MATTHEW OF WE8TMU7STEB. A.D. 1246. say, on the fifth of December, his brother Anselm died, an accomplished young man, of an amiable disposition, who was on the point of being promoted to the earldom and office o f mareschal, which belonged to him of hereditary right ; so that in the interval before his death he was called earl, and looked upon as the earl. And thus all the sons of the great mareschal William (what was the sin which brought such an end about, we do not know,) according to the prophecy of the countess, their mother, departed like shadows from this world, leaving no children behind them. Nevertheless, they were all successively earls, as their mother had predicted, as though she had been endued with a spirit of prophecy. And thus that noble shield of the mareschals, which had been formidable to such numerous and powerful enemies of England, disappeared. There were also many other families in the other parts of the kingdom of England which lost their nobility and distinction, principally through failure of issue. In the meantime the pope sent all the money which he could ecrape together from all the kingdoms, and from the church, and especially from ecclesiastical persons, to the landgrave of Thuringia, to support him in his war against Conrad, son of Frederic. And by this time, the archbishop of Cologne, and other noble and powerful prelates, with many also of the magnates of Germany, being Won over by the money of the pope, had become adherents of the aforesaid landgrave ; so that as Conrad was becoming weaker, nearly the whole of the kingdom of Germany began to incline to the landgrave. CH. XIII.—FEOM A.D. 1246 το A.D. 1217. Discontent in England at the exactions of the pope—Death of David, prince of Wales—The war for the empire, between Conrad and the landgrave, continues—The icing of France refuses to permit the pope to enter France—Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury, is canonized — Confederacy of the French nobles against the pope—The church of England addresses complaints to the pope, but grants him money—The landgrave dies—Frederic makes the Sicilians, $"c. do homage to his son Henry—William of Holland is elected emperor, in opposition to Conrad—The king's halfbrothers come to England—Many English nobles assume the Cross.