Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/260

 with special importance; he became one of the chief of the king's evil counsellors, and was made sheriff of Oxfordshire. In the copy of the great charter given by Matthew Paris his name occurs in the list of those alien disturbers of the peace whom the king swore to banish from the kingdom. At the same time Paris mentions him as one of those who joined themselves to the twenty-five guardians of the charter. A St. Albans historian certainly had good reason to write him down as a disturber of the peace, even if his name was not in the original document (, ii. 604, n. 1, ed. Luard; . iv. 10; Gesta Abbatum, i. 267). On the outbreak of the war between the king and the barons in the autumn of 1215 Falkes was appointed one of the leaders of the army which was left by John to watch London and cut off the barons' supplies while he marched northward. The royal forces wasted the eastern counties, destroyed the castles and parks of the barons, and set fire to the suburbs of London. Falkes took the town of Hanslape from William Mauduit and destroyed it, and soon after reduced the castle of Bedford. Greatly pleased at his success, John gave him to wife Margaret, the widow of Baldwin, earl of Albemarle, son of William of Redvers (de Ripariis), earl of Devon, and the daughter and heiress of Warin Fitzgerald. He also gave him the custody of the castles of Windsor, Oxford, Northampton, Bedford, and Cambridge. From these castles Falkes drew a large number of men as unscrupulous as himself. In 1216, in company with [q. v.],earl of Chester, he took Worcester for the king after a stout resistance, plundered the abbey, and put the citizens to the torture, to compel them to give up their wealth. His men ill-treated the monks of Warden (Bedfordshire), for Falkes had a dispute with them about a certain wood; one monk was slain and some thirty were dragged off as prisoners to Bedford. In this case, however, Falkes showed a better spirit than was usual with him, for he submitted to discipline, made restitution, and took the house under his protection (Ann. de Dunstaplia). Late in the year he joined forces with the Earl of Salisbury and Savaric de Mauleon, and invaded the isle of Ely. He destroyed a tower that guarded the island and made a new fortification. He depopulated the country, spoiled the churches, and exacted 209 marks of silver from the prior as the ransom of the cathedral church. The next year, on St. Vincent's day (22 Jan. 1217). he made a sudden attack on St. Albans in the dusk of the evening, and sacked the town. He then entered the abbey. The abbot's cook was slain as he ran for refuge to the church, for Falkes would not give the monks the advantage of treating with him from a place of security. He demanded 100 pounds of silver of the abbot, bidding him give the money at once, or he would burn the town, the monastery, and all its buildings, and the abbot was forced to comply with the demand. He then marched off, taking many captives with him. In the forest of Wabridge he took Roger of Colville, and more than sixty men, clerks and laymen, with him, who had betaken themselves to the forest and formed a band of robbers. Falkes remembered the wrong he had done the great abbey with uneasiness, for men deemed that St. Alban was not to be offended with impunity. One night when he and his wife were at Luton he dreamed that a huge stone fell from the abbey church and ground him to powder. He woke in terror and told his dream to his wife, who bade him hasten to St. Albans and make his peace. He took her counsel and went off early the next day to the abbey. There he kneeled before the abbot, made his confession, and prayed that he might ask pardon of the brethren. He entered the chapter-house with his knights; they held rods in their hands, and bared their backs. He confessed his sin, and he at least received a whipping from each monk. Then he put on his clothes and advanced to the abbot's seat. 'My wife,' he said, 'has made me do this for a dream; but if you want me to restore you what I took from you I will not listen to you,' and so he turned and went out (, iii. 12, v. 324; Gesta Abbatum, i. 267-269).

By the spring of 1217 the party of Henry III, who had been crowned in the autumn of the year before, had won many advantages over Louis, the French claimant. Mountsorel was besieged on Henry's behalf by the Earl of Chester, and Falkes led the men of his castles to help the earl. The siege was raised by Robert FitzWalter, and Falkes marched to Newark to join the king's army, which was gathered under the Earl Marshall for the relief of the castle of Lincoln. When the royal army came before the city, the leaders said that it was most important for them to introduce a force into the castle, so as to attack Louis's men in front and rear at the same time. There was some hesitation about undertaking this dangerous duty. Finally they sent Falkes, who succeeded in entering the castle with all his band. From the parapets of the castle and the roofs of the houses he rained down missiles on the enemy's chargers, and when he saw that he had thrown them into confusion with his artillery he made a furious sally into the streets. He was taken and