the buyers were not bound by the existing contract. They could demand higher rates, or sometimes even take forfeit in land. Stratton was one of the greater beneficiaries of the opportunities offered by trading in Jewish debts. From at least 1271 he was also associated with the Riccardi, a major Italian financier family. Illegal activities and downfall From 1277, Stratton acted in the capacity of Countess Isabella's steward, though he never officially used that title. It was in this post that he committed some of his most grievous offences. In 1278 he was accused of cutting off the seal of a charter from Quarr Abbey, thereby invalidating its authenticity. As a result, several other similar cases were brought to light, but none led to conviction. It was widely believed that he had bought himself off with bribes. Stratton's transgressions continued, however, and by the late 1280s, the complaints reached King Edward I. Edward returned from a prolonged stay in Gascony in late 1289, and immediately started a purge of corruption in the royal administration, including proceedings against Ralph de Hengham, Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Stratton was relieved of his office of chamberlain, along with his temporal possessions, on 17 January 1290. On his arrest, £12,666 17s 7d was found in his possession, a vast sum at the time, equivalent to about £ in present-day terms. According to the chronicle of Bartholomew Cotton, a silk-lined chest was also discovered, containing fingernail and toenail clippings, women's pubic hair, and feet of toads and moles. These were considered the ingredients of witchcraft, and the box was sealed up by officials, but Stratton managed to break the seal and throw the contents down into a latrine. His friends procured a pardon for 500 marks by 12 June 1291, and Stratton was released. He retained his ecclesiastical rents of £1,000, which still made him a wealthy man. Still, the sum was insignificant compared to his previous holdings in land, which Cotton estimated at £50,000. His eventual downfall, however, resulted from an ongoing conflict with the Cluniac priory of Bermondsey. Stratton was convicted of forging a grant, and by Midsummer 1292 he was imprisoned in the Tower. By the end of the year he was condemned, and he is referred to as a felon in the years 1292–94. By 14 August 1294 he was dead, though it is not known whether he was executed