The chronicle: 1262-71

Annales Cestrienses Chronicle of the Abbey of S. Werburg, At Chester. Originally published by Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, London, 1887.

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'The chronicle: 1262-71', in Annales Cestrienses Chronicle of the Abbey of S. Werburg, At Chester, ed. Richard Copley Christie( London, 1887), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/lancs-ches-record-soc/vol14/pp80-101 [accessed 23 November 2024].

'The chronicle: 1262-71', in Annales Cestrienses Chronicle of the Abbey of S. Werburg, At Chester. Edited by Richard Copley Christie( London, 1887), British History Online, accessed November 23, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/lancs-ches-record-soc/vol14/pp80-101.

"The chronicle: 1262-71". Annales Cestrienses Chronicle of the Abbey of S. Werburg, At Chester. Ed. Richard Copley Christie(London, 1887), , British History Online. Web. 23 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/lancs-ches-record-soc/vol14/pp80-101.

1262-71

mcclxij Henricus rex Anglie et regina cum filiis eorum Eadwardo et Eadmundo circa translacionem Sancti Benedicti transfretarunt in Galliam.
Item obiit Henricus de Wengham apud London circa idem festum cui successit magister Ricardus Talbot ejusdem ecclesie decanus.
Item circa idem festum obiit [Ricardus] de Clare comes Glovernie.
Obiit magister Ricardus Talbot electus London ante consecrationem suam cui successit magister Henricus de Sanwico.
Henricus rex Anglie cum regina ante natale domini remeavit in anglia partibus terris (fn. 1) transmarinis a rege Francie pro bono pacis prius obtentis . . . .
Gastano de Hyerum publico Rex anglie inimico sponte ab ipso remissis, (fn. 2) Electio Wintonie.
Urbanus papa Abbatem de Middelton a quibusdam monachis Wyntonie et priorem Wyntonie ab aliis ejusdem conventus electos ad episcopum Wyntonie cassavit et magistrum Johannem de Oxonia auctoritate propria in episcopum Wyntonie consecravit.
Item obiit magister Egedius de Bridepert episcopus Sarum.
Gelu fortis ante festum Sancti Thome apostoli incepit et usque ad conversionem Sancti Pauli perseveravit.
Circa festum Sancti Andree Lewelinus filius Griffini Kevenches et Cruthglas castella Roger de mortuo mari et alia tria ejusdem marchie castra obsedit et ipsa omnia ante natale domini in terra pultûit (fn. 3) Alienigenas ab anglia.
Thomam de Orreby demisit Justiciarium Cestrie post natale domini cui successit, Wiilelmus la Zuche in crastino Sancte Scolastice virginis primo veniens apud Cestriam.
Obiit frater Willelmus de Aldon Celerarius vo idus octobris.
Palacium regium Westmonastrii combustum est circa festum Purificacionis. 		1262 Henry [III.], king of England, and the queen, with their sons Edward and Edmund, crossed the sea into France, about the feast of the Translation of S. Benedict [July 11].
Also Henry de Wingham [chancellor and bishop of London] died at London about [the time of the] same feast. Richard Talbot, dean of the same church, succeeded him [as bishop of London].
About the time of the same feast, Richard de Clare, earl of Gloucester, died.
Master Richard Talbot, elected bishop of London, died before his consecration. Master Henry of Sandwich succeeded him.
Henry, king of England, with the queen, returned into England before Christmas day, having for the boon of peace obtained his foreign territories from the king of France.
The king of England spontaneously (i.e. without ransom) released Gaston de Béarn who had publicly declared himself his enemy.
The election to the see of Winchester.
Pope Urban [IV.] nullified the elections to the see of Winchester of [William of Taunton,] abbot of Middleton, by certain [the majority] of the monks of Winchester, and of [Andrew of London,] prior of Winchester, by others [the minority of the monks] of the same convent, and of his own authority consecrated master John of Oxford as bishop of Winchester.
Also master Giles of Bridport, bishop of Salisbury, died.
A severe frost began before the feast of S. Thomas the Apostle [December 21], and lasted until the Conversion of S. Paul [January 25].
About the feast of S. Andrew [November 30] Llewelin, the son of Griffin, [took] the castles of Cevnllys and Cruthglas from Roger de Mortimer and besieged three other castles of the same lord marcher and destroyed the same before Christmas day.
Thomas de Orreby resigned the office of justiciary of Chester after Christmas. William la Zouche succeeded him, first arriving at Chester on the morrow of S. Scholastica, the virgin [February 11].
Brother William Aldon, the cellarer, died 11 October.
The royal palace of Westminster was burned about the feast of the Purification [February 2].
mcclxiij Post pascha David filius Griffini volens Owynum fratrem suum incarceratum liberare relicto Lewelino fratre suo ad pacem domini regis venit.
