange your affections from your
people, and those of your people from you, as is evident from the
conduct of the marshal, who is the best subject in your dominions,
and by the wicked lies which they teU you about your people,
they pervert aU their words and deeds. It was by the acting on
the advice of this same man, the said bishop, that your father also
lost first the affections of his people, afterwards Normandy and
some other territories, and finally all his wealth, and almost the
sovereignty of England, and never enjoyed tranquilUty afterwards^
It was owing to this same man's counsels, that the kingdom was
embroUed and laid under an interdict, and these troubles at
length brought on your father's death. By the same man's coun
sel in our own time the castle of Bedford was detained from you,
and from this same cause you lost the town of RocheUe. Again,
this insurrection which is now endangering your kingdom, has
been caused by the evil counsels of these two men ; for if your
people had been governed according to the rules of justice and the
proper laws of the land, this disturbance would not have hap
pened, you would not have had your possessions ravaged, and your
money would not have been expended. We also say, on the
allegiance we owe to you, that your plans are not those which wiU
give peace to your kingdom, but wiU only cause disturbances, for
these men, since they cannot increase their wealth by peace,
endeavour to do so by embroUing the people of the kingdom and
by depriving others of their inheritance. Also, that they hold
your castles and the strength of your dominions in their own
hands, as though you could not place confidence in your own
people. Also, that they have your treasury, and aU the chief trusts
and escheats under their own control, and what kind of an
account they will render to you of them you wUl find out here
after. ' Also, that there is scarcely any business of importance in
the kingdom transacted under your seal, or by your warrant,
without being also ufider the seal and by the warrant of Peter de
Rivaulx, from which it is clear they do not consider you in the
light of a king. Again, by the same counsel aU the natural
subjects of your kingdom have been dismissed from your court,
therefore we entertain fears for you as well as the kingdom, inas
much as we know that you are more under their rule than they
under yours, as is evident in very many instances. J Also, that they
hold under their control the princess of Brittany and your sister,
as weU as several other noble dames and young women, with their
wards and marriage portions, and these they disparage by giving
in marriage to their own friends. Also that they misapply and
pervert alike justice and the law of the land, which you have
sworn under penalty of excommunication to defend, whence it is
to be feared that they wiU be excommunicated, and you incur the
sentence also for communicating with them. Also, that they do

A.D. 1234.] HOSTILITY OF THE NOBLES. 585
not fulfil their promises to any one, they do not keep faith, their
oaths, nor abide by any written agreements, nor do they fear
excommunication ; wherefore those who have departed from the
truth have faUen into despair, and those who abide by it are in
alarm. We say this to you in good faith, and we advise you in
the presence of God and man, and we beg of and warn you to
dismiss such advisers, and, as is the custom in other countries, to
govern yours also by the assistance of the faithful and sworn
subjects of your own kingdom ; for we have to inform you for a
fact that, unless you correct these abuses in a short time, we shaU
proceed, by means of the censure of the church, against you and
aU other gainsayers, and we are only awaiting the consecration of
our venerable father the archbishop elect of Canterbury." On
these words, the king humbly begged a respite for a short time,
saying, that he could not dismiss his counseUors so suddenly, at
any rate until he had received from them an account of the money
entrusted to them ; and thus the councU broke up, and all departed
in confident hopes of soon obtaining peace in the kingdom.
How the proscribed nobles burst out into acts of vengeance.
After the aforesaid councU was dissolved the king went to
Bromholm to perform his devotions, and on his road passed the
town of St. Edmund's, where, moved by piety, he granted to the
wife of Hubert de Burgh eight manors out of her husband's terri
tories, which were then under the charge of Robert Passelewe by bis
orders ; then, after he had performed his devotions, he returned to
the western part of the kingdom, and arrived at the town of
Huntingdon. Whilst he was staying at the latter place, Richard
Seward, in company with GUbert Bassett and other proscribed
nobles, went to Almondbury, a town belonging to Stephen de
Segrave, about two miles distant from where the king was, and
burned aU the buildings belonging to the aforesaid Stephen, and
plundered the place. That nobleman, who was with the king, saw the
flames from his houses illuminating the whole country round, and
at once hastened with a large armed force to protect his property :
but when he heard that Richard Seward was the author of this
deed of violence, he turned back as if flying from a hostile force,
and, not sparing the spur, fled with aU haste to the king, who, as
weU as his attendants, was excited to laughter at him. About the
same time too, this same Richard Seward and his followers made
prisoners of some knights who attacked them in the Welsh terri
tories, and according to the law of war, compelled them to pay a
heavy ransom.
In this year on the Sunday on which the psalm, " Let Jerusalem
rejoice," is chanted, which fell on the 2nd of April,_ Edmund,
archbishop elect of Canterbury, was consecrated in Christ church
at that place by Roger bishop of London, in the presence of the
king and thirteen bishops ; and on the same day he performed
solemn mass, wearing the paU.

586 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1234.
How the king dismissed the bishop of Winchester and the Poictevins.
About this time, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, which fell on the
9lh of April, a council was held at Westminster, at which the
king, the earls, and barons, and the lately consecrated archbi
shop, with his suffragan bishops, assembled to make proper pro
visions for composing the disturbances in the kingdom. The
archbishop then in company with the bishops and other prelates
present, approached the king, and gave him his advice as weU as
that of the bishops concerning the desolate state and imminent
danger of the kingdom, and repeated to him the disadvantages
which had been set forth to him at the conference held a Uttie
whUe before. He alsorboldly told the king, that, unless he very
soon abandoned his errors, and made peace with his faithful
subjects in his own kingdom, he, the archbishop, with aU the
other prelates present, would at once pronounce sentence of excom
munication against him and all the other opposers and perverters
of peace and tranquillity. The king dutifully Ustened to the
advice of the prelates, and answered with humility, that he would
yield to their counsels in everything ; and then, finding out his
error, after a few days he ordered Peter bishop of Winchester to
go to his bishopric, and attend to the cure of souls, and thence
forth on no account to meddle with the affairs of the kingdom.
He also ordered Peter de Rivaulx, to whose pleasure the whole of
England was subjected, without faU to give up the royal castles to
him, to render an account of the royal money, and immediately to
leave his court, declaring with an oath that, if he were not a
beneficed person, and admitted to the rights of the clergy, he
would order his two eyes to be torn out. He also expeUed all the
Poictevins, as well from his court as from the charge of his
castles, and sent them away to their own country, ordering them
never to show their faces to him again.j He then, in his eager
desire to bring about a peace, sent Edmund, archbishop of Canter
bury, with the bishops of Chester and Rochester, into Wales, to
make arrangements for peace with LleweUyn and Richard the
earl marshal. 'Having thus dismissed aU his evU advisers, he
recalled to his service his natural subjects, and submitted to the
advice of the archbishop and bishops, hoping by their assistance
to bring back his disturbed kingdom to its proper state.
How the earl marshal went to Ireland and carried on the war.
About this time messengers came to Richard the earl marshal,
telling him how the Irish nobles had invaded his territory, taken
some of his castles, and were roving through the country indulging
in pillage. As the king had, since Christmas, given up his expe
dition against Wales, and gone to the northern parts of the king
dom, the marshal set sail for Ireland, about the day of the Purifi
cation of St. Mary, with only fifteen knights, for the purpose of
keeping the malicious designs of his enemies in check. On his

A.D. 1234.] WAR IN IRELAND. 587
arrival there, there came to him Geoffrey de Marisco who was his Uege
dependant, but had proved faithless and had confederated himself
with Maurice the justiciary, Hugh de Lacy, Bichard de Burgh,
and others of the marshal's enemies ; this man pretended to join
his party ; and advised him to make war on the above-mentioned
nobles bis enemies, and to subdue Ireland. The marshal then
proceeded through his territory, coUected an army, and, attacking
his enemies, regained some of the castles which they had taken
from him ; he also, after a siege of four days, took Limerick, a
famous city of Ireland, and forced the inhabitants to give him
their allegiance ; he then marched forward and took some castles
belonging to the king as weU as to some of his other enemies, the
casteUans of which he compelled to take an oath not to obstruct
him in his purpose. The Irish nobles did not dare to meet him,
but fled before him to a distant part of the country, where they
coUected knights and horse soldiers with an innumerable host of
foot, and prepared themselves for a pitched battle ; they incited
aU their foUowers by distributing the king's money amongst them,
and by large promises, to kiU the marshal, in order that by his
death they might become rich. After this they sent some of the
brothers of the temple to the marshal, telling him that he was
acting as a traitor to their lord the king, on whom he was now
making war in Ireland as he had before done in England ; they
also added, that they to whom the king had entrusted the charge
of the kingdom of Ireland, being sworn faithful subjects of the
said king, could not endure this insult without incurring the
charge of treachery ; they therefore demanded a truce tiU they
could learn from the king if he meant to defend Ireland, and U he
refused to do so, and determined to leave that country to its fate,
they would at once give up the whole country to the marshal
without strife and bloodshed.
Of the justness of the war which the marshal engaged in against the king.
On receipt of this message, the earl marshal replied to their
proposals one by one as follows : " In the first place," said he, " I
reply that I have not acted as a traitor against the king ; for he,
unjustly and without any trial by my peers, deprived me of my
office of marshal, ordered me to be declared an exile throughout
England, burnt my houses, and destroyed my possessions. Twice
he held me in defiance, although I was always preparepl to appear
in his court to answer any charge made against me, and to abide
by the decision of my peers ; for this reason I was no longer a
liege of his, but was absolved from all fealty to him, not by my
own means but by himself." With regard to the other offers made
to him, and the truce, the marshal sent word by the said templars
to the nobles, to come to meet him in conference on the following
day in a field pointed out by him, there to make arrangements for
peace ; he however unhesitatingly declared that he was fuUy justi-

588 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1234.
fied in endeavouring to recover what was his own, and in weaken
ing the power of the king and his counseUors by every means hi
his power. Of the treacherous counsel of Geoffrey Marsh.
When the Irish nobles heard the marshal's reply from the
templars, they were weU pleased with the proposal to come to a
conference, for they knew that they had a larger force than the
marshal ; and they determined not to return without coming to a
battle. The marshal in the meantime asked the advice of his
knights on the above matter, and said, " It seems to me that I
ought to grant these nobles the truce demanded by them, for their
demand seems to me to be just and reasonable ; and I fear if I
were to deny to them what is just, something worse would befal me."
Geoffrey de Marisco, his pretended adherent, who was aware of, and
a confederate in, the premeditated treachery, broke forth in words
of blasphemy against him, and speaking as if in kindness, said
that he was not the son of that great William Marshal who
surpassed all the knights of the western empire in wisdom and
prudence, as weU as in courage and daring. "And timid man
that you are become," said he, " you now in your slothfulness
reject the chance of obtaining possession of the sovereignty of
Ireland which it is now in your power to subdue ; the truce indeed
which your enemies demand is only to deceive you, in order that
they may obstruct your progress. But you may rest weU assured
that aU your enemies, when they see you armed and ready for
battle though with only a few foUowers wiU turn their backs and
take to flight." There were there about eighty other knights or
more, who held lands in Ireland from the marshal, and who had
aU been bribed by his enemies ; and they advised the same plan of
proceeding, treacherously endeavouring to deceive him.
Of the conference held between the Irish nobles and the earl marshal.
When the morning came, Maurice the justiciary, Hugh de Lacy,
and Richard de Burgh came to the conference in the field pointed
out to them, attended by a hundred and forty strong and daring
knights, whom they had been picking out throughout aU Ireland
ever since they had commenced their treacherous designs for the
purpose of slaying the marshal, and whom they had brought over
to their purposes by large gifts and promises, and they aU desired
a battle rather than a conference. The marshal too came with
his armed knights who, with the exception of fifteen of his own
particular retinue whom he had with him, only pretended to be
his adherents, and took up his station about a mUe distant from
his enemies. They then, by means of the templars, who carried
the messages from either party, began to treat about a peace. To
be brief however, the Irish nobles, when they learned that the
marshal had come there with only a few attendants, told him
plainly that it was their fixed determination, unless he granted

