 Roger first came to royal notice in 1252 when he killed Arnulf de Munteny, one of the king's household knights, in a jousting tournament with a sharpened lance, avenging himself of an injury caused by Arnulf in a previous tournament.To atone for his crime he "took the cross" (went on a Pilgrimage), and was pardoned by King Henry III.In 1253 he was given the lands of Roger Connell in Kent, and from then until his death he spent large amounts of time and money acquiring land in that county.