agreeable, willingly receive the pope himself, if obliged to exile himself. The abbats, then, with reiterated thanks for this favour, granted to the king a special participation in the effects of their good works; but the emperor also had special messengers there, to prevent the demands of the pope from gaining any good result. Fulk Bassett consecrated bishop of London. On St. Dionysius's day, Fulk Bassett, dean of York, a man illustrious by birth, as well as by the purity of his morals, was consecrated bishop of London, in the church of the Holy Trinity, in that city. Otto and some other cardinals secretly go to the pope at Genoa. About the same time, Otto, bishop of Porto, and some other cardinals, much against the wish, and to the confusion of the guards whom the emperor Frederick had stationed to guard the roads, received safe-conduct from the Milanese and other states which adhered to the pope; from the marquis of Montserrat and other potentates who favoured the Church and went unhurt and without loss to the pope, at Genoa, in spite of the guards whom the emperor had stationed to watch the roads. At their arrival the pope was much rejoiced, and conceived hopes of improvement in his present. troubled condition; and from that time there flocked to him, from the whole province of Genoa, innumerable relations, kinsmen, and friends of his, who had any connection with him, although an exile, either by reason of blood or friendship, requesting revenues to be given to them for the use of their sons and nephews, especially from the kingdom of England. Of the arrival of the Cross-bearers in England. On the Monday before the feast of All Saints, there came to the synod of the bishop of Rochester some persons, putting forth a new kind of religion, who were called the Crossbearing Brethren, from their carrying crosses on staves. These men demanded a place of abode from the nobles, setting forth an unheard-of privilege granted to them by the pope, which was, that no one was to be allowed to rebuke their order, or to insult or command them; and power had A.D. 1244.] THE POPE PROCEEDS TO LYONS. 35 been given to them to pronounce sentence of excommunication against persons so doing. Wise and discreet men were much astonished and wonder-struck at so many new orders daily springing up and shooting forth without end; and that so many learned men, despising the discipline of the most blessed Benedict, who was full of the spirit of all the saints, and that of the noble Augustine, should, contrary to the statute of the general council held in the time of Pope Innocent the Third, of glorious memory, suddenly fly to these unheard-of and lately-invented orders. At which council it had been unalterably determined and agreed, that after the initiation and authorization of the Preachers and Minorites, from that time forward no new orders should be introduced, or, if introduced, be authorized, lest the orders already authorized and received should become of little consideration and be despised and injured; and to this decree the cardinal brethren and the whole of the community of the holy council gave their consent. How the pope betook himself to the city of Asti. About the same time, the pope went to the city of Asti, at the instance of his relatives at Genoa, who, eagerly thirsting after money, persuaded him to go at once and meet the English and French, and their neighbours, who were bringing him presents, and not to close his hand and refuse the presents offered him by any one; and also, at the same time, to convoke a general council, to cause annoyance to the emperor Frederick, whom they hated, and to satisfy their desires of revenge, and for their enrichment. The pope, therefore, set out attended by a crowd of armed Genoese, and took the road suddenly and secretly to the provinces nearest the French territory; and now the cities of Asti, Alessandria, and several others, withdrew from all fealty and submission to the emperor Frederick, and turned to the pope; thus fulfilling the words of the poet, Mobile mutatur semper cum principe vulgus. The pope proceeds to Lyons. After a short stay at Asti, the pope, who had now refreshed himself, eluded the guards of the emperor, who were stationed in various directions to obstruct his journey, and, as the summer was now on the decline, betook himself to Lyons, there to pass the winter, travelling hastily, and by sudden stages, both day and night, and not without great risk. The king of England is refused pecuniary aid. On the morrow of All Souls' day the nobles of England assembled, when the king most urgently, not to say shamelessly, again demanded pecuniary aid from them; but as they had been so often injured and deceived, they unanimously, and as it were with one mouth, refused it to his face. The king was now designing to send a numerous army against the Welsh. Besides this, he owed so much to the continental merchants, wine-merchants and others, for wax, and the other necessaries of life, that he could scarcely show himself amongst the people, owing to the clamorous requests of persons demanding what was due to them; hence it evidently appeared that he had been disgracefully attacked and ensnared in the deceitful traps of foreigners, seeking only their own gain. How money was extorted from the citizens of London. The king, therefore, eagerly gaping after money, without consulting the community of the kingdom in