208 ROGER OF WENDOVER. Γ A.D. 1203. time laid siege to the tine castle of the Rock of Andelys, whi.^i Richard had built, bot by the prowess and incomparable fidelity of Rngrr de Lacy, to who-e care that fortress had been entrusted, he gained nothing by the siege, except that by refusing egress to the besieged, he prevented them from obtaining supplies. Whilst these events were passing, some of the Normans seceded altogether from the king of the English, and others only feigned adherence to him. How king John came to England and exacted large sums of money from the nobles. King John at length seeing his fault, and that he was destitute of all military supplies, took ship in all haste and on St. Nicholas's day landed at Portsmouth. Then urging against the earls and barons as an excuse, that they had left him in the midst of his enemies on the continent, by which he had lost bis castles and territories through their defection, he took from them the seventh part of all their moveable goods ; and in this act he did not refrain from laying violent hands on the property of conventual or parochial churches, inasmuch as he employed Hubert archbishop of Canterbury as the agent of this robbery in regard to the church property, and Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, justiciary of England, for the goods of the laity, and these two spared no one in the execution of their orders. The French king, when he learnt that the king of England had left his transmarine territories, went in great strength to each of the towns and castles of the district, explaining to the citizens and governors of castles that thov were deserted by their lord. He also said that he was the principal lord of those provinces, and that if the English king should ignominiously abandon them, he had no intention of losing the superior authority which belonged to him ; wherefore he begged of them as a friend to receive him as their lord since they had no other ; but he declared with an oath, that if they did not do this willingly, and dared to contend against him, he would subdue them as enemies and hang them all on the gibbet or flay them alive. At length, after much disputing on both sides, they unanimously agreed to give hostages to the king of the French, for their keeping a truce for one year; after which time, if they did not receive assistance from the king of the English, they would thence