A.D. 1142.] DEATH OF FULK. 495 ford, and committed herself to the charge of Brian Fitz-Earl. In this manner the castle of Oxford was given up to the king. Of the council which was held at London. A.D. 1142. WilKam bishop of Winchester, legate of the apostolic see, in the middle of Lent held a council at London, in presence of the king and the other bishops ; for no respect or reverence was at this time shown to the church of God or its ordained ministers by the profligate wretches who plundered the country, but every body was laid violent hands on, and ransomed or kept in prison, just as they pleased, whether he was clerk or layman. It was therefore decreed that any one who violated a church or churchyard, or laid violent hands on a clerk or other religious person, should be incapable of receiving absolution except from the pope himself. It was also decreed that ploughs in the fields, and the rustics who worked at them, should be sacred, just as much as if they were in a churchyard. They also excommunicated with lighted candles * all who should contravene this decree, and so the rapacity of these human kites was a little checked. About the same time, king Stephen took William de Mandeville at St. Alban's, and compelled him to surrender the Tower of London, with the castles of Walden and Plessis, before he restored him to freedom. William, thus stripped of his paternal inheritance, attacked Bamsey abbey, expelled the monks, and filled the place with his ruffians. He was a brave man, but pertinacious in sinning against God. The death of Fulls king of Jerusalem. About the same time, Fulk king of Jerusalem, crossing the plains of Acre, chanced to start a hare from her form ; all gave chase to the animal with loud cries, and the king, seizing a lance to pursue, incautiously urged his horse with spur to such a degree, that the animal falling headlong dashed the king's head to pieces, and his brains gushed out through the ears and nostrils. All hastened to his assistance, but he was quite dead. This happened on the 13th of November, and his body was carried to Jerusalem, where it was buried * A form of excommunicating persons in the middle ages.