The castles and abbeys of England; Vol. 1 of 2: from the national records, early chronicles, and other standard authorsBeattie, William
History
The castles and abbeys of England; Vol. 1 of 2: from the national records, early chronicles, and other standard authors
Beattie, William
Abbeys -- England; Castles -- England
<g>Baldwin</g>, the fifth of that name, who, along with the title of Earl of
Devon, had enjoyed the lordship of Carisbrooke, married a princess of
Savoy, cousin of Queen Eleanor; and at the nuptials of the Duke of
Brittany with Beatrice, the daughter of King Henry III., received the
honour of knighthood. He gave the first charter of franchise to the town
of Yarmouth, and obtained the grant of a fair and market to be held at
Carisbrooke--a grant of great importance in those times. At an
entertainment given about two years afterwards by his kinsman Peter,
Count of Savoy, he, together with Richard, Earl of Gloucester, and
others, is said to have been poisoned. But in those times any disease
that powerfully affected the digestive organs was frequently construed
as the result of poison. That such was in numerous instances the fact,
is not to be denied; but that every death, preceded by symptoms like
those that usually supervened on the employment of deleterious drugs,
was an act of poisoning, is no more to be credited than that
consumption, or marasmus, was, in later times, the effect of witchcraft.
But when, in reality, the art of poisoning was both studied and
practised, it was natural in the bystanders to explain the mystery of
any peculiarly sudden and fatal disease by ascribing it to poison. The
frequent recurrence of these facts or suspicions in the old chronicles,
is a proof that the practice was universally admitted; and it is painful
to observe the ingenious precautions adopted by persons of rank, in
order to avert the danger to which they were daily exposed in the use of
their domestic viands. But, reserving this curious subject for a more
convenient season, we pass to the next lord of Carisbrooke; and the late
Earl of Baldwin leaving no surviving issue, the honors and estates
devolved on his sister,
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