In the early part of the next reign—that of John—numerous engagements happened on the Welsh borders between the royal forces and the Welsh; and Shrewsbury became the scene of several contests between the same apparently deadly and irreconcilable foes. Now it was captured by the Welsh; then they were beaten, dispersed, and the town retaken by the king. Peace was entered into only to be soon violated. Boys were exchanged as hostages for the due observance of the treaties. These were broken and the boys hung. Henry III. had his hands full with the frequent incursions of the Welsh. One year they, and the next the king, were masters of the town. The king and Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, were constantly at war. In 1215 Llewellyn held the town and castle with a large army. In 1220 Henry had succeeded to the possession of it. Animosities, however, continued to subsist between them; and thus the disturbances were prolonged, each party being alternately now victor and now vanquished, for a term of upwards of 80 years, from the reign of John, about 1200, to the infancy of that of Edward I., about 1282. During this protracted period of assault and counter assault—a period of great distress for the inhabitants who suffered from these perpetual contests, and peculiarly from the depredations of the Welsh—the town sustained the penalty of no less than seven sieges. The most notable and the most serious occurred in 1233, when the place was partly burned down, nearly every house plundered, and numbers of the inhabitants killed by Llewellyn, assisted by the Earl of Pembroke and other noblemen. Peace was once more obtained by offers of pardon to the Welsh on condition of their obedience. The terms were accepted; but in 1241 it again became necessary for Henry to march against the restless Llewellyn. A rebellions spirit also appeared about 1256 in the person of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who seized the town without material opposition. In 1267 disturbances again broke out. Henry appeared at Shrewsbury at the head of his army to quell the discord. War was on the eve of being renewed when Llewellyn submitted, and peace once more was effected. In 1269 Henry’s eldest son was appointed governor of the town and castle, on the 23rd of September. Still the government of Shrewsbury oscillated between the Welsh and the sovereign power; and in 1277, Edward I, there was another open rupture. A novel course was adopted. Hostilities had been waged fruitlessly. Now the Courts of Exchequer and King’s Bench were removed to Shrewsbury that “they (the Welsh) might be awed into submission, and all necessary help be at hand for taming them.” The condition of the citizens was most distressing. The prey of their Celtic neighbours, they were also they prey of the wolves which inhabited the desolate mountains of the Principality, and which in herds ravaged the surrounding districts. About 1282, however, the Welsh were finally