[78], 16. Et adhuc sub judice lis est. Horace, Arte Poet., 78.
[79], 6. Bishop of Ely. This was William of Longchamp (d. 1197), once described by Henry II. as a "son of two traitors." He fled the kingdom in 1191 on his fall from power, came to England in 1192, but was not permitted to proceed further than Canterbury, and crossed the seas again. In 1193 he returned, bearing letters from the Emperor, and met the Regency at St. Albans. It was on this occasion that he passed through St. Edmundsbury, as recorded on page 80. In Normandy, at the instigation of the Archbishop of Rouen, he had been everywhere received as an excommunicated person (cf. Rokewode, page 127).
[79], 10. Archbishopric vacant. Archbishop Baldwin died at Acre, in November, 1190; his successor Reginald, Bishop of Bath, was elected in December, 1191, and died after a few days. Hubert Walter, with whom Samson afterwards came into conflict, was elected Archbishop in May, 1192 (see note on page 245).
[80], 12. Archbishop of York. This was Geoffrey, the half-brother of Richard I., to whom he had sworn that he would not return to England without the King's leave. Having returned, he was, on his landing at Dover in September, 1191, arrested by Longchamp's orders, and thrown into prison.
[80], 24. King Henry had taken the Cross. At the interview of Henry II. with Philip of France, between Trie and Gisors, the two Kings took the cross upon the Feast of St Agnes, 21 January, 1188.
[82], 8. War throughout England. After John's return from France in 1193, the country was in a state of general warfare; and Windsor was besieged by the Regency with the King's other castles.
[82], 16. His own standard. See note to p. 85, l. 25, below.
[83], 1. Licence for holding tournaments. This was little more than a device for raising money. In 1194 Richard ordered tournaments to be held, in order to practise the knights in warfare. No one could joust at a tournament without a licence; and the price of the licence varied with the rank of the holder.
[85], 12. Withgar. This great thane, who is styled in the Cartulary of Abbot John of Northwold "the famous Earl," had the custody for Queen Emma, mother of Edward the Confessor, of the franchise of the eight hundreds and a half which subsequently constituted the Liberty of St. Edmund (see notes on pages 232 and 238). Mr. Rokewode says (p. 129): "The honour of Clare was composed chiefly of the great possessions in Suffolk and Essex of Alfric, son of Withgar or Wisgar (Liber Domesday)."
[85], 25. Standard of St. Edmund. In the famous Harleian MS. 2278, the original book containing the metrical life of St. Edmund by John Lydgate, presented to Henry VI. by Bury Abbey after his visit to the monastery in 1433, there is a pictorial representation of this Standard. It depicts Adam and Eve on either side of the Tree of Knowledge, and the devil with a human face and a serpent's body curled round the tree. Above the tree is a lamb and a cross, with crescents in the background. The counterseal of Abbot Samson also has the lamb and cross (see page 229).