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.
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