general, at least without the advice of his nobles, shamelessly and by force extorted fifteen hundred marks from the London citizens, for some reasonable cause, as was given to be understood by him and his agents; for the king's party asserted that twenty years back they had received one of their fellow-citizens, Walter de Buckerell, who had been justly expelled from the city, and had been a long time in exile; but the London citizens contradicted this, and declared that he had been made a legal subject by the entreaties of, and the presents made by, his brother Andrew to the king; that he was forgiven by the king's consent and command, and became one of their fellow-citizens, as the king's rolls would testify. To this a cavilling reply was at once given on the king's behalf, that he, the king, was at that time young, fickle, and easily led away; wherefore, what was then conceded by him was invalid. This, however, evidently redounded to the disgrace of his * "Cera" in the text; possibly a corruption for cerevicia, "beer." A.D. 1244.] THE KING OF FRANCE TAKES THE CROSS. 37 guardians; for the decision was supported, not by reason, but by will alone; but, finally, the citizens were obliged to pay the said sum of money, to be thrown away on foreigners. Of the victory gained by Nicholas de Molis, seneschal of Gascony. About this time of the year, Nicholas de Molis, seneschal of Gascony, whom the king, on leaving that country, had appointed governor of that province, and who had been carrying on a fierce war against the king of Navarre, was favoured by fortune in one engagement, and gained a victory over him. The death of Margaret, sister of the king of Scotland. On St. Hugh's day, Margaret, sister of the king of Scotland, and relict of Gilbert, earl marshal, died at London, and was buried with all due ceremony and respect amongst the Preacher brethren. Death of William, bishop of Winchester. Shortly afterwards, William de Bruyere, bishop of Winchester, paid the debt of nature; a man still in the prime of life, of good family, and distinguished by his morals and learning. How the king of France recovered his health in a wonderful way, and took the sign of the cross. In this year, at the Advent of our Lord, Louis, the French king, who was still suffering severely from the remains of the illness which he had contracted when engaged in war in Poitou, fell into a deathlike trance, and lay for some days as if dead, and, according to the statement of several who sat round him, was entirely deprived of breath. His mother and brother, and some others of his intimate friends, who stood by, thought that the king had grown stiff in death, and his mother, who was more affected with sorrow than the others, with sighs interrupting her speech, gave utterance to these words: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name give the glory, and this day preserve the kingdom of France, as thou hast always heretofore done honourably.' She then applied to her son's body the holy cross and crown of Christ, and the lance which had been obtained possession of in his time, and made a vow in his name that, if Christ would deign to visit and preserve him, and restore him to health, he, the king, would assume the cross, and visit his holy sepulchre, which he consecrated with his blood. After his mother, and all the others present, had continued for some time praying with all sincerity of heart for him, the king, whom they thought to be dead, with a sudden sigh drew up his arms and legs, and afterwards stretched them out again, and, with a deep voice, as that of one aroused from the tomb, said, "He who sprang from on high has, by God's grace, visited me, and recalled me from the dead." Soon afterwards he entirely recovered his health, and solemnly took the sign of the cross on his shoulders, offering himself as a voluntary holocaust to God, and made a vow that, if the council of the kingdom, which he had undertaken the government of, would allow it, he would, in person, visit the Holy Land. The endeavours of David, prince of North Wales, to release himself from the English yoke. During this time, David, prince of North Wales, and nephew of the king of England, being in great dread of the anger of the said king, which was justly provoked against him, sent special messengers to the pope, intimating to him, by them, that he resigned himself and all his territory to the church of Rome, to be by it protected against the claim of the king of England, however, to be held by him, the said David, and his heirs; for which tenure they would pay five hundred marks annually. And on the plea of justice, he, although not without great expenditure of money, obtained letters in this matter to the following effect. The letters obtained by the said prince from the pope against the king of England. : "To the illustrious Henry, by the grace of God king of England, the abbats of Aberconway and Kemere, of the Cistercian order, inquisitors appointed by his holiness the pope, Health in the Lord.—We have received a mandate from the pope to the following purport :— Innocent, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his well-beloved sons the abbats of Aberconway and Kemere, of the Cistercian order, residing in the diocese of Bangor, Health and the apostolic benediction.It has been set forth to us, on behalf of the noble David, prince of North Wales, that whereas war has for a long |