was murdered in Hereford Cathedral. The king then promised Peter that he could take shelter in Hereford Castle at need. Peter appointed many of his relatives to positions in his diocese. A number of his nephews were given benefices and appointed to prebends. They continued to hold those offices into the 1290s. But Peter gave lands to the cathedral chapter, but also ordered the canons to reside in the cathedral. Peter also rebuilt extensively in Hereford Cathedral, finishing the presbytery as well as the north transept. Sicily Peter was once more overseas in 1253, and after the marriage negotiations, went to the papal court, which was in Naples with the new pope, Alexander IV. There Peter became embroiled in the attempt by King Henry to secure the kingdom of Sicily, which was granted to Henry by the papacy if Henry would drive Manfred of Sicily out of the kingdom and repay the money the papacy had already expended attempting to expel Manfred. This amount was estimated to be almost 135,000 marks of silver. Peter, in an attempt to raise that sum, used blank signed documents that the English clergy had given Peter to negotiate with the papacy as security for loans from Italian bankers. The intention of the clergy had not been to raise money for the king's efforts in Sicily, and this led to Peter being universally condemned in England. Peter also pledged future tax revenues that had not yet been granted. Although attempts were made to collect the tax, they came to nothing and Peter was once more on the continent in November 1255. Unrest in England Peter stayed on the continent, but in 1258 his lands in Hereford were once more attacked, and in the autumn he was ordered to return to England to be audited for his attempts to collect the Sicilian tax. He did not immediately return, but by June 1259 had returned and was sent by the king to negotiate with the Welsh. When the king gained the upper hand in 1261 over the barons, Peter once more was sent out to collect the Sicilian tax. But baronial opposition to Henry's policies continued, and Peter's lands continued to be ravaged. He was even besieged in the city of Hereford for a time. In May 1263, Gilbert de Clare, the Earl of Gloucester and the other lords on the Welsh Marches drove Peter from his