Ordeal of water was of two kinds: In one the person undergoing the ordeal was thrown into deep water; if, without swimming, he floated, he was deemed guilty; if he sank, innocent. In this case the ordeal was probably of boiling water, in which the person plunged his arm into boiling water; the arm was bound up, and on its appearance after a certain time judgment was given.
[114] Chronicles: Matthew Paris, Chron. Maj., ed. Luard, iii. 71-3; “Hist. Anglor.,” ed. Madden, ii., 251-2; “John of Oxenede,” ed. Ellis, 147; Chron. Dunstable (in Annales Monastici) ed. Luard, iii. 78-9.
Evidently, what was at first a riot had developed into a revolt, for “Montjoie!” was the cry of the French prince, Louis, who, brought over by the barons, had but recently given up his pretensions to the English crown. The alleged violation of the king’s oath afterwards furnished Louis with a pretext for refusing a restitution demanded by the English king.
“The Elms,” mentioned as the place of execution, was certainly The Elms of Tyburn, as shown by Sir J. H. Ramsay, in the Athenæum of September 7, 1907.
[115] Chron. Matthew Paris, Chron. Maj., ed. Luard, iii. 370. Tyburn is not mentioned as the place of execution.
[116] Chron. Matthew Paris, Chron. Maj., ed. Luard, iii. 543-5; “Flores Hist.,” ed. Luard, ii. 231. Tyburn is not expressly mentioned as the place of execution.
[117] Matthew Paris, Chron. Maj., ed. Luard, iv. 193-6. Matthew of Westminster, “Flores Histor.,” ii. 253. The names of William’s captors, William Bardulf and Richard de Warenne, are given in “Liber de Antiquis Legibus,” Riley’s translation, p. 9.
The place of Marsh’s execution is not given in the great chronicles, but we are able to supply it from Gregory’s Chronicle (Camden Society, 1876): “Henry III., Anno xxv. Ande that yere dyde Saynt Roger, Byshoppe of London. And Wylliam Marche was drawe and hangyd at Tyburne,” p. 65. This may make us less doubtful in allotting to Tyburn executions the place of which is not specially mentioned.
[118] See “The Jews of Angevin England,” by Joseph Jacobs, pp. 19-21, 75.
[119] Matthew Paris, Chron. Maj., ed. Luard, v. 516-9, 552. A full list of authorities is given by Mr. Albert M. Hyamson, “A History of the Jews in England,” (1908), p. 87.