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in those days ; particularly in that of making presents to monasteries and other religious houses. The abbey of Greistein in Normandy was the most favoured. His successor was William, Earl of Montaigne and Cornwall, who solicited Henry the First to grant him the earldom of Kent, but meeting with a refusal he joined the Earl of Shrewsbury in a rebellion, upon which the king seized most of his castles, razed them to the ground, and banished him the kingdom. The town and castle were then given by the king, with all the lands pertaining thereto, to Gilbert de Aquila, which was styled the honour of the Eagle, in allusion to the name of the owner. His son Richard succeeded him, and engaged in an attempt to restore William, the son of Robert Courthouse, to his father's honours. His estates were forfeited, and the town and castle of Pevensey again reverted to the crown ; but after a time, he was pardoned by the king, through the intercession of his uncle Rotro, and his estates were restored to him; but shortly afterwards, he again joined in the same rebellion, when the king seized the town and castle of Pevensey, and settled them upon his son, afterwards Henry the Second,who made them over to William, son of King Stephen, who held them till 1158, four years after Henry's ascension to the throne, upon condition that he should have and enjoy all the lands that belonged to his father, before he became king of England. The town and castle were then restored to Richard de Aquila, who enjoyed them for some time in peace. He was succeeded by Gilbert de Aquila, the third of that name, who, by his disorderly conduct, made himself obnoxious to Henry the Third; and passing over to Normandy without the royal assent, the king embraced the opportunity to seize upon all his effects, lands, and castles, and in 1235 granted them during pleasure to the Earl of Pembroke, and in 1241 bestowed it upon Peter de Savoy (uncle to -