[247] So both the Annales and the Brut. The name of William
son of Baldwin comes from the Brut two years later.
[248] Brut y Tywysogion, 1092 (1094). “And the people and
all the cattle of Dyved they brought away with them, leaving
Dyved and Ceredigion a desert.”
[249] See vol. i. p. 476.
[250] Ann. Camb. 1095. “Franci devastaverunt Gober et
Kedweli et Stratewi. Demetia, Ceretica, et Stratewi deserta
manent.”
[251] I have no better direct authority for this than the
later Brut, which says under 1094――the chronology is very
confused――that “the Frenchmen led their forces into Gower,
Cydweli, and the Vale of Tywi, and devastated those
countries, and William de Londres [William de Lwndrys] built
a strong castle in Cydweli.”
[252] This comes under the year 1099, and is attributed to
“Harry Beaumont [Harri Bwmwnt].” Is this the Earl of
Warwick? I know no other “Henricus de Bello Monte.”
[253] This is from the same entry in the later Brut. After
mentioning the castles, it is added that Harry Beaumont
“established himself there and brought Saxons from
Somersetshire [Saeson o wlad yr Haf] there, where they
obtained lands; and the greatest usurpation of all the
Frenchmen was his in Gower.” Nothing can be made of this
writer’s dates, even when we accept his facts with a little
trembling.
[254] This account comes only from the younger Brut (79). It
is in fact part of the legend of the conquest of Glamorgan.
But that legend, as we have seen, has elements of truth in
it, and this particular story seems to fit in well with the
general course of events. The men of Morganwg and
Gwaenllwg――that is the modern Wentloog, the land between
Rhymny and Usk――rose and destroyed the castle, Pagan of
Turberville leading them.
[255] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 501.
[256] It is strange that the mention of this great British
success comes only from the English accounts. Just after the
King had left Bamburgh, he heard (Chron. Petrib. 1095) “þæt
þa Wylisce men on Wealon sumne castel heafdon tobroken
Muntgumni hatte, and Hugon eorles men ofslagene, þe hine
healdon sceoldan.”
[257] Chron. Petrib. ib. “He forði oðre fyrde hét fearlice
abannan.”
[258] Ib. “And æfter S[~c]e Michaeles mæsse into Wealan
ferde, and his fyrde toscyfte, and þæt land eall þurhfor,
swa þæt seo fyrde eall togædere com to Ealra Halgena to
Snawdune. Ac þa Wylisce a toforan into _muntan_ and moran
ferdan, þæt heom man to cuman ne mihte.” On the use of the
word _muntas_ see N. C. vol. v. p. 517.
[259] Ib. “And se cyng þa hamweard gewende, forþam he geseah
þæt he þær þes wintres mare don ne mihte.”
[260] Ann. Camb. 1095. “Mediante autumno rex Anglorum
Willielmus contra Britones movit exercitum, quibus Deo
tutatis, vacuus ad sua rediit.”
[261] Ann. Camb. 1096. “Willielmus filius Baldewini in
domino (?) Ricors obiit, quo mortuo castellum vacuum
relinquitur.”
[262] Brut y Tywysogion, 1094 (1096). The words are most
emphatic in the manuscript of the Annales quoted as C;
“Britones Brecheniauc et Guent et Guenliauc jugum Francorum
respuunt.”
[263] Chron. Petrib. 1096. “Eac on þison geare þa heafod men
þe þis land heoldan oftrædlice fyrde into Wealon sendon, and
mænig man mid þam swiðe gedrehtan, ac man þær ne gespædde,
butan man myrringe and feoh spillinge.”
[264] Ann. Camb. C. “Franci exercitum movent in Guent, et
nihil impetrantes vacui domum redeunt, et in Kellitravant
versi sunt in fugam.” The name of the place is given in the
text of the Annals as “Celli Darnauc;” the Brut as “Celli
Carnant.” I do not know its site.
[265] Ib. “Iterum venerunt in Brechinauc et castella
fecerunt in ea, sed in reditu apud Aberlech versi sunt in
fugam a filiis Iduerth filii Kadugaun.” The Brut gives their
names as Gruffydd and Ivor.
