ourself at Winchester, the 3rd day of June, in the 18th year," etc.* "The king to all knights, freeholders, and others of the county of Berks, greeting;-We command you, requiring you according to the fealty in which to us ye are bound, diligently and effectually to aid, as much as lies in your power, our dear son Richard in strengthening and protecting our Castle of Wallingford; acting in such a manner that we may commend your faithfulness, and be henceforth more bound to you. Witness ourself at Devizes, the 7th day of June, 18th year, etc." + EXTRACT FROM THE "ITINERARY" OF KING JOHN, Showing on what days he was at Wallingford, etc. CHAPTER X. HENRY III.-1217 To 1272. A.D. 1217, 1 Henry III. THIS reign is conspicuous, as far as Wallingford is concerned, for the great prosperity which that town attained in consequence of the munificent hospitality of Richard, King of the Romans, brother of the king. He spent vast sums of money upon the Castle, and made it his principal residence, while the frequent assembling of the Court at Wallingford added greatly to the trade and importance of the place. A.D. 1218, 2 Henry III. It has been mentioned before, temp. William Rufus, that the weekly market at Wallingford was held on Sunday. On the 28th day of July in this year, the Sheriff of Berks was ordered to proclaim the alteration of the day to Monday. The following documents refer to a fire which seems to have destroyed a room and a chimney in the castle : "The king to the Sheriff of Berks, greeting;-We command you that our chamber in the Castle of Wallingford, which was destroyed by fire, you cause to be repaired, and the cost which for such purpose you may expend, by the view and testimony of lawful men shall be allowed you at the Exchequer. Witness, etc., the 29th July."* "The king to the Sheriff of Berks, greeting;-We command you that you cause to be made a chimney in the chamber which was burnt in our Castle of Wallingford, for the repair of which you have had our order, and the cost of such chimney which you may cause to be expended shall be allowed you at * Close Roll, 2 Henry III., m. 3. the Exchequer. Witness, etc., at Wallingford, the 8th day of August.* According to Dugdale,† it was in this year (1218) that the young king granted to his brother Richard, afterwards King of the Romans, the honour of Wallingford, and also bestowed on him the earldom of Cornwall; but it would appear, by the Charter set out hereafter, that the grant of the honour was not formally made till the fifteenth year of his reign; his minority would probably have been a bar to any such grant in the second year, when he was only twelve years old. And it appears, by Lysons and other authorities, that the honour and Castle were then held by Ranulph de Blundeville, the brave Earl of Chester; who probably got possession of the castle during the contest between John and the barons, shortly before the king's death, and held it for the latter. It was not till the year 1222 or 1223, on the application of Hubert de Burgh, who was then chief justiciary and the king's favourite minister, that the pope issued his bull, declaring the king to be of full age, and entitled to exercise in person all the acts of royalty.§ The declaration having been made, Hubert resigned into the king's hands the fortresses of the Tower and Dover Castle, which had been entrusted to his custody, and required the other barons to imitate his example, but they refused compliance; and among the number who persisted in detaining the king's castles, and threatened to form a conspiracy against the royal person, appears the name of the Earl of Chester. Ultimately, however, they abandoned their design, and most of the fortresses, including the Castle of Wallingford, were surrendered to the king. A.D. 1220, 4 Henry III. The hall of the Castle was built in this year. A.D. 1226. The following extracts from the Liberate Roll relate to the restitution and vesting of land; and also to the payment of a debt for robes and cloaks, sent to Wallingford, for the use of the king and his brother Richard, to be used upon royal occasions: * Close Roll, 2 Henry III., m. 3. Dugdale, "The Baronage of England," tom. i. pp. 761, 582. § Matthew of Westminster, p. 282; Matthew Paris, p. 2220. "Seizin. It is commanded that the keeper of the honour of Wallingford, . . . * of the land which Falco de Breaute held to farm of Roger de Witchirch, which remained in the hands of our lord the king for a year and a day, to the same Roger." + "The king to the Barons of his Exchequer, greeting;Allow to Richard Reinger, of the debt which he owes to us from the time when he was our Sheriff of London, £14 38., which he laid out by our order in robes and cloaks for our use, and the use of Richard our brother, at the same time, and which robes and cloaks he then sent to us by William our tailor to Walingeford. Witness the king at Westminster, the 11th February. By the justices." A.D. 1227. In this year the town of Wallingford, which had previously been seized into the king's hands, because the inhabitants did not appear at the Exchequer, upon the sheriff's view of his account, was restored by royal order directed to the sheriff. § In order to explain more fully the above order, it may be well to state that || lords and others who claimed to have franchises, were to come yearly to the king's Exchequer, when the sheriff of their county was passing his account, and there they were to render an account of the issues of their franchise. But if the lords and others failed to appear by their bailiff or attorney, or did not make due return of the king's summonses, or made default in paying their ferms or other debts,—in these cases it was usual for the king to seize their franchise into his own hands. The town was again seized for the arrears of the ferm, in the reign of Edward I. In 1227, Philip de Albini, Sheriff of the county of Berks, had the honour of Wallingford committed to his custody. ¶ In July in the same year, William, son and heir of William son of Helias, did his homage, and paid one hundred shillings for his relief of one knight's fee in Oakley, held of the honour of Wallingford.** * Illegible. † 10 Henry III., m. 6. Ibid., m. 2. § Exchequer Mem., Part I. ro. 3. || Madox, "History of the Exchequer," vol. ii. p. 244. ¶ Dugdale, "The Baronage of England," tom. i. p. 116, b. |