Source.—Florence of Worcester, Chronicon, ed. Thorpe, vol. ii., p. 10.

Contrary to the command of king William, Roger earl of Hereford, son of William, earl of the same county, gave his sister in marriage to Ralph earl of the East Angles; they celebrated the wedding with great magnificence amid a large gathering of nobles in the county of Cambridge at a place called Exning, and there, with the assent of almost all, entered into a great conspiracy against king William; they also forced earl Waltheof, whom they had secured by a stratagem, to join their conspiracy. He, however, as soon as he could, went to Lanfranc archbishop of Canterbury, and received absolution from him, with the sacrament, for the crime of which he was guilty against his will; and by his advice he sought out king William, who was then in Normandy; and disclosing to him the whole matter from beginning to end, threw himself on his mercy. Meanwhile the aforesaid authors of the conspiracy, in furtherance of their designs, repaired to their castles, and began with their supporters to strain every nerve to foment rebellion. But Wulstan bishop of Worcester, with a large military force, prevented the earl of Hereford from crossing the Severn and joining earl Ralph with his army at the appointed place, and the bishop was joined by Aegelwin abbot of Evesham, with his men, and summoned to his aid Urse, the sheriff of Worcester, and Walter de Lacy, with their forces, and a large company of the people. Earl Ralph, on the other hand, camping near Cambridge, was met by Odo, bishop of Bayeux, the king’s brother, and Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances, with a large force of both English and Normans ready for battle. Seeing that his intentions were thwarted, and fearing the numbers of his opponents, he fled secretly to Norwich, and entrusting the castle to his wife and his knights, took ship and fled from England to Brittany; he was pursued by his adversaries, who either slew or in divers ways disabled all of his company whom they could take. Then the leaders of the king’s men for a long time invested the castle, until peace was granted by the king’s permission and the countess and her men allowed to leave England. After these events the king returned from Normandy in autumn and put earl Roger in prison, and earl Waltheof likewise, although he had sued for the king’s mercy.... At Christmas following the king held his court at Westminster, and of those who had risen against him he banished some from England, and mutilated others by putting out their eyes or cutting off their hands. As for the earls Waltheof and Roger, they were condemned by a judicial sentence and committed to straiter imprisonment.

In the year 1075 earl Waltheof, by command of king William, was led without the city of Winchester and there unworthily and cruelly decapitated with an axe and buried on the spot. But in course of time God so ordained it that his body was disinterred and carried with great honour to Croyland and honourably buried there in the church. While he was still in possession of life, though placed in strait confinement, he bewailed unceasingly and remorsefully all that he had done amiss, and by watchings, prayers, fasts and alms strove to make his peace with God; men tried to blot out his memory on earth, but it is believed that in truth he rejoices with the saints in heaven, on the faithful testimony of the aforesaid archbishop Lanfranc, of pious memory, who heard his confession and gave him absolution; for he asserted that the earl was innocent of the charge imputed to him, to wit, the aforesaid conspiracy, and that, like a true Christian, he had regretted with tears of repentance whatsoever other sins he had committed; and declared moreover that he himself should be blessed, if, at the end of his own life, he should obtain a like blessed repose.