A.D. 1234.] THE EARL MARSHAL TAKEN PRISONER. 589
the truce they demanded, they defied him, and would at once try
by force of arms which of the two parties was the strongest. The
earl marshal however, urged on to it by the advice of Geoffrey
de Marisco and his other pretended friends, unwillingly refused the
truce demanded, and frequently, by means of the messengers,
demanded that they should restore to him some of his castles
which they had unjustly seized, and stiU retained possession of,
for it seemed contrary to right for him to grant a truce when he
had been robbed ; the Irish nobles however refused to do this, and
drawing up their troops in order of battle, they proceeded to
attack the marshal as if certain of gaining a victory. Geoffrey de
Marisco on seeing this said to the Marshal, " I advise you in good
faith to grant them the truce : for my wife is the sister of the
noble Hugh de Lacy, and therefore I cannot fight on your side
against him with whom I am allied by marriage." To this the
marshal repUed, " Vile traitor that you are, did I not but just now
by your advice refuse the truce, even against my own wish 1 I
should indeed seem a man of a wavering mind if I were thus
quickly to grant them what I refused but a Uttie whUe since, for
I should then appear to do so through fear more than from regard
to them. For I am weU aware that I am doomed to die this day ;
but it is better for me to die with honour in the cause of justice,
than to fly from the field and to endure the reproaches of my
feUow knights for ever. Then seeing his brother Walter, a fine
young man, he said to his followers, " Take my brother to my castle
near, and do not let the whole of my family perish in this battle ;
for I trust in his bravery, if he attain the age of maturity, to show
himself a brave knight." The Irish nobles, fearing the prowess
and daring of the marshal, gave their own armour to the knights
whom they had coUected for the purpose of slaying this innocent
man ; so that, although they wished to slay him, they might not
appear to be participators in the deed.
Of the battle, in which the marshal was taken prisoner.
When the troops were drawn up, the earl marshal saw that there
were a great many to engage with only a few, he however exhorted
his men to battle, asserting that he had undertaken this war for
the sake of justice and the laws of England on account of the
oppression of the Poictevins, thinking that they aU were faithful
to him, when in fact they were traitors. He then dashed boldly
into the midst of the enemy, and forcing his way through them he
opened a road for his knights with his sword, but only fifteen
knights, his own retainers, foUowed him and endeavoured to
disperse their enemies. His sworn dependants and knights on
whom he trusted, as had been pre-agreed amongst these traitors,
gave themselves up as prisoners to the enemies without force,
without being wounded either by lance or sword, as if they were
friends glad to see one another ; some of them fled, without

590 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1234.
striking a blow, to the ohurches and convents, leaving the marshal
with only fifteen knights. These however defended themselves
bravely, unequal as the struggle was, against a hundred and
forty ; the whole weight of the battle however feU on the marshal,
who then first discovered the treacherous design against his Ufe,
but, although attacked on aU sides by his enemies, he stiU defended
himself and slew six of them. A knight of gigantic size, to whom
Richard de Burgh had given his armour, indignant at seeing this,
made a rush at the marshal in order to kUl him at once, and
endeavoured forcibly to snatch his helmet from his head ; the
marshal, when he saw this man, thought that it was Richard de
Burgh, and exclaimed, " Fly, vUest of traitors, lest I kiU you ;"
to which he replied, " I will not fly, but wiU come nearer you ;"
he then Ufted up his hands to seize the marshal's helmet, but the
latter, by one blow of his sword, cut off both of his hands although
covered with armour. Another of them, seeing his companion
wounded, rushed with aU the speed of his horse at the marshal,
and exerting all his force struck bim on his head, but owing to his
helmet the blow took no effect ; the earl however returned the
blow and cut his enemy in two as far as the middle, after which
not one of them would come near him for a long while. The
leaders of his enemies, in a, state of consternation, then urged on
a host of people who had come there with lances, pitchforks, axes,
and halberds, to surround the marshal, kill his horse, and bring
him to the ground ; and they at once surrounded and overwhelmed
him, piercing his horse with many wounds ; they could not even
then however dismount him, they therefore cut off the horse's feet
with their axes ; the marshal then feU with his horse, overcome
with fatigue, having been engaged fighting from the first hour of
the day till the eleventh, and his enemies, rushing on bim, lifted
up his armour and mortaUy wounded him in the back. The nobles
themselves on learning that he was mortally wounded, and lying as
it were lifeless on the ground, conveyed him with scarcely any
signs of life, to his own castle, which Maurice the justiciary had
taken possession of but shortly before, where he was placed in
close confinement and attended by only one young man of his
party. He there remained in the hands of his enemies. This
battle was fought on Saturday the first day of AprU.
Of the death and burial of the earl marshal.
*A few days afterwards the marshal began to recover strength
* Paris here gives an account of the pope's extortion of money through
out Christendom, and which he practised principally in England. He also
gives a letter from his holiness, dated at Spoleto, the 4th of September
in this year. A similar letter to this is hereafter given in the text of
Wendover. He however states that the progress of the crusade was much
impeded by the avarice of the Romans. He then gives the account of the
marshal's death and burial, and relates how the exiled nobles carried on

A.D. 1234.] DEATH OF THE EARL MARSHAL. 591
so that he could eat and drink, play at dice, and walk to and fro in
his room. His enemies when they saw this asked him, in the name
of the king of England, to give up aU his castles and lands in
Ireland, since his body was now in the power and at the mercy of
the king, and he could be put to a most shameful death at the
king's pleasure, as he had been by a decision of his royal court
first exUed and afterwards placed in a state of defiance, and now
had been taken prisoner in a pitched battle against him ; " It wUl
be to your advantage," they said to him, " to do this without oppo
sition, and thus obtain mercy from us." They also showed him
the king's warrant by which they were ordered, if he should
happen to come to Ireland, to take him prisoner and send him
before the king dead or alive. The marshal then, knowing himself
to be in the power of bis enemies, at once gave orders by letter
for the surrender of aU his castles to the king, being ignorant that
they were, by the king's warrants, granted to those nobles to be
distributed amongst them, and to be by them held by hereditary
right. His wounds now beginning to sweU and cause him grievous
pain, he asked for a physician, on which Maurice the justiciary,
in whose charge he was, summoned one, rather however with a
design of kUling him than of giving him relief. But the marshal,
like a true Christian, before he took any bodily medicine, prepared
for death by confession and the viaticum, and by making a legal
testament, and then commended to the Lord the question whether
he should Uve or die. The physician then came to bim and with
a long-heated instrument laid his wounds open and probed them
so often and deeply with it that he drew blood from them. The
marshal from his great sufferings feU into an acute fever, and
on the 16th of AprU, which was the sixteenth day after he had
been wounded in battle, he slept in the Lord. He was buried on
the following day at Kilkenny, in an oratory belonging to some of
the Minorite brethren, where he had whilst Uving built a handsome
tomb. Thus died the earl marshal, a noble knight, one skilled in
learning and distinguished by his manners and virtues. He
departed this Ufe on Palm Sunday to receive from the Lord in
heaven a palm for bis reward : amongst the sons of men his
their system of pillage. " While these events were passing," he says,
" Richard Seward and his companions employed themselves in burning the
buildings of the king's adherents ; they burned the Swainbourne, a manor
belonging to Robert Passelewe, and Ivinghoe belonging to Peter bishop of
Winchester, together with the crops and cattle ; they also laid an ambus
cade and seized William Holwer sheriff of Kent, because he was related
to the said Robert, having married his sister, and compelled him to pay a
heavy ransom ; they also, between Reading and Wallingford, seized on seven
baggage- horses belonging to Stephen de Segrave and the bishop of Win
chester. The nobles of Ireland in the meantime took possession of the earl
marshal's castles, and divided them amongst themselves as had been
confirmed to them by the king's charter.

592 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [^.D. 1234.
person was so beautiful that nature seemed to have striven with
the virtues in its composition.
Of the revenge taken by the exiled nobles on the king's advisers.
It was not yet known in England what had occurred to the
marshal in Ireland, but when it did become known, Richard
Seward and some others of the exiled nobles sought revenge on
the king's advisers by whose means they had been proscribed, and
on the fourth day in Easter week, they burned some buildings at
Swainbourn belonging to Robert Passelewe, together with the crops,
cattle, and other property found there, and caused great loss
to him ; and a few days afterwards on the 26th day of April
they burned some barns near the town of Staines, belonging to the
said Robert, with the crops and other property found there. Again,
on the 2nd of May, they seized ou six baggage-horses laden, be
longing to Stephen de Segrave, besides a valuable riding horse, but
whatever belonged to the king they let go in peace ; on the 12th
of May they burned Ivinghoe, a village belonging to Peter bishop
of Winchester, together with the houses and all other property,
to the great loss of the bishop. In this same year the Irish nobles
took possession of the marshal's castles and rights in Ireland,
which had been granted to them by the king's warrant, and
divided them amongst themselves.
How all the proscribed nobles came and made peace with the king.
About the same time, soon after Easter, the king went to
Gloucester for the purpose of meeting the archbishop and bishops,
whom he had sent into Wales, as above related, and on reaching
his manor of Woodstock he passed the night there. At this place
messengers came to him from Ireland bringing news of the
marshal's death, at which to the astonishment of aU present he
burst into lamentations for the death of such a distinguished
knight, declaring that when he died he had not left his equal in
the kingdom ; then, at once summoning the presbyters of his
chapel, he ordered a solemn funeral service to be chanted for his
soul, and on the next day, after attending mass, he bestowed a
large amount in alms on the poor. Blessed indeed must such a
king be, who could love his enemies, and pray to God with tears
for his persecutors. Starting then from Woodstock, he arrived at
Gloucester, where he was met by Edmund, archbishop of Canter
bury, and the bishops who had accompanied him on his mission to
Llewellyn ; these messengers told the king that they had arranged
a peace with Llewellyn on condition that, before every other con
sideration, the exiled nobles with whom he, LleweUyn, was allied,
and who had been proscribed owing to the evU counsels of his
advisers, should be at once received again into the king's favour ;
and when this was fulfiUed the peace would be fully ratified. The
king then, who longed for peace by any means, issued letteis,
summoning aU the proscribed nobles to meet him at a councU at

