WILLIAM RUFUS.
ACCESSION OF WILLIAM RUFUS.--CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE KING.INVASION OF
NORMANDY.--THE CRUSADES.--ACQUISITION OF NORMANDY.QUARREL WITH
ANSELM, THE PRIMATE.--DEATH AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM RUFUS
[MN 1087. Accession of William Rufus.]
William, surnamed RUFUS, or the RED, from the colour of his hair, had
no sooner procured his father's recommendatory letter to Lanfranc, the
primate, than he hastened to take measures for securing to himself the
government of England. Sensible that a deed so unformal, and so
little prepared, which violated Robert's right of primogeniture, might
meet with great opposition, he trusted entirely for success to his own
celerity; and having left St. Gervas, while William was breathing his
last, he arrived in England before intelligence of his father's death
had reached that kingdom [a]. Pretending orders from the king, he
secured the fortresses of Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings, whose
situation rendered them of the greatest importance; and he got
possession of the royal treasure at Winchester, amounting to the sum
of sixty thousand pounds, by which he hoped to encourage and increase
his partisans [b]. The primate, whose rank and reputation in the
kingdom gave him great authority, had been intrusted with the care of
his education, and had conferred on him the honour of knighthood [c];
and being connected with him by these ties, and probably deeming his
pretensions just, declared that he would pay a willing obedience to
the last will of the Conqueror, his friend and benefactor. Having
assembled some bishops, and some of the principal nobility, he
instantly proceeded to the ceremony of crowning the new king [d]; and
by this despatch endeavoured to prevent all faction and resistance.
At the same time Robert, who had been already acknowledged successor
to Normandy, took peaceable possession of that duchy.
[FN [a] W. Malmes, p. 120. M. Paris, p. 10. [b] Chron. Sax. p. 192.
Brompton, p. 983. [c] W. Malmes. p. 120. M. Paris, p. 10. Thom.
Rudborne, p. 263. [d] Hoveden, p. 461.]
[MN 1087. Conspiracy against the king.]
But though this partition appeared to have been made without any
violence or opposition, there remained in England many causes of
discontent, which seemed to menace that kingdom with a sudden
revolution. The barons, who generally possessed large estates both in
England and in Normandy, were uneasy at the separation of those
territories; and foresaw, that as it would be impossible for them to
preserve long their allegiance to two masters, they must necessarily
resign either their ancient patrimony or their new acquisitions [e].
Roberts title to the duchy they esteemed incontestable; his claim to
the kingdom plausible; and they all desired that this prince, who
alone had any pretensions to unite these states, should be put in
possession of both. A comparison also of the personal qualities of
the two brothers led them to give the preference to the elder. The
duke was brave, open, sincere, generous: even his predominant faults,
his extreme indolence and facility, were not disagreeable to those
haughty barons, who affected independence, and submitted with
reluctance to a vigorous administration in their sovereign. The king,
though equally brave, was violent, haughty, tyrannical, and seemed
disposed to govern more by the fear than by the love of his subjects.
Odo, Bishop of Baieux, and Robert, Earl of Mortaigne, maternal
brothers of the Conqueror, envying the great credit of Lanfranc, which
was increased by his late services, enforced all these motives with
their partisans, and engaged them in a formal conspiracy to dethrone
the king. They communicated their design to Eustace, Count of
Boulogne; Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel; Robert de Belesme,
his eldest son; William, Bishop of Durham; Robert de Moubray; Roger
Bigod; Hugh de Grentmesnil; and they easily procured the assent of
these potent noblemen. The conspirators, retiring to their castles,
hastened to put themselves in a military posture; and expecting to be
soon supported by a powerful army from Normandy, they had already
begun hostilities in many places.
[FN [e] Order. Vital. p. 666.]
The king, sensible of his perilous situation, endeavoured to engage
the affections of the native English. As that people were now so
thoroughly subdued that they no longer aspired to the recovery of
their ancient liberties, and were content with the prospect of some
mitigation in the tyranny of the Norman princes, they zealously
embraced William's cause, upon receiving general promises of good
treatment, and of enjoying the license of hunting in the royal
forests. The king was soon in a situation to take the field; and as
he knew the danger of delay, he suddenly marched into Kent; where his
uncles had already seized the fortresses of Pevensey and Rochester.
These places he successively reduced by famine; and though he was
prevailed on by the Earl of Chester, William de Warenne, and Robert
Fitz-Hammon, who had embraced his cause, to spare the lives of the
rebels, he confiscated all their estates, and banished them the
kingdom [f]. This success gave authority to his negotiations with
Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury, whom he detached from the confederates; and
as his powerful fleet, joined to the indolent conduct of Robert,
prevented the arrival of the Norman succours, all the other rebels
found no resource but in flight or submission. Some of them received
a pardon; but the greater part were attainted; and the king bestowed
their estates on the Norman barons, who had remained faithful to him.
[FN [f] Chron. Sax. p. 195. Order. Vital. p. 668.]
