Bedford's surrender and Henry III's punishment

After Bedford fell, the book asks what Henry III should do with the defeated garrison. The women had already been released, but the male defenders, including William de Breauté, were hanged. King John's treatment of Rochester provides the comparison because only a former royal archer who changed sides was executed there. Henry's action is described as brutal, with the observation that a feudal political system could reward effectiveness more readily than kindness. The comparison makes post-siege punishment part of strategy because rulers used mercy or terror to shape the choices of future rebels.