During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the community of Roncesvalles fell on evil days. The march of events deprived them of their property abroad, while laxity in the observance of their Rule and the continually disturbed state of the Franco-Spanish frontier brought about the loss of the greater part of their accumulated possessions and wealth. Unfortunately the ancient records of the Monastery have nearly all been destroyed; but there remains in the library an unpublished manuscript giving the history of the Order and the Convent, written by Don Juan Huarte, about the middle of the seventeenth century, which incorporates information received from a certain Don Francisco Olastro[4] (who is stated to have been an ambassador from England in Madrid) respecting the history of their daughter house in London. But even at the time when this document was written, many statements it contains appear to have acquired the characteristics of tradition and can be accepted only after careful collation and criticism. We have, therefore, to depend almost entirely on the English records for the history of the House of Roncesvalles in London. Footnote 4: ? Francis Oliver. THE CONVENT OF SAINT MARY RONCEVALL AT CHARING. To understand how it was possible that a religious house in the Pyrenees could hold possessions scattered throughout so many different lands, it must be clearly borne in mind that in the Middle Ages the rule exercised by the Church took very little cognizance of State limits. The ecclesiastical power was much stronger than the national influences of the time, and the Church drew its revenues from all Christian countries, quite irrespective of political boundaries. At the time when the House of Roncesvalles at Charing was founded, the overlordship of the Pope had been felt in England and in France in a very real manner. In addition to this ecclesiastical bond, the political relationships between England, France and Northern Spain were of the most intimate character, so that the all-pervading power of the Church could be exercised with the greater ease in these countries. During the period of the Norman, and even more so during the Angevin dynasty, the English barons experienced the greatest difficulty in detaching themselves from the influences exerted on them by their foreign relationships, even if they had the desire to do so. In many cases they seem to have frankly regarded their insular possessions as sources of revenue and power to be made use of in order to promote their Continental interests. In this respect they followed the example set in such unmistakable fashion by kings such as Richard and John. The Church acted in the same manner, and many foreign convents were able, by their powerful influence, to obtain possession of, and to exploit, the rich lands of England for their own support. It was not until the close of the reign of John and during the reign of