[MN 1089.] William, freed from the danger of these insurrections,
took little care of fulfilling his promises to the English, who still
found themselves exposed to the same oppresions which they had
undergone during the reign of the Conqueror, and which were rather
augmented by the insolent impetuous temper of the present monarch.
The death of Lanfranc, who retained great influence over him, gave
soon after a full career to his tyranny; and all orders of men found
reason to complain of an arbitrary and illegal administration. Even
the privileges of the church, held sacred in those days, were a feeble
rampart against his usurpations. He seized the temporalities of all
the vacant bishoprics and abbeys; he delayed the appointment of
successors to those dignities, that he might the longer enjoy the
profits of their revenue; he bestowed some of the church lands in
property on his captains and favourites; and he openly set to sale
such sees and abbeys as he thought proper to dispose of. Though the
murmurs of the ecclesiastics; which were quickly propagated to the
nation, rose high against this grievance, the terror of William's
authority, confirmed by the suppression of the late insurrections,
retained every one in subjection, and preserved general tranquillity
in England.
[MN 1090. Invasion of Normandy.]
The king even thought himself enabled to disturb his brother in the
possession of Normandy. The loose and negligent administration of
that prince had emboldened the Norman barons to affect a great
independency; and their mutual quarrels and devastations had rendered
the whole territory a scene of violence and outrage. Two of them,
Walter and Odo, were bribed by William to deliver the fortresses of
St. Valori and Albemarle into his hands: others soon after imitated
the example of revolt; while Philip, King of France who ought to have
protected his vassal in the possession of his fief, was, after making
some efforts in his favour, engaged by large presents to remain
neuter. The duke had also reason to apprehend danger from the
intrigues of his brother Henry. This young prince, who had inherited
nothing of his father's great possessions, but some of his money, had
furnished Robert, while he was making his preparations against
England, with the sum of three thousand marks; and in return for so
slender a supply, had been put in possession of the Cotentin, which
comprehended near a third of the duchy of Normandy. Robert
afterwards, upon some suspicion, threw him into prison; but finding
himself exposed to invasion from the King of England, and dreading the
conjunction of the two brothers against him, he now gave Henry his
liberty, and even made use of his assistance in suppressing the
insurrections of his rebellious subjects. Conan, a rich burgess of
Rouen, had entered into a conspiracy to deliver that city to William;
but Henry, on the detection of his guilt, carried the traitor up to a
high tower, and with his own hands flung him from the battlements.
The king appeared in Normandy at the head of an army; and affairs
seemed to have come to extremity between the brothers; when the
nobility on both sides, strongly connected by interest and alliances,
interposed and mediated an accommodation. The chief advantage of this
treaty accrued to William, who obtained possession of the territory of
Eu, the towns of Aumale, Fescamp, and other places; but in return, he
promised that he would assist his brother in subduing Maine, which had
rebelled; and that the Norman barons, attainted in Robert's cause,
should be restored to their estates in England. The two brothers also
stipulated, that on the demise of either without issue, the survivor
should inherit all his dominions; and twelve of the most powerful
barons on each side swore, that they would employ their power to
ensure the effectual execution of the whole treaty [g]: a strong proof
of the great independence and authority of the nobles in those ages!
[FN [g] Chron. Sax. p. 197. W. Malmes. p. 121. Hoveden, p. 462. M.
Paris, p. 11. Annal. Waverl. p. 137. W. Heming. p. 463. Sim.
Dunelm. p. 216. Brompton, p. 986.]
Prince Henry, disgusted that so little care had been taken of his
interests in this accommodation, retired to St. Michael's Mount, a
strong fortress on the coast of Normandy, and infested the
neighbourhood with his incursions. Robert and William, with their
joint forces, besieged him in this place, and had nearly reduced him
by the scarcity of water; when the elder, hearing of his distress,
granted him permission to supply himself, and also sent him some pipes
of wine for his own table. Being reproved by William for this
ill-timed generosity, he replied, WHAT, SHALL I SUFFER MY BROTHER TO
DIE OF THIRST? WHERE SHALL WE FIND ANOTHER WHEN HE IS GONE? The king
also, during this siege, performed an act of generosity which was less
suitable to his character. Riding out one day alone, to take a survey
of the fortress, he was attacked by two soldiers and dismounted. One
of them drew his sword in order to despatch him; when the king
exclaimed, HOLD, KNAVE! I AM THE KING OF ENGLAND. The soldier
suspended his blow; and raising the king from the ground, with
expressions of respect, received a handsome reward, and was taken into
his service. Prince Henry was soon after obliged to capitulate; and
being despoiled of all his patrimony, wandered about for some time
with very few attendants, and often in great poverty.
[MN 1091.] The continued intestine discord among the barons was alone
in that age destructive; the public wars were commonly short and
feeble, produced little bloodshed, and were attended with no memorable
event. To this Norman war, which was so soon concluded, there
succeeded hostilities with Scotland, which were not of longer
duration. Robert here commanded his brother's army, and obliged
Malcolm to accept of peace, and do homage to the crown of England.
