À..D. 1263. TJ£E KING MARCHES UPON DOVEB. 409 had been- favourers of the king's party, in respect of which discord and dissensions, which had already arisen among them to some slight extent, were much feared in England. Peter, bishop of Hereford, was released from the custody in which he had been detained, and his fellow prisoner also, Matthias de Besill, and all the others, were liberated at the same time. About the time of the feast of Saint Michael, our king and queen, and earl Simon de Montfort, with many other nobles, crossed the sea, to hold a conference with Louis, king of France, which was to take place at Boulogne, on the subject of the disturbed state of the kingdom of England. But this meeting had been arranged by the contrivance of the queen and her family, because, in consequence of the atrocities which had been committed against her (and which have been mentioned above), she had conceived a vehement hatred against the Londoners. And not long afterwards a great parliament was assembled in London, in which, as a schism (alas ! alas !) now prevailed among the barons, according to that saying in the gospels, " Every kingdom divided against itself will be brought to desolation," &c , many of them who had previously been very active and violent in making incursions of cavalry and depredations, now began to adhere to the king and to Edward, who was a man of great prowess, having been converted by their honied promisee, and by large estates, which were either promised to, or absolutely bestowed on them. After this, the king, with a large army (for by this time the most powerful persons in the kingdom had become his adherents), in great numbers marched upon Dover, in order to gain that castle out of the power of the barons, in which he did not succeed. Therefore he returned with great indignation to West* minster, and in the mean time sending secret letters to some of the citizens of London to charge them to guard the gates and so prevent the barons from entering, in consequence of which the famous Simon de Montfort was nearly betrayed, for he was outside the city in the suburb of Southward, attended by only a very few followers, owing to their respect for the king's army. For that army, with its squadrons in battle array, was now at no great distance, and approaching fast to attack him, who was expecting nothing of the kind ; and it was advancing with all security to take him prisoner, when on