[266] So says the Brut, 1094 (1096).
[267] These details of the siege of Pembroke come from
Giraldus, It. Camb. i. 12. As he has mistaken the date of
the whole matter by putting it in the reign of Henry, so he
has mistaken the special date of the siege, which he places
soon after the death of Rhys ap Tewdwr, that is in 1093. His
stories may belong to the movement of 1094; but they seem to
come more naturally here. When the knights have deserted,
“ex desperatione scapham intrantes navigio fugam
attemptassent, in crastino mane Giraldus eorum armigeris
arma dominorum cum feodis dedit, ipsosque statim militari
cingulo decoravit.”
[268] They are brought “ad ultimam fere inediam.” Then
Gerald, “ex summa prudentia spem simulans et solatia
spondens, quatuor qui adhuc supererant bacones a
propugnaculis frustatim ad hostes projici fecit.”
[269] Ib. “Die vero sequente ad figmenta recurrens
exquisitiora, literas sigillo suo signatas coram hospitio
Menevensis episcopi, cui nomen Wilfredus, qui forte tunc
aderat, tanquam casu a portitore dilapsas inveniri
procuravit.” I suppose this means that the Bishop was in a
house outside the besieged castle; otherwise it is not clear
how the Welsh could have got hold of the letter. It seems
also to imply that the Bishop was on friendly terms with the
besieged. But the whole story is a little dark.
[270] Ib. “Quo per exercitum literis lectis audito, statim
obsidione dispersa ad propria singuli sunt reversi.”
Directly after――“nec mora”――Gerald marries Nest. If we could
at all trust her grandson’s chronology, this would throw
some light on her relation to Henry.
[271] Ann. Camb. 1096. “Penbrochiam devastaverunt et
incolumes domum redierunt.” The cattle come from the Brut.
[272] Ann. Camb. 1097. “Geraldus _præfectus_ de Penbroc
Meneviæ fines devastavit.” In the other manuscript he is
_dapifer_, and in the Brut _ystiwart_.
[273] See vol. i. p. 572.
[274] Ib.
[275] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “Se cyng Willelm … mid mycclum
here into Wealon ferde, and þæt land swiðe mid his fyrde
þurhfór, þurh sume þa Wyliscean þe him to wæron cumen, and
his lædteowas wæron.” Eadmer (Hist. Nov. 37), to whom the
details of a Welsh war did not greatly matter, makes
overmuch of these seeming successes; “Rex … super Walenses
qui contra eum surrexerant excercitum ducit, eosque post
modicum in deditionem suscipit, et pace undique potitus
est.”
[276] See vol. i. p. 582.
[277] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “Ða Wylisce men syððon hi _fram_
þam cynge gebugon.”
[278] Ib. “Heom manege ealdras of heom sylfan gecuron. Sum
þæra wæs Caduugaun gehaten, þe heora weorðast wæs: se wæs
Griffines broðer sunu cynges.” On the use of “sum,” see
Earle, Parallel Chronicles, p. 357. It is surely a little
hard when Giraldus (It. Camb. i. 2. p. 28) speaks of his
grandmother’s grandfather as one “cujus tyrannis totam
aliquamdiu Gualliam oppresserat.”
[279] See N. C. vol. i. p. 506.
[280] Ib. vol. ii. p. 396.
[281] Ib. p. 399.
[282] Flor. Wig. 1097. “Post pascha”――he seems to have mixed
up the two expeditions of the year――“cum equestri et
pedestri exercitu secundo profectus est in Waloniam, ut
omnes masculini sexus internecioni daret; at de eis vix
aliquem capere aut interimere potuit.” Cf. N. C. vol. ii. p.
481.
[283] The Brut here waxes so spirited that one is sorry not
to have a better knowledge of the original. “The French
dared not penetrate the rocks and the woods, but hovered
about the level plains. At length they returned home empty,
without having gained anything; and the Britons, happy and
unintimidated, defended their country.” The Annals say,
“Willelmus rex Angliæ secundo in Britones excitatur, eorum
omnium minans excidium; Britones vero divino protecti
munimine in sua remanent illæsi, rege vacuo redeunte.” The
other MS. has, “nihil impetrans vacuus domum rediit.”