This peace was not more durable. [MN 1093.] Malcolm, two years
after, levying an army, invaded England; and after ravaging
Northumberland, he laid siege to Alnwick, where a party of Earl
Moubray's troops falling upon him by surprise, a sharp action ensued,
in which Malcolm was slain. This incident interrupted for some years
the regular succession to the Scottish crown. Though Malcolm left
legitimate sons, his brother, Donald, on account of the youth of these
princes, was advanced to the throne; but kept not long possession of
it. Duncan, natural son of Malcolm, formed a conspiracy against him;
and being assisted by William with a small force, made himself master
of the kingdom. New broils ensued with Normandy. The frank, open,
remiss temper of Robert was ill fitted to withstand the interested,
rapacious character of William, who, supported by greater power, was
still encroaching on his brother's possessions, and instigating his
turbulent barons to rebellion against him. [MN 1094.] The king,
having gone over to Normandy to support his partisans, ordered an army
of twenty thousand men to be levied in England and to be conducted to
the sea-coast, as if they were instantly to be embarked. Here Ralph
Flambard, the king's minister, and the chief instrument of his
extortions, exacted ten shillings a-piece from them, in lieu of their
service, and then dismissed them into their several counties. This
money was so skilfully employed by William that it rendered him better
service than he could have expected from the army. He engaged the
French king by new presents to depart from the protection of Robert,
and he daily bribed the Norman barons to desert his service; but was
prevented from pushing his advantages by an incursion of the Welsh,
which obliged him to return to England. He found no difficulty in
repelling the enemy; but was not able to make any considerable
impression on a country guarded by its mountainous situation. [MN
1095.] A conspiracy of his own barons, which was detected at this
time, appeared a more serious concern, and engrossed all his
attention. Robert Moubray, Earl of Northumberland, was at the head
of this combination; and he engaged in it the Count d'Eu, Richard de
Tunbridge, Roger de Lacy, and many others. The purpose of the
conspirators was to dethrone the king, and to advance in his stead
Stephen, Count of Aumale, nephew to the Conqueror. William's despatch
prevented the design from taking effect, and disconcerted the
conspirators. Moubray made some resistance, but being taken prisoner,
was attainted, and thrown into confinement, where he died about thirty
years after. [MN 1096.] The Count d'Eu denied his concurrence in the
plot; and to justify himself, fought, in the presence of the court at
Windsor, a duel with Geoffrey Bainard, who accused him. But being
worsted in the combat, he was condemned to be castrated, and to have
his eyes put out. William de Alderi, another conspirator, was
supposed to be treated with more rigour, when he was sentenced to be
hanged.
[MN The Crusades.]
But the noise of these petty wars and commotions was quite sunk in the
tumult of the crusades, which now engrossed the attention of Europe,
and have ever since engaged the curiosity of mankind, as the most
signal and most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared
in any age or nation. After Mahomet had, by means of his pretended
revelations, united the dispersed Arabians under one head, they issued
forth from their deserts in great multitudes; and being animated with
zeal for their new religion, and supported by the vigour of their new
government, they made deep impression on the eastern empire, which was
far in the decline, with regard both to military discipline and to
civil policy. Jerusalem, by its situation, became one of their most
early conquests; and the Christians had the mortification to see the
holy sepulchre, and the other places, consecrated by the presence of
their religious founder, fallen into the possession of infidels. But
the Arabians or Saracens were so employed in military enterprises, by
which they spread their empire, in a few years, from the banks of the
Ganges to the Straits of Gibraltar, that they had no leisure for
theological controversy; and though the Alcoran, the original monument
of their faith, seems to contain some violent precepts, they were much
less infected with the spirit of bigotry and persecution than the
indolent and speculative Greeks, who were continually refining on the
several articles of their religious system. They gave little
disturbance to those zealous pilgrims who daily flocked to Jerusalem;
and they allowed every man, after paying a moderate tribute, to visit
the holy sepulchre, to perform his religious duties, and to return in
peace. But the Turcomans or Turks, a tribe of Tartars, who had
embraced Mahometanism, having wrested Syria from the Saracens, and
having, in the year 1065, made themselves masters of Jerusalem,
rendered the pilgrimage much more difficult and dangerous to the
Christians. The barbarity of their manners, and the confusions
attending their unsettled government, exposed the pilgrims to many
insults, robberies, and extortions; and these zealots, returning from
their meritorious fatigues and sufferings, filled all Christendom with
indignation against the infidels, who profaned the holy city by their
presence, and derided the sacred mysteries in the very place of their
completion. Gregory VII., among the other vast ideas which he
entertained, had formed the design of uniting all the western
Christians against the Mahometans; but the egregious and violent
invasions of that pontiff on the civil power of princes had created
him so many enemies, and had rendered his schemes so suspicious, that
he was not able to make great progress in this undertaking. The work
was reserved for a meaner instrument, whose low condition in life
exposed him to no jealousy, and whose folly was well calculated to
coincide with the prevailing principles of the times.
