m all the castles
that were thereabout, and fought with them, and put them to
flight, and took the Earl Waleram, and Hugh, the son of Gervase,
and Hugh of Montfort, and five and twenty other knights, and
brought them to the king. And the king committed the Earl
Waleram, and Hugh, the son of Gervase, to close custody in the
castle at Rouen; but Hugh of Montfort he sent to England, and
ordered him to be secured with strong bonds in the castle at
Glocester. And of the others as many as he chose he sent north
and south to his castles in captivity. After this went the king,
and won all the castles of the Earl Waleram that were in
Normandy, and all the others that his enemies held against him.
All this hostility was on account of the son of the Earl Robert
of Normandy, named William. This same William had taken to wife
the younger daughter of Fulke, Earl of Anjou: and for this reason
the King of France and all the earls held with him, and all the
rich men; and said that the king held his brother Robert
wrongfully in captivity, and drove his son William unjustly out
of Normandy. This same year were the seasons very unfavourable
in England for corn and all fruits; so that between Christmas and
Candlemas men sold the acre-seed of wheat, that is two seedlips,
for six shillings; and the barley, that is three seedlips, for
six shillings also; and the acre-seed of oats, that is four
seedlips, for four shillings. That was because that corn was
scarce; and the penny was so adulterated, (151) that a man who
had a pound at a market could not exchange twelve pence thereof
for anything. In this same year died the blessed Bishop Ernulf
of Rochester, who before was Abbot of Peterborough. That was on
the ides of March. And after this died the King Alexander of
Scotland, on the ninth day before the calends of May. And David
his brother, who was Earl of Northamptonshire, succeeded to the
kingdom; and had both together, the kingdom of Scotland and the
earldom in England. And on the nineteenth day before the calends
of January died the Pope of Rome, whose name was Calixtus, and
Honorius succeeded to the popedom. This same year, after St.
Andrew's mass, and before Christmas, held Ralph Basset and the
king's thanes a wittenmoot in Leicestershire, at Huncothoe, and
there hanged more thieves than ever were known before; that is,
in a little while, four and forty men altogether; and despoiled
six men of their eyes and of their testicles