CHAPTER VIII_The Story of Bruges

_William Cliton_

William of Löo, as we have seen, was the legitimate heir to the throne

of Flanders, and if, when Charles fell, he had acted with energy and

determination, there can be no doubt that he would have been able to

grasp the prize he so much coveted, and retain it in spite of his

enemies.

Fortune had been singularly kind to him. He was the only representative

in the direct male line of the dynasty of Robert the Frisian, he was the

favoured candidate of the great house of Erembald; his aunt, the

countess dowager, was his staunch adherent. He had the goodwill of her

second husband, his next-door neighbour, the powerful Duke of Brabant,

who had given him his daughter in marriage. In Henry Beauclerc, who had

married his wife's sister, and whose Norman duchy adjoined the realm to

which he laid claim, he had a friend who knew how to back fair promises

with English gold; and lastly, when Charles was slain, he was within a

stone's throw of the capital. But 'William saw a meteor on the horizon:

the sword of Gervais Van Praet,' and he was too dazzled by it to summon

up courage to help his nearest friends, and when the Erembalds fell, the

grandsons and great-grandsons of Baldwin the Devout took heart to

dispute his claim. The number of them was legion. There was Charles's

nephew, Arnulph of Denmark, and his first cousin Dierick of Alsace;

Baldwin of Mons, the representative of the dynasty of Baldwin the Good;

William Cliton; Stephen of Blois, and perhaps too Henry of England

himself.[16]

The Burgrave of Löo had sat with folded hands when the tide was at the

flood, and in doing so he lost his one opportunity. In vain he now posed

as Charles's avenger. All the world knew of his intrigues with the

Erembalds, and it was more than suspected that his own hands were red

with Charles's blood. His treachery gained for him no new friends, and

disgusted the remnant which in spite of all still clung to him.

On the very day when he was busy hanging poor Isaac of Reninghe[17]

whom, in spite of a monk's cowl, a long face and a book of psalms, his

blood-hounds had smelt out the day before in the Abbey of Terouane,

Louis the Fat disowned him.

'Have nothing to do with William of Ypres,' ran the French King's letter

to the barons and burghers of Bruges; 'have nothing to do with William

of Ypres, because he is a bastard, born of a noble father and a mother

of vile birth, who all her life was a weaver of thread' (it was the same

charge that had stung the Erembalds to revolt; William's mother was a

Karline), 'but come forthwith to Arras, and there choose in my presence

a prince worthy of Flanders.'

II.--Genealogical Table of the Counts of Flanders from Baldwin V. to

Baldwin VII.

=Baldwin V.= = Ethel, d. of Robert

(of Lille) | le Fort, King of France

_d._ 1067 |

+----------+---------------+----------------------+---+

| | | |

=Robert I.= = Gertrude Baldwin VI. = Richilde | Judith = Tostig, son of

(the | of Saxony, (the Good) | of | Earl Godwin

Frisian) | widow of _d._ 1070 | Hainault |

_d._ 1092 | Florence, | Matilda = William

| Count of | | the Conqueror

| Holland | +-------------------+

| and +------------------------------------+ |

| Friesland | |

+--------+------------+-----------------+---------------+ | |

| | | | | |

Robert II. = Clémence Philip = The Lady Adela = Canute, Gertrude = Dierick,| |

| Burgundy Ypres | | of | of | |

| | +----------+ | | |

| +----------+ | +-------+ | |

+------+ | +----+--+ | | |

| | | | | | |

Baldwin VII. *William Cecilia Charles = Marguerite--*Dierick--Sybil | |

1119 of Godfrey | _d._ | 1168 | | |

of Brabant | 1126 | | | |

| | | | |

+--------------------------+ | | | |

| +---------------------------------------------------+ | | |

| | +------------------------------------------------------------+ | |

| | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ |

| | | | |

| | | +----+--------+ +----------+-----------------+------------+

| | | | | | | |

| | | =Arnulph III.= Baldwin I. Robert, *Henry I. Adele = Stephen

| | | _d._ 1071 of Duke of of England, _d._ | of

| | | Hainault Normandy _m._ Adelicia 1137 | Blois

| | | _d._ 1102 | of Brabant | _d._ 1102

| | | | | |

| | | | +----+ |

| | | | | |

| | | *Baldwin II. *=William Cliton= *Stephen

| | | _d._ 1133 _d._ 1128 of England

| | | | _d._ 1154

| | | |

| | | Baldwin III.-------------------------------------+

| | | _d._ 1171 |

| | +------------------------------+ |

| | | |

| +------------------+ +---+----------------+ |

| | | | |

*Arnulph Lauretta = Ivan, =Philip= = Elizabeth =Marguerite= = =Baldwin IV.=

of Count _d._ of of =Hainault=

Denmark of 1191 Vermandois and =VII.= of

Alost =Flanders=

[*] Claimants to the County of Flanders on the death of Charles the

Good.