Peter, commonly called the Hermit, a native of Amiens in Picardy, had
made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Being deeply affected with the
dangers to which that act of piety now exposed the pilgrims, as well
as with the instances of oppression under which the eastern Christians
laboured, he entertained the bold, and in all appearance
impracticable, project of leading into Asia, from the farthest
extremities of the West, armies sufficient to subdue those potent and
warlike nations which now held the holy city in subjection [h]. He
proposed his views to Martin II., who filled the papal chair, and who,
though sensible of the advantages which the head of the Christian
religion must reap from a religious war, and though he esteemed the
blind zeal of Peter a proper means for effecting the purpose [i],
resolved not to interpose his authority, till he saw a greater
probability of success. He summoned a council at Placentia, which
consisted of four thousand ecclesiastics, and thirty thousand
seculars; and which was so numerous that no hall could contain the
multitude, and it was necessary to hold the assembly in a plain. The
harangues of the pope, and of Peter himself, representing the dismal
situation of their brethren in the East, and the indignity suffered by
the Christian name, in allowing the holy city to remain in the hands
of infidels, here found the minds of men so well prepared, that the
whole multitude, suddenly and violently, declared for the war, and
solemnly devoted themselves to perform this service, so meritorious,
as they believed it, to God and religion.
[FN [h] Gul. Tyrius, lib. 1. cap. 11. M. Paris, p. 17. [i] Gul.
Tyrius, lib. 1. cap. 13.]
But though Italy seemed thus to have zealously embraced the
enterprise, Martin knew that, in order to ensure success, it was
necessary to enlist the greater and more warlike nations in the same
engagement; and having previously exhorted Peter to visit the chief
cities and sovereigns of Christendom, he summoned another council at
Clermont in Auvergne [k]. The fame of this great and pious design
being now universally diffused, procured the attendance of the
greatest prelates, nobles, and princes; and when the pope and the
Hermit renewed their pathetic exhortations, the whole assembly, as if
impelled by an immediate inspiration, not moved by their preceding
impressions, exclaimed with one voice, IT IS THE WILL OF GOD! IT IS
THE WILL OF GOD! Words deemed so memorable, and so much the result of
a divine influence, that they were employed as the signal of
rendezvous and battle in all the future exploits of those adventurers
[l]. Men of all ranks flew to arms with the utmost ardour; and an
exterior symbol too, a circumstance of chief moment, was here chosen
by the devoted combatants. The sign of the cross, which had been
hitherto so much revered among Christians, and which, the more it was
an object of reproach among the pagan world, was the more passionately
cherished by them, became the badge of union, and was affixed to the
right shoulder, by all who enlisted themselves in this sacred warfare
[m].
[FN [k] Concil. tom. x. Concil. Clarom. Matth. Paris, p. 16. M.
West. p. 233. [l] Historia Bell. Sacri, tom. i. Musaei Ital. [m]
Hist. Bell. Sacri, tom. i. Mus. Ital. Order. Vital. p. 721.]
Europe was at this time sunk into profound ignorance and superstition:
the ecclesiastics had acquired the greatest ascendant over the human
mind: the people, who, being little restrained by honour, and less by
law, abandoned themselves to the worst crimes and disorders, knew of
no other expiation than the observances imposed on them by their
spiritual pastors; and it was easy to represent the holy war as an
equivalent for all penances [n], and an atonement for every violation
of justice and humanity. But, amidst the abject superstition which
now prevailed, the military spirit also had universally diffused
itself; and though not supported by art or discipline, was become the
general passion of the nations governed by the feudal law. All the
great lords possessed the right of peace and war: they were engaged in
perpetual hostilities with each other: the open country was become a
scene of outrage and disorder: the cities, still mean and poor, were
neither guarded by walls, nor protected by privileges, and were
exposed to every insult: individuals were obliged to depend for safety
on their own force, or their private alliances: and valour was the
only excellence which was held in esteem, or gave one man the
pre-eminence above another. When all the particular superstitions,
therefore, were here united in one great object, the ardour for
military enterprises took the same direction; and Europe, impelled by
its two ruling passions, was loosened, as it were, from its
foundations, and seemed to precipitate itself in one united body upon
the East.
[FN [n] Order. Vital. p. 720.]
