year of his reign, was at the feast of the Nativity of the Lord \ at Bezas, in Guienne, where he bestowed precious donations on the people of Guienne, in double garments and other desirable things. And when the queen recovered from her confinement, she sent her lord the king five hundred marks out of her private revenues. On the day after the feast of the blessed Thomas the Martyr, the canons of Lincoln elected as their bishop Master Henry de Lexinton, dean of the same church, who, though he crossed the sea to be presented to the king, yet feared to appear before him, because the king had entreated and solicited him and his whole chapter to elect the bishop of Hereford, which, however, they all refused to do ; nevertheless, the king, as he found no cause for rejection in the said bishop elect, admitted him. About the same time the king had invited the queen and his eldest son and heir, Edward, requesting them not to delay to come to him with all speed, in order that the arrangement which has been already mentioned as having been entered into by him and the king of Spain touching the marriage to be contracted by the prince, might be brought to a conclusion. Some Saracens who had been converted to the faith of Christ came into France, some of whom had been baptized, and some still wanted to be baptized. And this was the cause of their con-ι version, that they had formerly seen the king miraculously I delivered from the hands of the most powerful soldan of Babylon, and also the exceeding patience of the king in adversity, his inflexible constancy in his designs, and how he had continued in them even after his captivity, fortifying castles and strengthening cities against the enemies of God; how, too, for the love of his God, he had deserted his kingdom to expose himself to the dangers of the sea, of wars, and of foreign lands, kbouring to gain over the souls of the infidels. Moreover, they learnt, by the information of the orthodox, that the foul law of Mahomet is full of poison to the soul ; and they brought with them letters patent from the king of France, saying that they were to be supported at the king's expense till he himself returned to his own country, when he would make fuller provision for them. On Septuagesima Sunday some ships of barbarians, which had been tossed about by the fury of the winds, of great size and elegance, the like of which there were not in the possession of England, well found in all their naval armament, and