MATTHEW OF WESTMTJT8TEB. A.D. 1263. of armed men, be was recalled by his father, and returned to England. This year, John, abbot of Saint Alban's, died, and also John, abbot of Gloucester ; the first of whom was succeeded by Roger, and the latter by Reginald. After the feast of the Holy Trinity, there was a great convocation of the pontifie and clergy of England and Westminster, having been summoned, at the command of the lord the pope, before Leonard and Berard, his nuncios, for the purpose of extorting money from the English for the service of the emperor of Constantinople, who had been for some time driven from his empire. But they would not contribute anything of the sort, either from the revenues of the kingdom, or from those of the church, putting forth in public all kinds of reasons, drawn both from the dissensions and depressed state and poverty of the kingdom, for the crop had long since failed, and scarcity increased among the people. So, for these and other most evident reasons, answer was distinctly made that they ought rather to succour their own lord and themselves, in such a state of imperious necessity, than any foreign prince. I have taken care that all these things should be inserted for the instruction of posterity, that, taking caution from the past, future ages may be fortified beforehand, being taught by the unanimity of this answer, dictated by the communion of mutual will, and so preserved from contributions and taxes of this sort. About the same time, the famous and eminent monastery of Bee, in Normandy, was burnt to ashes. The barons of England, being bound (as has been often stated) by an oath to the observance of the statutes of Oxford, having taken the advice, and being supported by the effectual assistance of Simon de Montfort, the most noble earl of Leicester, a man most skilful in military affairs, no longer hesitated to bring to a conclusion a design which they had long since entertained with reference to that subject. And first and principally they waged war against all the foreigners whom the king and queen, and also Edward, their son, loved more than they ought ; and, despising their native subjects, promoted them to high dignities to a shameless extent ; and so on s sudden they carried off booty in every part of England ; and while every one else was thinking of nothing of the sort, they made a hostile attack upon the counsellors of the king, and all whom they knew to be his adherents in any respect ; and invaded in every direction, and wantonly destroyed their ma