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same cause, offering to place at her disposal many hostages, castles, and great riches, in order that the king might be restored, not to his kingdom, but simply his liberty, promising also that they would persuade him, after he had been dismissed from the kingdom, thenceforth to serve God alone as a monk or pilgrim; but she heard them not. The bishop of Winchester, too, petitioned that the government which belonged to his brother should be given to his nephew, that is, to the king's son, but neither would she hear him. The citizens also requested that they might be permitted to observe the laws of king Edward, which were excellent, and not those of Henry her father, which were severe. But she refused good advice, being influenced by a spirit of too great severity, and so she would not consent; in consequence of which a great commotion arose in the city, and a conspiracy was formed against her, so that she whom they had received with honour was now ordered to be disgracefully apprehended. Being warned however by some of the citizens, she betook herself with her attendants to an ignominious flight, leaving all her own and their apparel behind them. Perceiving this, the bishop of Winchester, who was also legate of the holy Roman church, busied himself for the deliverance of his brother; and in order to effect this he secured the courage and good will of the Londoners in his behalf. In the meantime the fugitive lady came to Gloucester, where, having taken counsel with Milo, the ex-constable, she returned with him immediately to Oxford, intending to remain there until she could collect her scattered forces. And because she had chiefly been influenced by the advice, and been supported by the assistance of Milo, insomuch as up to that time she had neither eaten one day's meals nor had any provision for her table, except through his munificence or forethought-as we have heard from Milo's own mouth-in order that she might the more straitly bind him to her service, she bestowed upon him in reward the earldom of Hereford.

On the approach of the Festival of St. Peter ad Vincula [1st Aug.], her troops having now increased in valour and numbers, she came, unknown to her brother, the earl of Bristol, to Winchester, but finding that city already revolted against her, she took up her abode in the castle. Wondering at her unlooked-for arrival, and exceedingly troubled thereat, Henry, bishop of that city, escaped out at another gate, and then and there escaped. Discord now broke out among themselves, and this wealthy city, so long famous through all lands, was encompassed with a sudden blockade, in consequence of domestic quarrels, and was drained of its inhabitants and property, while common soldiers and destructive mercenaries rage furiously to and fro. Nor was even this sufficient for the pontiff's wrath, for, goaded by fury and wishing to strike terror and dismay into their minds, he gave orders that the whole town should be set on fire and burnt; and this he accomplished. Thus, on the second of the month of August, having fired the city, he reduced to ashes the monastery of the nuns with its buildings, more than forty churches, together with the larger and better

portion of the town, and lastly, the monastery of the monks dedicated to the service of God and St. Grimbald, with its buildings. There existed in this church of St. Grimbald a great cross and a holy, formerly made by order of king Canute, and by him most handsomely adorned with gold and silver, gems and precious stones. Now, wonderful to relate, this cross, on the approach of the flames, as if conscious of the danger which threatened it, in full view of the brethren who were present, began to sweat and grow black, thus typifying the blackness of the incendiaries, while in the very instant of its catching fire a horrifying crash of mighty thunder thrice roared from heaven. The city having been thus made a prey to the flames within, and beleaguered by enemies without, the bishop is said to have addressed the following words to the earl of Northampton:-"Behold, lord Earl, I have commanded these things, do thou study to terminate them." Which words lay bare the inmost feelings of the speaker's heart. Seven weeks after the siege had been in progress, the bishop, weary at last of its protracted duration, on the evening of the day preceding the Festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross [14th Sept.], commanded peace to be proclaimed throughout the city, and the gates to be thrown open. The empress had already mounted her horse, accompanied by, and under the guidance of her brother Reginald; more than two hundred of her knights were left behind as guards, under the command of the earl of Hereford; and then the bishop suddenly ordered his men to arm themselves, to make a violent charge upon the enemy, and take as many prisoners as they could. Many were thus captured, and very many here and there slain; among whom, a knight named William de Curcell, with six of his companions, was put to death, and buried at St. Grimbald's. The empress, hearing of this, was much terrified and disturbed thereat, and in consequence she repaired to the castle of Luggershall, where she arrived sorrowing and downcast; but she found no fit resting-place there, on account of her dread of the bishop. By the advice of her followers, she once more mounted her horse in male fashion, and was conducted to Devizes, but fearing that she could not find shelter there from her pursuers, she was placed already nearly halt dead on a litter, and being bound with bandages after the manner of a corpse, and borne upon horses, was carried ignominiously enough into the city of Gloucester. Her brother Robert, earl of Bristol, having sallied out in another direction, was hard pressed by the pursuers and captured at Stolibridge by the Flemings, with earl Warren, and after being presented to the queen, who was staying in the town, was by her command committed to the care of William de Ypres, and imprisoned in the city of Rochester. But Milo, the earl of Hereford, hemmed in by his enemies, after having cast away his arms and furniture, and glad to escape with life alone, came in disgraceful flight, half naked, weary and alone to Gloucester. The pursuing forces of the bishop having followed John, the aider and abettor of the fugitives, to the monastery of Wherwell, when they could by no means expel him therefrom, they, on the day of the Festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

