King Arthur

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King Arthur

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with the emperor's^ edephant in advance of them, handsomely VOL.
I. 2 c
 38$ MATTHEW PARIS. [a.D. 1241. decorated, and bearing a
wooden sort of tower, in whict the masters of the animal sat, playing
on trumpets, and exultingly clapping their hands together. Many of
the French nobles, too, were with the earl, and participated in the
enjoyment of his honours. On arriving at the boimdary of the
empire, the emperor's agent returned, and some of the French also
left the earl after repeated £u:ewells, and returned joyfully to their
own coimtry, where they were received in the embraces of their
wives, children, and others dear to them, and recovered themselves
by application of various restoratives, and by grateful rest. Then
each related with pleasing remembrances the great dangers he had
endured in the service of Christ, and how, after being treacherously
abandoned by those who were bound to assist ihem, they were
liberated and supported by the wisdom and munificence of Earl
Kichard alone. Narrantis conjux pendet ab ore viri. [And every
housewife's listening ear Is strained, her husband's tale to hear.]
Disagreement between the Templars and Hospitallers, Great
numbers of the pilgrims, after the departure of Earl Richard, took
their departure about this time from the Holy Land ; and the
Templars, who were the only ones who did not agree to the
proceedings of the earl, excited by the 'v/ stings of envy, indulged in
invective, backbiting, and derision of him ; they also shamelessly
broke the truce made by him, and severely harassed the
Hospitallers, who had accepted of, and inviolably observed, the truce
; and whom they shut in Acre as if they were besieged — ^not
allowing them to procure provisions, or even to bring their dead out
of their houses, in which they were besieged, for the purpose of
burying them. The Templars, also, in contempt of the emperor, drove
all the brethren of the church of St. Mary of the Germans out of the
city, leaving only a few, who were their friends and the servants of
the church, remaining. These brethren then fled to the emperor, and
other Christian magnates, and laid a heavy complaint in the matter ;
hence a great scandal was originated by the idea that those who
were fattened by so many revenues for the purpose of attacking the
Saracens with all their force, were impiously
 A.D. 1241.] DEATH OF STEPHEN SEGBAVE. 387 turning
their strength and their rancour against Christians ; yea, even
against their own brethren ; thus provoking Gk)d's anger more
heavily. From this cause, the earl, on his departure irom the Holy
Land, as if having a foreboding of such things, would not intrust the
city of Ascalon, or the money which he left there for the purpose of
finishing some parts of the castle, to the proud Templars ; indeed,
he chose rather to intrust it to an agent of the emperor's; hence the
Templars had conceived feelings of great rancour against the earL
7%« death qf Cardinal Robert Summereote. About the same time.
Master Bobert Summereote, a cardinal, by birth an Englishman, a
discreet and prudent man, beloved by, and gracious to all, went the
way of all flesh. He was at the time shut up in the palace called "
The Palace of the Sun," deliberating with the other brethren on the
election of a pope, and was there (as is stated) poisoned by his
rivals of Boman extraction, who despised him, because he appeared
a fib and worthy person to fill the papal chair. Another cardinal also
died in a similar way — a victim to the treachery of envious persons
; and John of Colonna, another, afber having had his castles- and
palace pulled down by the Romans, because he appeared to be
favourably inclined towards the emperor, was seized and thrown into
prison. Death qf Stephen Segrave, On the 9th of October in the
same year, Stephen Segrave died at the abbey of Ijeicester, where
he had lain hid for some time during his persecution. This Stephen
had in his youth become a soldier from a clerk, and although of
humble birth, he by his bravery was in his latter days enriched and
raised to rank, considered amongst the finit men in the kingdom,
was appointed a justiciary, and managed all the affairs of the
kingdom almost at his own pleasure ; yet he always looked to his
own advancement rather thaii to that of the common weal. However,
for some acts of justice which he performed in his life, and which
pleased God, he was deservedly allowed, after making his will, and
devoutly receiving the viaticimi, to meet with a praiseworthy end.
2c2
 38S ICATTHSW PABISL |A.I>. 1241. An ecHp»e of the sun.