Louis had already determined who should be the new count, but he was

wise enough to gild the bitter pill, and when the barons reached Arras

he adroitly persuaded them to elect William Cliton, and to secure also

the acquiescence of the burghers. William was only fourth in the order

of succession, but he and Louis had married two sisters, and the French

Queen naturally enough desired to befriend a kinsman on whom fortune had

never yet smiled. Besides, the arrangement fitted in exactly with

Louis's own views. The friendship of Flanders was to him a matter of far

greater moment than the law of primogeniture, he had known William all

his life, and he felt that he could trust him. His young favourite would

doubtless, too, prove a dangerous rival to Henry Beauclerc, the one man

whom Louis feared; with the aid of his Flemish vassals he would be able

to wrest his Norman inheritance from the English King, and perhaps also

the crown of England itself.

When the burghers of Bruges learned what had happened, they were cut to

the quick. That Louis should have offered the communes of Flanders a

voice in the election of their Count, and then presumed to foist on them

the man of his own choice, was something more than injury--it was an

insult. But the French King was backed by a great army; the burghers

were shrewd enough to see that it was more politic to obey, and thus

preserve the outward form of liberty, than to refuse to do so at a time

when opposition was certain to be barren of profitable results, and on

the evening of Tuesday (Easter Tuesday), the 6th of April, Louis and his

nominee were permitted to enter Bruges.

Next day, says Walbert, the King and the Count, with their knights and

ours, our burghers and the Karls of the seaboard, assembled in the

Sablon Field, and there the Cliton solemnly swore to respect the

privileges of the city and of the Church of St. Donatian, and to abolish

the house tax and market dues, so that the citizens of Bruges should be

for ever free. At the same time he acknowledged their right to modify

and correct according to circumstances their own laws and customs. Then

the vassals of Charles paid their homage to William, the mightiest

putting their hands in his, and receiving in return the kiss of

investiture, those of less degree simply bending while the Count touched

them with his sceptre. All the great officers were confirmed in their

rights and privileges, save only the Erembalds, who were declared

incapable of holding office or property in the county.

Although William Cliton was thus legally invested with the sovereignty

of Flanders, his right to govern that province was far from being

generally recognised, and the whole land was rent by factions. William

of Löo was still Count for the men of Ypres; St. Omer acknowledged

Arnulph of Denmark; Audenarde, Baldwin of Mons, to whose standard had

rallied Dierick of Alsace, who for the time being seems to have

relinquished his own claim, whilst the Erembalds, as we know, were still

holding out in their tower at Bruges and still receiving from the great

freeholders of the seaboard assurances of support and help.

Nevertheless, if William could have given his subjects good government,

if he had known how to exercise his new functions with a little tact and

discretion, above all, if only he had been true to his word anent the

abolition of taxes, in all probability things would have gradually

settled down, and little by little men would have acquiesced in his

rule. But William was a Norman, and the Normans had now become more

French and more feudal than the French themselves. A man of this stamp

was little likely to find favour with the Flemish people, who still

retained, along with their rude Northern speech, their ancestors' love

of freedom and justice, and the first incident of his reign was to them

like salt on an open sore.

It happened thus. Shortly after the Count's arrival at Bruges, a certain

citizen, who had married a sister of one of the Erembalds, crept up

secretly, as he thought, to the tower of St. Donatian's, with a view to

a little business talk with his brother-in-law, who owed him a

considerable sum of money. One of Praet's men saw him, and, as all

communication with the besieged had been strictly forbidden, the fellow

was arrested and brought before the Count.

The news of what had happened spread like wildfire, the burghers flew to

arms, and crying out that they would suffer tyranny at the hands of no

man, that the prisoner was a free citizen of Bruges, and that it was for

them to judge him, made a rush for the Loove. Fortunately for William

the doors and windows were barricaded before the mob had time to reach

the palace, and all their efforts to batter them in were fruitless. At

length, when the burghers had expended something of their energy in

red-hot threats and curses, that crafty old knight, Gervais Praet, went

down amongst them, made them a speech, called them friends and

fellow-citizens, bade them bear in mind that it was at their own request

that the Count had appointed him châtelain, averred that in the matter

which had called forth their wrath he had only acted in accordance with

the law, but if they were not satisfied with what he had done, he had no

wish to exercise authority over them, and was quite ready to resign his

châtelaincy. In a word, the oil of his eloquence soothed the burghers

for the moment, and they dispersed to their several homes.

Similar disturbances, arising out of incidents as trivial, occurred

shortly afterwards at Lille and at St. Omer, and in each case they were

with difficulty suppressed after much blood had been spilt, whilst the

heavy fines in which William by way of punishment mulcted those towns

altogether alienated the goodwill of the citizens.

But this was only a beginning. After the conquest of the Erembalds and

the capture of William of Ypres, the Cliton grew bolder. On September

16, one hundred and twenty-five burghers of Bruges and thirty-seven of

Ardenburgh were condemned as Burchard's accomplices. In vain they

protested their innocence and demanded a legal trial before their own

judges. William, in spite of his oath, refused to listen, and all who

were suspected of having given assistance to Charles's murderers were

treated in like manner. Stronghold after stronghold was razed to the

ground, and the Karls of the country-side and the free burghers of the

Flemish cities went forth from the land in thousands.