A.D. 1234.] HENRY AND HIS NOBLES RECONCILED. 593
Gloucester on the Sunday next preceding Ascension day, which
would be the 29th of May, then and there to receive a
full pardon and aU their inheritances ; and they were to come
there without any suspicion, under the safe conduct of the arch
bishop and bishops. Accordingly, by the intervention of the
archbishop and bishops, they came to terms with the king ;
Hubert de Burgh, the ex-justiciary, GUbert Bassett and his
brothers, Richard Seward, and aU those who had been banished
with them and on their account, and all of them were admitted by
the king to the kiss of peace on the 28th of May, and had
aU their rights restored to them by him. At this same conference,
Gilbert, the earl marshal's brother, came to the king announcing
his brother's death, and demanded of him to be instaUed in his
inheritance, and offering to do homage to the king, and whatever
else he was bound to do to him as his lord. The king then by the
adyice of the archbishop, restored to him aU his inherited posses
sions in England as weU as in Ireland, and received his homage ;
and, on the Whitsunday following he conferred the knight's belt on
the said GUbert, and delivered to him the wand of the marshal of
his court, to be held with all the honours which had been paid to
his ancestors. He also admitted Hubert de Burgh, GUbert
Bassett,* and Richard Seward amongst his private and familiar
* Paris adds : — " And the king regarding him with a calm look,
embraced him and gave him the kiss of peace, restoring him as well as the
other proscribed nobles to his former favour. Then Hubert earl of Kent,
with a grateful remembrance, clasped his hands and looking up to heaven
uttered the following heartfelt prayer : 0 Jesus, crucified Saviour, I once
when sleeping saw thee on the cross pierced with bloody wounds, and on
the following day, according to thy warning, I spared thy image and
worshipped it, and now thou hast in thy favour repaid me for so doing at a
lucky time." That this apologue may be the better understood by our
readers, we will leave our story, and explain it. When the war was raging
in the time of king John, some knights with their retainers, under Hubert's
command, were indulging in rapine and pillage according to the customs of
war, when it happened that as Hubert was one night lying in a deep sleep
on his couch, the Lord appeared to him, suspended on the cross crucified as
he is usually represented by statuaries, and said to him, " When you next
see my image, spare me in it, carry it away and worship it." On the
following day, as he was on his march, he met a priest running, in great
alarm, clad in white, wearing his gown and maniple, and carrying on his
shoulders a large cross with the image of Christ on it. On approaching
Hubert he cried with a mournful voice, " My Lord, Bave the church which
I serve, from these freebooters, who are ravaging this country and plundering
it of all its wealth." Hubert then beheld the image on the cross to be io
every respect similar to the one which he had seen on the past night, on
which he dismounted and worshipped it ; and at once under the guidance of
that priest, he released his country, restoring all the property of the
despoiled church. He therefore now gave praise and glory to God, on being
reconciled to the king and his friends, and relieved from his many oppres-
VOL. II. Q Q

591 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A-D- l-3i'
advisers, and then fully discovered how he had been led away by
the craftiness of his former advisers, who, being pricked in
conscience, withdrew from the king's presence.
The king demands an account from Peter de Rivaulx, if c
At the same conference, Edmund archbishop of Canterbury, in
the presence of the king and the whole assembly of bishops, earls,
and barons present, read a copy of the letters containing the
treacherous orders with regard to Richard the earl marshal, and
which had been sent to the nobles of Ireland by the king's
counsellers, at which the king himself, and aU the rest who heard
them, were deeply grieved and even moved to tears. The king
acknowledged as a fact, he had, on the compulsion of the bishop of
Winchester, and Petef de Rivaulx and his other counsellors,
ordered his seal to be set to some letters which were placed before
him, but he declared on oath that he never knew the purport of
them. The archbishop in reply said to him, "Examine your
conscience, my king, for aU those who caused those letters to be
sent and were aware of the treachery intended, are just as guilty of
the murder of the marshal, as if they had slain him with their own
hands." The king then, after taking advice, issued letters
summoning the bishop of Winchester, Peter de Rivaulx, Stephen de
Segrave, and Robert Passelewe, to meet him at a conference on the
feast of St. John, to render him an account not only of his money
received and expended by them, but also of their misuse of Ids
seal, without hi3 knowledge ; and ordered them to appear on that
day to answer to the charge ; they however, found their consciences
plead guilty to all the charges, and were in dread of the anger of
the king on one side, and on the other of that of the brothers and
friends of the marshal, whose death they had caused. The bishop
of Winchester, and Peter de Rivaidx, therefore fled to the
sanctuary of the church, and hid themselves in the cathedral
church at Winchester, withdrawing themselves entirely from the
sight of men ; Stephen de Segrave concealed himseffin the church of
St. Mary at Leicester, and thus he, who had formerly fled from his
clerkship to take up arms, now returned to his clerical duties and
reassumed the chaplet which he had abandoned without the con
sent of his bishop ; Robert Passelewe sought a hiding place which
nobody was aware of, and many asserted that he had gone to Rome ;*
sions and sufferings, which reconciliation the said Hubert ascribed to God
and not to man. The king then after reflection, led by a similar spirit of
piety, &c. Sec.
* Paris here adds ;— So that he could not be found, and many thought
that he had gone to Rome, to which court he had often gone when a proctor
for his lord Falcusius ; but in fact he was lying concealed in a secret ceilnr at
the New Temple, feigning to bs ill, and covered up like a hare. Nor when
aroused at the summons of the king, after his hiding place was known, did
he dare lo leave it; some others also, whose consciences pricked them, were

i.D. 1234.] PETER DE RIVAULX. 595
and not even at the summons of the king did they dare to cross the
threshold of the church, for they suspected that their enemies, who
had burned their villages, buildings, and barns stored with the
crops, and every thing else of value to them, would not spare their
lives if they had an opportunity of injuring them.
How the king demanded an account from Peter de Rivaulx.
Edmund archbishop of Canterbury, who was the mediator
between the two contending parties, at length obtained from the king
permission for these parties to appear before him, under the safe
conduct of himself and the bishops, on a certain day, to answer his
demands, in order to set aU these dissensions in the kingdom at
rest. The king therefore appointed the 14th of July for them to
appear at Westminster, on which day they were brought before the
king under charge of the said archbishop and bishops. The first
who appeared before the king to answer the charge was Peter de
Rivaulx, who came in a clerical dress with his head shaved and
wearing a broad chaplet, and reverently greeted the king who
was sitting on the bench with the justiciaries. The king eyeing
him with a scowling look thus addressed him, "Traitor," said he,
" by your evU advice I unknowingly affixed my seal to letters con
taining treacherous designs against the marshal ; it was also by
your evU counsel that I banished him and others of my natural
subjects from my kingdom, and thus estranged their affections and
regard from me ; and by your UI advice was it, that I made war
against them, and have wasted my own money as weU as that of
my subjects." He also demanded of him an account of his treasury,
and of the wardship of youths of noble families entrusted to his
care, as also of escheats and several other revenues incident to the
crown. When the king had thus accused him of these and many
other offences and charged him with treachery, he did not deny any of
the charges against him, but prostrating himself on the ground before
the king, implored his mercy, " My lord king," he said, " 1 was brought
up and enriched in worldly property by you, therefore do not destroy
the man you have made, rather give me time for deUberation that
I may be able to give you a due account respecting the things de
manded of me." To this the king replied, " I wiU send you to the
tower of London, there to consider on the matter, in order to give
me a proper account." Peter replied, " My lord, I am a priest and
ought not to be imprisoned, or consigned to the custody of laymen."
The king then said, " The archbishop is here, and if he wiU become
security for you, I will give you into his charge, in order that you
may give me a proper answer to my demands." To speak briefly, the
king sent him to the tower and took charge of all his lay possessions,
for under his clerical habit, he was armed with a coat of mail, which
afraid to make their appearance, suspecting that their enemies, who had
burned their villages, buildings, and crops, would not spare their persons if
they had an opportunity of injuring them.
o.«2

596 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1234.
was not befitting a clerk. He remained in the tower of London
the Thursday and Friday foUowing his arrest, and was then released
by the archbishop, who sent him to the cathedral church at
Winchester, where he remained.
How Stephen de Segrave appeared before the king.
On the same day Stephen de Segrave under the archbishop's pro
tection appeared before the king to answer to the charges made
against him ; the king on his appearance accused him as a wicked
traitor, of the same offences as he had Peter de Rivaulx, adding
also that he had advised him to dismiss Hubert de Burgh from his
office of justiciary, and to imprison and hang him, and to banish
the other nobles from the kingdom. After accusing him of these
and many other crimes, the king demanded of him an account of
what he had received and expended in his office of justiciary, which
he had exercised after the dismissal of Hubert de Burgh. With
respect to these charges, the archbishop and some of the bishops
obtained from the king a respite till Michaelmas in order to give
him time for deUberation. As to the charge of giving evil advice
to the king, he replied, that as he had many counsellers, the evU
that had happened ought not to be laid to his charge alone.* Robert
Passelewe, who had filled the office of treasurer after Walter bishop
of Carlisle, hid himself and could not be found by those who sought
his life. How the count of Brittany departed from his allegiance.
In the same year, on the nativity of St. John the Baptist, at
which time the truce made between the French and English kings
in Brittany terminated, the EngUsh king sent sixty knights and
two thousand Welsh to the count of Brittany in order to protect
the weaker portions of that noble's territory. The French king- on
the expiration of the truce, coUected a large army from the whole
strength of his kingdom, and laid siege to a castle belonging to the
count of Brittany. The knights of the EngUsh king and then-
Welsh followers, however, met them and kUled a number of then-
horses, thus changing horse soldiers into foot, seized their carts
• Paris adds:— "Others higher than he, namely, those between him and
the king, whose immediate answer was necessary, and that he ouo-ht to
blame Walter bishop of Carlisle, and Peter de Rivaulx, and not hinT; and
thus, making a shield of others for his own defence by throwin" the blame
on them, he went away. Robert Passelewe, who had discharged the duties of
treasurer after Walter of Carlisle, again hid himself, and it was with diffi
culty that those who sought his life could find out where he was concealed
The king now relying on wiser counsels, appointed as justiciary in the place
of the aforesaid Hugh de Pateshull, clerk, a faithful and honourable man
son of Simon de Pateshull, who at one time had managed the business of
the whole kingdom. For the said Hugh had formerly managed the treasury
business in a praiseworthy manner,as far as related to what is termed the secret
treasury, keeping the seal and receiving immense sums from the sheriff •
and the greater confidence was reposed in him from his father's fidelity " '

A.D. 1234.] THE COUNT OF BRITTANY. 597
and vehicles containing their provisions and arms, carried off their
horses aud other booty, and, after inflicting all this harm on their
enemies, returned to their own quarters without any loss to them
selves. The French king, annoyed at the injury done to him,
divided his army, and invaded Brittany in all directions. The
count, in this strait, asked for and obtained a truce tUl the feast of
All Saints, for the purpose of seeing if the EngUsh king, whose
aUy he was, would come in person to his assistance ; and, to obtain
this truce, he gave up to the French king three of his best castles,
with the understanding that, if the English king would not come
in person to the rescue of his territory in the prescribed time, he
would give up the whole of Brittany with the castles and cities
therein to the French king entire. After making this truce, the
count of Brittany sent the English king's knights and Welsh fol
lowers home to England, and they advised the king not to waste
any more of the money of the kingdom for the protection of the
count of Brittany, inasmuch as he had now entered into a treaty
with the French king, to abandon him and to make his peace with
the king of France, only waiting to exhaust all the English money.
After a short time had elapsed the said count came himself to
England, and told the king that he had expended aU the money he
had to obtain this truce from the French king, and asked him to
make him restitution of fifteen thousand marks, which sum, he
said, he had spent in the defence of his territory and for the honour
of the king of England. In reply to this demand the king said,
that the truce had been obtained and ratified by him, and also
added that the treasure of all England was not sufficient for the
defence of Brittany, as he had proved by three years' experience,
and he did not wish to be further harassed by such trouble and
expense ; if the count of Brittany however would think it sufficient,
he would send four earls from England with knights and soldiers
sufficient to defend that province against the French king. The
count, on hearing this, left the king in a rage, and, crossing to his
own country, fled to the French king ; and, in order to palliate his
treason against that monarch, he went to him with a halter round
his neck, and, acknowledging his treachery, surrendered to him the
whole of Brittany with the towns and castles therein. The French
king, it is stated, answered him as follows: "Although, wicked
traitor that you are, you have well deserved a disgraceful death, yet
I wiU spare your hfe in respect to your rank, and I will give Brittany
to your son for his Ufe, so that after his death the kings of France
shall inherit that province." The count, being thus deprived of aU
his possessions, Uke a traitor, by means of messengers again
tendered to the English king the homage he had formerly done to
him ; the king however seized on all the possessions of the count
of Brittany in England, and deprived him of all his dignities.*
* Paris adds : — " The count, seeing misfortunes multiplying upon him.

