creasing, died in the countries heyond the Alps, the lord the pope immediately bestowed the prebend above mentioned on another person, who was one of his special officers ; when just at this time it happened that the bishop Fulk also departed from this world, and so his bishopric came under the king's guardianship. So the king having been informed of the death of the aforesaid Rustand, but not being aware of the fact of the pope having conferred his stall on another, gave the aforesaid prebend to the lord John de Crakehale, his treasurer, and caused him to be publicly installed. And when this was heard of, a certain procurator, by name John Legras, one of the secular clergy of noble birth, was sent into England, well fortified with writings from the pope, to support by his authority as procurator the aforesaid collation to the stall which the pope had bestowed. And the archbishop of Canterbury, deciding on the case as he was ordered to do, after the contest had been long agitated between the two parties, ascertaining at length that the papal donation preceded the king's appointment in point of time, by his formal sentence adjudged the prebend to the Roman before mentioned, utterly excluding the treasurer, although he had been for some time invested. And after the Roman was installed, he endeavoured immediately to take possession of the principal mansion attached to the prebend in the city ; but he was denied entrance, on which account, yielding to violence and arms, he withdrew, intending to lay bis complaint before the archbishop. And they who occupied the house seeing this, presently followed him behind ; and among the crowd of passers-by, some one clove his head in two between the eyes, and escaped without being discovered or arrested by any one. And a companion of his was treated in the same manner, while the slayer escaped. But as an investigation into this deed took place throughout the whole city, and the criminal could not be discovered, sentence was pronounced by the archbishop and the other bishops against all the favourers of that crime, so that all the hearers of it were brought to fear the judicial sentence. But though, by some suspicious persons, it might be supposed that this had been procured to be done by the treasurer aforesaid, yet in reality he was innocent, and it was done by some envious rascals ; for the English were indignant that so many Romans should be so frequently enriched with English benefices, while not once even in a year did any native of the