esset ex illis. Iuste
ergo tradidit non prodidit pene duos contradictores indigenas per currum, qui ciuitatem
omnibus Christianismi curribus ⁊ turribus meliorem, Londonicam loquor vrbem,
voluerunt alienando auertere
a succursu baronum, cum sine tante ciuitatis eximio ⁊
permaximo auxilio expulsionem alienorum nullatenus
facere potuissent propter
potestatem regiam, que vndique eos circumuallauit. Pro eo igitur quod prenominati senes
in singulari versuta allegacionum1
obieccione se contra totam ciuitatem opposuerant iusto Dei iudicio factum
est vt
extra ciuitatem perire2 debuissent in curru
igne vehementi accenso. In hoc etiam bello multa milia hominium
sunt cesa
pedestrium pariter ⁊ equestrium. Ex hoc bello frater regis Henrici, Ricardus comes
Cornubie, qui
ante paucos dies diffidarat barones ad bellum appellans illos regis
⁊ regni proditores, metu mortis
perteritus fugit in molendinum quod vi ventorum
dicebatur molere, claudens hostium super se. Ad quod inclinato die
belli ad
vesperam accesserunt barones valide contra ipsum acclamantes, Descende descende pessime
mo
lendinarie, Egredere egredere molendini magister infauste. Set ⁊ timiditatem eius
⁊ vecordiam vl
terius exprobrantes adiungunt, Quid tibi opus erat fieri
molendinarium per maximum infortunium, qui
nos pauperes barones nuper diffidasti
ad bellum, qui etiam non minori nomine dum nos diffidares volu
isti te appellari
quam regis Romanorum ⁊ semper Augusti. Fuerat enim paulo ante rex Allemanie propter
quod
vocauit se semper Augustum ⁊ regem Romanorum. Egreditur ergo Ricardus de
molendino ⁊ abducitur a baro
nibus vinculis cathenatus in firma custodia detinendus.
Ex qua quia pecuniosus erat valde liberatus
est post quinque circiter menses pro
redempcione plurima, videlicet, pro xviicim milibus libris
sterlingorum, ⁊ vque
milibus libris auri desiderabilis thesauri.
Anno Domini moccolxovo Regnante tercio
Alexandro rege Scotorum profectus est in Norwagiam missus
ab eodem rege dominus
Reginaldus de Roxburg’ monachus de Melros vir gloriose facundie ⁊ consilii
peroptimi pro adipiscenda terra de Mannia, que olim regio vocabatur, cum minutis insulis
circumiacentibus
ample regioni Scottorum, vbi cum venisset exceptus est a rege
honorifice multum. Qui faciens omnes
magnates terre illius conuenire in vnum ad
colloquium suum, tractauit cum illis de insulis supradictis.
In quo tractatu rex
ait, quod multum expediret pro pace seruanda vt venderentur regi Scottorum. Quod cum
audissent magnates eius quidam assenserunt, quidam contradixerunt. Set
inualescente consilio regis
illorum demum omnes assensum prebuerunt vt
venderentur regi petenti Scocie. Facta que est itaque compo
sicio inter duos reges
predictos, cuius composicionis hec est summa annua, silicet, quod rex Scotie omni anno
inperpetuum dabit regi Norwagie centum libras sterlingorum pro cognicione homagii
facti regi Norwa
gie a dicto Alexandro rege Scocie. Qui ad maiorem securitatem pre
manibus pacauit regi Norwagie
one of them. Justly
therefore did he convey, and not betray, the two native-born opponents by means of the
wagon; for they wanted to alienate a city more important than all the wagons and towers
in Christendom—I mean the city of London—and prevent it from coming to the aid of the
barons; since without the incomparable and crucial help of so great a city, the
expulsion of the foreigners would by no means have been possible to effect, on account
of the royal force which surrounded them on every side. Because these old men, in their
singular and perverse opposition and excuses, had set themselves against the whole city,
it came to pass by the righteous judgement of God that they should perish outside the
city in a wagon burnt by an intense fire. In this battle, moreover, many thousands of
men were cut down, foot-soldiers as well as horsemen. The brother of King Henry,
Richard, earl of Cornwall, who a little while before had challenged the barons to
battle, calling them betrayers of the king and of the realm, fled terrified from the
battlefield for fear of death, into a mill that was said to grind by wind-power,
securing the entrance behind him. As evening approached on the day of battle the barons
approached it, calling out loudly towards him, ‘Come down, come down, you wretched
miller! Come out, come out of the mill, you master of ill fortune!’ And also reproving
his cowardice and utter folly, they added, ‘By what great misfortune was it that you had
to become a miller, you who so recently challenged us poor barons to a battle, who also,
when you challenged us, wanted to be called by no less a name than King of the Romans
and Ever Augustus!’ (He had, a short time before, been king of Germany, and it was on
account of this that he called himself Ever Augustus and King of the Romans.) Richard
therefore came out of the mill and was forcibly carried off by the barons, fettered in
chains, to be held in close custody. From there, because he was exceedingly wealthy, he
was set free after about five months in return for a great ransom, namely, for the
desirable amount of 17 thousand pounds sterling, and 5 thousand pounds of gold
treasure.
In the 1265th year of the Lord,
during the reign of Alexander III, king of the Scots, and having been sent by the same
king, the lord Reginald of Roxburgh, a monk of Melrose, a man of famed eloquence and the
very best judgement, set out for Norway in order to acquire the land of Man, which was
formerly called Regio, together with the numerous tiny islands situated in great numbers
around the territory of the Scots. When he arrived there he was received with much
honour by the king, who made all the great men of his land assemble in one place to
consult with him, and he treated with them over the abovementioned islands. During these
dealings the king said that for the preservation of peace it might be very expedient
that the islands be sold to the king of the Scots. When his magnates had heard this,
some assented and some spoke against it. But their king’s opinion prevailed, and
eventually they all granted their assent that the islands be sold to the king of
Scotland, as he asked. An agreement was therefore drawn up between the two aforesaid
kings, of whose agreement this is the main annual point, that is, that the king of
Scotland will give a hundred pounds sterling every year for ever to the king of Norway
for recognition of the homage made to the king of Norway by the said Alexander, king of
Scotland, who as a down payment or security paid the king of Norway