A.D. 1265. THE REBELS FOBTIFT KENILWOBTH CASTLE. offices and benefices Henry, bishop of London. John, bishop of Winchester, and Stephen, bishop of Chichester, who espoused the side of the adversaries of the king ; and because they had recourse to the remedy of an appeal, he- ordered them to present themselves personally before the pope within the space of three months ; so they, coming to that court, awaited the revolutions of fortune. The lord bishop of Lincoln purchased himself peace in good times, and so obtained mercy and not justice. The lord Walter, bishop of Worcester, being at the point of death, said that he had erred in espousing the side of Simon de Montfort, and sent letters to that effect to the legate, entreating the benefit of absolution, which he obtained, and then he died. In the meantime, some of the nobles, not willing to submit to the sentence of confiscation of their property, occupied the island of Haxholm, to which men flocked from all quarters, whose feet were swift to shed blood, and whose hands were prompt to plunder, devastating all the adjacent country. But Edward attacking them, like an illustrious knight, discovered their confederacy, and compelled them, whether willing or unwilling, to return to peace, and afterwards, in London, they took their corporal oath to maintain it. But, in spite of their oath, they immediately went astray, for they disturbed all England with great disorder. There were few or no places in England safe, because the whole country was full of night robbers. Some of the natives of the district, men of low extraction, flocked to the castle of Kenilworth, and fortified it all round by the means which they obtained from the plunder of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. And immediately they erected the standard of Simon the younger, who was staying in France, and proclaimed him lord and heir of the castle. But when the news of this reached the king, he immediately sent one of his messengers to them, ordering them, by his royal letters, to desist from their enterprize. But they mutilated the messenger, and sent him back with a saucy answer. In the meantime, Edward, the king's eldest son, passing through Aulton wood, found a certain knight, by name Adam Gordon, one of those whose property had been confiscated, laying ambushes in that wood for passers-by, and suddenly with his followers coming upon him, he bade him take his arms and defend himself like a brave man. So he immediately