On the 6th of October in this year, which was the day of St. Faith,
the sun underwent an eclipse, from tho third hour till the sixth ; and
the heavens seemed to be of the same form as the earth ; and this
was the second eclipse, of the sun which had happened in three
year^-.^ eyent hitherto unheard of. Death qf Roger, bishop qf
London, About the same time, namely on the 29th of September,
died Master Boger, bishop of London, a man of praiseworthy life, of
remarkable sanctity, of distinguished knowledge, inteUigible in his
preaching, of cheerful discourse, conviviaj at table, and of placid
countenance. He was taken ill a^ Stupenham, a manor of his, near
London, and there bidding farewell to this world, departed to the
Lord. TTis^ body was brought to London, and buried in his cathedr^
church. Death qf Geoffrey de Lucy, In the same month, also died
Master Geoffi.*ey de Lucy, of pious memory, dean of the same
church. By his death the church of London was thrown into great
confusion, because the king did not allow any church to be filled up
before it became ruinous ; because the papal see was vacant, and
the cardinals in a state of bodily and mental confusion ; because
they had no archbishop, whose dean the bishop of London was
known to be ; and now because it was without a dean. Otto returns
to the emperor to be imprisoned. The cardinals being at this time
almost in a state of <2isumop^ and ^^^g^ement^ and' the
election of pope being suspended as if in despair, Otto returned to
the emperor, to his prison, in order to release the hostages he had
given, and to save his character from the disgrace of having broken
his word. The emperor was greatly pleased by this proceeding of his
; he, however, still detained him in prison, being offended with him
because he had, when legate in £kiglan(^ excommunicated him,
and allowed him to be excommunicated, and had also defamed him
in no slight degree ; but he dealt more mildly by him, because he
had done so unwill 
 A.D. 1241.] DEATH OF Htj6d DE PA¥ESHT7LL. 389 ingly,
and by compulsioii, by virtue of his obedience to the pope. Election
of FMk Basiei to the we of London^ As Christmas drew near, the
canons of London elected as their bishop and pastor of their souls,
Master Fulk, dean of York, a discreet and prudent man, of dignified
manners, ^ and illustrious family ; this was, however, against th6
wish of the king, who fevoured Master Peter d'Aigueblanche, bishop
of Hertfoi*d, and had urgently entreated the chapter ot St. Paul*s to
nominate him as their bishop. They also, at the same timd,
unanimously appointed one William, a canon and chancellor of the
church of St. Mary, a man of praiseworthy mode of life, to be their
dean. The death of Hugh de PateahtM. As time wore on, about the
7th of December died Hugh d6 Pateshull, bishop of Chester, a man
still in the vigour of life and strength ; who, after passing his life in a
praiseworthy Inanner, at length, by evil counsel, was turned aside
into wicked ways, and, becoming a hammer to religious men,
especially to those who had created him, died little lamented,
although he had sat in the pontifical chair a little more than one
year. When the prior and monks of Coventry heard of this event,
they summoned the canons of Lichfield, and elected a monk of the
church of Coventry, their precentor, as their bishop and pastor of
their souls, although some of the canons opposed his election, and
chose Eichard, abbat of Evesham, who was then the king's seal-
bearer, and performed the duties of chancellor, and on whose behalf
the king interceded with them. In consequence of this election, the
king became an enemy to the church of Coventry, and did the prior
and j monks all the harm he could in many instances. As they V
were thus opposed by the king and his satellites, as well as 1 by
some of the canons of Lichfield, the house of Coventry I was thrown
into confusion, and incurred great injury ; ^ J much so, that the
conventual assembly dfcpersed to seek assistance from other
houses. The house ot;;8t_AlB^ from charitable and honourable
motives, opened its bosom of // mercy, and received the prior and
some of his monks, servants, and horses, with the greatest respect,
and liberally entertained them fui^ a year and some additional
months.
 390 HATTHEW PABIS. [a.D. 1241. Oeoffrey qf Milan is
elected pope^ and soon after dies. In this year, after many
debatings and divers injurious and perilous schisms amongst the
cardinals, the seeds of which were sown by Satan, the brethren,
now reduced to but a small nimiber by tribulation and grief, elected
as pope Master Geoffi*ey of Milan, a mau distinguished for his
morals and learning, but now old and inclined to infirmity. But
scarcely had he filled the papal chair for sixteen days, when he was
cut off by a premature death, and paid the debt of nature, having
been poisoned, as was stated, and thus again left the papal see, and
indeed the whole Church, in a state of desolation. About the same
time, too, one of the cardinals^ named Bichard Hannibal, died.