Iterata discordia inter Henricum regem Anglie et Edwardum primogenitum suum ex una parte et magnates Anglie ex altera super legibus in parlamento oxonie renovatis non tamen autem ab ipso Rege observatis.
Barones Anglie circa festum Nativitatis Sancti Johannis Episcopum Herefordie priorem Weneloci et alios prelatos de partibus transmarinis oriundos incarceraverunt omnesque ejecerunt Johannem Maunsel regis consiliarium alieosque ś (fn. 4) propinquiores exilio proscribentes beneficiis omnibus spoliaverunt omnia bona tam dictorum clericorum quam etiam regine dominique cantuariensis et omnium alienigenarum dissipando.
Dissard.
Eodem tempore Lewelinus filius Griffini et G. fil. madoci de mandato baronum castrum de Dissard obsederunt per quinque septimanas. Et pridie festum Sancti Oswaldi regis et martyris illud obtinentes in terram prostraverunt.
Willelmus la Zuche invasit Abbaciam Cestrie.
Die nativitatis Sancti Johannis baptiste Willielmus la Zuche Justiciarius Abbatiam Sancte Werburge Cestrie manu armata violenter invasit. Et paulo post officialem decanum Christianitatis cestrie aliasque ecclesiasticas personas tot contumeliis affecit quod in opprobrium sempiternum dicti Justiciarii suorumque totalis ecclesia Cestrie tam religiosa quam secularis quatriduano gratis se supposuit interdicto.
In crastino nativitatis beati Johannis Walenses combusserunt terram de Breys usque Boucbur. (fn. 5)
Cannocum.
Pridie festum Sancti Michaelis majores servientes domini Edwardi degeneres et imbelles castrum Lewelino reddiderunt.
Edwardus castra obtinuit.
Circa festum purificationis dominus Edwardus plura castella tam sua quam aliena a baronibus ocupata in comitatu Herefordie obtinuit.
Staford.
Circa festum Sancti Cedde Willelmus la Zouche, Justiciarius Cestrie collecto exercitu Cestrisire, David cum suis et Hamo extraneus cum multis de Salopesiria ceperunt villam Stafford et Castrum Certeley et in reditu eorum villam de Stones combusserunt, ecclesiam violenter invadendo et omnia ibidem inventa usque ad cartas et privelegia canonicorum depredando.
Eccleshal.
Cumque idem in festo beati Gregorii pape proxime sequenti Stafordiam iterum atemptassent invadere a baronibus inde repulsi. In redeundo villam de Eccleshale cum castello incendio tradiderunt et ecclesias plures irrumpentes cum spoliis multis nonnullos duxerunt captivos.
De clericis et Judeis.
Ea tempestate Henricus rex Anglie universitatem cleri a municipio ejecit oxoniensi. Interim Londonienses baronibus consentientes, et consilio domini Simonis de monteforti a Judeis Londonii multam pecuniam extorserunt, (fn. 6) quosdam eorum ad fidem Christi convertendo, et nonnullos converti nolentes interficiendo. 		1263 After Easter, David, the son of Griffin, wishing to liberate his brother Owen who was imprisoned, having left his brother Llewelin, came into the king's peace.
Dissensions again broke out between Henry [III.]; king of England, and Edward, his eldest son, on the one part, and the chief men of England on the other, concerning the laws which had been renewed in the parliament of Oxford, but had not been observed by the king.
The barons of England about the feast of the Nativity of S. John the Baptist [June 24] imprisoned [Pierre de Aigueblanche,] bishop of Hereford, the prior of Wenlock, and the other prelates who were natives of foreign parts, and they expelled them all. Also having sentenced to banishment John Maunsel, the king's counsellor, and others [the king's] relations, they deprived them of their benefices, wasting all the goods, as well of the said ecclesiastics, as also of the queen and of the lord [Boniface, archbishop] of Canterbury, and all the foreigners.
Disserth.
At the same time Llewelin, the son of Griffin, and Griffin, son of Madoc, by the command of the barons, besieged the castle of Disserth during five weeks, and having captured it the day before the feast of S. Oswald, king and martyr [August 4], they razed it to the ground.
William la Zouche took possession of the abbey of Chester.
On the feast of the Nativity of S. John the Baptist [June 24] William la Zouche, the justiciary, violently took possession of the abbey of S. Werburg at Chester with an armed band, and, shortly afterwards, heaped so many insults upon the rural dean and other ecclesiastical persons of Chester, that, to the eternal disgrace of the said justiciary and his partisans, the whole church [i.e., clergy] of Chester, regular as well as secular, placed itself voluntarily under an interdict for four days.
On the morrow of the Nativity of S. John [June 25] the Welsh burned the land of Breys as far as Bosbury (?).
Gannoch.