598 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1234.
A miraculous circumstance relating to a certain bishop.
In this year, which was the third of the unfruitful ones, a
dreadful mortaUty and famine raged everywhere ; and these pesti
lences were doubtless brought on, as well by the sins of the
inhabitants as by the previous unseasonable state of the atmos
phere and the general sterility of the land. The poor in various
places pined away and died from hunger, and met with no good
Samaritan to give them in charge of the host to be fed, or to heal
their deadly wounds. Almsgiving too, which usually augments
wealth, now languished, and the rich, who abounded in worldly
possessions, were struck with such blindness that they suffered
Christian men, men made after God's image, to die from want of
food. Blind indeed were they, since they boasted that they had
amassed wealth, not by the gift of God, but by their own industry.
Disgraceful as this was to the generality of Christians, it was most
shameful in bishops and church-prelates, and amongst the princi
pal ones who were notorious for their avarice, I mention Walter
archbishop of York, as a sample of the rest ; for when the provosts
and agents of several of his manors went to him and told him that
he had a great deal of corn which had been growing old for five
years, and which they very much suspected was either eaten away
by the mice or had grown rotten in some way, he, even at a time of
such want, showing no respect to God or regaru to the poor, gave
orders to his agents and provosts to give this oldcorn to the labour
ers of his manors, who, he said, should return him new for the old
after the autumn. It happened that the said archbishop's agent
was examining the corn at the town of Ripon, and having put it
outside the barns for the purpose of thrashing it, there appeared,
amongst the sheaves the heads of vermin, such as snakes, toads
and other reptUes ; and the servants who had come with the
agent to look at the corn, fled in alarm lest they should be injured
by the vermin. When all this was told to the archbishop, he was
struck with shame, and sent his seneschals to see what was neces
sary to be done. They, on coming to the place, notwithstanding
the hosts of reptiles, set ladders to the rick, and compeUed some
labourers to ascend and examine the corn ; on their reaching the
top, a black smoke issued from the rick attended by such an
unearthly and unendurable stench that they came down from the
rick in all haste to escape being suffocated, declaring that they
had never before smelt such a stench ; they also heard a. voice
telling them not to lay their hands on the corn, for that the arch
bishop and everything belonging to him were the property of the
devil. The seneschal and those who had come with him, seeing
the danger which would arise from the numbers of reptUes buUt
and fuming within himself for grief, turned pirate, and lay in wait for
merchants and others trading by sea, from which he acquired the name ui
' Mauclerc,' and indulged in rapine by sea."

A.D. 1234.] AVARICE OF A PRIEST. 599
a high wall round this corn of the devU's, and setting fire to it
consumed it aU, that the reptiles might not escape and infect the
whole district.
Another miraculous circumstance concerning the avarice of a certain priest.
There was in the same county of York a certain rich vicar,
distinguished in his holy office of preaching, but withal avaricious ;
and about this time he was taken iU, and, as his physicians thought,
of a deadly disease. Owing to the fame of the religious notions
which he entertained, which were opposed to the opinions of all
the county, he was visited by the neighbouring abbats and priors,
aU being unaware that he was like the wolf in the fable, and a
snake in the grass. After respectfully greeting the prelates who
had come to see him, the sick man made no mention of the salva
tion of his soul, but told them, that out of his regard for them he
bequeathed them a large quantity of corn which he had in his
court not stowed away in the barns, dividing it amongst them as
it appeared best to him. The abbats and priors then went out,
by the sick priest's orders, to look at the corn bequeathed to them,
but on approaching the ricks, they saw standing near them a man
like the sick vicar whom they had left in the house, clothed the
same, of the same bodily appearance, and in every respect similar
to him ; this figure, addressing them sharply, said to them, " What
do you want here 1 I would have you to know that all this corn,
as weU as the person who is to aU appearance the owner of it,
belongs to me ; for the vicar who bequeathed it to you is my
subject, and aU that belongs to him is mine, since he has done
homage to me with clasped hands. And you may rest undoubt
edly assured that on the fourth day hence he will die, and then I
shaU fully recover aU that is my own, together with the man
whom I made rich when he was poor." The abbats and those
with them, on hearing this were struck with alarm, and returning
to the vicar, whom they new found in the last extremities, told
him aU they had seen and heard ; and on their telling him that
the man belonged to the devil, the vicar replied, " He speaks the
truth, for it is now twenty years since, when I was a poor man, I
did homage to the devil who has now spoken to you, in order that
I might obtain earthly honour and temporal wealth." Immediately
afterwards he resorted to repentance and confession, renouncing
the devil and all his works and pomps, on which, by the divine
compassion, he was at once released from aU bodily pain, and
aUowed a proper time for repentance ; whence it is quite evident
that God desires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he
should be converted and live.
Of a remarkable miracle which happened during this year.
Although in the two above written chapters it has been plainly
shown in what detestation the crime of avarice ought to be held
by all Christians, I wUl add even a third case that every word may

600 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [¦*.•!>• I334"
stand on the testimony of two or three witnesses. When the year
of which we have spoken above had progressed as far as July, still
pressing heavily on the poor, who daily suffered from want, they
rushed into the harvest-fields in crowds, and plucked the ears of
corn although not yet ripe, and, bruising them up with their
trembling hands, endeavoured to sustain the spark of unhappy Ufe,
which scarcely palpitated in their bosoms ; and this fact can
scarcely be reprehensible in poor people since we read in the Acts
of the Apostles that Christ's disciples did the same. The labourers
of some of the villages, however, who from their avarice always
have suspicions of poverty, were much annoyed, on passing
through theii" fields, at discovering this pious theft, and the
inhabitants of a town called Alboldesly, in the county of Cambridge,
proceeded on the foUowing Sunday, which was the 16th of
July, to their church, and tumultuously demanded of the priest at
once to pronounce sentence of excommunication on aU those who
had picked the ears of corn in their fields. Whilst aU the husband
men were urging this point, one of the townsmen, a reUgious and
pious man, on seeing that the priest was ready to pronounce the
sentence, rose and adjured him in the name of Almighty God and
aU the saints, to exclude him and aU his crops from the sentence :
he also added that he was well satisfied with the poor people's
having taken what they did from his crops in their state of want,
and what remained he commended to the Lord's care. Whilst aU
the rest were persisting in their fooUsh purpose, and the priest
under compulsion had commenced pronouncing the sentence, there
suddenly arose a great storm of thunder, lightning, and whirlwinds,
attended by inundations of rain and hail ; and the corn in the
fields was lifted up by a blast from hell ; the cattle and birds, with
everything growing in the fields, were destroyed as if trodden down
by carts and horses. Aloft in the air the angels of Satan were
seen flying about, who were beheved to be the agents of this
tempest. But, as the divine goodness is always constant to just
and good men, when, after the storm which had caused such loss
to his neighbours, that honest and just man visited his fields, he
discovered his farms and lands, although in the midst of other
person's property, to be without any trace of injury from it ; and
from this it appears clear as light, that, as glory is given to God on
high by his angels, so there is peace and good-wUl on earth towards
men. This storm commenced on the boundaries of Bedford, and,
passing towards the east through the isle of Ely and Korfolk,
reached the sea coast. In this year indeed several storms of a hke
nature raged in various places which were as dreadful as they were
injurious to many ; and it seems likewise a remarkable circum
stance that the crops which remained standing after the storm was
over were discovered to be so putrid that neither horse or ass,
bull or pig, goose or hen, would eat of them, although given to
ihem for consumption,

A.D. 1234.] THE POPE AND THE ROMANS. 601
Of the dissension which arose between the pope and the Romans.
In this same year a serious dissension sprang up between the
pope and the citizens of Rome, the origin of which was as foUows.
The said citizens claimed to themselves a privUege, which was, that
the Roman pontiff could not for any offence, excommunicate any
one of the citizens, or lay an interdict on the city. In reply to
this the supreme pontiff said, that although he was inferior to God
he was superior to man, and was therefore superior to the inhabit
ants of Rome ; and, since he was their spiritual father, he ought
to, and by right could, punish his erring chUdren, as they were
subject to him in the faith of Christ, wherefore he could lawfuUy
excommunicate them and lay the city under an interdict where
there was a reasonable cause for so doing. Again, the city autho
rities and senators exacted from the Roman church an annual
tribute, which the Roman pontiffs paid to them by a recent as weU
as old custom, and of which they had been in receipt up to the time
of the present pope. To this the pope replied, that if in times of
persecution the Roman church, for its own defence and for the
sake of peace, had sometimes bestowed large presents on the
authorities of the city, this ought not to be construed into a
custom, for that ought only to be considered a custom which was
founded on right and supported by reason ; and, what was more
than all this, Christ on his cross had made it so free by his blood,
that not even the gates of heU would prevaU against it. For these
and other causes of dispute between him and the Romans, the
pope left the city with his cardinals, and went to Perugia to stay
whilst the quarrel lasted. The Romans in the mean time, growing
bold in their opposition to him, pulled down some of his buUdings
in the city, on which they were excommunicated by bim ; he also
ingratiated himself with the emperor, and assembled a large army
to resist the attacks of the Romans. The united armies of the
emperor and the supreme pontiff then destroyed about eighteen
viUages inhabited by these Romans situated round the city, and
cut down the trees in their vineyards ; the citizens then enraged
at this, saUied forth from Rome on the 8th of October, to the
number it is said of a hundred thousand armed men, for the
purpose of puiaging and burning the city of Viterbo, which
belonged to the pope ; but when this senseless crowd had got out
of the city, and were proceeding without regard to discipline and
in disordered masses, the trained troops of the pope and the em
peror burst forth from places of ambuscade, and, rushing on the
Romans, caused dreadful slaughter amongst them, although with
some loss to themselves. About thirty thousand men feU on both
sides; the Romans, however, suffered the greatest loss as
they took to precipitate flight towards the city, scattering them
selves in all directions, and their hearts were now greatly exaspe
rated against the pope, because in this conflict many of the higher

