CASTLE CORNET. 339 



Very little is known of the history of the castle during 

 the 13th century. We learn that it had been considerably 

 damaged by a great gale early in the year 1252 ;* for on the 

 21st February the King orders the Warden, Drew de Barentin, 

 to repair " the tower of the king's castle in Guernsey, the 

 chapel and other buildings injured by the wind, as well as the 

 wall of the castle." 



Twenty-three years later Edward I., on the 2nd March, 

 1275, authorizes the levy of certain dues on shipping for three 

 years, if a pier or causeway be built from the shore to the 

 castle, for the protection of shipping, f 



Dicey and other writers have supposed that the castle was 

 captured about the year 1294, when the French invaded the 

 island, imagining that this was the occasion referred to in the 

 " Precept e d' Assize," in which it is recorded that Castle 

 Cornet had once been obliged to surrender to the enemy 

 through the fault of its captain, and for want of ammunition, 

 but it was soon after retaken by the valour of the inhabitants 

 of the island. The " Precepte d'Assize " has been supposed 

 to have been drawn up about the year 1331, but Havet, in his 

 " Les Cours Royales des lies Normandes," clearly proves this 

 date to be erroneous and shows it was not compiled before 

 1441. i Hence it is probable that the capture of the castle by 

 the French in 1338 is the one referred to, especially as no 

 mention is made of its capture in the many documents which 

 have come down to us referring to the invasion of 1294. A 

 vivid picture of the sufferings of the unfortunate people during 

 this invasion — one of the most terrible which the islands 

 endured — is given in a petition to the king, recently published 

 by the Societe Jersiaise. We are told the churches were 

 desecrated, the Host being struck down from the altars and 

 spat upon, the images burnt, and holy vessels destroyed or 

 carried away. Women and girls were taken away by force 

 from the Sanctuary ; men and women killed to the number of 

 1,500, and houses and corn burnt, and everything of value 

 carried off.§ 



This period was one of the most disastrous in the history 

 of our islands. In the year 1275 Edward I. had given the 

 wardenship of the Isles to his favourite, Otho de Grandison, 

 for the term of his life with the enjoyment of the Avhole revenue 

 and the disposal thereof for five years after his death. || De 



* Lettres Closes, published by Societe Jersiaise, p. 45. 



t Tupper's History of Guernsey, p, 77. 



t Havet, " Les Cours Royales des lies Normandes," p. 17. 



§ Societe Jersiaise, Ancient Petitions, p. 5. 



II Havet, Serie Chron. des Gardiens et Seigneurs des lies Normandes. 