The day before the feast of S. Michael [September 28] the chief servants of the lord Edward, degenerate and unwarlike men, surrendered the castle [of Gannoch] to Llewelin.
Edward gained castles.
About the feast of the Purification [of the Blessed Virgin, February 2] the lord Edward gained several castles in the county of Hereford, which had been occupied by the barons, some of them being his own property, some belonging to others.
Stafford.
About the feast of S. Chad [March 2] William la Zouche, justiciary of Chester, having collected an army in Cheshire, David [Prince of Wales] and Hamo Lestrange, with many men of Shropshire, took the town of Stafford and the castle of Chartley, and on their return they burned the town of Stone, and forcibly entered the church and plundered all that they found there, including even the charters and evidences of the canons.
Eccleshall.
And when the same persons, on the feast of S. Gregory, the Pope, [March 12] next following, again attempted to seize upon Stafford, they were repulsed thence by the barons. On their return, they committed the town of Eccleshall, with the castle, to the flames, and breaking into many churches, they took many captives and much spoil.
Concerning the clergy and the Jews.
At this time Henry [III.], king of England, expelled the university of the clergy from the town of Oxford. In the meantime the citizens of London who had joined the party of the barons, by the counsel of the lord Simon de Montfort, extorted much money from the Jews at London, converting some of them to the faith of Christ, and killing others who were unwilling to be converted.
mcclxiiij Baggelon.
Willielmus la Zuche Justiciarius civesque Cestrie timentes eandem civitatem a baronibus vel Walensibus citius obsideri instiua (fn. 7) cujusdam maledicti nomine Roberti Merceri tunc vicecomitis civitatis pridie Annunciacionis dominice Domos Sancte Werburge in Baggelon destruxerunt et gardina radicitus extirpantes Civitatem circumfossare ceperunt, ipso Justiciario et David filio Griffini fideliter promittentibus Abbati quod dominus Edwardus tantivalentiam terrarum ac redditum ecclesie Sancte Werburge restitueret.
Captio Northamton.
Die sancti Ambrocii Henricus rex Anglie et Edwardus primogenitus in manu forti Northamton invaserunt et Symonem de Monteforti junioris multosque nobiles exparte baronium ibidem inventos ceperunt.
Subversio castrorum.
Post pasche Robertus de Ferrariis comes de Derebye cum quibusdam baronum consentaneis ceperunt castrum de Alueton et Horeston et Tikehul, et Bolleshovere quorum Alueton et Horeston prostraverunt.
Ea tempestate, Simon de monte forti comes Leycestrie et Gilbertus de Clare comes Glovernie ceterique barones et Londonienses providencias oxonie sustinentes ij idus Maii apud Lewes commiserunt prelium contra Henricum regem Anglie et multis ex utraque parte prostratis, ipsum regem et Edwardum primogenitum et Ricardum fratrem Regis [Comitem] cornubie cum multis nobilibus anglie ceperunt et dictum Henricum Regem ad observantiam dictarum providenciarum artantes dictum Edwardum sub custodia carcerali per vij menses tenueruntt Ricardo fratre Henrici regis cum ceteris proceribus apud Lewes captis in carcere retentis.
Post festum Omnium Sanctorum Henricus rex Anglie et Edwardus primogenitus ejus concesserunt Simoni de Monteforti, Comiti Leycestric et heredibus suis Cestriam cum toto comitatu et castellum. Novum castellum-sub-lima. Et castellum de Peck cum omnibus honoribus et pertinentiis Jure perpetuo possidenda pro aliis terris quas Simon comes in diversis Anglie locis predicto Edwardo in excambium dedit.
Ad natale proxime sequens Willelmus la Zuche Cestrisir valefaciens pro nonnullis excessibus suis incarceratus est London, . . . . . dudum subtracta cestrensibus . . . . . Simonis et Jude festo quinto redit anno.
In octavis Innocentium, Henricus primogenitus Simonis de Montiforti primo Cestriam veniens recepit nomine patris sui fidelitates et hominia tam a civibus Cestrie, quam etiam a proceribus et libere tenentibus comitatus ejusdem.
In vigilia Epiphanie Lewelinus filius Griffinus filius Madoci occurrerunt S. (fn. 8) de Monteforti apud Hawerdene et guerram que inter Cestrisir et Walliam octo annis et novem mensibus continuata fuerat aliquantulum sedantes, in osculo pacis sese mutuo receperunt.
Dictus vero S. (fn. 9) inde rediens constituit Lucam de Taney Justiciarium Cestrie et Stephanum de Russeton (fn. 10) vicecomitem ejusdem et post dies decem recessit.
Circa idem tempus obiit Urbanus papa.
Eodem anno archiepiscopus eboracensis et Johannes Maunsell obiit.