602 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1235.
ranks in the city had fallen. The contest between the opposing
parties continued for a length of time, but the Roman citizens
always found the fortune of war against them.
In this year Hugh Foliot, bishop of Hereford, died, and was
succeeded by master Ralph de Maidstone, a man remarkable for
his learning, who received consecration at the hands of Edmund
archbishop of Canterbury.*
Of the circumcision of a Christian boy by the Jews.
a.d. 1235, which was the nineteenth year of king Henry's reign
ho held his court at Christmas, at Westminster, attended by the
bishops and nobles of the kingdom. At the same time and place
Seven Jews were brought before him, who had stolen a boy at the
town of Norwich, and, keeping him altogether out of sight of
Christians, had circumcised him, intending also to crucify him at
Easter. Of this fact they were found guUty, and in the king's
presence they acknowledged the fact, and remained in confinement
with their lives and limbs at the pleasure of the king.
In the same year, on the 7th of February, died Hugh, bishop
of Lincoln, the enemy of all monks ; he was buried in the
cathedral church at Lincoln on the tenth of the same month, and
was succeeded by master Robert Grosseteste, a good and religious
man, weU skilled in holy learning, who was consecrated by
Edmund archbishop of Canterbury, on the 3rd of June, at
Reading ; the monks of Canterbury exclaimed against his being
consecrated any where except in the church of their own town,
but at length allowed it on this occasion, on condition that it
should not be made a custom of thereafter.
About the same time, after the purification of St. Mary, Stephen de
Segrave and Robert Passelewe made their peace with the king by
the payment of a thousand marks, but were not however taken into
their former favour by him. Near about this time too, on the
24th of February, Henry de Sandfort bishop of Rochester
died, at whose decease the monks of that place elected master
Richard de Wendene, a man versed in liberal learning ; but when
hd was presented by the monks to Edmund archbishop of Canter
bury, for a confirmation of his election, he was not received by that
prelate, on which the monks appealed to the pope.
Of the death of abbat William, and the succession of J.
On the day after the feast of the apostle St. Matthew in the
same year, WiUiam abbat of St. Alban's died, after governing that
church for twenty years and almost three months, and was buried
on the 27th of February, in the monks' chapter-house. The con-
* Paris states that the crops were very scarce in this year ; he also says,
" In the same year too, the island of Majorca, (so called to distinguish it
from ' Minorca' or the smaller island,) which lies between Africa and
Marseilles, was taken after much loss, by the Christians, namely by the
king of Arragon and the citizens of Marseilles."

A.D. 1235.] PREACHING THE CRUSADE. 603
ventual assembly then obtained the king's permission to choose a
fresh abbat; and, on the day following the Annunciation of St. Mary,
they, with all due solemnities, elected John prior of Hertford, one
of their professed monks as the pastor of their souls, who was pre
sented to the king on Palm Sunday and favourably received by
him. Some of the monks and clerks of that church, whose special
duty it was, were then sent to the court of Rome, to obtain a
confirmation of the election, which they procured without any
difficulty, and returned to their own country with the apostolic
blessing.* On the day following the Nativity of St. Mary, which
was Sunday, the said abbat elect received the benediction as abbat
from Roger bishop of London ; and during the interval preceding
this the abbey with all its appurtenances remained, by the king's
kindness, under the charge of the monks, without cessation of the
rights of hospitality. In this year the Jews obtained from the
Roman pontiff the privilege of not being UI treated by kings or
princes in the way of extorting money from them, or of being
imprisoned. About the same time, when Easter was approaching, Peter
* Paris here says : — " Moreover there was approved a form and method
of proceeding in the election, and all wondered that, amongst so many
heads, there should be the same opinion, and that the assent was unanimous ;
whence it was said by many at the court of Rome, and even by the pope
himself, that it was not without the will of the Holy Spirit that it was
arranged, ' For the multitude had but one heart and one soul.' And that
it may be known to our readers, we give the following mode of electing an
abbat at the church of St. Alban's. Three or four confessors (inasmuch as
they know the hearts and dispositions of each) are ordered, by virtue of the
Holy Spirit, to choose twelve elect brothers of the convent, faithful and
learned men, who are to choose from amongst themselves, or from the con
vent of the church, or from the cells, one fit brother for abbat. In order
that their election and deliberations may not be invalid, they hold letters
from and under the seal of the convent, engaging to receive unanimously
and willingly, and without opposition, the one whom those twelve shall elect.
This mode of proceeding was much commended and admired by the supreme
pontiff and all who heard it, and the examination having been held, the
election was confirmed by the apostolic authority. But as the pope was not
clearly satisfied as to the character of the elect, he sent orders to the bishops
of Ely and London, to make a strict examination as to the character of the
abbat elect, and confirm him in the abbat's chair, with the benediction, and
to instal him in the management of all the spiritual and temporal affairs of
the kingdom. The said abbat elect therefore, after the examination had
been taken, on the Nativity of St. Mary, which was on Sunday, received the
benediction as abbat from Roger bishop of London, for they could not both
attend, as ordered by the apostolic see. The abbat elect, being installed with
due solemnity, then before the altar read closed and sealed letters, such as
we never saw before, concerning the journeys of the apostles, and visiting
their threshold every three years, which we heard with due respect. But
thU is more fully related hereafter."

604 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1235.
bishop of Winchester went to Rome at the summons of the pope,
to arrange the proceedings of the war which he was carrying on
against the Romans ; for that prelate, when a young man, had been
in the service of the renowned warrior Richard, as well as of
John, the kings of England, and with them he had of old learned
the use of the hauberk before he assumed the pontifical dress, and
could draw up an army before he could preach the word of faith.
Of the preaching of the crusade.
In this year, which was the eighteenth from that in which the
truce of ten years was made in the land of promise between the
Roman emperor Frederic and the sultan of Babylon, a preaching
of a crusade was made throughout aU Christendom at the instance
of pope Gregory, who sent letters into the various parts of the
world to the foUowing effect : —
The pope's warrant,
" Gregory bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all the faith
ful servants of our Lord Jesus Christ dweUing in England, health
and the apostolic benediction. Like Rachel formerly when she saw
the beginning of those who grew in the knowledge of the true
faith to their own salvation, so also the holy Roman church, whose
sorrow is great over the mutual destruction of her children has
sent forth and stiU sends forth sighs and groans, which we hope
may be heard in heaven, that the faithful may weep and mourn,
till the Lord takes pity upon them. She grieves that the house of
celestial bread, Mount Sion, from whence the law was given forth,
the city of the great King, of which many glorious things are told,
the land which the Son of God has haUowed by shedding his blood
there for us, has lost the strength and beauty of its kingdom. It
weeps because that once free land is now under the yoke of impious
tyranny. She weeps because, where the multitude of the heavenly
host uttered songs of peace, there the oppression of a most impure
people has stirred up offences, concealed malice, and schisms, and,
stirring up war, hath put forth its hand and expeUed from the
temple of the Lord the ordinances of the priest, and the laws of
nature itself, that filth and abomination may be introduced in their
place ; wherefore Jerusalem hath been defiled in her sabbaths, and
polluted by her enemies. For although the said city, besides the
temple of the Lord, was some time ago restored to our well-beloved
son in Christ, Frederic the Roman emperor, the august and Ulus-
trious king of SicUy and Jerusalem, yet, because the Almighty God
did not deign then to confer more glory on the Christians, the
aforesaid emperor made a truce with the sultan, the end of which
is now so nigh, that the intervening time is not thought sufficient
for preparation, unless we hasten to make all necessary prepara
tions with speed, and the confidence and warmth of faith. Let
no one therefore be backward in undertaking the pUgrimage to the
succour of that land, to fight for their country with a sure hope of

A.D. 1235.] A MIRACLE. 605
victory, to die for a crown of glory and for life, to endure hardships
and difficulties for a time on behalf of Him, who despising con
tempt, endured to be spit upon, beaten with the fists of his per
secutors, scourged and crowned with thorns, who stood before Pilate
as if he were guilty of many crimes, and finaUy was nailed to the
cross where he was given gall to drink, pierced with a lance, and
giving up his breath with a loud cry, he thus closed his earthly
career overwhelmed with insults, in order to preserve the human
race. He it was, to speak more fully, who did not disdain to
descend from the throne of his Father's glory, bowing the heavens
wonderfully beneath him, to our state of mortality ; he did not dis
dain, from being God to become man, from being the Creator to
become the creature, and, although the Lord, to assume the form of
the slave, in order that we, who could not hope for forgiveness by
our own righteousness, might by this obtain unheard-of grace,
might become heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, sharers of the
Deity, and participators in eternal felicity. And although, through
his grace we have been adopted by him, we give daUy proofs of
ingratitude, yet He abounds in goodness, inasmuch as to prove the
faith of his followers, he suffers the land, in which it was his wiU
to be born, to die, and to rise again, to be so long held by the infidels,
although the hand of the Lord is not weakened, nor his virtue in
any respect diminished, for he who had made all things from
'nothing could in an instant set it free. He requires from men the
graces of love and compassion, to display the final consummation
and fulfilment of the law ; he first deigned to take pity on man in
his ruined state, and would by no means have permitted impious
hands to be so strengthened against the pious, if he had not taken
care that his own injury should be avenged out of our confusion,
and our disciplining accrue from his victory. Thus plunged in the
depths of sin, and unable otherwise to make atonement, men would
have been sunk despairingly in that sea of evUs, if a plank had not
thus been offered to them, so that by dying for Christ they might
briefly attain to the consummation of many years. For many,
desiring to behold the lands where our Lord stood, have reached
the goal without the labour of a race, the crown without the ordeal
of the sword, through Him who rewards his faithful soldier, and
looks only for good wiU in his service. We therefore, trusting in
the mercy of Almighty God and the authority of hi8 apostles
St. Peter and St. Paul, and by the power to bind and to loose,
which God has given us, hereby grant to all who shall undertake
this work in their own persons and at their own expense, or who
shall provide fitting men in their stead, or who shall go at the
expense of others, or who shall supply money wherewith to render
meet assistance to the Holy Land, or who shall render advice or
assistance to the same end, a full pardon for all the sins which
they shall repent of in their hearts and confess with their mouths;

606 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1235.
and we command that all, both clerks and laity, who may take the
cross, shaU, both in their persons and property, remain secure under
the protection of St. Peter and ourself, and of l he archbishops,
bishops, and prelates of the church, until certain knowledge shall
be obtained of their death or of their return, during which time,
also, no payment of usury shall be exacted from them, either by
Jews or Christians. Given at Spoleto, 4th September, in the
eighth year of our pontificate."
The pope also appointed brothers of the order of Minorites and
preachers, to preach the cross throughout aU the world, together
with able masters in theology, who went forth on the work of the
gospel, the Lord co-operating with them and confirming their
preaching by signs following : every province by the apostolic
mandate had its archdeacons and deans, who collected together all
the people of the diocese both men and women, anathematizing aU
who neglected to attend their preaching.
A miracle connected with a woman whose limbs were contracted.
On the 11th of June in this same year, master Robert de Lawes,
a brother of the Minorite order, was preaching the gospel on
behalf of the crusade in the town of Clare, and a certain woman
there, who had been deprived of all use of her limbs for three
years, fearing the sentence of excommunication, gave what Uttie
money she possessed to a neighbour to carry her on his shoulders
to the place where Roger was preaching ; there she lay groaning
and lamenting till the man of God had finished preaching, when
he, touched with compassion at her lamentations, and seeing her
lying there, went to her and asked her the reason of her having
come there. She replied that through fear of excommunication,
she had been brought to the place of his preaching, on which he
ordered her to go to her home, not knowing she had lost the use of
her limbs. On the bystanders informing him that she had been
entirely deprived of the use of her limbs for three years, he asked
her if she believed that God was powerful enough, if it were his
pleasure, to render her sound, to which she rephed, " I do, sir."
The man of God, then taking the woman in his arms lifted her up
with confidence, saying at the same time, " May the Almighty God,
in whom you believe, render you sound." On his ordering her to
get up she did so putting her trust in God, and as she was rising,
her bones and nerves began suddenly to crack so that the
bystanders thought that all her Umbs would have been broken to
pieces ; she was however thus restored to her former soundness,
and returned to her house rejoicing and glorifying God for having
bestowed such power on his servant.*
* Paris adds ; — " About this time two monks, the chosen messengers of
the conventual church of St. Alban's, namely master Reginald the physician,
and master Nicholas of St. Alban's, both priests, wise and eloquent men,
with their clerks, master Geoffrey Langley and Geoffrey Foccarius, their

