William, succeeding Earl Robert his father in the earldom of Moreton in Normandy, and this of Cornwall, being a person[205] of a malicious and arrogant spirit from his childhood, envied the glory of King Henry the First; and not contented with those two earldoms, demanded from King Henry the earldom of Kent as his right, which earldom his uncle Odo (the Bishop) formerly had, giving out[205] privately, that he would not put on his robe, unless that inheritance which he challenged by descent from his uncle might be restored to him, unto which demand, the King at first, considering[205] his own unsettled condition, gave[205] a subtile and dilatory answer; but when[205] he discerned that those clouds, from whence he doubted a storm, were over, he not only denied[205] his request, but began to question him for whatsoever he possessed unrightfully; yet (that he might not seem to oppose what was just) modestly yielding[205] that he should have a lawful trial for the same; but with that judicial sentence, which thereupon ensued, this Earl being highly displeased, in a great rage got over into Normandy, and there besides some fruitless attempts which he made against the King’s castles, having an evil eye towards Richard Earl of Chester (son of Hugh) made[206] no little spoil upon his lands, though he was then but a child, and in the King’s tutelage; from which time, together with Robert de Bellesme, Earl of Shrewsbury, he ceased not[206] to foment a rebellion in those parts. Anno 1103. 4th H. I. 1104. The king therefore discerning these his practises, seised[207] upon all his possessions here in England, razed[208] his castles to the ground, and banished[208] him this realm.