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abbats, nor of priests; but they robbed the monks and the clergy, and every man plundered his neighbour as much as he could. If two or three men came riding to a town, all the township fled before them, and thought that they were robbers. The bishops and clergy were ever cursing them, but this to them was nothing, for they were all accursed, and forsworn, and reprobate. The earth bare no corn, you might as well have tilled the sea, for the land was all ruined by such deeds, and it was said openly that Christ and his saints slept. These things, and more than we can say, did we suffer during nineteen years because of our sins. Through all this evil time the abbat Martin held his abbacy for twenty years and a half and eight days, with many difficulties: and he provided the monks and guests with all necessaries, and kept up much alms in the house; and withal he wrought upon the church, and annexed thereto lands and rents, and enriched it greatly, and furnished it with robes: and he brought the monks into the new monastery on St. Peter's day with much pomp. This was in the year 1140 of our Lord's incarnation, the twenty-third year after the fire. And he went to Rome and was well received there by pope Eugenius, from whom he obtained sundry privileges, to wit, one for all the abbey lands, and another for the lands that adjoin the monastery, and had he lived longer he meant to have done as much for the treasurer's house. And he regained certain lands that powerful men possessed by force; he won Cotingham and Easton from William Malduit, who held Rockingham castle, and from Hugh of Walteville he won Hirtlingbery, and Stanwick, and sixty shillings yearly out of Oldwinkle. And he increased the number of monks, and planted a vineyard, and made many works, and improved the town; and he was a good monk and a good man, and therefore God and good men loved him. Now will we relate some part of what befell in king Stephen's time. In his reign the Jews of Norwich bought a Christian child before Easter, and tortured him with all the torments wherewith our Lord was tortured, and they crucified him on Good Friday for the love of our Lord, and afterwards buried him. They believed that this would be kept secret, but our Lord made manifest that he was a holy martyr, and the monks took him and buried him honourably in the monastery and he