A.D. 1235.] MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR. 607
How the emperor demanded the sisler of the king of England in marriage.
In the month of February of this year two templars, with some
knights and other special messengers, came to the king at West
minster, charged with letters, sealed with gold, from the emperor
Frederic, demanding the hand of the English king's sister, Isabel,
in marriage. They reached the king on the 23rd of February, and
begged for an answer to the letters and the demand, that they
might announce the king's decision to their lord with all haste.
The king then held a careful deliberation with the bishops and
nobles of his kingdom for three days, when they all, after duly
considering the matter, unanimously agreed that the lady should
be given to the emperor, and on the 27th of February the king
gave his answer agreeing to the demanded aUiance. The messen
gers then asked permission to see the lady, and the king sent some
trustworthy messengers to fetch his sister from the tower of
London where she was carefuUy guarded ; the messengers con
serving man, and others, set out for the court of Rome, in the octaves of
Easter on the 15th of April, carrying with them the procuratorial letters of
the convent, and attended by the prayers of the whole brotherhood," &c.
He then gives the form of these procuratorial letters, together with the
rescript of pope Gregory addressed to the bishops of London and Ely, the
return of the messengers with the pope's warrant, and proceeds to give the
following account of the benediction of the abbat of St. Alban's.
The bishop of London therefore, the other bishop making some excuse
for not attending, proceeded to fulfil the orders of the apostolic see, and
after making a due examination of the abbat elect he found nothing
incorrect in his character, and therefore, on the day after the nativity of the
blessed Virgin, he solemnly conferred the benediction on him in the church
of St. Alban's, where the letters enclosed in the pope's warrant were opened,
and, as was the custom, were read by the elect, who was to receive the
benediction, in the presence of the bishop, the conventual assembly, the
clergy, and people, and which contained the following declaration ; " I,
John, abbat of the monastery of St. Alban's, will from this hour be faithful
and obedient to St. Peter, to the holy apostolic church of Rome, to my lord
pope Gregory, and to his successors canonically appointed to that see. I
will not by advice, consent, or deed, cause loss of life or limb to them, or
caption of body . . . And the advice which they shall entrust to me them
selves or by their messengers or letters I will not, to my knowledge, disclose
to any one to their injury. The Roman papacy and the royalties of St.
Peter I will aid both in holding and defending against all men, saving my
order. The legate of the apostolic see I will treat with honour both as he
comes and returns, and will assist him in his necessities. _ When summoned
to the svnod I will come, unless prevented by any canonical impediment. I
will visit the threshold of the apostles every three j ears, either in person or
by my messenger, unless pel mission from the apcstolic see shall release me
from so doing. The possessions belonging to my monastery 1 will not sell,
give away, pledge, nor unfee anew, nor will 1 alienate them in any. way
without the advice of the Roman pontiff. So help me God and the holy
gospel."

608 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 1235.
ducted her with all honour to the king at Westminster where she
appeared before the messengers of the emperor, a lady in her 20th
year, beautiful to look upon, adorned with virgin modesty, and
distinguished by her royal dress and manners. After they had
refreshed their sight for some time with gazing on the lady, -they
decided that she was most worthy in all respects of the imperial
couch, and confirmed the marriage on the soul of the emperor by
oath, presenting her with a wedding ring in his name ; after they
had placed it on her finger they proclaimed her empress of Rome,
aU- exclaiming, " Long live our empress." They then sent messen
gers with all haste to inform the emperor of -what they had done,
who, immediately after Easter, sent the archbishop of Cologne, and
the duke of Louvaine, with a large array of nobies, into England
to bring the empress, to him with due honour, and to complete the
marriage ceremony, in order that it might be consummated.
Of the wedding ornaments of the empress and of th# noble preparations.
There was such a profusion of ornaments at this marriage that
they appeared to surpass kingly wealth ; for the empress herself
a crown had been most elaborately constructed out of pure gold
adorned with jewels, and on it were carved likenesses of the four
martyr and confessor kings of England, to whom the king had
especiaUy assigned the care of his sister's soul. She shone forth
with such a profusion of rings and gold necklaces, and other
splendid jewels, with sUk and thread garments, and other like
ornaments, which usually attract the gaze and excite the desires
of women even to covetousness, that they appeared invaluable.
With bridal garments of silk, wool, and thread, she was so weU
supplied, that it was difficult to say which would be most likely to
attract the emperor's affections. Her couch was so rich in its
ooverlets and pUlows of various colours, and the various furniture
and sheets made of pure fine linen, that by its softness it would
invite those lying in it to a deUghtful slumber. All the drinking
cups and dishes were of the purest gold and sUver ; and, what
seemed superfluous to every one, all the cooking pots, large and
Email, were of pure silver. And to take the management and care
of aU these, some of the attendants of the courts were deputed,
and to wait on the empress and her family in kingly custom. After
being supplied with these and many other gifts by her brother and
receiving a dowry from him, the lady Isabel remained under the
care of the bishop of Exeter, and Ralph Fitz Nicholas, the king's
seneschal, and other nobleman of his household, and attended by
noble dames and damsels, who, being all skiUed in courtly manners,
would suffice to wait on and escort the empress. After he had thus
arranged matters the king, on St. John's day, held a solemn
festival before the Latin gate at Westminster in company with the
archbishop of Cologne and the emperor's other messengers ; on the
day foUowing they aU took the road towards the borough of

A.D. 1235.] BANISHMENT OF NOBLES. 609
Dartford accompanied by the king with a large train of earls and
barons. The king had also procured for the lady, in honour of her
as empress, a number of horses remarkable for their various
colours and of gentle paces, which bore their riders with a delight
ful gentleness, without annoying them by the motion of their feet ;
the_ trappings and saddles too, gUt and . carved, were of such a
variety, and the bridles and reins so elaborately worked in gold,
that they set off the rider as weU as the horse. They proceeded
through the city of Rochester and arrived at the abbey of Feversham,
and starting from thence they wentto Canterbury to perform then-
devotions to the archbishop and martyr, Thomas ; after fulfilUng
their reUgious duties, they proceeded to the port of Sandwich to
the number of about three thousand knights. From that port the
empress and the archbishop of Cologne, with the noblemen and
ladies appointed as her suite, embarked on the 11th of May, and
put to sea under fuU saU ; it was not however without weeping
that the brother and sister, the king and empress parted.
Of the arrival of the empress at Cologne.
After a voyage of three days and nights they entered the mouth
of the river Rhine, and after a run of a day and night up that
river, they arrived at Antwerp, a city under the imperial jurisdic
tion. On their landing at this place they were met by an immense
host of armed nobles, who had been sent by the emperor to act
as a guard to the empress, to keep vigUant watch round her
person day and night ; for it was reported that some of the
emperor's enemies, who were in aUiance with the French king,
were planning to carry off the empress, and prevent the marriage.
They were also met by aU the priests and clergy of the adjacent
districts in solemn procession, ringing beUs and singing songs of
joy, and with them came aU the best masters in every sort of
music with their instruments, who accompanied the empress with
aU kinds of nuptial rejoicings during her journey of five days to
Cologne. When her approach became known at that place there
went out to meet her, with flowers, palm branches, and in festive
dresses, about ten thousand of the citizens, mounted on Spanish
horses, who put them to fuU speed and engaged in jousting with
one another. Accompanied by these rejoicing crowds the empress
proceeded through the principal streets of the city^ which had
been decorated in aU kinds of ways against her arrival ; and, on
learning that every one, and especiaUy the noble ladies of the city,
who sat in the balconies, were desirous of seeing her face, she
took her cap and hood from her head, for aU to get a sight of her,
for doing which every one praised her, and after they had gazed
at her gave her great commendations for her beauty as well as
her humiUty. She then took up her abode outside the waUs of
the city on account of the noise therein, and there awaited the
emperor's instructions.
VOL. II. is

610 ROGER OF WENDOVER. [a.D. 1235.
Of the marriage of the emperor and empress at Worms.
At the time of the empress's arrival at Cologne, the emperor
was engaged in a war against his son who had rebeUed against
him ; his father, however, led such a large army against him that
he laid siege to ten of 'his castles at one and the same time ; in
one of the strongest of these the son had shut himself; but on his
father's laying siege to it, he, dreading his father's severity, left
the castle, and throwing himself at his feet begged his mercy.
The latter however, without pity, ordered him to be enchained*
and took him away with him ft> Worms, from which place he sent
word to the empress to come to him there, she having then been
six weeks at Cologne. The archbishop of Cologne and the bishop
of Exeter, with the other nobles of her suite then at once set out
on their way to the emperor, and, after a journey of seven days
brought the empress to him amidst aU kind of nuptial pomp and
rejoicing. She was received on her arrival by the emperor with
joy and respect, who was beyond measure deUghted with her
beauty, and the marriage was solemnized at that place on Sunday
the 20th of July, and although her beauty pleased the emperor at
first sight he was much more pleased after marriage. After the
nuptial festivities had been continued for four successive days, the
bishop of Exeter and the rest who had attended the empress
thither, obtained leave from the emperor and returned joyfully to
England, taking with them as presents from him to the EngUsh
king, three leopards with other costly presents which were scarce
in the countries of the west, the emperor also promised to assist
him against the king of the French.
Of the nobility of the extraction of this empress.
There were many however in the Roman empire who thought
that it was degrading for the emperor, who was so powerful and
rich, and who was as it were the lord and governor of the whole
world, to marry the sister of an English king. But as it is known
to aU that there is greater dignity in being of a noble race than in
being rich, the reader ought to know that the father of this
empress was John king of England ; that the then reigning king
Henry was her brother ; that the Illustrious kings Henry and
Richard, and Geoffrey count of Brittany, were her uncles. These
kings of renowned race ruled in England and Ireland, whence they
were kings ; in Normandy and Aquitaine, by which they were
* Paris here adds, " When he was released from prison, and the restraint
of reverence for the emperor was somewhat removed, the son is said to
have procured poison to give to his father ; but being accused of this in
tended crime, he was placed in closer confinement, and consigned to the
Custody of a certain duke, who bore him imperishable hatred, because king
Henry had used all his endeavours to disinherit him ; but now, fortune
having changed, the king was consigned to the pleasure of the duke. The

A.D. 1235.] THE POPE'S ADVICE SOLICITED. 611
dukes ; in Poictou and Anjou, by which they were counts ; besides
claiming jurisdiction over Touraine, Maine, Berry, and Au-
vergne. In aU these districts they had seven archbishops in sub
jection to them, with the kings of Scotland and Wales, and of the
islands of Ireland and Man ; and besides these an almost countless
number of bishops, earls, barons, and knights. The mother of the
empress was queen of aU these countries ; and of her two sisters,
one was queen of Scots, and the other countess of Pembroke.
She had five aunts, the first of which was the wife of Alphonso
king of CastUe, and the mother of Blanche queen of France
(whose son Louis now reigned in that kingdom) ; Roger king of
SicUy married another ; a third had married Henry duke of
Saxony, and became the mother of Otho, afterwards emperor of
the Romans, whose brother of Henry duke of Saxony was after
wards king of Jerusalem ; a fourth was the wife of Raymond
count of Toulouse, and Rotroc count of Perche married the fifth.
By this and other things, it seems that the empress was "de
scended from a race of kings," her father, as aforesaid, being king
John, the son of the renowned king Henry ; and the latter was the
son of the empress MatUda, the daughter of Henry the First, king
of England, by his queen MatUda. This Matilda was the daughter
of Malcolm king of Scots, and his queen St. Margaret. Margaret
was the daughter of Edward by Agatha, sister to Henry the
Roman emperor. This Edward was the son of the EngUsh king
Edmund, surnamed " Ironsides," who was the son of king Ethel
red ; the father of Ethelred was Edgar the " Peaceful ;'' the
father of the latter was Edmund, and his father was the first
Edward, who was the son of the renowned king AUred. The
genealogy of this king is carried back in English history to Adam
our first parent . and by this it appears that an empress descended
from such ancestors was in every respect most worthy of a marriage
with the emperor.
Thus far extend the Chronicles of master Roger de Wendover :
" And thus in these pages the history of our age is,
There are writers still in store who'll hereafter tell you more."