William's empty purse could not satisfy his rapacious followers. This

was probably the cause of the violent measures he took to discover

Charles's treasure, and of his attempt to re-impose the house tax and

the market tolls. From time immemorial these dues had been granted in

fief to sundry great nobles, who were now clamouring for compensation;

and hence the oath, which he had too inconsiderately taken when first he

undertook the government of the country, only gained for him the

ill-will alike of the knight and the burgher. Thus was he set betwixt

two foes, without the means or the ability to withstand them. At Ghent

the citizens and nobles joined hands, and with stinging words the great

imperial vassal, Ivan of Alost, voiced their common indignation. 'Sir

Count,' he cried, 'if you had intended to deal righteously by this city

and by us who are your friends, instead of authorizing the most odious

exactions, you would have treated us justly and defended us against our

enemies. But, on the contrary, you have violated all your promises and

broken all your oaths, and every obligation arising from our common

plighted troth is thereby cancelled. We know how you have treated Lille

and we know how you have treated Bruges, and we know, too, in what

manner you would like to treat Ghent. 'Let the barons and the burghers

and the clergy of Flanders judge betwixt us, and if it be found, as we

allege, that you are without faith and without loyalty, a perfidious and

a perjured man, then renounce the office you now hold, and we will

choose a worthier Count to govern us.' Cut to the quick, the Cliton

sprang forward. 'Hold,' he cried, 'I free you, Ivan, from the homage

which you have sworn to me, and with my sword I am ready now to prove to

you, my peer, that in all that appertaineth to the government of this

realm I have acted righteously.' But the voice of Ivan was the voice of

the people, he refused the challenge, and it was at length decided that

a great Council should be held at Ypres on the eighth day of the ensuing

month, for the purpose of deliberating on the affairs of the country;

and that all delegates should come unarmed. Meanwhile, determined to rid

himself of his turbulent subjects by stratagem, William, before the

appointed day, betook himself to Ypres accompanied by a large band of

armed retainers, and an armed rabble of the lowest class, so that the

town was filled with soldiers, purposing, when the delegates arrived, to

take them all prisoners. But these last getting wind of the plot, halted

at Roulers, and presently two heralds rode into the market-place at

Ypres, and thus made proclamation:--

'Be it known to you, Sir Count, that Ivan of Alost and the men of Ghent

by our lips proclaim that henceforth they renounce that homage which

hitherto they have faithfully kept to you, because they are well aware

that you have come hither to destroy them by ruse and naughtiness.'

From that moment William's cause was lost. On the 11th of March, Dierick

of Alsace entered Flanders. The great imperial vassals, Daniel of

Termonde and Ivan of Alost, at once rallied to his standard, Ghent

received him with open arms; a little later (March 27), when he reached

Bruges, Gervais of Praet declared in his favour, and three days

afterwards the nobles and burghers assembled in the Champ de Sablon

solemnly deposed William Cliton, and declared Dierick his successor, and

he in his turn solemnly confirmed and increased the rights and

privileges of the city, and made proclamation that henceforth no man

should be condemned on suspicion and without trial for complicity in

Charles's murder.

By this just and politic proceeding he gained the goodwill of the Karls,

and thus supported alike by the nobles, the burghers, and what we should

call the yeomen farmers of the sea coast, nothing could arrest his

progress. Neither the threats of the French King, nor the spiritual

thunder of Archbishop Simon of Tournai, not even the victory which

William and his Normans gained at Axpoel Heath, where so great was the

slaughter that on Dierick's return to Bruges the whole city was filled

with lamentation.

Nothing shows more clearly the unpopularity of William than the barren

results of this victory. Not a single city opened its doors to him.

Presently, when he was laying siege to Alost, he received a mortal

wound, and his death on August 4, 1128, left Dierick master of Flanders.

The night that William died, says Ordericus Vitalis, Duke Robert (his

father), who was in prison at Devizes, and had been there twenty-two

years, felt in a dream his own right arm pierced with a lance, whereupon

he seemed to lose the use of it, and when he awoke in the morning, he

said to those about him, 'Alas! my son is dead.'

Walbert, though he enlarges at considerable length on the iniquity of

'our burghers' in rebelling against their lawful sovereign, gives

William but a poor character. In my opinion, he says, the Almighty

removed this man by death from the county, because he had laid waste all

the land, provoked the inhabitants thereof to civil war, and set at

naught alike the laws of God and of man. Nor did God suffer him to go

the way of all flesh until he had first endured the chastisement due to

his misdeeds. For in sooth Count William will confess amongst the shades

whom he sent before him to the Infernal Regions that, of all those

things he possessed in life, this alone now remains to him--his military

reputation.

Ordericus Vitalis, who represents the Cliton in much more favourable

light, bears witness also to his prowess in battle. 'Ad militare

facinus,' he says, 'damnabiliter promptus.'

[Illustration: A Renaissance Gable]