Robertus de Ferrariis Comes Derbeye pro multis excessibus suis et maxime pro injuriis viris religiosis illatis in turre London diutius fuit incarceratus. 		1264 Bog lane.
William la Zouche, the justiciary, and the citizens of Chester, fearing that the city was about to be besieged by the barons or by the Welsh, at the suggestion of a certain cursed fellow named Robert Mercer, then sheriff of the city, the day before the Annunciation of Our Lady [March 24], pulled down the houses of S. Werburg that were in Bog lane, and, after totally destroying the gardens, they began to dig a ditch round the city, the justiciary himself and David Fitz-Griffin faithfully promising to the abbot that the lord Edward should restore an equivalent of land and rents to the church of S. Werburg.
The capture of Northampton.
On the day of S. Ambrose [April 4], Henry [III.], king England, and Edward, his eldest son, forcibly attacked Northampton, and took prisoners Simon de Montfort the younger, and many nobles of the barons' party whom they found there.
The destruction of castles.
After Easter, Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, with certain barons who agreed thereto, took the castles of Alvestone and Harestan, Tickhill and Bolsover, of which they destroyed Alvestone and Harestan.
At this time Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, and Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester, and other barons and citizens of London, who maintained the Provisions of Oxford, on May 14, joined battle with Henry, king of England, at Lewes. Many were slain on both sides, and [the barons] captured the king himself, and Edward his eldest son, and Richard, earl of Cornwall the king's brother, together with many nobles of England, and having bound the said king Henry to the observance of the said Provisions [of Oxford], and having imprisoned the said Edward, they kept him in custody for seven months, and they also kept in prison Richard, the brother of king Henry, and others of the leaders who were captured at Lewes.
After the feast of All Saints [November 1], Henry, king of England, and Edward, his eldest son, granted to Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, and his heirs, Chester, with the whole county and the castle, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and the Peak castle [in Derbyshire] with all their honours and appurtenances, to be held in perpetuity for other lands in different parts of England, which the aforesaid earl Simon gave in exchange to the aforesaid Edward.
At the following Christmas, William la Zouche said good-bye to Cheshire, and was imprisoned at London for divers excesses of authority: at length [having restored] what he had extorted from the men of Chester, he returned in the fifth year [of his imprisonment] on the feast of S. Simon and S. Jude [October 28].
On the octave of the Innocents [January 4] Henry, the eldest son of Simon de Montfort, came for the first time to Chester and received in his father's name the fealty and homage as well of the citizens of Chester, as of the nobles and freeholders of the same county.
On the vigil of the Epiphany [January 5], Llewelin, son of [Griffin], and Griffin, son of Madoc, met Simon [Henry (?)] de Montfort at Hawarden, and to some extent put an end to the war which had continued between Cheshire and Wales for eight years and nine months, mutually giving and receiving the kiss of peace.
Upon the return of the said Simon [Henry (?)], he appointed Lucas de Taney, justiciary of Chester, and Stephen de Russeton, sheriff of the same county, and departed after staying there ten days.
About the same time pope Urban [IV.] died.
In the same year [Godfrey of Kineton or Ludham], archbishop of York, and John Maunsel [the extreasurer] died.
Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, on account of his many excesses of authority, and especially on account of the injuries done by him to ecclesiastics, was imprisoned for a long time in the Tower of London.
[mcclxv] [Anno domini Mo CClx quinto. Item apud Evesh am commissum fuit bellum.] (fn. 11)
Obitus Thomas Abbas Cestrie.
Eodem anno iiij kal. Maii (fn. 12) obiit pie memorie dompnus Thomas de Capenhurst Abbas Cestrie cui successit frater Simon de Albo monasterio monachus ejusdem ecclesie xv kal. Maii a toto conventu canonice electus anno etatis sue xlvo et convercionis sue xxij. Cujus admissionem Lucas de Taney tunc Justiciarius Cestrie quorumdam instinctu procuravit per tres septimanas impediri bona monasterii contra libertates ejusdem interim dissipando. Dominus autem Simon de monte forti audiens predictum fratrem Simonem canonice esse electum, ipsum clementer admisit et dicto Luce Justiciario literis suis patentibus mandavit omnia bona Sancte Werburge per ipsum consumpta unacum omnibus exitibus monasterii de toto tempore vacacionis eidem electo plene restitui Quam restitucionem ipsis Abbati et monachis factam, per literam suam patentem omnibus eandem visuris manifestavit. Dominus vero Rogerus Coventrie et Lychfeldie episcopus dictum electum in crastino Pentecostes apud Tachebrok confirmavit, et ipsum a domino Simone de Monteforti die Jovis sequenti omnibus temporalibus suis apud Herford investitum die Sancte Trinitatis apud Tachebrok benedixit.
