Flowers of History 1233
Flowers of History 1233 is in Flowers of History.
How the king dismissed some of his ministers from his court.
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 officers 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 confirmed to him for life. All 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 all 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 (age 62), 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 them in charge of the castles in the various parts of the kingdom ; these men used their utmost endeavours to oppress the natural 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 nohility, both male and female, who were foully degraded by ignoble marriages. The king also entrusted them with the care of his treasury, with the enforcement 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 endured, 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 teith the king.
By these and like injuries, high and low were alike oppressed, and Earl Richard (age 41), 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 Poitou to the oppression of the kingdom and of his natural subjects, and to the subversion of the laws and liberties ; he therefore humbly begged of the king at once to put a stop to such abuses, owing to which, his crown and kingdom were in imminent danger of destruction ; he moreover declared that, if 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 all, till their souls were separated from their bodies.
Of the thunder-storms.
In the same year, on the 23rd of March, dreadful tliunderings 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 water ran about in rivulets and formed into lakes in the midst of 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 8th 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 svere seen by more than a thousand creditable persons ; and some of them, in commemoration of this extraordinary phenomenon, painted suns and rings of various colour 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 annttl/ed.
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 Canterbury 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 (age 58), 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 community.
Of discord which arose between the king and the nobles of the kingdom.
All this time Peter bishop of Winchester and his colleague had so perverted the king's heart with hatred and contempt for his Engish subjects, that he endeavoured by all the means in his power to exterminate them, and invited such legions of people from 'Poitou that they entirely filled England, and wherever the king 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 all 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 conceived against the king for his having summoned all these foreign era in contempt of them the said barons. On their refusal being carried to the king by special messengers, he became much enraged, 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 voice that he would never enjoy a lasting peace till he dismissed Peter bishop of Winchester, and Peter de Rivaulx his son, from his councils. Many others who were present also told the king the same ; whereupon he sent word to the nobles aforesaid to come to a conference at Westminster on the 11th of July, when he would consult with them as to any amendment which ought to be made by right.1 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 tranquillity, declined 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, otherwise they would, by common consent, unite to drive him as well as his evil advisers from the kingdom, and proceed to choose a new king.
Note 1. 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 liest." The clerk then said, " My lord I will tell you it is stones and rocks," [petra et rupes] as though he meant to hint at Peter de Rupibus, the name of the bishop of Winchester. The king therefore, &c. &c."
How the king hanished some of his nobles.
The king, as well 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 father, inasmuch 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 rebellious nobles, take their castles from them, and give them to the Poictevin nobles, who would defend the kingdom against these traitors. The first against whom the king vented his rage was Gilbert Bassett (age 44), 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 called 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 demanded 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 hostages, by which all suspicion of rebellion on their parts would bo removed from his mind.
How the marshal was warned of treachery against him.
The earls and barons in grand knightly array proceeded to London on the 1st of August to the appointed conference, and amongst the rest was Richard earl marshal (age 42), who took up his abode with his sister (age 32), the wife of Richard the king's brother (age 24) ; she then asked him the reason of his journey, to which he replied, 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 will give you up to the king and the bishop of Winchester, in order that they may serve you the same as they did the earl of Kent (age 63)." The marshal would hardly believe these words of his sister's, until she showed by evident proofs the manner of his capture, and by whom he would be taken. He then began to believe her, and when night came on he took the road, and did not draw rein till he arrived in Wales. There came to the conference the earls of Chester (age 26) and Lincoln (age 41), the earl of Ferrers, and earl Richard the king's brother (age 24), with some other earls and several barons, but nothing was done there on account of the absence of the earl marshal and Gilbert Bassett (age 45), 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 all the 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 villages, destroyed their parks and warrens, and besieged their castles. The nobles who were confederated with one another, it was said, were the earl marshal, Gilbert Bassett (age 45) and his brothers, all distinguished soldiers, Richard Siward, a man trained to arms from his youth, Walter de Clifford, a chosen knight, and many others who joined their cause ; all of these the king, without any trial in his court by their peers, ordered to be 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 all the means in his power to weaken the cause of the earl marshal and his confederates, bribed the earls of Chester (age 25) and Lincoln (age 40) by the gift of a thousand 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 (age 23), who at first adhered to the cause of the marshal, had some time before returned to the king's side. When the marshal discovered this, he entered into a confederacy with Llewellyn the prince of North 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 following the assumption of Saint Mary, a great many soldiers arrived at Dover from the continent and went to the king at Gloucester, 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 stated, embarked at Dover to cross the continent, but some of the king's agents arrived, and taking him and all his followers out of the ship, forbade 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 all 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, notwithstanding the king's murmurs, who forbade him to pronounce the sentence ; and all the bishops who were present united with him in excommunicating all 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 remember ; 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 that the siege might not seem to have been ineffectual, to surrender 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 (age 63)/h.
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 [Map], 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, whilst 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, till 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 till he arrived before the great altar. The two men who had set Hubert at liberty 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 (age 62) 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 tuinultuously 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 as well as his two liberators, where they confined him more strictly than before. When this event reached the ears of Robert bishop of Salisbury (age 52), 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 castellans noisily told him they would rather that Hubert should be hung than they ; on which, as they refused to give him up, the bishop, by virtue of the power entrusted to him, excommunicated by name all 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 till he had obtained his release ; so 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.
Hoto the marshal retook the castle which he had given up to the kinq.
