He was seized by these villains and beheaded. As were the
Grand Prior of the Knights Hospitaller and a
Franciscan friar, the
duke of Lancaster's master physician (and it was for this that he was slain, to spite his master) and a sergeant-at-arms of the
king named
John Legge. These four heads were thrust on long spears, and the rebels had them carried before them through the streets of
London; and when they had had enough sport, they displayed them on
London Bridge as if they had been traitors to king and realm. These rogues also entered the chamber of the
princess and cut her bed to shreds, which so terrified her that she swooned and was caught in the arms of her varlets and ladies-in-waiting. She was carried to the riverside where she was placed on a barge and covered, and taken to a residence known as the
Queen's Wardrobe. She remained there all day and all night, like a woman half dead, until she was comforted by the
king, her son, as I will subsequently relate to you.
SHF 2-220 sync
How the king of England went out of London to the place known as Mile End, to hear the requests of the aforementioned common people, which he granted them.
While the
king was travelling to the place called
Mile End outside
London, his two brothers, the
earl of Kent and
Sir John Holland, took themselves off and broke from his company, for fear of death. The
lord of Gommegnies also went with them, for they dared not show their faces to the people at
Mile End.
When the
king and the aforementioned barons in his company had arrived at
Mile End, he found more than sixty thousand men from different places and villages in the counties of
England.
He went among them and spoke to them affably, saying,
"Good people, I am your king and lord. What is it you want? What do you wish to say?"
Those who heard him replied, "We want you to set us free forever, ourselves, our heirs and our lands, so that we may never be known or held again as serfs."
The
king replied, "I grant you this. Return to your homes, to the villages you came from, and from each village leave two or three men to represent you. I will have letters drawn up for them at once and sealed with my own seal, by which they will carry back with them freely and unchallenged everything you ask. And so that you may be more certain of this and reassured, I will have my banners delivered to all seneschalsies, castleries, and townships."
These words did much to pacify the common people; indeed, those who were simple-minded, naïve and well-meaning among them who did not know what they were asking for, said aloud, "Well said! Well said! We could not ask for better." And so the people were placated and began to withdraw to
London. The
king said something further which brought them great satisfaction,
"Between you good people of the county of
Kent, you will have one of my banners, and one for the people of
Essex, another for the people of
Sussex, yet another for those of
Bedfordshire, one for the people of
Cambridgeshire, and one each for those of
Yarmouth,
Stafford and
King's Lynn.
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