Conference of the bishops qf England. About this time the
archbishop of York, the bishops of Lincohi, Norwich, and Carlisle,
with many other influential and discreet religious men and
ecclesiastics, met together to deliberate on the manifold desolations
of the Church, and to ask for divine consolation. They then ordered
special prayers to be made and fastings to be observed in general
throughout England, that the Lord might be prevailed upon to relieve
and restore the Roman church, which was now destitute of a pastor
and of papal rule, thus taking example &om the Acts of the Apostles,
wherein it is said, when Peter was i/ imprisoned, the Church prayed
for him without intermission. They also came to the unanimous
resolution to send messengers to the emperor to urge him, with
moumfiil entreaties, as he regarded his soul's salvation, with sincere
heart to dismiss all feelings of rancour and indignation, to abandon
all kinds of tyranny, and not to obstruct the advancement of the
Church's welfare, but rather compassionately to allow it to breathe
freely, and, although provoked, to study to promote its
advancement. For, they said, those who had pro-^ voked him to
anger were now dead, and it appeared an act of tyranny, and
contrary to reason, to make the innocent pay for the faults of the
guilty. When, however, they began to consider about the election of
messengers, who were to travel through France and the
intermediate coimtries, and to endeavour to arouse the prelates of
these countries they
 A.D. 12il.] BECAPnVLATIOir OF DEATHS IN THE TEAR. 391
passed through to act in a similar way, each one began to plead
Mvolous excuses, and refused to take on himself the burden of such
a great and anxious business, and such dangerous toil, even on
behalf of Christ and his ChurcL Finally, however, as Cantabit vacaus
coram latrone viator ; [In presence of the thief is merry The traveller
who no gold doth carry ;] and as they could not find any others
ready to undertake the journey, they chose the Preachers and
Minorites for this purpose, because they were wanderers, and were
well acquainted with all countries. When, therefore, these
messengers had obtained an audience of the emperor, and delivered
their message, he replied as follows : " Who," said he, " impedes the
advancement of the Church's welfare 1 Not I, indeed. Bather is it the
pertinacious pride and insatiable avarice of the Koman church. And
who could be astonished if I were an obstructor of the prosperity of
the English and the Boman church ? For she is using all her
endeavours to hurl me from my imperial throne ; she
excommunicates me ; defames me in no slight degree ; and is
incessantly pouring forth money to do me harm." Thus the whole
design of the English bishops fiEuled in effecting anything in this
matter. The events of this year proved very inimical to the 3 Ex)man
court, aa a retribution evidently for its sins ; dis- ) graceful to the
Holy Land, owing to the proceedings of the Templars ; and sorrowful
and unlucky to the nobles of England. For besides those who
perished at sea, in this year there died some distinguished prelates,
namely, the two Boman pontiffs, with some cardinals, and others, of
whom mention has been made above. A recapitulation qf those who
died in this year. Among the English nobles who died in this year,
were William de Forbes, earl of Albemarle, who, when on his
pilgrimage, was taken ill in the Mediterranean Sea, and being unable
to eat, endured protracted sufferings for eight days ; and on the
Friday next before Easter, on which day Christ on the cross resigned
his spirit to his Father, he, in a like manner, resigned his spirit to
Christ. The noble and power 
 892 HATTHEW PABIB. [a.IX 1241, ■ fal Walter de Lacy also,
whom we have before mentioned, also died aboat Easter, leaving his
wasted inheritance to his daughters. Stephen Segrave, who has
been mentioned in -his place, a special councillor of the king's, and
as it were justiciary of England. Gilbert Bassett, whose unlucky
misfortune we mentioned above, also departed this life. Also died
John Bisett, chief justiciary of the forest. There also departed to the
Lord, Peter Maulac, Hugh Wake, Bobert Marmion, Peter de Brus,
Guiscard, Laidet, Eustace de Stuteville (who was succeeded in his
inheritance by the wife of Hugh Wake), Eudo, Hamo, sumamed Sin,
Baldwin de Bethime, John Fitz-John (Earl Bichard's seneschal), and
G., the said earVs brother, John de Beaulieu, Gerard de Eumival, and
a great many other English nobles from the county of Earl Bichard,
who all sped gloriously from this life to heaven, under Christ's
protection, whilst fighting foi Crod in the Holy Land. In this year also,
as b^ore mentioned, Eleanor, daughter of G., coimt of Brittany, died
at Bristol. The distinguished prelates, Boger, bishop of London, and
Hugh of Chester, also died in this year, and many other illustrious
ecclesiastics, as well as laymen, whose names are too numerous to
mention. The death of the empren hahella. In this year, too, the
glory and hope of England, the empress Isabella, died in childbed, of
whose much-to-belamented death we are fully informed by the
following melancholy letter of her husband the emperor Frederick.
