During the troubled times when England was engaged in Continental wars, soon to become almost continuous, communication between Gascony and England must have been so difficult as to be well-nigh impossible to men of peace. Convoys under military protection were in imminent danger of capture, and from what we know, especially in the case of naval warfare at this period, there were few of the vanquished who escaped death. In addition to the dangers of travelling another source of great difficulty was felt by the Prior and his officials. The King was in constant and urgent need of money to permit of the prosecution of his warlike policy, and his agents were not too scrupulous as to how it was obtained. If it could be represented that the property of the alien religious houses in the King’s dominions could be used for the support of his enemies abroad, or if it could be urged in extenuation that funds sent abroad by the alien communities could be captured in transit, it is evident that the King would have many excuses and would exercise little scruple in levying heavy contributions on the property of the alien clergy in this country, or even of confiscating it entirely. It was under these conditions that the earliest suppressions and confiscations of the alien houses took place. [Illustration: FIG. 8. After an ancient drawing in the Gardner collection. On the left is part of the south end of the chapel of St. Mary Roncevall; in the foreground and to the right the gardens of the Convent. In the distance the river and the buildings of Whitehall and Westminster. ]