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the truth about the injuries done by them in the district of Pevensey.*" Later in the month John d'Abernon, who had superseded Roger de Loges as sheriff," was ordered to take over the castle from the same three men and give them a safe- conduct to go either to the King or beyond seas."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