Hie emperor's letter etmeemmg her death. '' Frederick, emperor,
dec, to the king o/Englcmd, greeting.-^^ i We, wJio have been
accustomed of late, in our letters and , messages, to give you
pleasant news, are now, by a casualty . of fortune, which has
become envious of our successes, compelled with grief unwillingly to
reveal hateful tidings to you, inasmuch as we have suffered an
irreparable loss in the death of our beloved and august consort, and
are thus, by cruel fate, compelled to endure the sad disunion of
social ties. This occurrence, of horrible memory to us, happened on
the fiist day of the past month of December, when our said consort,
the empress, your sister, yielded to nature at the call of the Lord,
who tiJces away the life of piincea^ and with whom
 ▲.D. 1241.] THE WEATHXE THR0T7GH0XJT THE YEAR.
39S there is no exertion or ucoeptance of persons. For the
restoration of whom, if the &,tes had been favourably inclined, and
nature would have put off the payment of the inevitable debt of
mortality, our gracious love and care for our consort would not have
allowed us to avoid any expense of money, labour, or property. But
when the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who rules over the power
of tribunals, and whose will no one can resist, took her away from
the unity of our body, aud from the bonds of fi«,temity by which you
are imited to her, He, by a disposition, or rather dispensation of His
counsels on high, provided that she should live to us and to you in
the memory of her two children. For, by the giffc of Almighty God, a
royal offspring lives, from whom a king and queen rise together,
imder the eyes of their Neither, to stand in their mother's place. By
her fruitfulness we have received noble pledges, which strengthen
our common ties of affinity, and bind in a closer bond the seat of
Caesar and that of your majesty, by a special prerogative of filial
blood and nephewship, so that my love for you, based on the
posterity of her, by whom it began, rises to the obligations and
character of an alliance that long shall last. Although, therefore, the
loss of our august spouse, your sister, cannot be mentioned by me
or heard of by you, without great sorrow of heart, and affiiction at
her death cannot be separated from our inmost heart, yet the
memory of the beloved parent flourishes in the double offspring, and
our connection ia indissolubly confirmed by those same nephews
whom your august sister bore to me as children. Given at Coronati,
this 30th day of January, &c.** Of the itate qf ike weather
throughout the whole year. This year was on the whole tolerably
abundant in crops of fruit and com ; but from the feast of the
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin till that of the apostles Simon and
Jude, a continued drought and intolerable heat dried up deep lake?
and extensive marshes, drained many rivers, parched up the
warrens and suspended the working
 394 MATTHEW PARIS. [a.D. 1242. earth, and hardened it to
such a degree, at the same time freezing the rivers, that such great
nmnbers of birds died, that the like was never remembered to have
occmred before. Peter of Savoy makes preparations to return home.
Anno Domini 1242, which was the twenty-sixth of the reign of King
Henry the Third, he held his court as usual at London, at Christmas,
in a state of peace, and prolonged the festivities at the monastery
for nearly fifteen days, during which time, namely on the day of our
Lord's Circumcision, reports of the arrival of Earl Kichard in England
spread abroad. On this, Peter of Savoy, earl of Richmond, prudently,
and like a discreet and circumspect man, resigned into the king's
hands the distinguished and noble castles of the kingdom of which
he had received the charge ; for he was afraid that his sudden
elevation would much displease the nobles of England, and that he
had imdertaken a burden beyond his strength in taking on himself
the charge of these castles, while the English were despised and
suspected. And in order that no disturbances might arise in England
through him on the arrival of the Earl Richard, who would, perhaps,
hear serious complaints on this matter, after wisely weighing in his
mind the imminent peril to himself, he resigned them altogether, and
made arrangements, after obtaining the king's permission, to return
home ; and by this act of prudent moderation he pacified the
feelings of many. But with the same fecUity as permission to depart
had beea given him, he was, before he had taken ship, recalled in
haste by the king, at whose importunate request he again, although
unwillingly, received charge of the castle of Dover. The insolence of
the covnt de la Marche, In this year, the count de la Marche, the
most powerful of all the Poictevin nobles, refused to do homage and
make his allegiance to Amphulse, the brother of the French king,
who had, by the gift of his said brother the king, unjustly usurped
possession of the county of Poictou, and began to kick against that
noble's authority and to repent of his purpose. Some time after, the
