HAMPSHIRE.

and a number of houses, were consumed by a fire, which also destroyed many of the public records.

In this reign, a singular transaction is stated in the Saxon Chronicle, and by William of Malmsbury, to have taken place at Winchester. The current coin throughout the kingdom, having been greatly debased by the different mint-masters, Henry, by the advice of the celebrated Roger, Bishop of Sarum, gave orders for them to repair to this city by Christmas-day, anno 1125; here, being separately examined, they were all convicted of the frauds imputed to them, excepting three persons of the profession, dwelling at Winchester, and punished by mutilation, and the loss of their right hands. All the base money was at the same time cried down, and an entire new coinage ordered to be made by the three artists who had preserved their honesty. Henry, also, about the same period, caused a standard yard to be made from the length of his own arm, in order to prevent the frauds committed in the measurement of cloth: this is thought to have been deposited with the other standards in this city.*

C 3

After

"It was during this reign, as Trussel rightly observes, that Winchester attained to the zenith of its prosperity. It was the chief seat of government, where the King wore his crown, and assembled his nobility; and where the treasury, the Royal mint, and the public records were kept. Here also was a Royal Palace, of the greatest extent and magnificence; as likewise a noble Castle at the west end; and another was added about this time, no less considerable, at its eastern extremity, for the episcopal residence; not to speak of the Guildhall, or of other magnificent buildings, whether for public uses, or for the habitation of divers illustrious personages, who were accustomed to reside here. It was enriched with three Royal Monasteries, besides other religious houses of less note; and an almost incredible number of parish Churches and Chapels, amongst which sacred edifices, towered supreme, the vast Cathedral, venerable, even in those days, for its high antiquity, and for its possessing the remains of more personages of the ancient Royal line, than all the other Churches of the Island put together. A more important advantage than that was, its populousness and extent; its suburbs then reaching a mile, in every direction, further than they do at

present:

After the death of Henry, and the usurpation of the Crown by his nephew, Stephen, Winchester suffered greatly in the distractions of the times. Stephen having seized the castles of the Bishops throughout the kingdom, and also committed other violences against the clergy, a Synod was held in this city, to protest against the injustice that had been used, and, if possible, to obtain redress. The Usurper was then at his palace here; but, instead of listening to the deputation sent by the prelates, he instantly departed for London, leaving the assembled Bishops, as well as the citizens in general, highly dissatisfied at his conduct. In this state of affairs, the Empress Maud landed on the coast of Sussex, to dispute the succession to the throne, and the Castle of Winchester was secured in her interest; but the city preserved its allegiance to the King, through the influence of the then Bishop, Henry de Blois, the Usurper's brother. In the course of the civil war that ensued, Stephen was made prisoner, and great part of the kingdom having declared in favor of his opponent, the Bishop thought it prudent to bend to the prevailing sentiment, and admitted the Empress, and her partizans, into this city, having previously met them on Magdalen Hill, in solemn procession, accompanied by all the religious, and most of the other inhabitants.

The haughtiness of Matilda having occasioned much disaffection, and the public opinion beginning to veer in favor of Stephen, the Bishop neglected to treat the Empress with his accustomed deference; and the latter becoming suspicious, summoned him to attend her at the Castle, where she had fixed her residence. On this occasion he returned the ambiguous answer, "I will prepare myself;"

present on the north, to Worthy; on the west, to Week; on the south, to St. Cross; and on the east, to St. Magdalen's Hill. It was the general thoroughfare from the eastern to the western parts of the kingdom, and was resorted to from every part of it, on account of its celebrated fairs. Finally; it enjoyed a considerable woollen manufactory, particularly in the article of men's caps, which were worn until hats came into fashion; and an extensive commerce with the continent, from which it imported great quantities of wine, in return for its woollens, and other commodities" Milner's Winchester, Vol. I. p. 208.

