546 ROC Eli OF WENDOVER. [A.D. 12.12. paid, seize 1 and carried off by some armed men with their heads eovered ; master John a Florentine archdeacon of Norwich, who had been present at the council, escaped being captured, and fled to London, where lie remained concealed for several days. After a lapse of rive weeks too, Cincius was brought back safe and sound to London, though, as was said, with his purse emptied. Of the forcible seizure of corn ai Winyham. A.i). 1232. At Christinas king Henry held his court at Win chester, where Peter, the bishop of that city provided the necessary entertainment for him, and made presents of festive dresses to the king as well as his own followers. During the week of Christmas the weil-storcd barns at Wingham, belonging to a Roman priest were plundered by a small body of armed men with their heads covered, who acted, as was said, by orders of the above-mentioned society. The proctor and guardian of that church, when he heard of this deed of violence, went to the sheriff of the county and informed him of this violation of the king's peace and the injury inflicted on his lord. The sheriff then sent his agents with some soldiers to the place, and ordered them to discover what the matter was ; on arriving at the barns the s \ ! ers there saw these armed men, who were entirely unknown to ' · 1 and who had by this time nearly emptied the granaries, and sold the corn on good terms for the benefit of the whole district, and had also charitably given a portion of it to the poor who asked for it. The soldiers, on coming up to them, asked them whence they came, and how they dared to disturb the king's peace and commit such depredations, on which they called the soldiers aside and at once showed them warrants from the king forbidding any one to obstruct them, and on seeing these the soldiers themselves, as well as others wdio had come there, went away quietly, and within fifteen days these armed men having sold all the corn, went away with their pockets well filled. Information of this occurrence having been carried to Roger bishop of London, he summoned ten bishops, and on the day after the feast of the blessed virgin Scholastic.-!,* in St. Paul's church at London, they excommunicated all the authors of this deed of violence, and including in this sentence all those who had laid violent hands on Cincius the canon of the church at London, and also the whole of the above-mentioned society, and all those who bad written and sealed the letters above-mentioned. How the king tlcinantled pecuniary assistance. On the 7th of March in this year, the nobles of the kingdom, laity as well as prelati s, assembled in council at Westminster at the summons of the king, who there explained to them, that he was involved in heavy debts by reason of the war which he had lately carried on on the continent, and was therefore driven by necessity to ask the assistance of them all in general. On healing * The 10th of February.