Vol 1: The Bluets - Lackham Countryside Centre

The Bluets 57
was no question of putting up a defence there, for they
knew and could see only too well that they had completely
lost. William Bloet, who held the banner of the young
Marshal, had no wish to be left behind; indeed, he
spurred his horse so quickly that he landed in the press,
which was very dense and violent, so heavily and head on
that he fell over the side of the bridge he and his horse
with him; a man who launches such an attack is no coward.
He had not come there to lie down, however; any man who
had seen him leap to his feet, would have born witness to
his fleetness of foot, his valour and prowess 227.
The Battle of Lincoln and the sea battle off Sandwich, when the French
re-supply fleet was destroyed, removed any hope of a French victory ,
the Marshall negotiated an end to the French invasion, and they
withdrew. The civil war was essentially over but not entirely; the Welsh
prince Morgan ap Howel, or Morgan of Caerleon as he frequently styled
himself, did not cease fighting but waged a damaging war in Gwent. Two
members of the Bloet family, Walter and Roland, fell in the hostilities
along with several other knights 228
In the thirteenth century, as much as now, people were borrowing money,
and there is evidence that William was no exception; in 1233 he owed a
debt of 8 marks to Urcello, son of Hamon of Hereford, the Jew [Judeo]
229 . King Henry III took over the debt and William had to repay the
Exchequer at the rate of 2 marks per year, one at the feast and the only
people commonly involved were the Jewish communities. For which they
were reviled, of course. This grant by Henry III would seem to indicate
that he was helping William out by taking over the debt from Urcello. (It is
a moot point as to whether Urcello was paid the money owed to him of
course. There is no indication the debt was being paid off, just that
William would now pay the Exchequer 2 marks per year).
227
The deeds of William the Marshal were recorded for posterity a few years
after his death in the Histoire Guillaume le Mareschal, a verse account of 19,214
lines in rhyming couplets, written in Middle French.‖ This excerpt from the
account was translated by Stewart Gregory, with the assistance of David Crouch
and can be found at
http://www.deremilitari.org/RESOURCES/SOURCES/marshal3.htm
228
Crouch D (2002) William Marshal : Knighthood, War and Chivalry 1147 1219 2nd
ed p137
229
Calendar Close Rolls Henry 111 1227-1231 dated 12 June 1233, p72