militem
ipsum ordinauit. ¶Ordinem1 preposterum Anglia
sanxiuit, mirum
dictu dicitur tale quis audiuit, nam preesse capiti corpus
concupiuit, regem suum regere
populus quesiuit. Causa tamen multiplex illud
exigebat, nam rex mores optimos regni
peruertebat, iura, leges, subditos, recte
non regebat, quicquid erat placitum summum ius cre
debat. Proprios indigenas nimis
deprimebat, barbaros rutarios, illis preponebat, he
redes legitimos, obsides,
perdebat, quorum aduenticius terras possidebat. Regis ad collo
quium milites citati,
caute sibi precauent ueniunt armati, iurant unanimiter iam se
nolle pati amplius
tyrannidem regis tam ingrati. Die primo ueniunt iuri parituri, rex
uenire distulit
nolens stare iuri, diem ponit alterum temporis futuri, nec uenit, sed
ueniunt ipsum coacturi /\. Regis ergo postulant
depositionem, legis nisi faciat emendationem,
plenam, ⁊ exhibeat certam cautionem,
pacis ad perpetuam conseruacionem. Humagi
um quod fecerant reconsignauerunt, et
barones militum causam susceperunt, hinc in septem
acies sese diuiserunt, terras,
urbes, predia, castraque ceperunt. Horum terras complices regis
uastauerunt, hinc
⁊ hinc quamplurima mala peregerunt, et dum sic diucius sibi aduer
santur, fiunt
homicidia, census dissipantur. Leges tandem pristinas regni sicientes,
sed in regem mittere manus non uolentes /\ formam
pacis congruam inter se fecerunt. Et
districte super hac
regem conuenerunt. Formam pacis renuens inde rex recessit, sed co
actus postmodum
omnia concessit, et ut manus militum caute declinaret, quicquid esset
placitum
promisit ut seruaret. Omne \igitur/ pactum pariter in scriptum
reduxerunt, et sigillum
regium apponi pecierunt, qui promittens placide diem
prolongauit, & ut ad Oxoniam
uenirent intimauit. Rex collectis uiribus ad diem /\ quem prefixit, uenit, sed articulis
pacis
contradixit. Recesserunt igitur magno cum rancore, error sic posterior peior fit priore.
Rex
igitur interim ad nouum nocendi genus se conuertit. Consilium enim habuit
nescio cuius Achitophel
ut Anglorum totam2 progeniem ab Anglia funditus eradicaret, ⁊ barbaris nationibus
terram Anglie perpetuo possidendam donaret. Rex tamen regum ⁊ Dominus dominantium
cuius decre
tum nunquam poterit infirmari, aliter fieri preordinauit. Satis enim
misericorditer innocentes liberauit
nec minus mirabiliter consilium Achitofel
dissipauit. Dum namque ex parte ipsius regis quidam
ex suis fautoribus
transmarinis, Hugo dictus de Boues, inestimabilem nauium multitudinem
congregasset, ⁊ eas etiam ad summum usque multitudinem ▬
malignantium replesset contigit ut ipse
H’ cum omni illa classica multitudine
vi k’ Octob’ uersus Angliam uela uentis explicaret. Et
ecce
eleuatis ad imperium summi Regis marinis fluctibus tam ipse H’ dux tanti
sceleris quam ceteri scelera
ti subito submersi sunt quasi plumbum in aquis
uehementibus, ita ut ex omni illa multitudine na
uium nulla penitus optatum litus
inueniret, sed tam nautas quam naues ⁊ ceteros transfretantes maris
unda seuiens
auido gurgite deglutiuit, exceptis paucissimis qui post diutinam fatigationem
procellarum
etiam ⁊ uentorum infestationem uix tanti discriminis impetum cum
magno periculo euaserunt. Nec sic
quidem ut creditur euasissent, nisi de concepto
scelere conpuncti ab ipso qui dominatur potestati maris, cui scilicet
mare ⁊ uenti
obediunt, tota cordis contritione ueniam quesissent. Cum lacrimis enim ⁊ singultibus
iter sanctum uersus Ierosolimam deuouerunt, ⁊ in carne propria crucis sancte
signaculum ab inuicem susceperunt.
Per omnia benedictus Deus qui incredulis ⁊
obstinatis meritum supplicium non negauit, penitentibus uero ⁊ ue
niam petentibus
motum fluctuum maris mitigauit.
