The last years of Henry's life were embittered by these dissensions in his family, and his health rapidly declined. In the year 1135 he received news of an incursion of the Welsh, and while preparations were making for his return to England he was seized with a sudden illness. Having passed a day in hunting at Lions-la-Forêt, in Normandy, he supped late in the evening upon a dish of lampreys, of which he was remarkably fond. An indigestion, which resulted in a fever, was the consequence of this indulgence, and three days afterwards he expired (December 1, 1135). His body was afterwards conveyed to Reading Abbey, which he had himself founded, and was there buried. In spite of the misery endured by the English during this reign, their condition was better than it would have been had a weak king been at the head of affairs. As far as in him lay, Henry maintained order throughout the kingdom. He could do but little to ameliorate the evils of famine, pestilence, and floods; but he could, and did, check the exactions and cruelties of the barons, whether lay or ecclesiastical; he put a stop to the excessive contributions in kind levied by the followers of the court under the name of _purveyance_. Although the people suffered fearfully from taxation, they were better off than if they had been subject to the extortions of every petty landowner. The issuers of false coin were hanged without mercy, and all crimes of violence were punished with equal severity. "He made peace," says the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "for man and beast. Whoso bare his burden of gold and silver, no man durst do him aught but good."