A.D. 1253. THE KNIGHTS SUMMONED TO PORTSMOUTH. 327 throughout Guienne, that no one, from that time forth, should attend to or obey earl Simon ; adding, that on account of his oppressions and their complaints, he deposed the aforesaid earl, and he redeemed, for a sum of money, the patent by which he had appointed him to the government of Guienne for the three years subsequent to the signing of it ; which step was very pleasing to the people of Guienne, as they saw by it that the power of earl Simon had expired, and that they could more easily complain to the king of their enemies. Ernald de Bosco, a knight, was appointed prime forester, in the room of Robert Passelowe, in all the southern provinces of England, up to the river which is called the Trent, and John de Lexington, another knight, was appointed over the northern parts of the island, from the aforesaid river Trent to the borders of Scotland, in the room of Geoffrey de Langley. Many undeniable miracles were performed at the tomb of Richard, bishop of Ghiehester ; whose body, when taken up and examined, was found to be wrapped in hair cloths, and bound round with iron hoops. Master John Clipping was elected to the bishopric of Winchester, having been a canon of that church before. A mandate from the Apostolic See was sent about, to the effect that every bishop, whether in foreign countries or in England, was strictly to visit all the monks who were established in his diocese, those who were exempt as well as those who were not, and compel them to the observation of certain articles, which neither belong to the rule of Saint Benedict, nor do they exist in his order ; on which account, the monks of France, thinking to provide tranquiUity for themselves, having given four thousand pounds of the coinage of Tours to our lord the pope, prevented the edict from reaching them. In like manner, the abbot of Saint Alban* s, with the rest of his peers, and the convents which they ruled, appealed without delay to the presence of our lord the pope. About the first of June, the king having received intelli gence of the desolation of Guienne, caused all the knights in England who owed him military service, to be summoned to be present in the course of the week after the feast of the Holy Trinity at Portsmouth, ready to cross the sea and sail with the king to Guienne, in order by force to restore it to the authority of the king its master, and to peace. In the meantime, about a thousand ships having been engaged for the