A.D. 1238. DEVASTATIONS 0Γ THE TÀBTABS. prived the bishop of Chichester, whom the monks in a pions spirit demanded, of his office of chancellor, and excluded him from his friendship. Moreover, having sent to Rome the Master Simon Norman, and Alexander, one of the secular clergy, two professional legists, he, not without a great expenditure,* procured the election to be annulled by the authority of the lord the pope. The same year, about the time of the feast of Saint Matthew, a certain wicked pretended priest, feigning himself to be out of his mind, in order to explore some secret retreats in the court of the king, one night secretly entered the palace of Woodstock by the window, while the king and queen were in another chamber, the divine mercy protecting them as they were asleep that night ; but in consequence of the outcry of a most pious and noble lady, Margaret Byset by name, who, according to her custom, was sitting up playing on her psaltery, and of other damsels likewise, whom he found in the chamber which he had entered, he was seized : and afterwards being put in chains, he confessed with his wicked mouth that he had been sent thither to murder the king and queen. After a short period, he was torn asunder by horses, at Coventry, and divided limb by limb into four portions, and the portions were sent to all the chief cities of the kingdom, to be parted and hung up in memory of such a great crime. At this time, Simon de Montfort returned from the countries beyond the Alps, and was immediately made the chief councillor of the king. About the same time, William, the elect of Valence, went to Rome, having been summoned by the lord the pope, whom his fame had reached, because he was a fearless and prudent man in warlike affairs. And by the management of the pope, he was demanded in the court of Rome, as the elect of Liege ; so, however, that he was still to be called Valentine elect, and to be so only with some change of title, being for the future to be styled the Elect of Liege, and the Procurator of Valence, so as to avoid all misapplication of words. . Oh ! the monstrous ambition of human blindness ! He still aspired also to the bishopric of Winchester, the king favouring him with all his might, not because he had respect to the pontifical office, but for the sake of the temporal emolument. About this time, a certain barbarian nation of incalculable number, called the Tartars, devastated the northern countries of