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The history of Ludlow and its neighbourhood
The history of Ludlow and its neighbourhood Author:Thomas Wright Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: i iIk nisToin 0l I.i ni.ow. 49 ":it among tin- besiegers." lit one ut tin' attacks, the Scottish prince approaching rashly too ncar to the walls, v.-.ts sei/e... more »d Iii an iron grapple thrown out from lho casth-, and wonl'l have boon taken prisoner, but the king with his characteristic bravery rushed to the spot, and saved his hostage at the imminent peril of his own life. The king soon afterwards raised the siege, and repaired to Oxford. where his presence was necessary. After the arrival of Matilda in Kngland, her army was trengthened hy ten thousand Welsh auxiliaries, raised by Robert earl of Gloucester. Her cause was sustained in Herefordshire by Geoffrey Talbot and Gilbert de Lacy, with Milo, constable of Gloucester, the son of Walter, constable of .Shropshire in the preceding reign. At the onil of the autumn of 1139, they plundered and partly burnt the city of Worcester. Immediately afterwards Talbot attacked Hereford, set fire to the cathedral, slaughtered the monks, and sacked the town. The king hastened to Worcester, and then pushing forwards encamped his army at Little Hereford and Lcominster. In the following year he again occupied Little IIereford,t not far distant from Ludlow, which we may suppose to have been still held hy Gervasc Paganel. Stephen's progress in this quarter was arrested by other events. In 1141, earl Robert's Welshmen took part in the battle of Lincoln, where tin- king was made captive. Milo de Gloucester, for hiconduct ili this engagement, was rewarded by Matilda with the earldom of Hereford : .md among the witnesses to the grant arc the signature of Kal]ih 1'aganel and GilK'it do Lacy. Dining the various vicissitudes of the year which followed, the Welsh border soems to have been less frequently the scene of active warfare between the contending p...« less