Satan in St Mary

Magonel, when a tall, silver-haired austere man, wrapped in a thick brown military cloak approached and introduced himself as Sir Edward Swynnerton, Constable of the Tower. Corbett introduced himself and Ranulf, showed the Chancellor's writ and briefly explained why they had come to the Tower. The Constable stared hard at Corbett and looked as if he was going to protest but then he scratched his grizzled head and summoned a guard to take Corbett and Ranulf to a sparse chamber in the White Tower.
    Once there, Ranulf, exhausted with all the walking, curled up on his straw-stuffed mattress and fell asleep while Corbett lit the two candles in the room to read the report that Burnell had left for him in the leather chancery pouch. It was written in the Chancellor's own hand.
    "Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells and Chancellor of England, to our trusty and well-beloved clerk, Hugh Corbett, greetings. I have read your letter and noted its contents. I believe this reply and the information it contains will be of use to you. Item: the drawing of the Pentangle found in Ralph Crepyn's house (and we will not ask how you came by it!) is not unknown to me. The Pentangle is a sign used in magic and the black arts. It is often drawn by the Magician or Witch on the floor or table as a symbol of protection when summoning Satan or some other diabolic power. Of course, it is one thing to summon the rulers of the demonic kingdom and another if they actually come. Nevertheless, those who practise the black arts and dabble in magic pose a threat to Holy Mother Church and in doing so pose an even more dangerous threat to the safety and security of the throne. There is no doubt that members of the Pentangle also include adherents of the radicals who still support the ideas of the dead de Montfort.
    "Item: Simon de Montfort's father was a Crusader and fought for the Cross in Palestine and other lands in Outremer. De Montfort also led Crusades against the Albigensians in Southern France, whose heretical practices were supposed to be secret, closely linked to necromancy and sorcery. I merely tell you of this to draw a link between rebellion and those who exercise black magic with their secret name, 'The Pentangle'!. Although the de Montforts were resolute Crusaders, there is no doubt that they may have become infected by the very diseases they tried to destroy.
    "One such disease was the cult of the Assassins. These belonged to a secret Muslim sect whose headquarters lie in the impregnable fortress of Alamut in the valley of Kazvim in Persia. They are controlled by their chieftain, The Mysterious and Sinister Man of the Mountains, who commands a network of strongholds throughout Persia, and even in the Holy Land itself. He commands a core of devoted terrorists who murder by treacherous violence. It would appear that the de Montfort family came into contact with this cult and may have adopted some of its practices. Assassination of an anointed king by the followers of black magic is, as you know, not new in England. It is alleged that William Rufus died at their hands in the New Forest; Richard I may also have been a similar victim, and other more fruitless attempts were made upon the person of the late Henry III, the present King's father.
    "The de Montforts undoubtedly used such methods. After Simon de Montfort was killed, almost thirty years ago, his son, Guy, escaped abroad. It is perhaps no coincidence that while our present king was on a Crusade in Palestine an assassin attempted to kill him in his own tent with a poisoned dagger. Our king was only saved by the speedy and faithful ministrations of his wife and doctors. On his way to Palestine the king's cousin, Henry of Germany, visited Viterbo in Sicily and went to Mass at the Cathedral Church there on the 13th March 1271. Guy, Simon de Montfort's son, ignoring the sanctity of the occasion and the place, stabbed Henry to death before the high altar.
    "Item: The date, 30th April 1283, is significant only in that it is one of the great feasts of the Satanists and probably the day the Pentangle met. The scrap of paper probably being a writ which convened the meeting, though it is ample proof that Crepyn was a member of the coven. The important factor is who sent it? Who is there in the city who embodies and represents the traditions of de Montfort and Fitz-Osbert?
    "Item: To draw all this tangled skein together it is certain that the adherents of de Montfort and Fitz-Osbert are still