Dominus autem Eadwardus apud Herford die Jovis in Septimana Pentecostes de custodia Domini Simonis de monteforti evasit. Quo audito Jacobus de Audethlegio et V.de Sancto Petro, Sabbato sequenti castrum de Beuston nomine domini Edwardi ceperuntetdie Sancte Trinitatis Cestriam venientes de consilio civium, Lucam de Taney cum suis complicibus infra castrum Cestrie obsederunt per decem Septimanas continuas nec tamen illud obtinuerunt propter optimam inclusorum defencionem.
Jacobus de Audethlegio factus est Justiciarius.
Dominus vero Eadwardus interim associatis sibi Gilberto de Clare et aliis commarchionibus suis Simonem de Monte forti Henricum filium ejus Hugonem Disspenser, Petrum de Monte forti, Radulfum Basset et eorum complices sæpius [d]ebellavit et tandem eos apud Evsham ij. non. Maii (fn. 13) in bello campestri prostravit:
Winfridum de Bon
Henricum de Hasting
Guydonem de Monte forti
in ipso bello captos apud castrum de D.(?) Beuston secum ducendo captivos.
Audiens autem Lucas de Taney dominum Edwardum apud Beston venisse ij vigilias Asumpcionis castrum Cestrie reddidit eidem se suosque gratie sue subjiciendo. Quos idem Edwardus ad tempus incarceravit. Et postea paulatim et successive liberavit.
Cumque dominus Edwardus multum irasceretur erga Simonem Abbatem Cestrie ingressum monasterii diucius precludens eidem, et multas intentans ei minas eoquod de licencia Domini Simonis de Monte forti et ipso inconsulto promotus esset tandem in primo ejusdem Abbatis adventu apud Beuston vigilia Asumpcionis contra spem multorum, dominus Edwardus divina inspiratione compunctus, ipsum Abbatem clementer admisit et de consilio domini Jacobi de Audithlegio tunc Justiciario Cestrie exitus monasterii adeo plene jussit eidem restitui, quod pro duobus doliis vini Abbatis tempore iracundiæ in familia ipsius domini Edwardi expensis: Alia duo dolia de Castro Cestrie extrahi et eidem reddi fecit Abbati.
Per (fn. 14) quod patet quod dominus Cestriesire tempore vacationis Abbatie sancte Werburge nullum omnino exitum debet habere eo quod dicta Abbatia super nullam baroniam sit fundata sed omnia ad eandem spectantia data sunt (fn. 15) in puram et perpetuam elemosinam. (fn. 16) 		1265 [In the year of Our Lord 1265. Also a battle was fought at Evesham].
Death of Thomas, abbot of Chester.
In the same year on April 17, the lord Thomas of Capenhurst, of pious memory, abbot of Chester, died. Brother Simon, of Whitchurch, a monk of the same church [of Chester], succeeded him [as 13th abbot], being canonically elected by the whole convent on April 28, in the forty-fifth year of his age, and the twenty second after assuming the cowl: whose admission, Lucas de Taney, then justiciary, at the instigation of certain persons, succeeded in hindering for three weeks, during which time he wasted the goods of the monastery contrary to its liberties. But the lord Simon de Montfort, when he heard that the said brother Simon had been canonically elected, graciously admitted him, and by his letters patent, addressed to the said Lucas the justiciary, ordered that all the goods of S. Werburg, that had been consumed by him, with all the revenues of the monastery during the whole time of the vacancy, should be fully restored to the abbot elect. And he published by his letter patent, to all who should see it, this restitution made to the abbot and monks. Then the lord Roger, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, confirmed the said abbot elect on Whit Monday [May 25] at Tachebrook, and he was invested with his temporalities by the lord Simon de Montfort on the Thursday following at Hereford, and received the benediction on Trinity Sunday [May 31] at Tachebrook.
But the lord Edward [the king's son] escaped from the custody of Simon de Montfort at Hereford on the Thursday [May 28] in Whit Week. When this was known James de Audley and Urian de Saint Pierre on the following Saturday seized the castle of Beeston in the name of the lord Edward, and coming to Chester on Trinity Sunday, they besieged Lucas de Taney and his accomplices in the castle of Chester for ten consecutive weeks, but did not succeed in taking it, on account of the excellent defence made by the besieged.
James de Audley was made justiciary of Chester.
In the meantime the lord Edward, Gilbert de Clare and others his fellow marchers being joined with him, made frequent attacks upon Simon de Montfort, Henry his son, Hugo Despencer, Peter de Montfort, Ralph Basset, and their accomplices, and at length completely overthrew them on the battlefield of Evesham on May 6. Humphrey de Bohun, Henry de Hastings, and Guy de Montfort, who were captured in this battle, Edward took with him as prisoners to Beeston castle.