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 (age 61), who at that time performed the functions of justiciary, his guarantees, and which they had also confirmed by oath. The king however angrily replied that he would not give it up, but would more likely reduce his other castles to subjection. The marshal then, seeing that no oath or terms of peace were observed by the king's advisers, collected a large army and laid siege to the castle once his 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 followed 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 banishment without any trial by the peers, burning their villages and buildings, cutting down their woods and fruit trees, and destroying their parks and lakes. The king however said that they were traitors, although it was by their assistance that he ought to arrange his plans and manage the business of the kingdom. Peter bishop of Winchester also replied that the peers in England were not like those in France ; wherefore the king of Kngland had a right, by the justiciaries whom he appointed, to banish any guilty persons from the kingdom 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 especially named Peter bishop of Winchester, and his son Peter de Rivaulx, Stephen Segrave (age 62) the justiciary, and Robert Paaselewe the treasurer. To these threats Peter of Winchester replied, that he had been consecrated a bishop by the supreme pontiff at Rome, and was therefore exempt from their authority, and he appealed to the apostolic see against their pronouncing that sentence upon him. The bishops aforesaid then excommunicated all those who had estranged the king's affection from his natural English subjects, and disturbed the peace of the kingdom.
How the kinfj summoned all who owrd 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 excommunicate 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 (age 63) the ex-justiciary, was taken away from the church at Devizes by 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 [Map].
The king had by this time collected a powerful army at Gloucester, 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 [Map]. 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 walls. The whole body of them therefore, except the marshal, who refused to attack the king, marched for that place with the Welsh chiefs and a larse 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 all their baggage and equipments, the men themselves taking to flight nearly naked in all 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 containing the money, provisions, and arms, and having carefully disposed of their booty, returned to their safe hiding-places. The following nobles all were witnesses of this occurrence, namely, Peter bishop of Winchester, Ralph bishop of Chichester, Stephen Segrave (age 61) the justiciary, Peter de Rivaulx the treasurer, Hugh Bigod earl of Norfolk, William earl of Salisbury, William Beauchamp (age 47), William Daubeney the younger, and many others, who fled nearly naked, losing all their property; great numbers of the king's army then, and especially those who had lost their horses and all their money, went away in great trouble and returned to their homes. The king, who nad 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 himself, 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 lightning, 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 mortality, or some such things.
Of the fierce battle between the marshal and the Poictevins.
In the same year the marshal (age 42), on one of his foraging incursions into the territories of his enemies, came to the town of Monmouth [Map], 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 (age 33), to whom the king had entrusted the charge of that castle [Map] together with several 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 well-equipped soldiers, and pursued him at full speed, designing to make him and his followers prisoners and bring them into the town. The earl Marshal's companions 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 [Battle of Monmouth]: a severe though very unequal conflict then ensued, yet although there were only a hundred of the marshal's party to oppose 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 au attack on the marshal in persor, and endeavoured to take him prisoner and carry him off to the castle ; he however kept them at a distance, brandishing his sword right and left, and struck down whoever came within reach, either killing them or stunning them hy the force of his blows, and although engaged 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 enemies 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 mortally wounded ; his companions on seeing this, left the marshal, and went to raise Baldwin nora the ground, for they thought that he was dead.
Of the slaughter by the marshal at tlie 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 all 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 sallied out from the castle returned safe. On the side of the marshal, Thomas Siward, a brave knight, and two of his companions, were taken prisoners and carried 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. Numbers of the slain remained lying on the field of battle, amongst whom were to be seen Welsh, Poictevins, and other foreigners, and Baldwin de Giuisnes was carried to the castle severely wounded. This battle took place near the above castle on St. Catherine's day.1
Note 1. November 25th.
After this battle the marshal with Gilbert Basset, Richard Siward, and his other proscribed confederates, laid ambuscades for 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 carl 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 Margan, at which 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 life and limb, and would also allow him a sufficient portion of land in Herefordshire, to support him honourably. He had also heard from Stephen Segrave that the terms of forgiveness would be made known to the marshal by two of his trustworthy friends, who would tell 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 till 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 following reply to brother Agnell: — " 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 himself 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 observed 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 deiiance 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 well 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 all feaity to him, although I would return to the terms of the first state of defiance above stated, according to the agreement. Wherefore I have been justified and am still justified in defending myself, and in thwarting the malicious 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, because 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 assistance, who were neither Scotch, French, or Welsh, who would come into England and find work for all 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 emergency. And I well know that the king can bring seven to my one, 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 himself 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 when he was with the emperor on the continent ; and so he commenced this war, that be might take the opportunity first of asking assistance of the emperor, and might then summon the emperor to come in person ; and this 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 maybe 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 believed 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 until 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 like manner perjured themselves, as in the oath concerning the liberties 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 accomplices 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 Grosmunt 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 mo. And since the above offences imputed tome are false, and it is true that the king behaved worse to me at the time I was looking for his mercy than at any other time, and as he still has the same design 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:.hen 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 1 should set a bad example to every one, namely, that of abandoning the cause of justice and the prosecution of my rights on account 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 unwillingly obliged, like myself, to withdraw 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 replied, that " he had 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 enemies, in order to injure me, who have always been a faithful subject 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 lie at hand, because they had already sent for the legate. To this the marshal replied, "I am glad to hear what they say respecting 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 justice. And I am also pleased to hear that the popiwill excommunicate the enemies of the kingdom ; for they are those who advise the king contrary to j:i-tice. as their acts prove them to be ; for justice and peace go hand in hand, and when justice is 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 tiie same with respect to all my friends and allies ; and on their beh;iii I make the same complaint as on my own, and without them I can do nothing at all towards coming to a durable arrangement.1
Note 1. 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 redemption 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 u>ury. In a very short t;me a large number 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 Oxford, near the bridge, in order that sick men and pilgrims might there receive relief according to their wants and bo restored to health."
How king Henry kept Christmas at Gloucester.