Celebratum est concilium generale apud Romam per xv
dies ad kal’ Nouemb’. In quo conciliato
multa ad extirpationem uitiorum ⁊
destructionem here\ti/corum, ad confirmationem etiam fidelium ⁊
emendationem
morum Spiritu Sancto inspirante sunt constituta. Inter que etiam
statutum est, ⁊ approbante sacro ▬▬ concilio,
appointed him a
new knight. ¶England has ratified a perverse order: who has heard such an astonishing
event be asserted in verse? For the body aspired to be on top of the head; the people
sought to rule their king! More than one cause was behind it. For the king has subverted
the best customs of the realm, has not governed properly the rights and laws, which have
been subjected. He has supposed whatever was his greatest pleasure to be the law; he has
oppressed his own native people beyond measure: he has placed barbarian mercenaries over
them. He has destroyed lawful heirs and hostages: a foreigner has taken possession of
their lands. Knights were summoned to the king’s colloquy: they took care, anxious for
themselves, and they came armed. They swear unanimously that they refuse to suffer
further the tyranny of such an unpleasant king. They came on the first day, ready to
make arrangements for the law: the king delayed to come, unwilling to stand up for the
law. He appointed another day in a future period: he did not come—but they came /\
ready to constrain him. They therefore demanded the deposition of the
king if he does not enact a complete correction of the law and offer a faithful
guarantee for the perpetual preservation of peace. The homage which they had made they
have tendered back and the barons have taken up the cause of the knights. From this
point they divided themselves into seven divisions: they seized lands, towns, farms, and
forts. Their lands the allies of the king laid waste: so many evil deeds were
perpetrated on this side and that. And for a long time, and longer, they opposed
themselves in this way: murders are committed and fortunes frittered away. Thirsting for
the former laws of the kingdom, yet wishing not to send forces against the king
▬. A suitable peace plan was made between them,
/\
and upon this engagement they met the king. The king, denying the
peace plan, withdrew from there, but soon, constrained, he then conceded everything; and
as a result he carefully diverted the power of the knights: he promised that he would
keep whatever he had agreed. They \therefore/ committed the whole
agreement to writing: and they required the royal seal to be affixed. He, calmly making
promises, delayed some days, and gave notice that they should come to Oxford. The king,
after assembling his forces, came on the day which he had appointed /\
, but he
gainsaid the articles of peace. They therefore withdrew with great ill-feeling: the last
error thus became worse than the first. Meanwhile the king therefore turned himself to a
new kind of harm. He took the counsel of I know not what Achitophel, that he should root
out from its foundations the entire progeny of the English from England, and grant the
land of England to be possessed perpetually by barbarian peoples. The king of kings,
however, and lord of those who hold sway, whose decree it is never possible to annul,
preordained that it be otherwise. It is enough that he freed innocent people out of
compassion: no less wonderfully did he throw asunder the counsel of Achitophel. For
indeed, during the time when one from among the king’s supporters overseas, called Hugh
of Boves, on behalf of the king himself, gathered an incalculable multitude of ships,
and filled them right up to the top with a multitude ▬ of evil-doers, it happened that this H[ugh] with all that naval
multitude, on 26 September, was unfurling sails in the winds
blowing towards England. And behold! The sea-waves were lifted up at the command of the
supreme king, and H[ugh] himself, leader of so much crime, as much as the other
criminals, sank suddenly like lead in the turbulent waters, so that none out of all that
multitude of ships reached the deeply desired shore; but, by its greedy depth, the
savaging liquid of the sea devoured sailors as much as ships and all others crossing the
sea, except the smallest number who, after the long exhaustion of tempests and also the
hostility of winds, scarcely escaped with great danger from the onset of so great a
crisis. These would not have escaped in this way, it is believed, if they, stung by he
who rules the power of the sea—whom, that is, the sea and winds obey—had not, with
complete contrition of the heart, sought to obtain grace concerning the crime that had
been hatched. With tears and sobs, then, they undertook the holy journey to Jerusalem,
and each in turn received the sign of the holy cross on their flesh. Blessed be God
through all things, who did not refuse, with regard to unbelievers, what they deserve,
and punishment for the obstinate, and certainly with regard to penitents, he calmed the
motion of the waves of the sea for those seeking grace.
A general council was
celebrated for 15 days at Rome from 1 November. Inspired by the holy spirit, many things
were determined in this council for the extirpation of vices and destruction of
heretics, for the confirmation of the faithful as well as for the correction of their
conduct. Among these things, moreover, it was decided and strictly commanded by the holy ▬▬ council,