When Lucas de Taney heard that the lord Edward had come to Beeston, he surrendered the castle of Chester on the day before the eve of the Assumption [August 13], submitting himself and his companions to Edward's grace. For the time the same Edward imprisoned them, and afterwards gradually and successively liberated them.
The lord Edward however was much enraged with Simon, abbot of Chester, for a long time refusing him access to the monastery, and holding out many threats to him, because he had been promoted by the licence of the lord Simon de Montfort, and without Edward having been consulted. At length, on the arrival of the same abbot at Beeston, on the vigil of the Assumption [August 14], the lord Edward contrary to the hope of many, but moved by divine inspiration, graciously admitted the said abbot, and by the advice of the lord James de Audley, then justiciary of Chester, commanded the revenues of the monastery to be so fully restored to him, that for two casks of wine consumed in the household of the said lord Edward, during the time of his anger against the abbot, he caused two other casks to be taken from the castle at Chester, and restored to the said abbot.
From which it is clear that the lord of Cheshire ought to have no revenues at all of the abbey of S. Werburg during the term of its vacancy, because the said abbey is founded upon no barony, but all that pertains to it has been given in absolute and perpetual frankalmoign.
[mcclxvj] Facta est cedes magna baronum apud Chesterfeld in vigilia Pentecostes per quosdam magnates ex parte Regis ubi et captus fuit Robertus Ferrerus comes Derbey ix kal. Julii et exheredatus est.
Eodem anno obsessum est castrum de Kenilwurthe a domino rege et ab universis magnatibus suis. Rex itaque cum Ottobono legato et cum aliis principibus terre habito consilio provisionem fecit kal. Novembris qua facta tenentes castrum domino Regi reddiderunt.
Eodem anno idus Decembris natus est Johannes filius Edwardi primogenitus. 		1266 On the eve of Whitsunday [May 15] there was a great slaughter of the barons at Chesterfield, by certain chiefs of the king's party, where also Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, was taken prisoner on June 23, and was disinherited [and deprived of his earldom].
In the same year the castle of Kenilworth was besieged by our lord the king, and the whole body of the magnates of his party. The king then with Othobon the legate, and with other chief men of the country, made a provision in a council held [at Coventry] November 1, whereupon those who held the castle surrendered to our lord the king.
In the same year, on December 13, was born John, eldest son of [prince] Edward.
mcclxvij Comes Glovernie associatis sibi Johanne de Deyvile et quibusdam aliis baronibus exheredatis clam Londonias intravit et ibi per aliquantum tempus demoratus est et archiepiscopus Eboracensis et alii coepiscopi sui armati incedentes castrum London addierunt, et inde Ottobono legatum ibi obsessum eduxerunt. Rex autem collecto exercitu venit apud Stretford prope London ibique demoratus est donec facta concordia inter ipsum et barones London licite intravit.
Item concordia facta est inter dominum regem Henricum et Lewelinum principem Wallie et Robertus de Monte alto deliberatus est.
Pax in Anglia confirmata est.
Eodem anno Jacobus de Audethlegio dimisit Justiciarium Cestrie cui successit Thomas de Boulton. 		1267 [Gilbert de Clare], earl of Gloucester, John d'Eyville and certain other disinherited barons being joined with him, secretly entered London and stayed there for a little time. And [Walter Giffard,] archbishop of York, and several other bishops having armed themselves, went to the Tower of London, and brought out from thence the legate Othobon who was besieged there. But the king having collected an army, came to Stratford, near London, and having remained there until, peace being effected between him and the barons, he entered London with the permission [of the citizens].
Also peace was made between our lord king Henry and Llewelin, prince of Wales, and Robert de Montalt was delivered from captivity.
Peace was established in England.
In the same year James de Audley resigned the office of justiciary of Chester. Thomas de Bolton succeeded him.
[mcclxviij] Recessit Ottobonus legatus ab Anglia cum magno thesauro.
Rex et Allemanie adivit Allemanniam.
Hiemps valida fuit quæ sic antea per plures annos non fuerat.
Eodem Anno dominus Eadwardus fuit cruce signatus et alii quam plures nobiles cum eo . .
Eodem anno obiit Clemens papa quartus.
Willelmus Pigot dedit deo et ecclesie Sancte Werburge totum jus suum si quid habuit in advocacione de Prestebury. (fn. 17) 		1268 The legate Othobon departed from England with a great treasure.
Also [Richard], king of Germany, went to Germany.
There was a hard winter, such as there had not been before for many years.
In the same year, the lord Edward assumed the Cross, and very many nobles with him.
In the same year pope Clement the Fourth died.
William Pigot gave to God, and the church of S. Werburg, all his right, if he possessed any, in the advowson of Prestbury.
mcclxix Translacio sancti Eadwardi Regis quarto id us Octobris.
Eodem anno datus fuit xx denarius Regi ipso et anno impetravit decimam totius cleri Angliè per triennium. 		1269 The translation of the body of S. Edward, King [and Confessor, to a new shrine took place] October 12.