myself;" which he accordingly did, by strengthening his Castle of Wolvesey, and putting it in the best possible state to withstand a siege. Soon afterwards it was invested by the troops of the Empress, under the command of her natural brother, Robert, Earl of Glocester, and her uncle, David, King of Scotland. This event was the signal of insurrection to Stephen's friends, who hastening to Winchester, relieved the Prelate, and attacked those who had besieged him. "The armies were great and warlike on both sides; and they carried on their military operations during the space of seven weeks in the heart of the city, a calamity almost unparalleled in the history of other cities. The party of the Empress had possession of whatever was to the north side of the High Street, where the houses of the citizens stood in general, together with the royal Castle. The King's party held the Bishop's palace, the Cathedral, and whatever else was to the south of the High Street: by degrees, also, they forced their enemies from all the other quarters of the city, and confined them to the Castle; but, in effecting this, they made use of a most barbarous stratagem: they threw fire-balls from Wolvesey, upon the houses that were possessed by the opposite party; a destructive measure, in which the brave Earl of Glocester disdained to imitate them. Thus they destroyed, first the adjoining Abbey of St. Mary, then the whole north, which was infinitely the most populous part of the city, together with twenty churches,* the Royal Palace, and the suburb of Hyde, with the magnificent Monastery of St. Grimbald, erected there in the preceding reign. At length the Imperial party were confined to the Castle, in which they might long have bid defiance to their enemies, had they not been straitened for want of provisions, and still more for want of water; the stream from the river, which flowed round it, having been obstructed by the besiegers. The chief object of anxiety to the brave brother and uncle, was to save the person of the Empress; and here the fertility of her genius came in aid of their valor. She caused a report to be spread of her illness; and then, after a suitable inter

*Stow quotes an authority, according to which, forty churches were

then burnt.

val, of her death; taking care, at the same time, to keep out of the sight of every one, except a few trusty friends. In short, she was inclosed like a corpse in a sheet of lead, and was thus suffered to pass in a horse litter, as if carried out for interment, through the army of the besiegers; a truce having been granted for the purpose. When at a proper distance, she was freed from her dismal inclosure; and mounting a horse, she made the best of her way by Luggershall, and Devizes, to Glocester. In the mean time, Earl Robert, with his followers, and the King of Scots, taking advantage of the truce, suddenly issued from the Castle; but being pursued by Stephen's army, the Earl was taken prisoner, at Stockbridge;"* and afterwards exchanged for the captive King, as he was of no less value to the Imperial, than Stephen was to the Regal party. One of the first concerns of the latter, after obtaining his release, was to strengthen the Castle with new works; but while busied in this undertaking, a large army collected against him from the surrounding country, and he was obliged to abandon his design, and save himself by flight. During the further prosecution of the war, the Bishop, who had been invested with legatine authority by the Pope, held a Synod here, in which it was resolved that " Ploughs should have the same privileges of sanctuary with churches; and a sentence of excommunication was pronounced by the whole assembly, with the ceremony of lighted torches in their hands, against all those who should attack or injure any person engaged in the employments of agriculture."+ The terms of pacification entered into at Wallingford Castle, between Stephen and Henry, Maid's son, were ratified at Winchester, with the general consent of the Kingdom.

Milner's Winchester, Vol. I. p. 215.

Many

Milner, from Mat. Paris, ad. an. 1142. "Statutum est (in Concil. Wint.) ut aratra in campis, cum ipsis agricolis, talem pacem haberent, qualem haberent in cimiterio, si existerent. Excommunicaverunt autem omnes qui contra hoc decretum venirent, candelis accensis; et fic milvorum rapacitas aliquantulum conquievit,"

Many privileges were bestowed on the inhabitants of this city, by Henry the Second; and, in particular, that of being governed by a Mayor, with a subordinate Bailiff, anno 1184. In his reign the again increasing importance of Winchester received a considerable check by an accidental fire, which commencing at the Mint, where a new coinage was fabricating, burnt down the greater part of the city. On the death of this King, Richard, his son, surnamed Cœur de Lion, possessed himself of the royal treasury, which Mathew of Westminster asserts to have contained valuables, in gold, silver, and precious stones, to the amount of 900,000l. a most immense sum, if the difference in the value of money is taken into consideration. Richard was crowned at London; but, after his return from captivity in the dungeons of Trivallis, he was again crowned in this city, with great solemnity and splendor.

In the year 1207, King John held an assembly, in this city, in which a tax was imposed upon the people, of a thirteenth of all moveable property; a measure that caused great and general disaffection. Here also, the same year, his Queen was delivered of a son, surnamed of Winchester, from his birth-place. In the ensuing year, the King granted to the citizens a charter of incorporation, on payment of 200 marks down, and 100 marks annually: he also confirmed their former immunities, and bestowed some additional privileges. In this city also, in the monks' Chapter-House, was the above pusillanimous Monarch absolved from the sentence of excommunication, which had been pronounced against him by the Pope, Innocent the Third, to whose Legate he had made the most abject and disgraceful submissions.

Henry of Winchester, who succeeded his father in the year 1215, held his court at Winchester during great part of his minority, under the guardianship, first, of William, Earl of Pembroke, and, after his decease, of Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of this See. This, in some measure, restored the consequence of the city, which had greatly suffered in the foregoing contentions: but the advantages arising from the King's residence here, were in a great degree counteracted by associations formed for purposes of rapine and plunder, in which not only many of the principal inhabitants

were