For after seven years of peace and tranquillity,the sons and grandsons of the deceased,having attained the age of manhood,took advantage of the absence of the lord of the castle (Abergevenni),and,burning with revenge,concealed themselves,with no inconsiderable force during the night,within the woody foss of the castle.One of them,name Sisillus (Sitsylt)son of Eudaf,on the preceding day said rather jocularly to the constable,"Here will we enter this night,"pointing out to him a certain angle in the wall where it seemed the lowest;but since "-Ridendo dicere verum Quis vetat?"and "-fas est et ab hoste doceri,"the constable and his household watched all night under arms,till at length,worn out by fatigue,they all retired to rest on the appearance of daylight,upon which the enemy attacked the walls with scaling-ladders,at the very place that had been pointed out.The constable and his wife were taken prisoners,with many others,a few persons only escaping,who had sheltered themselves in the principal tower.With the exception of this stronghold,the enemy violently seized and burned everything;and thus,by the righteous judgment of God,the crime was punished in the very place where it had been committed.A short time after the taking of this fortress,when the aforesaid sheriff was building a castle at Landinegat,{68}near Monmouth,with the assistance of the army he had brought from Hereford,he was attacked at break of day,when "Tythoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile"was only beginning to divest herself of the shades of night,by the young men from Gwent and the adjacent parts,with the descendants of those who had been slain.Through aware of this premeditated attack,and prepared and drawn up in battle array,they were nevertheless repulsed within their intrenchments,and the sheriff,together with nine of the chief men of Hereford,and many others,were pierced to death with lances.It is remarkable that,although Ranulf,besides many other mortal wounds,had the veins and arteries of his neck and his windpipe separated with a sword,he made signs for a priest,and from the merit of his past life,and the honour and veneration he had shewn to those chosen into the sacred order of Christ,he was confessed,and received extreme unction before he died.And,indeed,many events concur to prove that,as those who respect the priesthood,in their latter days enjoy the satisfaction of friendly intercourse,so do their revilers and accusers often die without that consolation.William de Braose,who was not the author of the crime we have preferred passing over in silence,but the executioner,or,rather,not the preventer of its execution,while the murderous bands were fulfilling the orders they had received,was precipitated into a deep foss,and being taken by the enemy,was drawn forth,and only by a sudden effort of his own troops,and by divine mercy,escaped uninjured.Hence it is evident that he who offends in a less degree,and unwillingly permits a thing to be done,is more mildly punished than he who adds counsel and authority to his act.Thus,in the sufferings of Christ,Judas was punished with hanging,the Jews with destruction and banishment,and Pilate with exile.But the end of the king,who assented to and ordered this treachery,sufficiently manifested in what manner,on account of this and many other enormities he had committed (as in the book "De Instructione Principis,"by God's guidance,we shall set forth),he began with accumulated ignominy,sorrow,and confusion,to suffer punishment in this world.{69}
It seems worthy of remark,that the people of what is called Venta {70}are more accustomed to war,more famous for valour,and more expert in archery,than those of any other part of Wales.The following examples prove the truth of this assertion.In the last capture of the aforesaid castle,which happened in our days,two soldiers passing over a bridge to take refuge in a tower built on a mound of earth,the Welsh,taking them in the rear,penetrated with their arrows the oaken portal of the tower,which was four fingers thick;in memory of which circumstance,the arrows were preserved in the gate.William de Braose also testifies that one of his soldiers,in a conflict with the Welsh,was wounded by an arrow,which passed through his thigh and the armour with which it was cased on both sides,and,through that part of the saddle which is called the alva,mortally wounded the horse.Another soldier had his hip,equally sheathed in armour,penetrated by an arrow quite to the saddle,and on turning his horse round,received a similar wound on the opposite hip,which fixed him on both sides of his seat.
What more could be expected from a balista?Yet the bows used by this people are not made of horn,ivory,or yew,but of wild elm;unpolished,rude,and uncouth,but stout;not calculated to shoot an arrow to a great distance,but to inflict very severe wounds in close fight.
But let us again return to our Itinerary.
CHAPTER V
Of the progress by the castle of Usk and the town of Caerleon At the castle of Usk,a multitude of persons influenced by the archbishop's sermon,and by the exhortations of the good and worthy William bishop of Landaf,{71}who faithfully accompanied us through his diocese,were signed with the cross;Alexander archdeacon of Bangor {72}acting as interpreter to the Welsh.It is remarkable that many of the most notorious murderers,thieves,and robbers of the neighbourhood were here converted,to the astonishment of the spectators.Passing from thence through Caerleon and leaving far on our left hand the castle of Monmouth,and the noble forest of Dean,situated on the other side of the Wye and on this side the Severn,and which amply supplies Gloucester with iron and venison,we spent the night at Newport,having crossed the river Usk three times.{73}