THE END.

A Beckett, Thomas, i. 532,
535—68. ii. 12— 16. martyr
dom, 16—21.
Ahissa, son of Hengist, i. 9.
Acephali, the, i. 13, 38
Acre, surrender of, i. 458.
Second Siege, ii. 91. Cap
ture, 105.
Ademar, bishop of Puy, i. 389.
Adeodatus, pope, i. 1<I0.
Adrian, pope, i. 156, 528.
Aethelwin, i, 89,
Agapetus, pope, i. 37, 45.
Agelbert, bishop, i 88.
Ageric, bp. of Verdun, i. 44.
Aigulf, the monk, i. 108.
Ailesford, battle at, i. 10.
Alaric, i. 17.
Alban, St. i. 160.
Albigenses, the, i. 278, ii. 583.
Albuin, i. 44, 49.
Alclud, city of, i. 37.
Aldegils, king, i. 104.
Aldhelin, bishop, i. 128.
Alexander, the mason, ii. 251.
Alexander, king of Scots, ii.
377, 427.
Alexius, emperor, i. 388.
Alfdritha, i. 266-7-
Alfege, St. i. 278, 295.
Alfleda, i. 241—3.
Alfreda, i. 235.
Alfred, king, birth of, i. 180.
Education, 184, 204. Mar
riage, 190. Wars, 201,206—
13, 216, 228—34. Govern
ment, 225—7.
Alfred, son of Ethelred, i. 301.
Alfstan, bishop, i. 190.
Algiya, i. 247.
Alice of Louvain, i. 473, 491.
Almaric, i. 17.
Alswitha, i. 190.
Alverton, battle of, i. 488.
Ambrosius, Aurelius, i. 7-27.
Amolgith, the 7 sons of, i. 24
AmphibalusSt.i.43. ii. 37-43.
Anastatius, emperor, i. 26.
Angles, arrival of, i. 5.
Anlaf, king, i. 251.
jAnselm archbishop, i. 363,
365, 367, 449, 462.
Anthony, St., i. 39.
Anthymus, i. 44, 45.
Antioch, first siege of, i. 400
— 12. second Biege, 413.
battle of, ii. 84.
Arthur, his birth, i. 29. vic
tories, 35—41, mamage,57.
death, 42. discovery of hie
tomb, ii. 110.
Arthur duke of Brittany, ii.
95, 179, 182, 203, death, 205.
Assassins, the, i. 503. ii. 129.
Athelbald, i. 142—8.

INDEX.
Athelburga, i. 75.
Athelhard, i. 137, 144. 167.
Athelhere, i. 92.
Athelhun i. 147.
Athelred, earl, i. 220.
Athelred, king, i. 106.
Athelwald, i. 96.
Athelwulf, i. 183.
Athulf, earl of Berks, i. 201.
Augustine St., i. 56, 58, 64.
Aurelius Conan, i. 14, 50.
Ausilius, i. 25.
Avalon, isle of, i. 43.
Axianus, i. 400—12.
Balac, prince of the Turks,
i. 474.
Baldulph, i. 34, 36.
Baldwin, abp., ii. 97, 99.
Baldwin, brother of Godfrey,
i. 399, 451—69.
Bangor, massacre at, i, 58.
Barba, baptism of, i. 30.
Barnabas St., i. 19.
Basilii, Peter, i. 178.
Battle Abbey, i. 351.
Battle of the " Fair," ii. 395.
Bede, i. 8, 125, 136, 140—2.
Benedict, abbat, i. 124.
Benedict St., i. 40, 108.
Berengaria, i. 95, 103.
Berta, Queen, i. 57.
Bertulf, king, i. 181.
Birinas, bishop, i. 82.
Blecca of Lincoln, i. 78.
Boamund, Prince, i. 389-463.
Boamund II., i. 477, 480.
Boethius, i. 30, 36, 37.
Boves, Hugh de, ii. 298, 336.
Brandon, St., i. 47.
Brause, Wm. de, i. 248, 254.
Braybrooke, Henry de, ii. 389.
Brien, i. 80.
Brienne, John de, ii. 516.
Brithric, earl, i. 124.
 king, i. 157, 170.
Brithwald, archbp. i. 116.
Briwere, William, ii. 443.
Buce, Walter, ii 356.
Cador,dukeof Cornwall,i.346.
Cadwallo, i. 79.
Cadwallon, i. 52.
Caretius, king, i. 51.
Ceaulin, i. 46, 48, 50.
Oedda, i. 87, 99.
Cedwalla, i. 100, 115.
Celestine, pope, i. 25.
Ceolred, king, i. 133.
Cerdlc, i. 26, 31, 39, 40.
Chalcedon, council of, i 8.
Charlemagne, i. 153 — 73.
Charles le Gros, i. 217.
Chaumont, Hugh de, ii. 147.
Choldric, duke, i. 35, 36, 43.
Cissa, i. 19, 33.
Clarendon, constitutions of,

Clodesnida of Metz, i. 67. .
Clotildis, i. 18.
Clovis, i. 17, 18.
Cnute, king, i. 285—300.
Colgrin a Saxon leader, i.
34, 36.
Columbauns, St., i. 48, 58.
Conrad, emperor, i. 487 — 507.
Conrad of Montferrat, i, 71.
Constans, emperor, i. 86.
Constantine, emperor, i. 70.
Constantine, king, i. 43.
Constantine, pope, i. 127.
Coradin, ii. 410, 491.
Crusades, L 376, ii. 63, 604.
Cumbra, death of, i. 148.
Cursac of Cyprus, ii, 102, 138.
Cuthbert, St., i. 110, 112.
Cuthred, i. 87, 147.
Cyrus of Alexandria, i. 73.
D'Albiney, W.ii. 334,357,382.
 PhiUp, ii. 399, 435.
Damietta, siege of, il 414.
David, king of Scots, i. 485.
Deusdedit, pope, i. 66, 86, 91.
Deuterus, Arian bishop, i. 30.
Dir.oot, the abbat, i- 59.
DionysinB, cycle of, i. 39, 346.
 St., L 96.
Dioscorns, i. 8.
Dnchthelm, vision of, i. 121.
Dubricius, i. 24, 34.
Dunewulf, bishop, i. 213.
Dunstan St., i. 250—70.
Eadbald, i. 67, 83.
Eadbert, king, i. 148.
Eadburga, queen, i. 170
Eadgar, king, i. 258—65.
Eadmund Ironside, i. 268,286.
Eadred, king, i. 253 — 6.
Eadric, king. i. 114. ;
Eadward, king, i. 234?
Eadward, son of Eadgar,i.265.
Eadward, the Confessor, i.
306—23.
Eadwin, son of Ella, L 69,
75—81.
Eadwy, king, i. 257—9.
Ebba, the abbess, i. 191. . .
Edith, queen, i. 306 — 10.
Edmund, king, i. 250—3.
Edmund St., death of, i. 193.
Egbert, archbp.of York, i-14o.
Egbert, king of Kent, i. 92.
Egelric, bp.of Durham, i. 337.
Egfrid, king, i. 100, 110.
Egfrid, son of Offa, i. 167.
Egric, king, i. 91.
Elafdel, i. 436.
Eldad, bp. of Gloucester, i. 22.
Eldol of Gloucester, i. 12, 21.
Eleanor, Q. i. 504, ii. 77, 203.
Klfleda, i. 88
Elfev, St,i. 254-5.
Ella, i. 19, 24, 26, 33.

Eorpenwald, i. 5, 8, 75.
Eosa, i. 21, 22, 28, 31.
Erkenwald, St., i. 102."
Erkenwine, son of Offa, i. 38.
Ermenburga, i. 93
Ethelbert, king, i. 47—67.
Etheldrida, St., i. 106.
Ethelfrid, i. 54, 58, 69.
Ethelred, i. 92.
Ethelred, king, i. 267—87.
Ethelstan, king, i, 245.
Ethelwald, i. 95.
Ethelwold, St., i. 261.
Eustace of Boulogne, i. 309.
Eustace, the monk, ii. 399.
Eustace, abb. of Flaye, ii 190.
Eutyches, L 8, 18.
Falkasius, ii. 348, 386, 394,
451, 458, 484.
Fitz-Osbert, -William, ii. 146.
Fitz-Peter, Geoffrey, ii. 275
282.
Fitz- Walter, Rob. ii. 307,381,
Fortunatus, i. 47.
Frederic, emperor, ii.'63, let
ter to Saladin 64, death 95.
Franco, archbishop, i. 239.
Frideswide, St., i. 464.
Frollo, slain by Arthur, i. 40.
Fulk, king of Jerusalem, i.
480, 495.
Gaugi, Robert de, ii. 404.
Gawaine, tomb of, i. 353.
Genevieve, St., i. 33.
Gennadius, i. 24.
Geoffrey count of Anjou, i.
463, 477.
Geoffrey, son of Henry II., i.
532, ii. 23, 51, 77, 103, 192,
236, 261.
Germanus, St., i. 4, 6, 7.
Giant's dance, the, i. 23, 34.
Gilbert, bishop of London,
i. 537—65, ii. 1.
Gildard, bp of Rouen, i. 40.
Gilla, i. 239.
Gillomannius, i. 23, 27-
Glanville, Ralph de, ii. 82.
Glappa, king, i. 48.
Glastonbury, i. 246.
Godbald death of, i. 81.
Godfrey of Boulogne, i. 387,
391,405, 425,435,450.'
Godiva, i. 314.
Godric, St., life of, ii. 1—11.
Godwin, earl of Kent, i. 296,
301—312
Gorlois, d. of Cornwall, i. 29-
Gregory, St., i. 46.
Grispin, c. of Evreux, i. 417.
Guenhumara, queen, i. 37,42
Guillamuir, i. 38.
Gunilda, empress, i. 304.
Gunnildis, i. 283.
GunthTan, king, i. 54.
Gurth, son of Godwin, i. 331.

