452 ROGER OF WEN DOVER. [A.D.1224. sengers in reply that they would not give up the castle unless they had orders to do so from their lord Falcasius, especially as they were not bound by homage or allegiance to the king. Whon this answer was brought back to the king, he was very indignant, and in his anger, ordered his troops to surround the castle ; the besiegers, too, prepared to oppose them, and defended the walls and ramparts in all parts. Then the archbishop and all the bishops, with tapers lighted, laid the ban of excommunication on Falcasius, and all the garrison of the castle. The eastle was laid siege to on the 16th of June, which was the Thursday next after the octaves of Trinity. By orders of the king, the engines of war, such as petrarix and mangonelles, were brought up, and, being disposed round the city, the besieging army made constant tierce assaults on the eastle ; the besieged, however, bravely defended the walls, and sent forth showers of deadly missiles on the besiegers. To be brief, many were wounded and .--lain on both sides. The king, whilst the siege was being carried on, sent a body of soldiers to search for Falcasius, and when found, to bring him into his presence ; the latter was, however, forewarned of this by his spies, and fled into Wales, and the king's messengers returned, acknowledging that their labour was vain. The king being roused to anger, swore, by the soul of his father, that if the garrisons were made prisoners by force he would hang them all ; they, however, being provoked to do further wrong by the king's threats, forbade the messengers of the king to speak to them again on the subject of giving up the castle. This deadly hatred increased from the numbers of the slain, so that brothers spared not brothers, nor fathers their children. At length, after great slaughter on both sides, the king's workmen constructed a high tower of wood, built on geometrical principles, in whieli they placed cross-bow men, who could watch every proceeding in the castle ; and from that time no one in the castle could take off his armour without being mortally wounded. The besieged, however, did not on this account, cease to strike down their enemies ; for, to the eonfusion of the king's army, they killed two knights of his, who exposed themselves to death too rashly, thus provoking the anger of their enemies against them by all the means possible.