All orders of men, deeming the crusades the only road to Heaven,
enlisted themselves under these sacred banners, and were impatient to
open the way with their sword to the holy city. Nobles, artisans,
peasants, even priests [o], enrolled their names; and to decline this
meritorious service, was branded with the reproach of impiety, or what
perhaps was esteemed still more disgraceful, of cowardice and
pusillanimity [p]. The infirm and aged contributed to the expedition
by presents and money; and many of them, not satisfied with the merit
of this atonement, attended it in person, and were determined, if
possible, to breathe their last in sight of that city where their
Saviour had died for them. Women themselves, concealing their sex
under the disguise of armour, attended the camp; and commonly forgot
still more the duty of their sex, by prostituting themselves, without
reserve, to the army [q]. The greatest criminals were forward in a
service which they regarded as a propitiation for all crimes; and the
most enormous disorders were, during the course of those expeditions,
committed by men inured to wickedness, encouraged by example, and
impelled by necessity. The multitude of the adventurers soon became
so great, that their more sagacious leaders, Hugh, Count of
Vermandois, brother to the French king, Raymond, Count of Toulouse,
Godfrey of Bouillon, Prince of Brabant, and Stephen, Count of Blois,
became apprehensive lest the greatness itself of the armament should
disappoint its purpose; and they permitted an undisciplined multitude,
computed at three hundred thousand men, to go before them, under the
command of Peter the Hermit, and Walter the Moneyless [s]. These men
took the road towards Constantinople through Hungary and Bulgaria; and
trusting that Heaven, by supernatural assistance, would supply all
their necessities, they made no provision for subsistence on their
march. They soon found themselves obliged to obtain by plunder what
they had vainly expected from miracles; and the enraged inhabitants of
the countries through which they passed, gathering together in arms,
attacked the disorderly multitude, and put them to slaughter without
resistance. The more disciplined armies followed after; and passing
the straits at Constantinople, they were mustered in the plains of
Asia, and amounted in the whole to the number of seven hundred
thousand combatants [t].
[FN [o] Order. Vital. p. 720. [p] W. Malm. p. 133. [q] Vertot, Hist.
de Chev. de Malte, vol. i. p. 46. [r] Sim. Dunelm. p. 222. [s]
Matth. Paris, p. 17. [t] Matth. Paris, p. 20, 21.]
Amidst this universal frenzy, which spread itself by contagion
throughout Europe, especially in France and Germany, men were not
entirely forgetful of their present interests; and both those who went
on this expedition, and those who stayed behind, entertained schemes
of gratifying, by its means, their avarice or their ambition. The
nobles who enlisted themselves were moved, from the romantic spirit of
the age, to hope for opulent establishments in the East, the chief
seat of arts and commerce during those ages; and in pursuit of these
chimerical projects, they sold at the lowest price their ancient
castles and inheritances, which had now lost all value in their eyes.
The greater princes, who remained at home, besides establishing peace
in their dominions by giving occupation abroad to the inquietude and
martial disposition of their subjects, took the opportunity of
annexing to their crown many considerable fiefs, either by purchase,
or by the extinction of heirs. The pope frequently turned the zeal of
the crusaders from the infidels against his own enemies, whom he
represented as equally criminal with the enemies of Christ. The
convents and other religious societies bought the possessions of the
adventurers, and as the contributions of the faithful were commonly
intrusted to their management, they often diverted to this purpose
what was intended to be employed against the infidels [u]. But no one
was a more immediate gainer by this epidemic fury than the King of
England, who kept aloof from all connexions with those fanatical and
romantic warriors.
[FN [u] Padre Paolo Hist. delle benef. ecclesiast. p. 128.]
[MN Acquisition of Normandy.]
Robert, Duke of Normandy, impelled by the bravery and mistaken
generosity of his spirit, had early enlisted himself in the crusade;
but being always unprovided with money, he found that it would be
impracticable for him to appear in a manner suitable to his rank and
station, at the head of his numerous vassals and subjects, who,
transported with the general rage, were determined to follow him into
Asia. He resolved, therefore, to mortgage, or rather to sell his
dominion; which he had not talents to govern; and he offered them to
his brother William for the very unequal sum of ten thousand marks
[w]. The bargain was soon concluded: the king raised the money by
violent extortions on his subjects of all ranks, even on the convents,
who were obliged to melt their plate in order to furnish the quota
demanded of them [x]: he was put in possession of Normandy and Maine,
and Robert, providing himself with a magnificent train, set out for
the Holy Land, in pursuit of glory, and in full confidence of securing
his eternal salvation.
[FN [w] W. Malm. p. 123. Chron. T. Wykes. p. 24. Annal. Waverl. p.
139. W. Heming. p. 467. Flor. Wig. p. 648. Sim. Dunelm. p. 222.
Knyghton, p. 2564. [x] Eadmer, p. 35. W. Malm. p. 123. W. Heming.
p. 467.]
The smallness of this sum, with the difficulties which William found
in raising it, suffices alone to refute the account which is
heedlessly adopted by historians, of the enormous revenue of the
Conqueror. Is it credible that Robert would consign to the rapacious
hands of his brother such considerable dominion, for a sum, which,
according to that account, made not a week's income of his father's
English revenue alone? Or that the King of England could not on
demand, without oppressing his subjects, have been able to pay him the
money? The Conqueror, it is agreed, was frugal as well as rapacious;
yet his treasure, at his death, exceeded not sixty thousand pounds,
which hardly amounted to his income for two months: another certain
refutation of that exaggerated account.