In the same year the twentieth penny was given to the king, and in this same year he demanded a tenth from all the ciergy annually for three years.
mcclxx Profectio Lodowici Regis Francie ad Jerusalem et Eadwardi filii Henrici Regis Anglie et multorum Christianorum versus Jerusalem.
Eodem anno Henricus de Allemannia occisus filius [Regis Alemannie] die Sancti Gregorii papa in civitate que vocatur Biterua. (fn. 18) Versus notabiles ipso:-
Regis Theutonici Ricardi clara propago
Sternitur, Henricus, velut hec designat ymago
Dum redit a Tripoli fultus Regum comitiva
In crucis obsequio patitur sub gente nociva.
Irruit in templum post missam stirps Guelidonis (fn. 19)
Perfodit hunc gladius Symonis atque Guidonis.
Disposuit deus ut per hos vir tantus obiret
Ne revocatis hiis gens Angliæ tota periret
Anno milleno domini sub septuageno
Atque ducenteno, Karolo sub rege sereno
Urbe Biteruiua fit in ejus carne ruina
Celi regina, precor, ut sis ei medicina.
Eodem anno Robertus de Wurth dedit deo et Sancte Werburge villam de Chelleford pro anima sua. (fn. 20)
Eodem anno Thomas de Bulton dimisit Justiciariam Cestrie, Cui successit Reginaldus de Grey. 		1270 The expedition of S. Louis [IX.], king of France, and Edward, son of Henry [III.], king of England, and of many christians towards Jerusalem commenced.
In the same year, Henry of Germany, son of Richard [of Cornwall], king of Germany, was slain on the feast of pope S. Gregory [March 12] in the city which is called Viterbo. These notable verses were written on him:-
Henry, the illustrious offspring of Richard, the German king,
Is struck down as this picture shows,
As he is returning from Tripoli protected by the companionship of the kings [of France and Sicily],
As he is paying his allegiance to the Cross he suffers death at the hands of wicked men.
The sons of Guenelon rush into church after mass,
The sword of Simon and Guido pierces Henry.
God disposed it, that so great a man should be killed by these men,
Lest by their return to their own country the whole English race should perish.
A little before the year of our Lord one thousand
Two hundred and seventy, under the serene king [of Sicily] Charles,
In the city of Viterbo, the destruction of his body took place.
I pray, oh queen of Heaven, that you may be for a medicine [to his soul].
Robert de Worth gave to God and S. Werburg, for the benefit of his soul, the township of Chelford.
In the same year Thomas de Bolton resigned the office of justiciary of Chester, and Reginald de Grey succeeded him.
mcclxxj Natus est Eadmundus filius Henrici de Lasey in vigilia Sancti Bartholomei. 1271 Edmund, son of Henry de Lacy [earl of Lincoln and constable of Chester] was born on the eve of S. Bartholomew [August 23].

Footnotes

  • 1. Terris (in the MS. tris) seems clearly redundant, and is probably an error of the copyist, who has by mistake twice copied trans marinis, the first time abbreviating it into tris. The sentence does not seem to be completed.
  • 2. This sentence is either imperfect, or has been incorrectly written by the scribe. If the latter, "remissis" should probably be "remissus." Possibly the first line should read-" Gastanus de Bierna publicus rex Anglie inimicus"; but in any case it is not easy to make sense of it. The entry seems to have reference to an event of the year 1274 or 1275, and not to 1262. In 1253, Gaston, the seventh vicomte de Béarn, formally transferred his allegiance from Henry III. as duke of Aquitaine, to Alfonso IV., king of Castile (Annales de Dunstaplia, p. 188), and seems to have made war upon the English at intervals for the following twenty years. In 1273, however, according to Matthew of Westminster (who is followed by the Annales de Wigornia under 1275), "Gasto di Bierna vir potens et nobilis de Vasconia regis Angliæ consanguineus sed ejus adversarius capitalis per regem Franciæ ad regem Angliæ mittebatur. Qui in carcere diutius tenebatur, remissus ad propria post præstitam cautionem," but according to other accounts he submitted to the king of his own accord, "gratis se reddidit domino regi." (Chronicon Thomœ Wykes).
  • 3. "Pultuit" is probably a mistake for "prostravit," "proruit," "obruit," or some such word, and it seems clear that the sentence was intended to end here. The words which follow, i.e. "Alienigenas ab Angl," are either the commencement of an unfinished sentence (for which there is plenty of space in the MS.), or, more probably, are words that the careless scribe has inserted here by mistake from the adjoining column under the year 1263, where the passage relating to the expulsion of the foreigners is exactly opposite to these words.
