e same on the morrow of the feast of the Holy Cross,
delivered to Nicolas the cook, 27 sides of bacon. In expenses of
the lord bishop delivered to the same cook at Knoyle on the
Saturday before the feast of St. Michael, 15 sides of bacon. In
expenses of the same and of the lord king on the feast of the
Apostles Peter and Paul, 50 sides of bacon. In allowance of food
to Master Robert Basset on the feast of All Saints, half a side of
bacon. In allowance of food to the same on Wednesday and Thursday
before Pentecost, 1 side of bacon. In those sent to Knoyle for
autumnal work, 6 sides of bacon. In three autumnal festivals at
Downton, 9 and a half sides of bacon. Sum: 134 sides of bacon. And
there remain 74 sides of bacon.

The same render account of skins, sausages, and offal of the said
hogs. In expenses of the lord king and lord bishop at the feast of
St. Leonard, all. Nothing remains."

King Richard the Lion-hearted, unlike his father, was interested
in warfare. He spent most of his term on crusade to recover
Jerusalem. For his expenses, he imposed a tax of one-tenth of
rents and income from moveable goods. He also sold town charters,
heiresses and heirs, widows, sheriffdoms, justiceships, earldoms,
and licenses for tournaments. The crusades' contact with Arabs
brought to England an expansion of trade, Arab horses, and arabic
numerals, which included "zero" and greatly facilitated arithmetic,
which was very difficult with Roman numerals. The church decreed
that those who went on these crusades would be remitted of their
sins.

At the end of this period was the reign of King John, a short man.
After his mother Eleanor's death in 1204, John ruled without her
influence. He had no conscience and his oaths were no good. He
trusted and was trusted by no one. He had a huge appetite for
money. He imposed 2,000 pounds [3,000 marks] on London for
confirmation of its charter. He imposed levies on the capital
value of all personal and moveable goods. It began the occasional
subsidies called "tenths and fifteenths" from all people on
incomes from movables: one-tenth from boroughs and royal demesne
land, and one-fifteenth elsewhere. He sold the wardships of minors
and the marriages of heiresses to the highest bidder, no matter
how base. He appointed unprincipled men to be both sheriff and
justice, enabling them to blackmail property holders with
vexatious writs and false accusations. Writs were withheld or sold
at exorbitant pri