A.D. 1139 CONDUCT OF STEPHEN TO THE BISHOP OF SAXISBXTRT. 235 with him. King Stephen thereupon returned to England, taking with him Henry, the son of the king of the Scots [as a hostage]. He then laid siege to Ludlow, where the same Henry, being dragged from his horse by an iron hook, was nearly taken prisoner, but the king himself valiantly rescued him from the enemy. After this, without accomplishing his object, he returned to Oxford, where a thing took place remarkable for its disgraceful character, and at variance with all civilized usage. Eor the king, after having received them in peace, violently arrested at -his own court Eoger, bishop of Salisbury, and Alexander,1* bishop of Lincoln, who, so far from refusing to settle matters with justice, had most earnestly entreated permission so to do. Having thrown bishop Alexander into prison there, he took the bishop of Salisbury with him to his castle, called Devizes, a finer one than which there was not in all Europe. There he tortured him with the pangs of hunger, and tied a halter round the neck of his son,2 who had been the king's chancellor, as though he were about to be hanged ; and by such methods extorted from him the surrender of the castle, far from remembering the benefits which, at the beginning of his reign, beyond all others, he had conferred upon him; such, then, was the reward he bestowed on him for his de-votedness. Γη a similar manner he gained possession of Sy-resburn,2* whieh was very little inferior to Devizes in magnificence. On obtaining the bishop's' treasures, by means of them he gained Constance, sister of Louis, king of the Franks, in marriage for bis son Eustace. On retiring thence, the king took bishop Alexander, whom he had left in confinement at Oxford, with him to Newark, where that bishop had built a castle, near the river Trent, extremely well fortified and most amply supplied. On coming there, the king imposed on the bishop a fast not prescribed by the law,8 and declared, on his oath, that he should be deprived of all food whatever until the castle was surrendered to him. In consequence of this, with considerable difficulty, by means of prayers and entreaties, the bishop prevailed on his own people to transfer '* Some historians call him the nephew of the bishop of Salisbury, but he was suspected to be his son. 2 This person, whose name was Roger, was said to be the son of Roger, bishop of Salisbury, by Maud of Ramsbury, his mistress. 2* Sherburne. a f ne ecclesiastical law.