of Germany and of the Roman empire, from their fealty to him. On which account the pope was by many persons considered a whimsical and changeable person, because he had, at the same time, raised him up and overthrown him. The peace which had been announced between the kings of England and Scotland was confirmed, and formal copies of the treaty interchanged. The king crossed the sea to Ireland, with a very numerous army, about the time of the feast of Saint John the Baptist, from which country he expelled Hugo de Lacy, and received the submission of the whole of Ireland. But on his return, being ungrateful to God and man, he imposed a very heavy tax on all abbeys, and most especially he oppressed the houses of the Cistercian order. And William de Brewer, Robert de Tunham, Reginald de Cornhulle, and Richard de Marieco, of the convent of Saint Bridget, in London, were his counsellors, and showed favour to this most wicked proceeding, and received the money which was extorted. Walter de Grey was appointed to the bishopric of Chester, and Henry, archdeacon of Stafford, to that of Exeter. Many of the Jews, because of the terrible oppression, fled from England. The same year, Matilda, a woman of the noblest birth, the wife of William de Brause, and William her son, and the heir of her husband, at the command of John, king of England, were miserably put to death by famine. But William de Brause himself, her husband, fled to Scorham, and having changed his garments there, crossed the sea clandestinely in the disguise of a beggar, and not long afterwards died at Paris. Pandtdph, the mh-deacon of the pope, and Durand, return without hope of peace. AU the subjects of the crown ofEngland are absolved from theirfealty to king John. A.D . 1211. William de Brause was expelled from England as a banished man, and having suffered great distress, and being wasted away, as it were, with grief, died at Paris, and was buried in the church of Saint Victor, on the vigil of Saint Laurence. Pandulph, the subdeacon of the lord the pope, and Durand, the hospitaller, came to England for the purpose of bringing about a peace between the king and the priesthood. But they returned without effecting anything. Kins John going on an expedition into Wales, compelled Leoline, prince 1 Usually called Llewellyn.