with great pomp, returned thanks, attended with praises, to the Virgin of virgins, their protectress.

At Pentecost, Louis, king of the Franks, Theodoric, earl of Flanders, and the earl of St. Gilles, with numberless troops from the well-peopled kingdom of the Franks, besides many of the English nation, having assumed the cross, set out for Jerusalem, for the purpose of expelling the pagans, who had taken the city of Roaise. Conrad also, the emperor of Germany, led a still greater body of troops, and both armies passed through the dominions of the emperor of Constantinople, who afterwards betrayed them.

In the month of August, Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, set out for Auxerre, to meet pope Eugenius, who was then at that place, having previously been to Paris. He was received by the pope in the most honorable manner; but, in consequence of the excessive heat of the weather, brought with him to England the seeds of disease and death, and died in the following year, having for his successor Robert de Chedney.

In the year of grace 1148, being the thirteenth year of the reign of king Stephen, the armies of the emperor of Germany and of the king of the Franks, which, graced by those most noble chieftains, marched onward with the greatest_pomp, were annihilated, because God utterly despised them. For the incontinence ascended to the sight of God, of which they were guilty in acts of fornication and manifest adultery; a thing which greatly displeased the Almighty, and was aggravated by the rapine and all kinds of crime of which they were afterwards guilty. Accordingly, at first they fell, attacked by famine, through the treachery of the emperor of Constantinople, and afterwards by the edge of the enemy's sword. The king of France and the emperor of Germany, upon this, with a very small number of followers, fled ignominiously, first to Antioch, and afterwards to Jerusalem. On arriving there, the king of France, as though about to do something to compensate his loss of glory, having obtained the aid of the knights of the Temple at Jerusalem, and gathering forces on every side, laid siege to Damascus; but having effected nothing there, he returned to France.

In the meantime, a naval force, headed by no influential men, and relying upon no mighty chieftain, but only on Almighty God, inasmuch as it had set out in a humble spirit,

earned the favour of God and manifested great prowess. For, though but few in number, by arms they obtained possession of a famous city of Spain, Lisbon" by name, and another, called Almeida, together with the parts adjacent. How true is it that God opposes the proud, but to the humble shows grace! For the army of the king of the Franks and of the emperor was larger and better equipped than the former one, which had gained possession of Jerusalem; and yet they were crushed by a very few, and routed and demolished like webs of spiders; whereas these other poor people, whom I have just mentioned, no multitude could resist, but the greater the numbers that made head against them, the more helpless were they rendered. The greatest part of them had come from England.

In the meantime, Geoffrey, earl of Anjou, husband of the above-named empress, the daughter of king Henry, entered Normandy with a great army and ravaged it, and took many castles and fortified cities; and the nobles of Normandy, keeping in mind the oaths they had made to the said empress and her heirs regarding Normandy, readily changed to their side. For Eustace, the son of king Stephen, who had been the duke of Normandy, and had married Constance, sister of Louis, king of France, was now dead, and the king of France had given his sister Constance in marriage to Raymond, earl of Saint Gilles; and from this period the wars so greatly increased against king Stephen in England, that he could give no attention to the defence of Normandy.

At this time, Henry, son of the empress Matilda, being now a youth sixteen years of age, and having been brought up at the court of David, king of the Scots, his mother's uncle, was dubbed a knight by the same king David, at the city of Carlisle, having first made oath to him that if he should come to be king of England, he would restore to him Newcastle and the whole of Northumbria, and would allow him and his heirs to hold for ever in peace, without challenge of their right, the whole of the land which lies between the rivers Tweed and Tyne. After this, the same Henry, by the advice and assistance of David, king of the Scots, crossed over into Normandy, and being received by the nobles, was by them made duke of Normandy.

21 Great part of Portugal was at this time in the hands of the Moors.

In the year of grace 1149, being the fourteenth year of the reign of king Stephen, Henry, duke of Normandy came into England with a great army, on which many castles were surrendered to him, and a great number of towns; he also coined new money, which they called "the duke's money ;" and not himself only, but all the influential men, both bishops as well as earls and barons, coined their own money. But from the time when the duke came over, he rendered null the coin of most of them.

In the same year, Louis, king of the Franks, and Eleanor, his wife, returned from Jerusalem to France.

