After the Battle of Hastings, Gytha, the mother of Harold, took refuge in Exeter, and Leofric, the bishop, offered to render homage to William as Royal suzerain; but the Conqueror would have no half-hearted submission, so Exeter closed its gates to the Normans. It held out for eighteen days, when the military science of the Normans, and particularly the skill they showed in undermining the walls, caused it to surrender. The resistance won the besiegers' respect and brought unusually good terms from so ruthless a victor as William. The lives of the garrison were spared, Gytha was allowed to seek safety by sea, and it has been said that the victorious troops were withdrawn from the city gates to prevent them from claiming the licentious privileges so generally granted to their followers by the Norman kings. As is fitting for its county town, the first entry in the Devonshire Domesday deals with Exeter, in which city, it is recorded, the king had 285 houses rendering customary dues. The generally debased character of the coinage of the time led to various expedients being adopted by the Exchequer for securing approximately accurate payment of a specified sum of money. Among other things the entries in Domesday state that in the total-- "This (city of Exeter) renders 18 pounds per annum. Of these Baldwin the Sheriff has six pounds by weight and assay, and Colvin has of them 12 pounds by tale for the service of Queen Eadgyth". This entry is significant, for one pound or twenty shillings meant one pound or twelve ounces troy of silver; and when money was payable by weight twenty shillings were not taken as the equivalent of one pound unless they fully weighed one pound. In this instance it is observable that the portion of the customary dues rendered for the 285 houses, which went to the Exchequer, was collected by the sheriff under the strictest rules of weight and assay, whereas the portion allotted to the widow of Edward the Confessor was received by the tale only. The authorities took care that the sheriff collected the full amount due to the Crown, but did not trouble themselves about the ex-queen's share.