said count de la Marche was invited to come peaceably to breakfast
with the said Amphulse, count of Poictou, during the festivities of
Christmas ; but one night, about four days from Christmas, being
about to do so^
 A.D. 1242.] THE COUNT DE LA MABGBE'S ALABM. 395
according to his promise, on the morrow, he consulted with his wife
Isabella, and came to the resolution of altering his mind, and of
opposing the said Amphulse by force. He therefore went to that
noble, and insolently said to him, ** I purposed, when deceived and
imposed upon, to do homage to you ; now, however, my mind is
changed, and I declare and swear to you that I will never make nor
observe any bond of allegiance to you, injurious man that you are,
who have shamelessly taken away his county from my son-in-law
Earl Bichard, while he was feithfully fighting for God in the Holy '
Land, and compassionately Hberating our imprisoned coimtry- / men
; thus returning evil for good" ThtSs, swelling with ^ anger, and witli
loud tJtireats, ne, with his wife, and surrolded by a body of soldiers,
whU^ the Foictevin cross-bowmen bent their bows, he boldly burst
through the midst of them, and having set fire to the house in which
he dwelt, he suddenly mounted a horse and took to flight ; which
proceedings astounded and enraged Amphulse, and all who saw it,
and fired them with desire for vengeance. A complaint made to the
French king of this proceeding, Amphulse then laid a heavy
complaint before the king, concerning this transgression, both of this
unbecoming flighty and of the burning of his house by the said
count, who like a mouse in a sack of wheat, or a snake in a man's
bosom, thus ill remunerated his hosts. This complaint with good
^^aaejiroused the king, as well as the nobles of France, ) to
a^^^tv^S^i^ The count de la Marche calls in the asnstanee qfthe
king qf England, The count de la Marche, being greatly alarmed at
the French king's anger, fortified his castles with arms and armed
men, and also with abundance of provisions, and ordered the
ploughshares to be converted into lances, and the reaping-hooks
into arrows. When, however, he saw from a distance beforehand,
and weighed the evils that might happen, and felt satisfied that he
could not long resist such a great prince, he urgently begged of the
king of England to come to Poictou with a large sum of money, for
he would, with the assistance of the Poictevins and Gascons in great
force, demand all the territory which the king of France unjustly
detained ; and promised him the effective
The text on this page is estimated to be only 27.99%
accurate

39t XATTHEW PABI& [a.Di 1243. advice aaul asdstanoe of

himself and other magnates; nam^j, the king of Arragmi, the count
of Toulouse, and othen^ too nmneroos to mention here. The English
king, then, on ooncdering. kept all these things in mind, and tnuted
to tiie Cgeceitfui Vord^
 A.D. I2i2.] THE PABLIAMEjrr PISSOLV^D IK AKGEB. 397'
The English parliament is dissolved in anger* As the Purification of
the Blessed Virgin drew near, thenobility of England, comprising
prelates, earls, and barons,, assembled at London, according to the
king's order. But. because they knew that the king had in this
manner so ofteix. harassed them in this way on &ilse pretences, by
so urgently summoning them, they made oath together, and came to
a firm determination, under penalty of an anathema, that at tMs
council no one should, on any account, consent to any (^tortlon~ of
monej)to be attempted by the king, ItwasT also now well known to
all, that the count de la Marche had urgently called on the king to
cross to the continent, taking with him whatever money he could
scrape together, caring nothing about the military strength of the
English army ; J and had thus set little value on the soldiery, or the
strength i and fidelity of the kingdom, considering the king merely as
a 1 1^ huckster, whose ^one^ was all that he cared to get : henqe '
the English were, with ^|^§t_ caus0, excited against the count and
all his Poictevins, and did not look with a favourable eye on the king,
who agreed to such things without consult* ing his nobles. When,
therefore, the king made known to them the irrevocable
determination of his heart, namely, to cross to the continent in
accordance with the summons of the count de la Marche, and with
various arguments demanded pecuniary assistance from them, the
nobles replied with great bitterness of spirit, that he had conceived
this design without consulting them ; that he was void of shame, to
make such a demand; that he had so frequently harassed and
impoverished his &ithM subjects, demanding money from them as a
matter of course, as if they were the basest slaves ; and had so
often extorted large sums of money from them, which was
expended with no advantage ; they therefore now apposed him to
his fece, and refused any more to be despoiled of their ^onej to no
purpose. The king on this had recourse to the crafty devices of the
Romans, and; ordered them to wait tiU the following day to hear his