In the year of grace 1150, being the fifteenth year of the reign of king Stephen, the abbey of Holcoltram was founded, also the abbey of Kinross, in Moray. In the same year, also, the Præmonstratensian order came to Dryburgh, at the feast of Saint Martin

In the year of grace 1151, being the sixteenth year of the reign of king Stephen, pope Eugenius sent by his legate, John Papirius, four palls to Ireland, whither a pall had never been. sent before, and appointed archbishops at four places, one at Armagh, another at Cashel, a third at Dublin,22 and a fourth at Connaught. In the same year, Geoffrey, earl of Anjou, departed this life, and his son Henry succeeded him in the earldom.

In the year of grace 1152, being the seventeenth year of the reign of king Stephen, during this year as also two preceding ones, king Stephen and Henry, duke of Normandy, frequently engaged in battle, and did not withdraw from the combat, except with a great loss of substance and of men; but the duke of Normandy always gained the day. For his resources increased more and more, and became more abundant every day, while the king's power decreased more and more. For the chief men of the kingdom, bearing in mind the oaths they had taken to the empress and her heirs, nearly all gave in their adhesion to the above-named empress and her son, the duke of Normandy. In the same year, Henry, earl of Northumbria, son of David, king of the Scots, and Matilda, his daughter, departed this life.

In the year of grace 1153, being the eighteenth year of the reign of king Stephen, peace was restored to England, a treaty being made between king Stephen and Henry, duke of

22 Called "Diveline" in the text.

Normandy, whom king Stephen adopted as his son, and appointed his heir and successor in the kingdom, through the mediation of the venerable man Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and Henry, bishop of Winchester. The king also appointed the duke justiciary of England under him, and all the affairs of the kingdom were transacted through him; and from this time forward the king and the duke were of one mind in the government of the realm, so much so that, from this period, no disagreement ever arose between them.

In the same year died David, king of the Scots, on the ninth day before the calends of July, on which, his grandson Malcolm, the son of earl Henry, a boy twelve years of age, succeeded him in the kingdom. In the same year, pope Eugenius departed this life, and was succeeded in the papacy by Anastasius. In this year died Bernard, abbat of Clerville; William, bishop of Durham, also died in this year, and was succeeded by Hugh de Pudsey, 23 treasurer of the church of York, nephew of the above-named king Stephen. He was consecrated at Rome, by pope Anastasius, on the Lord's day preceding the Nativity of our Lord. In the same year died Henry, archbishop of York, on whose decease archbishop William, whom pope Eugenius had suspended, set out for Rome, and finding grace with pope Anastasius, the archbishopric of York was restored to him.

In the year of grace 1154, being the nineteenth and last year of the reign of king Stephen, Eustace, the son of king Stephen, departed this life. In the same year, William, archbishop of York, was honorably restored to his see; but shortly after, by the treachery of his clergy, after receiving the Eucharist, during his ablutions, he was destroyed by means of some liquid of a deadly nature; on which he was honorably interred by Hugh, bishop of Durham, in the church of Saint Peter at York; and on the presentation of king Stephen, Roger, archdeacon of Canterbury, succeeded him in the archbishopric.

In the same year king Stephen laid siege to many castles, and took them, and levelled many of them with the ground; almost the very last of which was the castle of Drax; shortly after

23 Or De Pusat, or Pusar.

24 There is clearly a mistake here; as the death of Eustace is mentioned above as having taken place before the year 1148, in which year his widow Constance was given in marriage to the earl of Saint Gilles. 1152 is probably the date of his death.

which, king Stephen died, and was buried at the abbey of Feversham. He was succeeded on the throne by Henry, duke of Normandy, son of the empress Matilda, who was crowned and consecrated king by Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, at London, on the Lord's day before the Nativity of our Lord.

In the same year, Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, gave to Thomas Becket, his clerk, the archdeaconry of Canterbury. In this year also, Louis, king of the Franks, caused himself to be divorced from his wife Eleanor, daughter of the duke of Aquitaine, the archbishops, bishops, earls and barons, making oath that she had ceased to deserve to be his wife. However, Henry, king of England, took the before-named Eleanor to wife, and had by her sons and daughters. The king of France, however, by his wife Eleanor, had no issue of the male sex, and only two daughters, one of whom he married to Henry, earl of Champagne, and the other to Theobald, earl of Blois, brother of the said earl Henry. After this, Louis, king of the Franks, took to wife the daughter of the king of Spain, by whom he had two daughters only.