GUERNSEY HISTORY. 



101 



thirteenth century, that in part led to the dispute. In 1275 

 Edward I. had appointed Otho de Grandison as Governor of 

 the Isles, and two years later gave him for life the whole of 

 the royal revenue from them for his own use. Otho de 

 Grandison was one of the most trusted servants of Edward I., 

 in whose service he had risen from the position of esquire to 

 the king, to posts of the highest trust. In 1278 he was 

 Seneschal of Gascony, secretary to the king, 1280, captain 

 of his forces in Wales, 1281, etc., but his chief employment 

 was as ambassador. There was hardly a single embassy 

 sent by Edward I. during the last twenty years of his reign 

 in which Otho did not take part. We find him sent to the 

 Pope and the Emperor in 1282, to the king of Erance, 1286, 

 to the king of Armenia, 1292, to the Pope in 1298, and again 

 to the king of Erance to treat for peace in 1300 — 1303. 

 In 1303 he was one of the commissioners sent to Gascony to 

 receive seisin of the lands restored by the king of Erance, 

 and also to settle the affairs of the province after the war. In 

 1299 he was summoned to Parliament as baron.* It may 

 well be imagined that he was too occupied with the affairs 

 of State to pay much attention to our unfortunate islands, 

 which were exploited by his lieutenants for the purpose of 

 raising the largest possible revenue for their master, and for 

 their own enrichment. 



For the first twenty years of Otho's rule his lieutenants 

 were chiefly local men, and we hear few complaints about 

 them. However, about 1292, the exactions of Guillaume 

 de Saint Pemy, Bailiff of Guernsey, were the subject of 

 grave complaint to the king, who sent over a commissioner, 

 Thomas de Sandwich,! to investigate them. De Saint Pemy 

 finding that the commissioner sided with the complainants on 

 all points, and fearing for his personal safety, fled to the 

 sanctuary of the Church, and abjured the island. t He fled 

 to England, and laid his case before the king, who pardoned 

 him in 1294.§ Guillaume de Saint Pemy returned and 

 obtained restitution of his lands, but was killed shortly after 

 on the invasion of the island by the Erench in 1295. In 

 1299 we hear the first mutterings of the storm over our 

 privileges. Previous to the appointment of the justices for 

 the usual tri-anniial assizes the king had ordered the people of 

 Guernsey to commit their customs to writing. This, however, 

 was not done, and the justices ordered them to comply with 



* Roles Gascons. Charles Br6niont, pp. xviii-xxix. 

 t Havet. Cours Royale des lies Normandes, p. 126. 

 X Lettres Closes, p. 54, pub. Societe Jersiaise. 

 § Lettres Closes, p. 56, Societe Jersiaise. 



