A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



their cause in France with the aid of the Queen, so that it may be 

 considered as justified, or at least condoned, by the result. 



For a while the contest continued, the castle repelling all attacks 

 and its garrison setting fire to the town, to which the besiegers replied 

 by firing the priory, whose church was with difficulty saved from 

 destruction.' At last a truce was declared, at the suggestion of Earl 

 Simon, and the decisive battle of Lewes was over. How many fell it is 

 impossible to say with any certainty, but the lowest estimate would put 

 the number at three thousand.'' On the King's side two justiciaries, 

 William de Wilton and Fulk Fitz-Warren, perished, and twenty-three 

 barons were either taken or slain ; while of the victors, besides William 

 le Blund already mentioned, Ralph Heringot, a Sussex man, was the 

 only baron who fell.' 



Next day, Thursday, 1 5 May, the ecclesiastics appointed by either 

 side to arrange the terms of peace met and drew up the famous treaty 

 known as the Mise of Lewes.^ Its terms are matters of national rather 

 than local history, but we may note that the Bishop of Chichester, who 

 had throughout given his support to the popular party, was chosen as 

 the third of the three electors of the King's council, the other two 

 being the Earls of Leicester and Gloucester. Prince Edward having 

 been sent to Dover castle to be guarded by Henry de Montfort, the 

 King was taken by Earl Simon on 17 May to Battle," no longer with 

 power to extort money from his entertainers as he had done on his last 

 visit less than a fortnight before, and so to London. Following the 

 transference of power there was naturally a transference of property, 

 both regular as in the case of the royal grant of Peter of Savoy's lands 

 to the Earl of Gloucester,'' and irregular, as instanced by cases on the 

 Assize and other Plea rolls, the principal ' robbers ' in Sussex being 

 Geoffrey St. Leger, Reynold de Tyreshers and John St. Alban,' and the 

 principal sufferers Peter of Savoy, Thomas de Audham and Denise de 

 Northeton.** 



Immediately after the victory of Lewes, on 15 May, the garrison 

 of Pevensey were commanded not to leave the castle without further 

 orders,^ and in July Hankin de Witsand, constable of Pevensey, John de 

 la Rede and Hubert de Montreal were sent for to come to the King, in 

 charge of William Maufe, to declare the truth about the injuries done 

 by them in the district of Pevensey.*" Later in the month John 

 d'Abernon, who had superseded Roger de Loges as sheriff," was ordered 

 to take over the castle from the same three men and give them a safe- 

 conduct to go either to the King or beyond seas." They, however, 

 refused to surrender it, and in September Henry Husee and others were 

 ordered to guard the coast of Pevensey" — three hundred archers being 



» Blaauw, op. cit. 208. " Ibid. 211. 3 Ibid. 210. * Ibid. 215-7. 



6 Ibid. 222. " Pat. 48 Hen. III. m. 8. ' Assize R. 1207. 



8 Apparently the same as the Denise of Pevensey, who at her own cost rebuilt the churches of 

 Pevensey when they were injured during the siege of the castle (Mins. Accts. 1089-21). 

 s Pat. 48 Hen. III. m. 13. '» Ibid. m. 8. " Ibid. m. 10. 



■2 Ibid. m. 8d. " Ibid. m. 4. 



500 