The fury of the crusades, during this age, less infected England than
the neighbouring kingdoms; probably because the Norman conquerors,
finding their settlement in that kingdom still somewhat precarious,
durst not abandon their homes in quest of distant adventures. The
selfish interested spirit also of the king, which kept him from
kindling in the general flame, checked its progress among his
subjects: and as he is accused of open profaneness [y], and was endued
with a sharp wit [z], it is likely that he made the romantic chivalry
of the crusaders the object of his perpetual raillery. As an instance
of his irreligion, we are told, that he once accepted of sixty marks
from a Jew, whose son had been converted to Christianity, and who
engaged him by that present to assist him in bringing back the youth
to Judaism. William employed both menaces and persuasion for that
purpose; but finding the convert obstinate in his new faith, he sent
for the father and told him, that as he had not succeeded, it was not
just that he should keep the present; but as he had done his utmost,
it was but equitable that he should be paid for his pains; and he
would therefore retain only thirty marks of the money [a]. At another
time, it is said, he sent for some learned Christian theologians and
some rabbies, and bade them fairly dispute the question of their
religion in his presence: he was perfectly indifferent between them;
had his ears open to reason and conviction; and would embrace that
doctrine which upon comparison should be found supported by the most
solid arguments [b]. If this story be true, it is probable that he
meant only to amuse himself by turning both into ridicule: but we must
be cautious of admitting every thing related by the monkish historians
to the disadvantage of this prince: he had the misfortune to be
engaged in quarrels with the ecclesiastics, particularly with Anselm,
commonly called St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury; and it is no
wonder his memory should be blackened by the historians of that order.
[FN [y] G. Newbr. p. 358. W. Gemet. p. 292. [z] W. Malm. p. 122.
[a] Eadmer, p. 47. [b] W. Malm. p. 123.]
[MN Quarrel the Anselm, the primate.]
After the death of Lanfranc, the king, for several years, retained in
his own hands the revenues of Canterbury, as he did those of many
other vacant bishoprics; but falling into a dangerous sickness, he was
seized with remorse, and the clergy represented to him, that he was in
danger of eternal perdition, if before his death he did not make
atonement for those multiplied impieties and sacrileges of which he
had been guilty [c]. He resolved therefore to supply instantly the
vacancy of Canterbury; and for that purpose he sent for Anselm, a
Piedmontese by birth, Abbot of Bec in Normandy, who was much
celebrated for his learning and piety. The abbot earnestly refused
the dignity, fell on his knees, wept, and entreated the king to change
his purpose [d]; and when he found the prince obstinate in forcing the
pastoral staff upon him, he kept his fist so fast clenched, that it
required the utmost violence of the bystanders to open it, and force
him to receive that ensign of spiritual dignity [e]. William soon
after recovered; and his passions regaining their wonted vigour, he
returned to his former violence and rapine. He detained in prison
several persons whom he had ordered to be freed during the time of his
penitence; he still preyed upon the ecclesiastical benefices; the sale
of spiritual dignities continued as open as ever; and he kept
possession of a considerable part of the revenues belonging to the see
of Canterbury [f]. But he found in Anselm that persevering opposition
which he had reason to expect from the ostentatious humility which
that prelate had displayed in refusing his promotion.
[FN [c] Eadmer, p. 16. Chron. Sax. p. 198. [d] Eadmer, p. 17.
Diceto, p. 494. [e] Eadmer, p. 18. [f] Eadmer, p. 19, 43. Chron.
Sax. p. 119.]
The opposition made by Anselm was the more dangerous on account of the
character of piety which he soon acquired in England by his great zeal
against all abuses, particularly those in dress and ornament. There
was a mode, which, in that age, prevailed throughout Europe, both
among men and women, to give an enormous length to their shoes, to
draw the toe to a sharp point, and to affix to it the figure of a
bird's bill, or some such ornament, which was turned upwards, and
which was often sustained by gold or silver chains tied to the knee
[g]. The ecclesiastics took exception at this ornament, which they
said was an attempt to belie the scripture, where it is affirmed, that
no man can add a cubit to his stature; and they declaimed against it
with great vehemence, nay, assembled some synods, who absolutely
condemned it. But, such are the strange contradictions in human
nature! though the clergy, at that time, could overturn thrones, and
had authority sufficient to send above a million of men on THEIR
errand to the deserts of Asia, they could never prevail against these
long pointed shoes: on the contrary, that caprice, contrary to all
other modes, maintained its ground during several centuries; and if
the clergy had not at last desisted from their persecution of it, it
might still have been the prevailing fashion in Europe.
[FN [g] Order. Vital. p. 682. W. Malmes. p. 123. Knyghton, p. 2369.]
