|
|
Help us create a biggest collection of medieval chronicles and manuscripts on line. |
|
|
#
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z |
Medieval chronicles, historical sources, history of middle ages, texts and studies |
MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER
The flowers of history, especially such as relate to the affairs of Britain. Vol. II. A.D. 1066 to A.D. I307.
|
|
|
|
Previous | all pages
|
Next |
|
|
MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER
The flowers of history, especially such as relate to the affairs of Britain. Vol. II. A.D. 1066 to A.D. I307.
page 311
district, and he conferred on him many estates and ample re
venues, hoping by these means to render his whole family
grateful to him, and to lay them under lasting obligations to
him against the time when they should be able to requite him.
When the time of Lent drew near, the lord the king visited
the district about Winchester, which had a very infamous re
putation, through the number of robbers and nocturnal plun
derers which infested it ; through which country the justicia
ries had made a journey a little while before, men who ought
to have cleansed those parts from such a pestilence, but the
aforesaid thieves were so banded together, that the justiciaries,
although energetic men, were not in the least able to curb
their wickedness, nor did their violent and unconcealed de
predations cease, and outcries and complaints resounded, as
cending up to heaven ; and even, that their iniquities might
be multiplied to an intolerable extent, the very wines of the lord
the king were not safe from the plundering hands of these vio
lent robbers. So the lord the king was excited to bitterness of
spirit not unnaturally, nor could he any longer repress his
desire for revenge. Having, therefore, made a subtle scru
tiny and a searching inquisition (because this step was neces
sary, in order that the craft of these universal traitors might
be encountered by craft), the lord the king suddenly ordered
twelve men to be summoned before him in the hall of Christ
church at Winchester, by whom he expected to be more accu
rately informed of the truth, and he threatened them terribly,
under penalty of being hanged, to reveal to him the names of
those malefactors whom they knew. Accordingly, they retired,
and held along consultation among themselves, and then deter
mined in no degree to discover this band of robbers. There
fore, the lord the king being very angry, having shut the
gates of the castle, ordered them to be arrested immediately
and thrown into prison, and to be bound with chains and fet
ters, as criminals deserving of being hanged. And immediately
afterwards, he summoned twelve more, and caused diligent en
quiry to be made of them, and addressed exhortations, with
the admixture of terrible threats to them, desiring them not
to follow the footsteps of the former twelve, but plainly to
reveal the names of those malefactors to the lord àie king,
whose determined resolution it was to deliver the country
from them ; and they, retiring apart, and taking long delibe
ration on the subject, began to be greatly alarmed, lest they,
t
|
|
|
Previous |
First |
Next |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Medievalist" is an educational project designed as a digital collection of chronicles, documents and studies related to the middle age history. All materials from this site are permitted for non commersial use unless otherwise indicated. If you reduplicate documents from here you have to indicate "Medievalist" as a source and place link to us. |
|
|
|
|