wishes concerning this and other matters ; and on the morrow he
summoned them one by one at different times into his private
chamber, like a priest summoning penitents to confession, and a& he
coiild not' weaken their deterniinatipn "when /"
 398 MATTHEW PARIS. ' [A.D. 1242. all together, lie
cunningly endeavoured to weaken them one by one by his
arguments, and begged pecuniary aid from them, saying, '* See
what such an abbat has given to aid me, and what such another has
given me /' holding out at the . same time a Ust on which he
showed a written agreement ^ " ; that such and such an abbat or
prior had given so much, or O^*- } had at least promised to give so
much, although none of ' A . V ! them had given their consent
thereto, nor even knew anyS ^^ A* thing of it. By
suchCfej^JrecedeSts and ^^iinMwS^ ^ ^ the king cunningly
entrapped a great many ; i£^y otl^ however, stood lirm, and would
not in any way swerve from the reply they had agreed on in
common, and had sworn to abide by. To these the king angrily said,
" Shall I then be a perjured man 1 I have sworn an inviolable oath
that I would cross the sea and with extended arm demand
restitution of my rights from the French king, and this I cannot in
any way effect without a large sum of money, which your liberality
ought to supply." However, notwithstanding these arguments and
others which he resorted to, he could not entrap some, although, as
has been before stated, he sent for each of them to come to him in
private. He, however, a second time sent for some who were his
especial friends, and thus addressed them : — " What a pernicious
example you set to others. You, who are bold earls, barons, and
knights, ought not to be in alarm, although others, namely the
prelates of the churches, show fear. You ought to be more eager
than others to reclaim the rights of the kingdom, and to try the
fortune of war against those who injure us. To consolidate and
support our power is the duty pointed out, both by the rigHs~wlucli
we possess, the invitation and promises of the nobles, the
exaiiiplerih Wales, where we have of late happily triumphed, and the
tendency which past successes have to lead the way to ftiture ones.
And how can you have the fece to leave me, your lord, poor and
desolate, when_I_am_r^dy_ to enter upon this arduous undertaking
^for the common w5^ since I am strictly bound by oath to fulfil my
promise of crossing to the continent?" WTien the nobles heard this,
they replied : — " Words cannot express our wonder into what abyss
have sunk the countless sums of money which your majesty has
scraped together from the various wardships of the nobles^ V V
 A.I>. i242.] THE PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED IK AXGEB. 399
divers escheats, frequent extortions, both from churches, the lands
of the nobles, and donations gfanled^in advance, enough to create
astonishment in all who hear of them ; and yet these sums of money
have never brought the least increase or advantage to the kingdom.
Besides this, you have lately summoned into the kingdom some
legates, or persons performing the duties of legates, who, as it
were,") . Ithenng the buncnes^of grape^ that remain, have
collected U ^ fenHemselves what money was left. Again, all the
nobles j of England are very much astonished that you have entered
UDon such ajiifficult and perilous undertaking without their ^@vice
and consei^ putting faith in those who are faithless, a^dtESt--
de^isli^ the good-wiU of your gagaJ-iUbiiBfa you are exposing
yourself to the doubtful chances of fortune, v You axe alsb, to the
peril of your soul and the tarnishing of your fome, shamelessly and
dishonourably breaking the truce made between the French king and
yourself, and which you swore, on your soul, to observe inviolable,
till the period which the illustrious Earl Richard, your brother, and
Earl R. Bigod, pre-arranged." The older and more influential among
them also added : — " You have also, to your peril, put too much
faith in, and have promised your presence in person to those
notorious continental nobleswho are raiangthe^heels a^insT their
lord, the French king ; on wEicH very account they ought not to be
trusted, as they are noted for manifold treachery. You also know that
the king of Navarre,,, whose assistance they promise you, lately
perpetrated a crime in the Holy Land j and the scar has not yet
covered the wound. Let the example of your illustrious ancestors
also alarm you, and recall you from your purpose; for they
possessed impregnable castles, ample lands, a large army, and
immense sums of money in those parts, and yet they were unable to
drive away the firm and invincible troops of the French kingdom, nor
even to retain their possessions." The king, on hearing these words,
burst into a violent rage, and calling the saints to witness, swore
that he would not be recalled from his purpose by fear, or imposed
upon by any ambiguous speeches, so as to be impeded in his
design, but that he would embark in the octaves of Easter, and
fearlessly try the fortune of war on the continent against the French.