But Anselm was more fortunate in decrying the particular mode which
was the object of his aversion, and which probably had not taken such
fast hold of the affections of the people. He preached zealously
against the long hair and curled locks which were then fashionable
among the courtiers; he refused the ashes on Ash-Wednesday to those
who were so accoutred; and his authority and eloquence had such
influence, that the young men universally abandoned that ornament, and
appeared in the cropped hair, which was recommended to them by the
sermons of the primate. The noted historian of Anselm, who was also
his companion and secretary, celebrates highly this effort of his zeal
and piety [h].
[FN [h] Eadmer, p. 23.]
When William's profaneness therefore returned to him with his health,
he was soon engaged in controversies with this austere prelate. There
was at that time a schism in the church between Urban and Clement, who
both pretended to the papacy [i]; and Anselm, who, as Abbot of Bec,
had already acknowledged the former, was determined, without the
king's consent, to introduce his authority into England [k]. William,
who, imitating his father's example, had prohibited his subjects from
recognizing any pope whom he had not previously received, was enraged
at this attempt; and summoned a synod at Rockingham, with an intention
of deposing Anselm: but the prelate's suffragans declared, that
without the papal authority, they knew of no expedient for inflicting
that punishment on their primate [l]. The king was at last engaged by
other motives to give the preference to Urban's title: Anselm received
the pall from that pontiff; and matters seemed to be accommodated
between the king and the primate [m], when the quarrel broke out
afresh from a new cause. William had undertaken an expedition against
Wales, and required the archbishop to furnish his quota of soldiers
for that service; but Anselm, who regarded the demand as an oppression
on the church, and yet durst not refuse compliance, sent them so
miserably accoutred, that the king was extremely displeased, and
threatened him with a prosecution [n]. Anselm, on the other hand,
demanded positively that all the revenues of his see should be
restored to him; appealed to Rome against the king's injustice [o];
and affairs came to such extremities, that the primate, finding it
dangerous to remain in the kingdom, desired and obtained the king's
permission to retire beyond sea. All his temporalities were seized
[p]; but he was received with great respect by Urban, who considered
him as a martyr in the cause of religion, and even menaced the king on
account of his proceedings against the primate and the church, with
the sentence of excommunication. Anselm assisted at the council of
Bari, where, besides fixing the controversy between the Greek and
Latin churches, concerning the procession of the Holy Ghost [q], the
right of election to church preferments was declared to belong to the
clergy alone, and spiritual censures were denounced against all
ecclesiastics, who did homage to laymen for their sees or benefices,
and against all laymen who exacted it [r]. The right of homage, by
the feudal customs, was, that the vassal should throw himself on his
knees, should put his joined hands between those of his superior, and
should in that posture swear fealty to him [s]. But the council
declared it execrable, that pure hands, which could create God, and
could offer him up as a sacrifice for the salvation of mankind, should
be put, after this humiliating manner, between profane hands, which,
besides being inured to rapine and bloodshed, were employed day and
night in impure purposes, and obscene contacts [t]. Such were the
reasonings prevalent in that age; reasonings which, though they cannot
be passed over in silence, without omitting the most curious, and
perhaps not the least instructive part of history, can scarcely be
delivered with the requisite decency and gravity.
[FN [i] Hoveden, p. 463. [k] Eadmer, p. 25. M. Paris, p. 13.
Diceto, p. 494. Spellm. Conc. vol ii. p. 16. [l] Eadmer, p. 30. [m]
Diceto, p. 495. [n] Eadmer, p. 37, 43. [o] Ibid. p. 40. [p] M.
Paris, p. 13. Parker, p. 178. [q] Eadmer, p. 49. M. Paris, p. 13.
Sim. Dun. p. 224. [r] M. Paris, p. 14. [s] Spellman, Du Cange, in
verb. HOMINIUM. [t] W. Heming. p. 467. Flor. Wigorn. p. 649. Sim.
Dunelm. p. 224. Brompton, p. 994.]
[MN 1097.] The cession of Normandy and Maine by Duke Robert increased
the king's territories; but brought him no great increase of power,
because of the unsettled state of those countries, the mutinous
disposition of the barons, and the vicinity of the French king, who
supported them in all their insurrections. Even Helie, Lord of La
Fleche, a small town in Anjou, was able to give him inquietude; and
this great monarch was obliged to make several expeditions abroad,
without being able to prevail over so petty a baron, who had acquired
the confidence and affections of the inhabitants of Maine. He was,
however, so fortunate as at last to take him prisoner in a rencounter;
but having released him at the intercession of the French king and the
Count of Anjou, he found the province of Maine still exposed to his
intrigues and incursions. Helie, being introduced by the citizens
into the town of Mans, besieged the garrison in the citadel: [MN
1099.] William, who was hunting in the new forest when he received
intelligence of this hostile attempt, was so provoked, that he
immediately turned his horse, and galloped to the sea-shore at
Dartmouth; declaring, that he would not stop a moment till he had
taken vengeance for the offence. He found the weather so cloudy and
tempestuous, that the mariners thought it dangerous to put to sea: but
the king hurried on board, and ordered them to set sail instantly;
telling them, that they never yet heard of a king that was drowned
[u]. By this vigour and celerity, he delivered the citadel of Mans
from its present danger: and pursuing Helie into his own territories,
he laid siege to Majol, a small castle in those parts: [MN 1100.] but
a wound, which he received before this place, obliged him to raise the
siege; and he returned to England.