INDEX.
Guthlac, St., i. 131.
Guy, king of Jerusalem, 54.
Gytro,Danish king, i. 199,210.
Hardecnute, i. 301 — 5.
Harold, i. 309. 310, 312, 313,
317, 318, 321, 326, 328—33.
Hastein, the Dane, i. 223.
Hastings, battle of, i, 331—3,
Henry, son of Hen. II., i.
533, ii. 11,21, 52.
Henry of Champagne, ii. 164.
Henry II., birth of, [i. 480,
marriage 504, reign 523.
ii. 76.
Henry I., king, i, 337, 446—8;
Henry, emperor, i. 347.
Hereward. i. 339-
Hengist, i. 5, 9, 10, 20, 21.
Heraclius, Augustus, i. 66,70.
Constantine, i. 84.

Henry III., ii. 379.
Hilda, St., abbess, i, 97, 107.
Hildebrand, pope i. 347
Hoel, king, i. 35, 37.
Honorius, pope, i. 75.
Horsa, i. 5, 10.
Honorius, bishop, i. 78.
Hubert de Burgu, ii. 373,
381, 399, 440, 446, 553, 593
Hubert, archbishop of Can
terbury, ii. 141, 173, 201.
Hubba, i. 191.
Hugh the Great, i. 423.
Humbert, bishop, i. 196.
Hugh Bigod, i. 483.
Hugh, bp. of Durham, ii. 82.
Hugh, bp. of Chester, ii. 170.
Hugh, bp. of Lincoln, ii. 193,
4u3. 427, 602.
Ida, king, i. 44.
Idatius, bp. ofLibitana,i.24.
Igerna, queen, i. 29.
Ine, son of Kenred, i. 115.
Ingelburg, i. 133.
Innocent III., pope, i. 47.
Interdicts, ii. 165, 184, 246,
Isabel, empress, ii. 607 — 11.
Jacobites, ii. 169.
James, St., ii. 221.
Jerusalem, siege of, i. 427-
33, description of, 436—43,
taken by Saladin, ii. 61.
Joachim, abb. of Flore, ii. 46.
Johanna, queen, ii. 123.
John, bp. of Alexandria, i.65.
 of Anagnia, ii. 70,
85.
 of Beverley, i. 135.
John of Ferentine, ii. 219.
John, king, i. 550, ii. 22, 57,
77, 132, 135, 179—379-
John, pope, i. 33.
John the Baptist, i 11, 150.
Jornandes, i. 45.
Joppa, siege of, i. 119.
Judith, queen, i. 185.

613
Julian, St., ii. 221.
Justin, emperor, i. 37.
Justin the younger, i. 48.
Justinian, emperor, i. 38—9.
Kaerkaradauc, i. 23.
Kaerlegion, i. 58.
Kenelm, St. i. 173.
Kenred, king, i. 127.
Kenulf, king, i. 167.
Kineburga, i. 88.
Kinegils, i. 75, 78.
Kineric, i. 26, 31, 39, 40, 46.
Kinewalc, i. 85, 100.
Lacy, Roger de, ii. 208, 213.
Lambert, St. i. 119.
Lanfranc, abp. i. 342, 355-9.
Langton, abp. ii. 238, 292,
342, 443, 508.
Laurentius, pope, i. 30-
Lawrence, abp. i. 68.
Leicester, siege of, i. 25.
Leo the elder, i. 11.
Leo the younger, i. 1J
Leof, i. 253.
Leofric, earl, i. 314.
Leutherius, bp. i. 101.
Llewellyn, ii. 432, 444, 539.
Lombard, Peter, heresy of, 1.
45.
Loth, consul of Leil, i. 32.
Loth, king of Norway, i. 40.
Lothbroc, i. 193.
Louis, son of Philip Augustus,
ii. 358,381, 444,480. .
Lucius, Roman consul, i. 41.
Lupus, bp. i. 4.
Macbeth, i. 312.
Macemunt, ii. 53.
Magna Charta, i. 309—22.
Malcolm, king of Scots, i. 360.
Malgo, king, i. 50.
Mamertus, St. i. 11.
Martel, Charles, i. 183.
Martina, i. R4.
Matilda, empress, i. 462.
Matilda, queen of Henry I. L
459—68.
Matilda, queen, i. 348.
Mauleon, Savaric de, ii. 339.
Maur, St. i. 45.
Maurice, emperor, i. 51, 62.
Mellitus, bishop of London,
i. 61, of.
Menduc, king of the Persians,
i. 466.
Mercredesburne, i. 20.
Medard,bp. of Noyon i. 40-6.
Merlin, i. 14, 15, 22, 41.
Meroveus, king, i. 5.
Miracles, i. 11, 18, 30, 39, 41,
43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 64, 66r
108,111,120,157,188,227,
238, 244, 246, 252, 255, 280,
321, 525 ;ii.8, 191, 209, 390,
598—600, 606.

614

INDEX.

Modred, nephew of Arthur,
i. 40—3.
Monothelites, i. 78, 86.
Montfort, Simon de, ii. 281,
426.
Mountsorel, castle of, ii. 398.
Mummolus, i. 108.
Nathaulioth, i. 31.
Neot, St. i. 211.
Nice, Biege of, i. 392—6.
Nicholas, St. i. 352.
Nothelm, Archbishop, i. 143,
Octa, son of Hengist, i. 9,
21, 22, 28, 31.
Odo,bp. ofBayeux.i. 348,355.
Odo, archbiBhop, i. 258.
Odoacer, i. 19.
Offa, king, i. 126.
Offa, son of Tinferth, i. 149
—167-
Olympus, death of, i. 30.
Osbert, king, i. 189.
Osburga, i. 180-
Osred, king, i. 118.
Osric, son of Hengist, i
18, 22.
 king of the Deiri, i. 81
Ostritha, queen, i. 118.
Oswald, reign of, i. 82—5.
Oswi, king, i, 86.
Oswin, death of, i. 89, 319.
Otho, king of Germany, ii,
169, 183, 249.
Otho, the legate, ii. 461.
Owen's visit to Purgatory
t. 510.
Palladius, bishop, i. 24.
Pallas, body of, i. 301.
Palumbus, i. 316.
Pandulph, ii. 255, 263-485.
Pascentius, i, 7, 27.
Passelewe, Robt, ii. 565, 594.
Patrick, St. i. 24, 511.
Paulinus, abp. i. 75, 76, 81.
Peada, son of Penda, i. 88-95.
Pelagius, bishop ii. 411.
Pelagius, pope, i. 45, 50.
Pepin, king, i. 116.
Peter, biBhop of Winchester,
ii. 541, 553, 594.
Peter of Provence, i. 417-
Peter the hermit, i. 379.
Penda, i. 65, 78—94.
Philip, the presbyter, i. 8.
Philip Augustus, ii. 48, 444.
Phocas, Cfesar, i. 62.
Pirannus,abp.'of York, i. 37.
Placidia, i. 7.
Poreta, heresy of, i. 470.
Prester, John, ii. 50.
Prosper of Aquitaine, i. 18.
Purgatory, vision of, ii. 148,
221.

Quendritha, i. 159,
Quenedrida. i. 173.
Quichelm, i. 67, 75, 76.
Rabbod, duke, i. 155.
RadegundiB, queen, i. 46.
Raimond of Toulouse, i. 392.
Ralph, bp. of Durham, i. 449-
Ralph, earl of Chester, i. 492.
Raymond, count of Toulouse,
ii. 470.
Redwald, king, i. 55, 58, 69-
Remigius, bp. i. 19, 30, 39, 44-
Richard, archbishop of Can
terbury, L 23.
Richard, bishop of Durham,
ii. 429, 476.
Richard I, i. 533, ii. 23, 48,
52, 72, 76 ; crowned, 79 ;
joins the crusades, 84 ;
returns, 123 ; imprisoned,
125 ; ransomed, 134 ; death,
177 ; his piety, 547—55.
Richard Marshall, ii. 542-91.
Rivaulx, Peter de, ii. 565.
Robert, count of Paris, i. 397.
Robert, earl of Gloucester,
i. 486.
Robert, earl of Leicester,
ii. 25—6.
Robert, son of William I. i.
344, 351, 391, 397, 400,439,
449, 481.
Rollo, duke, i. 232, 239.
Roman us, the Legate, ii. 469.
Romanus, St. i. 75.
Rowena, i. 7, 11.
Rupibus, Peter de, i. 214.
Sabinian, pope, i. 64.
Saladin, ii. 55 — 130; reply
to the emperor Frede
ric, 66.
Salomon, king, i. 79.
Sampson, St. i. 24.
Saphadin, ii. 130, 410.
Saxons, arrival of, i. 5.
Scotus, Marianus, i. 348.
Scot, Master John, i. 215.
Sebert, king, i. 54, 67.
Segrave, Stephen de, ii. 565.
Severus, bp. of Treves, i. 6.
Seville, capture, of, ii. 73.
Sexburga, queen, i. 84.
Sibylla, queen, i. 54.
Sichelin, K. of Norway, i. 40.
Sigebert, king, i. 83, 91.
Simplicius, pope, i. 18.
Sithric, king, i. 245.
Siward, duke, i. 312.
Sledda, king, i. 54.
Soliman, i. 384, 393.
Stephen, king, i. 476—522.
Sweyn, son of Godwin, i.
309—11.

Sweyn, king of the Danes,
i. 283.
Swithun, St. i. 188, 261—2.
Symmachus, pope, i. 30, 31.
Tancred, i. 389, 420, 433, 439.
Tatwin, archbishop, i. 139.
Telesphorus, pope, i. 31.
Templars, their origin, i- 71,
469.
Theodore, abp. i. 101, 116.
Theodore, pope, i 83.
Theodoric, L 19, 30, 37.
Theodoric, the abbat, i. 40.
Theodoras, bp. of Cyria, L 71.
Theodosius, emperor, i. 8.
Theon, abp. of London, L 52.
Thurstan, archbp. of York, i.
467, 491.
Toledo,astronomers of,ii.514.
Toledo, synod at, i. 56.
Tosti, L 310, 312, 321, 326.
Trajan, how released from
helL i. 62.
Valery, St. il 167.
Vedaatus, St. i. 39.
Verulam, i. 33.
Victorinus, i. 15.
Vigilius, pope, i. 38, 40, 44.
Vortigern, L 3 — 17.
Vortimer, L 7, 9, 10, 11.
Ufirea, son of Eadwin, i. 81.
Urban, pope, i. 374.
Uterpendxagon, i. 13, 16 — 33.
Walchere, bishop, L 345.
Walo the legate, ii. 36L
Walter, the penniless, i. 381.
Walwain, son of Loth, L 40.
Wilfrid, bishop, i. 97—130.
WiUiam, bp. of Ely, i. 100.
William the Conqueror, i.
297, 317, 326—53.
William Rufus, i. 354—444.
William, son of duke Robert,
L 468—78.
William, son of Henry I., i.
466—73.
William, son of Henry II.,
i. 509.
William Longsword, earl of
Salisbury, ii. 299, 348, 468.
William, Marshal, iL 385,
391. 413, 444, 539.
William, king of Scotland,
ii. 29, 30.
Wina,bp. of Winchester,i.99
Wipedes-Flete, i. 18.
Witch of Berkeley, i. 181 .
Withgar, i. 33, 44.
Withgaresbi, i. 39.
Wulfric, St., L 523. *
Wulstan, St.,i. 369—74.
Ynguar, i. 191.
Zeno, emperor, i. 19.

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