[14th Sept.], set fire to and consumed the church of St. Cross, and with it the nuns' houses and property there; but after despoiling them of their vestments, books, and ornaments, and cruelly shedding very much human blood before the holy altar, yet could they neither capture the said John, nor drive him from his place of refuge. Alfrida, during the reign of her husband Edgar, the glorious king of the English, erected this monastery in honour of St. Cross in remorse for the murder of her step-son. In this state of affairs the bishop Henry, his anger being in some degree appeased, but his covetousness much increased, at the suggestion of the prior of Newminster, (which had been just burnt down,) recovered from the ashes of the cross five hundred pounds of silver, thirty marks of gold, three crowns, and as many footstools of the purest Arabian gold and most precious stones, fashioned with surprising and fairest workmanship, and stored them up among his

own treasures.

In the meantime the king and the earl were kept in durance, but the queen, busying herself exceedingly for the king, and the countess labouring earnestly for the earl, after employing divers mediators and trustworthy friends in this behalf, the result of their mutual deliberations resolved itself into the following condition :namely, that the king being restored to his kingdom, and the earl raised to the government of the whole of England under him, they should both direct their efforts to secure the tranquillity and peace of the realm, as they had hitherto been the authors and promoters of all its dissensions and troubles. But the earl, refusing to act without the consent of his sister the empress, dissented altogether from the terms of this agreement, and spurned all hints of reconciliation with the king. Whence it came to pass that they parted mutually unpacified, and during the whole of the ensuing year the whole kingdom and country were torn to pieces with rapine, murder, and sacrilege."

A note in the margin of the MS. C. states, in reference to the monastery of Wherewell, that "Aelfdryth, the wife of king Eadgar, influenced by remorse for the murder of her stepson, erected this monastery in honour of Holy Cross,” thereby avoiding the error of the text. See Dugd. Monast. i. 256.

2 Here the printed copy ends abruptly. The continuation from A.D. 1152 to 1295, will be given hereafter in its own appropriate place.

THE END OF THE CONTINUATION OF

FLORENCE OF WORCESTER.

!

APPENDIX TO FLORENCE OF WORCESTER.

'THE NAMES OF THE ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS OF ENGLAND.

KENT.

The names of the Archbishops of the Church of Canterbury.

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The names of the Bishops of the Church of Rochester.

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1 Concerning these lists, and this supplemental matter generally, the reader is requested to consult the observations in the Preface.

EAST SAXONY.

The names of the Bishops of the Church of London.

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In the reign of Sigebert, the most Christian king of the East Anglians, bishop Felix, a Burgundian, converted the East Anglians to Christianity: he was their first bishop, and fixed the episcopal see in the city of Dunwich.

1. Felix.

The names of the Bishops of the East Angles.

2. Thomas.

3. Bertgils, also called Boniface. 4. Bisa.

Afterwards East Anglia was divided into two dioceses.

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