[FN [u] W. Malm. p. 124. H. Hunt. p. 378. M. Paris, p. 36. Ypod.
Neust p. 442.]
The weakness of the greatest monarchs, during this age, in their
military expeditions against their nearest neighbours, appears the
more surprising, when we consider the prodigious numbers which even
petty princes, seconding the enthusiastic rage of the people, were
able to assemble, and to conduct in dangerous enterprises to the
remote provinces of Asia. William, Earl of Poitiers and Duke of
Guienne, inflamed with the glory, and not discouraged by the
misfortunes, which had attended the former adventurers in the
crusades, had put himself at the head of an immense multitude,
computed by some historians to amount to sixty thousand horse, and a
much greater number of foot [w], and he purposed to lead them into the
Holy Land against the infidels. He wanted money to forward the
preparations requisite for this expedition, and he offered to mortgage
all his dominions to William, without entertaining any scruple on
account of that rapacious and iniquitous hand to which he resolved to
consign them [x]. The king accepted the offer, and had prepared a
fleet and an army, in order to escort the money, and take possession
of the rich provinces of Guienne and Poictou; [MN 2d August.] when an
accident put an end to his life, and to all his ambitious projects.
He was engaged in hunting, the sole amusement, and indeed the chief
occupation of princes in those rude times, when society was little
cultivated, and the arts afforded few objects worthy of attention.
Walter Tyrrel, a French gentleman, remarkable for his address in
archery, attended him in this recreation, of which the new forest was
the scene; and as William had dismounted after a chase, Tyrrel,
impatient to show his dexterity, let fly an arrow at a stag, which
suddenly started before him. The arrow, glancing from a tree, struck
the king in the breast, and instantly slew him [y]; while Tyrrel,
without informing any one of the accident, put spurs to his horse,
hastened to the sea-shore, embarked for France, and joined the crusade
in an expedition to Jerusalem; a penance which he imposed on himself
for this involuntary crime. The body of William was found in the
forest by the country people, and was buried without any pomp or
ceremony at Winchester. His courtiers were negligent in performing
the last duties to a master who was so little beloved; and every one
was too much occupied in the interesting object of fixing his
successor, to attend the funeral of a dead sovereign.
[FN [w] W. Malm. p. 149. The whole is said by Order. Vital., p. 789,
to amount to three hundred thousand men. [x] W. Malmes. p. 127. [y]
Ibid. p. 126. H. Hunt. p. 378. M. Paris, p. 37. Petr. Blois, p.
110.]
[MN Death and character of William Rufus.]
The memory of this monarch is transmitted to us with little advantage
by the churchmen, whom he had offended; and though we may suspect, in
general, that their account of his vices is somewhat exaggerated, his
conduct affords little reason for contradicting the character which
they have assigned him, or for attributing to him any very estimable
qualities. He seems to have been a violent and tyrannical prince; a
perfidious, encroaching, and dangerous neighbour; an unkind and
ungenerous relation. He was equally prodigal and rapacious in the
management of his treasury; and if he possessed abilities, he lay so
much under the government of impetuous passions, that he made little
use of them in his administration; and he indulged, without reserve,
that domineering policy, which suited his temper, and which, if
supported, as it was in him, with courage and vigour, proves often
more successful in disorderly times, than the deepest foresight and
most refined artifice.
The monuments which remain of this prince in England, are the Tower,
Westminster-hall, and London-bridge, which he built. The most
laudable foreign enterprise which he undertook, was the sending of
Edgar Atheling, three years before his death, into Scotland with a
small army, to restore Prince Edgar, the true heir of that kingdom,
son of Malcolm, and of Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling; and the
enterprise proved successful. It was remarked in that age, that
Richard, an elder brother of William's, perished by an accident in the
new forest; Richard, his nephew, natural son of Duke Robert, lost his
life in the same place, after the same manner; and all men, upon the
king's fate, exclaimed, that, as the Conqueror had been guilty of
extreme violence, in expelling all the inhabitants of that large
district to make room for his game, the just vengeance of Heaven was
signalized, in the same place, by the slaughter of his posterity.
William was killed in the thirteenth year of his reign, and about the
fortieth of his age. As he was never married, he left no legitimate
issue.
In the eleventh year of this reign, Magnus, King of Norway, made a
descent on the Isle of Anglesea, but was repulsed by Hugh, Earl of
Shrewsbury. This is the last attempt made by the northern nations
upon England. That restless people seem about this time to have
learnt the practice of tillage, which thenceforth kept them at home,
and freed the other nations of Europe from the devastations spread
over them by those piratical invaders. This proved one great cause of
the subsequent settlement and improvement of the southern nations.