At  the  feast  of  St.  Barnabas,  the  king  was  at  St.  Albans,
where  he  stayed  three  days,  and  whilst  there,  rumours  of  the
insolence  of  the  Welsh  became  frequent,  and  some  messengers
came  to  him  with  news  which  greatly  disturbed  and  grieved
him ;  namely,  that  the  election  of  Robert  Passlow,  his  clerk,
who  had  been  elected  to  the  bishopric  of  Chichester,  was
annulled,  and  that  another  person,  named  Eichard  de  Wiche,
had  been  suddenly  appointed  in  his  place ;  for  Master
Martin,  a  prompt  clerk  of  the  pope,  had  been  there  to  lay
his  hooked  fingers  on  the  revenues  for  the  use  and  benefit  of
the  pope.  Besides  the  aforesaid  reports,  he  heard  others ;
namely,  that  the  king  of  Scotland  had  saucily  sent  a  message
to  him  that  he  did  not  hold  the  least  particle  of  the  kingdom
of  Scotland  from  him,  the  king  of  England  ;  that  he  ought  not
to  do  so,  and  would  not.  ^he  friendship  between  these  two
kings  had  become  very  much  lessened  since  the  king  of  Scot-
land had  formed  a  matrimonial  alliance  with  the  daughter  of
Engelram  de  Coucy,  who,  like  all  the  French,  was  known  to
be  one  of  the  chief,  if  not  the  chief  one,  of  the  king  of  Eng-
land's enemies.  The  king,  therefore,  determining  to  revenge
the  injuries  done  to  him,  readily  encouraged  and  assisted
those  who  were  sustaining  the  contest  against  the  Welsh,
and  promised  them  more  effectual  assistance  with  troops  and
money.  After  arranging  the  business  connected  with  the
state  of  affairs  in  Scotland,  he  took  the  bishopric  of  Chichester
into  his  own  hands,  and  would  not  allow  the  new  bishop  elect


6  MATTHEW  PASI&  [a.D.  1244.