On this the council broke up, with
 400 MATTHEW PAEISL [AJK 1248. •o indignatiori planted
firmly, but secretly, in the minds of both parties. The reply qftke
banma of England. Some time afterwards, in order that the tenonr
of the barons' reply might not be lost in oblivion, these things were
all reduced to writing, as follows : — '' Whereas the lord archbishop
of York, all the bishops of England, abbatE^ priors, and also the
earls, and almost all the barons of England, have, either in person or
by their proxi^ assembled at a summons from our lord the king, at
Westminster, Oft the Tuesday next before the Purification of the
Blessed Mary, in the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and
forty-two, the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Ejng Henry the Third,
to hear the king's will, and the businesB on which he has summoned
them. . And whereas our said lord the king has sent to them the lord
archbishop of Yor^ the noble Earl Richard, Walter of York, provost of
Bever^ ley, as special messengers to explain his will and his
businesa^ and has asked all the nobles of the kingdom to give him
their advice and assistance, to obtain possession of his inheritance
and his rights on the continent, which belong to his kingdom of
England : at length the said bishops, abbat% ])riors, earls, and
barons, after previously holding a lengthened discussion, in the first
place advised the king, through the aforesaid nobles, to await the
expiration of the tmoe made between him and the king of France.
And if by chance the French king should have entered upon any
enterprise contrary to the terms of the truce, that then the said king
of England should send special messengers to him, to induce him,
by request and admonition, to observe the truce and to think better
of his enterprises, if any shoold have been mide by him or his
nobles. And if the Frendi king shoidd refuse so to do, that they
woidd then willingly join themselves to his counsel, for the purpose
of giving him assistance as &r as was in their power." All
unanimously agreed in this answer. In a similar way to this, ainoe he
had become their ruler, they had many times, at his pressing
request, given him assistance, namely, the thirteenth part of all
moveable property, and afterwards a fifteenth, sixteenth, and
fortieth part ; tJiey had given him land-taxes, hidage, and several
scutages ; and lastly one grand scutage, for &e
 .A.D. 1242.] THE PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED IN ANOEB. 401
marriage of his sister, tlie empress. Scarcely, however, had four years
elapsed from that time, when he again asked assistance of them ;
and at length, by dint of great entreaties, he obtained a thirtieth
part, which they granted to him, on condition, however, that neither
this exaction, nor the other preceding^ ones, should for the ftiture
be considered as a i(^gular custom ; and he gave them a Charter to
that effect. Besides this, he then promised them that all the liberties
contained in th(great charte7)Bhould from that time, as formerly, be
ftdly observed throughout the whole of his kingdom ; and of this he
gave them a small charter, in which the same things were contained
; and this they now hold. Besides this, the king, of his own fr'ee will,
and by the advice of his barons, promised them that the whole of
the money arising from the said thirtieth part, should be placed in
safe custody in his royal castles, under the charge of four nobles of
England, namely. Earl Warrenne, and others, at whose discretion,
and by whose advice, the same should be expended, when
necessary, to the advantage of the said king and kingdom. And
inasmuch as the barons do not know, and have not heard, that any
of the aforesaid money has been expended, at the discretion or by
the advice of any one of the said four nobles, they firmly believe,
and, in feet, well know, that the king still has the whole of that
money untouched ; and from that he can now provide himself with
great assistance. Besides this, they well know that, since that time
he has had so many escheats, namely, the archbishopric ot
Canterbury, and several of the richer bishoprics of England, and the
lands of earls, barons, and knights deceasec^ who held ot him : that
from those escheats alone, if they were only well taken care of, he
ought to have a large sum of mor*»v Moreover, from the time of
their giving the &dd thirtieth part, itinerary justiciaries had been
continually going the circuit, through all parts of England, collecting
pleas of the forest, and all other pleas ; so that all the counties,
hundreds, cities, boroughs, and nearly all the villages even of
England, were heavily fined ; hence, from this circuiting alone the
king has, or ought to have, a very large sum of money, if it were
paid, and properly collected. They therefore may say with truth, tliat
all in the kingdom are so oppressed, and have been so impoverished
by these fines; VOL. I. 2d
 402 MATTHEW PARIS. [a.D. 124^. and by the aid whicli
they have before given him, that they have now little or no property
left. And because the king has never, after the granting of the
thirtieth part, abided by his charter of liberties, but has even more
severely oppressed them since, although he had, by another charter
granted to them, promised that exactions of this kind should not
become a custom, they now positively told the king that they would
not give him any assistance on the present occasion. But inasmuch
as he was their lord, he may behave himself in such a manner
towards them, up to the end of the aforesaid truce, that they will
then give him as good advice as they are able. When the said
nobles, who had acted as messengers, had told this reply to the
king, they returned to the barons and said that they had in part
given the proper reply to the king ; but he wanted to know what
they would do if the king of France should break the truce before the
expiration of the term ; they also promised in the name of the king
that, if he had done any injury to any of the nobles of England, he
would make amends for it, according to the arbitration of Peter of
Savoy, and others of his counciL To these questions the nobles
replied, that, if the king of France should break the truce, they would
then apply themselves to devising plans, as they had previously said
that they would do, at the expiration of the truce ; provided,
however, that they were assured of the truth of the French king's
having done so. To the charge that they, on the part of the king,
promised amends for the injuries inflicted on them, the messengers
said that they would not at present wrangle with the king. At the
time of the grant of the thirtieth part, W. de Rele had, on the part of
the king, promised them well and faithfully, as they now did, and
how the king kept his promises, he himself best knew. Finally
however, the king inquired of them all, one by one, so that each of
the community was ignorant of what the other gave him. 7%e earl
of Salishury^a return from the Holy Land. Whilst time was thus
rolling onward in its course, the earl of Salisbury returned from the
Holy Land, and landed in England, safe and sound, in the beginning
of the month of March.
