Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/262

 of them, however, [q. v.] was captured, ill-treated by the soldiers, and imprisoned at Bedford. Falkes provisioned the castle, which was commanded by his brother William. He was excommunicated by the archbishop, and retreated to Wales, taking shelter in the earldom of Chester. The king demanded the release of his judge. William returned answer that he would not let him go without the order of his lord Falkes, and 'for this above all, that he and the garrison were not bound to the king by homage or fealty' ( iv. 95). The answer expressed the very essence of feudal anarchy, and should be compared with the plea urged by the barons in Stephen's reign on behalf of the garrison of Exeter (Gesta Stephani, 27; see under ). A large force, including clergy as well as laymen, gathered at the king's summon, and the siege of Bedford was formed 20 June. The siege was a matter of national importance, for the land could have no rest so long as Falkes was in a position to defy the law. The king swore by the soul of his father (surely a strange oath) that he would hang the garrison. For the purposes of the siege the assembled magnates granted a carucage of ½ mark on their demesnes, of 2s. on the lands of their tenants, and two days' work at making military engines. Still Falkes was not frightened, for he reckoned that the castle could be held for a year. The Earl of Chester, however, at last joined the king's side. He was forced to leave the earldom, and took refuge at Northampton. The pope wrote earnestly on his behalf. The garrison at Bedford made a desperate defence. The castle was surrendered on 14 Aug., and William de Breauté and some eighty of the garrison were hanged. Soon after the surrender Falkes was taken in the church of Coventry. He was not held captive, for men feared to violate the right of sanctuary. Seeing, however, that he had no other hope, he placed himself under the protection of the bishop (Alexander Stavensby), and in his company went to the king at Bedford. He threw himself at Henry's feet and asked for mercy, reminding him how well and at what cost he had served him and his father in time of war. By the advice of his council the king pronounced all his possessions forfeited, and committed him to the keeping of the bishop of London until it should be decided what should be done with him. His fall was looked on as a judgment for a special act of impiety, for in past days he had destroyed the church of St. Paul at Bedford, and used the materials for the construction of the castle in which he now found himself a prisoner. When the abbess of Elstow heard how he destroyed St. Paul's church, and saw that the offence remained unavenged, she taunted the apostle by taking away the sword from the hand of his image which stood in her convent. After the fall of Falkes she gave the apostle back his sword, for he had at last shown that he knew how to use it (Chron. Maj. iii. 87). When Falkes was in prison, his wife Margaret came before the king and the archbishop, and prayed for a divorce, for she said that she had been taken in time of war and married against her will. A day was fixed for hearing her case, and the king granted her all her own estates, on condition that she paid 300 marks a year towards extinguishing her husband's debts to the crown, placing her and her lands under the wardship of William of Warenne.

Falkes's case was laid before the great council held at Westminster in March 1225. The nobles decided that, forasmuch as he had faithfully served the king and his father for many years, he should not suffer in life or limb, but all agreed that he should be banished from England for ever. Accordingly the king bade William of Warenne see him safely out of the land. Falkes was then absolved from his excommunication, and, wearing the cross which he had assumed when he contemplated going on the crusade, was put on board a vessel with five of his attendants by the Earl of Warenne. As he parted from the earl he bade him with many tears carry his salutation to the king, and tell him that, whatever troubles he had wrought in his kingdom, he had acted throughout at the prompting of the nobles of England. On his landing in Normandy he was seized and carried before the French king. Louis was minded to hang him for all the ill he had done the French in England, and Falkes scarcely saved himself by swearing, as he had sworn to the earl, that he had been simply the tool of others. As, however, he wore the cross, the king let him go. He went on to Rome, bearing letters to the pope, whom he hoped to prevail on to interfere on his behalf. Meanwhile the legate Otho prayed the king in the pope's name to give Falkes back his wife and his lands, of mere charity to one that had served him and his father so well. Henry replied that he had been banished by the judgment of his peers, and that for open treason, of which he had been convicted by all the clergy and people of England, and that, king as he was, it behoved him to obey the laws and good customs of the kingdom. At Rome he had to spend much to forward his cause. He obtained an interview with the pope, who, it appears, made one more attempt on his behalf. The legate, however, met with the same answer as before. Meanwhile Falkes was allowed by the king of France to stay