DUFF1ELD CASTLE. I 29 



rebellious lords, but two were exempted by name from the royal 

 pardon, Simon de Montfort and the youthful Robert de Ferrers, 

 Earl of Derby. On the 23rd of October, 1265, Earl Ferrers was 

 formally charged with high crimes and misdemeanours, and a day 

 fixed for his trial ; but his conscience telling him of the certainty 

 of a conviction, and having no longer courage to resist, on the 23rd 

 of the following February, at Westminster, he threw himself upon 

 the king's mercy, with abject terms of submission — " de vita et 

 membris terris et tenementis suis gratise Regis se totaliter 

 apposuit."* Whereupon the king, in consideration of a cup of 

 gold set with precious stones (to obtain which he mortgaged his 

 manor of Piry, Northamptonshire), and on his undertaking to pay 

 a further fine of 1500 marks, to be paid within a year by four 

 several payments, granted him a full pardon t Moreover, the king 

 undertook to secure him against Prince Edward and all others whom 

 he might have wronged, during the year of payment, and for the 

 rest of his life when the payment was made. But, as though even 

 then distrusting him, it was further expressly stated, that if the 

 Earl again took up arms against the king, that he should be at 

 once disinherited without any hope of favour. The Earl, appa- 

 rently with the view of dispelling this distrust, voluntarily sealed a 

 special charter for a strict adherence to the performance of the 

 agreement, and, at his own request, took formal solemn oath that 

 he would faithfully observe its provisions. 



The infatuation and treachery of Robert de Ferrers seem almost 

 unparalleled, for, notwithstanding the solemn character of his en- 

 gagements, no sooner did he find himself back again among his 

 own tenantry of Derbyshire, than he instantly returned to the 

 occupation of a plotter and a rebel. He speedily armed his men, 

 and, in conjunction with Baldwin de Wake, at the head of a contin- 

 gent from Lincolnshire, and with John d'Ayville, a turbulent York- 

 shire baron, laid plans for assembling a considerable force of rebels 

 in Derbyshire. The king immediately dispatched his nephew, Prince 



* Rot. Lit. Pat. 49 Henry III, memb. 22, No. 96. 

 t Rot. Lit. Pat. 50 Henry III., memb. 40, No. 109. 

 9 