 A.D. 1242.] THE Kma of England collects monet. 403 7^
archbishop of Cologne made prisoner. About this time, the emperor's
subjects made prisoner the archbishop of Cologne, who was
returning from Kome to Grermany, in disguise. This archbishop. had
conspired with the other prelates, who had come to the general
council, to effect the downfell of the emperor j and having heard of
the fate of those who had gone through the imperial territory, he
changed his course, and returned by by-roads; but as ambuscades
were laid in all directions, he was taken, and detained a prisoner.
The person who took him, however, being a German, and well
known to the pontiff, allowed his prisoner to escape, after faithfully
promising, on oath, never again to plot against, or to injure the
emperor. TheV.^ archbishop, however, ill kept his oath, as will be
related in / the following history. ^ The king of France equips a fleet
against the English. The rumour of these events soon flew through
the various parts of the world, and the French king being informed
of the approach of the king of England in a hostile manner against
him, and of the conspiracy of those who had summoned him to
assist them, stationed eighty well-armed galleys before Rochelle to
guard these parts of Poictou against any who endeavoured to enter
them. He also caused a military force, such as Finance usually pours
forth, to be called together by his royal warrant throughout the
various provinces subject to him, and the bands of civil communities
to arouse themselves at his royal summons. How the king qf
England collected a great deal of money. The king of England, in the
mean time, frequently received the most urgent messages from the
count de la Marche and the other nobles of Poictou, and became
unalterably fixed in his determination, believing that he should,
without fail, receive all that the count had promised him ; and, as
they had advised him to do, he collected a large sum of money.
Those who refused him pecuniary assistance, he either con"^ .
sidered as his declared enemies or harassed them in every 1 -^
possible way by his satellites. And throughout the whole of Ji Lent
he indefatigably gave his attention to this business. For, as has been
before stated, the count de la Marche had sent 2d2 V^
 404 .' MATTHEW PABIS. [jL,i>, 1242. him word only to
trouble himself to collect money and bring it ^vith him ; for he
would, he said, supply him with a sufficient military force ; in saying
which the count shamelessly exceeded the bounds of truth, as the
issue of the event * will prove hereafter. " The king of England
entices many to Join the expedition with him. The king, craftily
endeavouring to incline the hearts of those who were wavering to
his wishes, by means of costly presents weakened the firmness of
many of the nobles. He even, by enticing promises gained over his
brother Earl Richard to accompany him on his expedition, imder the
hope of an abundant reward, and he effected this the more easily
because the French king, with rash presumption, had a short time
before, as above stated, bestowed the county of Poictou on
Amphulse, his own brother, and had thus imjustly deprived him, Earl
Eichard, of his possessions; and the Poictevins had promised to a
certainty to restore them all to him on his arrival there. Ambassadors
sent in advance to notify the king^s approach. The king's special
coimcillors, Peter of Savoy, earl of Bichmond,and Peter
d'Aigueblanche, bishop of Hereford, were now sent to the continent
to comfort the king's friends in Poictou by the news of his being
about to arrive there immediately. By this their hopes were raised,
and they at once began the war, fiercely demanding the restitution
of his rights on behalf of the king of England, and did no small injury
to the French monarch. After delivering the king's message, Peter of
Savoy, narrowly escaping an ambuscade laid for him, returned to the
king at London a little before Easter, sound in body, but not without
loss. Peter, bishop of Hereford, took an out-of-the-way road home, in
order to arrive in safety, and thus avoided the snares of those who
sought his life ; on his way he went to Provence, and demanded
from the count of Provence, fether of the Fi:ench and English
queens, his third daughter, Cincia, in marriage for Earl Richard. At
this the whole community in England were much excited, and began
to fear that the whole business of the kingdom would be disposed of
at the will of the queen and her sister, the said Cincia, about to
become the wife of Earl Richard, who would be, as it were, a second
queen.