  • 4. The "s" here with the mark of abbreviation over it would naturally represent "sibi," but it may be an error of the copyist for "r," i.e. "regi." The event here narrated is thus given by Higden in his Polychronicon (viii. p. 248), "Alienigenas cæteros autem regi propinquiores ab anglia fugaverunt quorum et bona occupaverunt." The word in the text, "alieos," may either be a mistake for "alios," or intended as an abbreviation of "alienigenas."
  • 5. This word may be "boucebur" for "Bosebur" (i.e. Bosbury in Herefordshire).
  • 6. The MS. has exorceorserunt.
  • 7. "instinctu" (Gastrell).
  • 8. "Henrico" (Gastrell).
  • 9. "Henricus" (Gastrell).
  • 10. Stephen de Russeton does not appear in any list of sheriffs of Cheshire. Neither Leycester, Ormerod, nor their recent editor, was able to ascertain the names of the sheriffs of 1263, 1264, or 1265.
  • 11. The words in brackets do not appear in the text, but are written in a contemporary hand in the margin, and (except in the margin) there is no heading of the year 1265, but the death of the abbot Thomas, and the other events of this year still appear under 1264, nor, although spaces are marked for them, are the dates, 1266, 1268, 1272, 1274, 1276, 1278, 1279, 1280, 1282, 1283, 1284, 1286, or 1295 inserted. These dates have been added in a much later hand in the margin. The arrangement and entries of the whole of the latter part of the MS. are in much confusion.
  • 12. If the calends were reckoned in their ordinary and retrograde order the death of the abbot Thomas of Capenhurst would not occur until after the election of his successor Simon of Whitchurch. It is therefore clear that in this case, possibly in others, the chronicler has reckoned the calends in direct order, thus calling April 14, "I calend maii." This mode of reckoning not unfrequently occurs in old charters and chronicles.
  • 13. "ii. non. Maii" is clearly written here, and also in the Gastrell MS., but the battle of Evesham took place on August 4 (pridie non. Aug.).
  • 14. The sentence beginning "Per quod patet" is written in a different hand to that which precedes or follows, and seems to have been added subsequently. In the Gastrell MS. it is placed in brackets.
  • 15. "sint" (Gastrell).
  • 16. "Tenure in frankalmoign (in libera eleemosyna or free alms) is that which a religious corporation aggregate or sole holdeth lands of the donor to them and their successors for ever. The service which they were bound to render for these lands was not certainly defined, but only in general to pray for the souls of the donor, and his heirs dead or alive; and therefore they did no fealty which is incidental to all other services but this, because this divine service was of a higher and more exalted nature . . . . . . . . Tenants in frankalmoign were discharged of all other services except the trinoda necessitas, of repairing the highways, building castles, and repelling invasions . . . If the service be neglected, the law gives no remedy by distress, or otherwise, to the lord of whom the lands are holden, but merely a complaint to the ordinary or visitor to correct it. Wherein it differs materially from what was called tenure by divine service, in which the tenants were obliged to do some special divine services in certain, as to sing so many masses, to distribute such a sum in alms and the like, which, being expressly defined and prescribed, could with no kind of propriety be called free alms, especially as for this, if unperformed, the lord might distrain without any complaint to the visitor. All donations in frankalmoign are now out of use, for since the statute of Quia emptores (18 Ed. I.) none but the king can give lands to be holden by this tenure."-Blackstone. "A tenure in frankalmoign may be created without the word 'libera,' for pura implyeth as much. But one of these words either 'pura' or 'libera' must be used, or, it is no tenure in frankalmoign."-Co. Lit. i. 93 b. "Our old books divided spiritual service into free alms, which was free from any limitation of certainty; and alms, because the tenants were bound to divine services."-Co. Lit. i. 97 a.
  • 17. Among the charters enumerated and abstracted in the Chartulary of S. Werburg (Harl. MSS. 1965) is a quit claim of William Pigot of the Church of Prestbury.
  • 18. Henry D'Almaine, the son of Richard of Cornwall, was murdered in the church of S. Silvester at Viterbo by his cousins Simon and Guy de Montfort, sons of his uncle Simon de Montfort, in revenge as it is said for the treatment the body of their father had received from the king's party. William of Rishanger (p. 67, A.D. 1270) after noticing the murder has the following:-"Viterbenses vero in memoriam interfecte modum interfectionis in pariete depinxerunt. Quam picturam quidam versificator intuens sic dicebat." Then follows the first eight of the above verses, only with the name at the end of the fifth line as Gnevelonis or according to one MS. Nevelonis.
  • 19. The Bishop of Chester has suggested to me that the word "Guelidonis" should probably be Guenelonis, and that by the sons of Guenelon are meant " the betrayers," from Guenelon, or Ganelon, the betrayer of Roland.
  • 20. An abstract of the charter of Robert de Worth is in the Chartulary.
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