[284] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “Þærinne wunode fram middesumeran
forneah oð August.”
[285] Ib. “And mycel þærinne forleas on mannan and on horsan
and eac on manegan oðran þingan.” Florence softens a little;
“De suis nonnullos, et equos perdidit multos.”
[286] See vol. i. pp. 572, 575.
[287] See above, p. 71.
[288] See vol. i. p. 583.
[289] See above, p. 9.
[290] See above, p. 30.
[291] On the story of Godwine and Ordgar, see Appendix HH.
[292] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 620.
[293] Fordun, v. 22 (vol. i. p. 221, Skene). “Fit mox hinc
inde magnus armorum apparatus, pugnaturi conveniunt; Orgarus
favore regis elatus, regiis satellitibus hinc inde vallatus,
insignibus etiam armorum ornamentis splendidus procedit.”
[294] Ib. “Silentio per præconem omnibus imposito, et vadiis
utrorumque a judice in certaminis locum projectis, ut Deus,
secretorum cognitor, hujus causæ veritatem ostenderet,
proclamante, postremo res armis, et causa superno judici
committitur.”
[295] There is no need to go through all the details. The
strangest is when the hilt of Godwine’s sword breaks off;
the blade drops; he picks it up, but naturally cannot use it
without cutting his fingers. It is an odd coincidence that
his son drops his whole sword in his exploit at Rama.
[296] Fordun, v. 22. “Abstracto namque cultro qui caliga
latebat, ipsum perfodere conatur; cum ante initum congressum
juraverit se nihil nisi arma decentia militem in hoc duello
gestaturum.”
[297] “Mox perjurii pœnas persolvit. Cultro siquidem erepto,
cum spes reum desereret, crimen protinus confitetur. Attamen
hæc confessio nihil ad vitam illi profuit elongandam,
undique vero, vulnere succedente vulneri, perfodebatur,
donec animam impiam vis doloris et magnitudo vulnerum
expelleret.”
[298] See N. C. vol. v. pp. 561, 893.
[299] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “Ða uppon S[~c]e Michaeles mæssan
iiii. noñ Octobre, ætywde án selcuð steorra, on æfen
scynende, and sona to setle gangende. He wæs gesewen
suðweast, and se leoma þe him ofstód wæs swiðe lang geþuht,
suðeast scinende, and forneah ealle þa wucan on þas wisan
ætywde, manige men leton þæt hit cometa wære.” Here the
comet shines very brightly, but it shines alone. William of
Malmesbury (iv. 328) adds; “apparuerunt et aliæ stellæ quasi
jacula inter se emittentes.” (We had shooting stars two
years before; see p. 41.) Florence adds yet another portent;
“Nonnulli signum mirabile et quasi ardens, in modum crucis,
eo tempore se vidisse in cælo affirmabant.”
[300] Both the Chronicler and Florence mark that the
departure of Anselm soon followed the appearance in the
heavens; but it is William of Malmesbury who is most
emphatic; “Ille fuit annus quo Anselmus lux Angliæ, ultro
tenebras erroneorum effugiens, Romam ivit.”
[301] So I should understand the words of the Chronicle,
“ferde Eadgar æþeling mid fyrdes þurh þæs cynge fultum into
Scotlande.” But Florence says that the King “clitonem
Eadgarum ad Scottiam cum exercitu misit.” Fordun (v. 5)
makes him go, “collectis undique ingentibus amicorum copiis,
auxilioque Willelmi regis vallatus.”
[302] See above, p. 111.
[303] Fordun tells this tale (v. 25); the younger Eadgar
tells the vision to the elder, who acts accordingly.
[304] We have surely passed the bounds of history when
Robert, accompanied by two other knights, charges the enemy,
slays the foremost (“fortissimi qui ante aciem quasi
defensores stabant”), puts Donald and the rest to flight,
“et sic incruentam victoriam, Deo propitio, meritis sancti
Cuthberti feliciter obtinuit.” The Chronicler says that
Eadgar “þet land mid stranglicum feohte gewann.”
[305] Fordun, v. 26. “Ab ipso quidem ipse Donaldus captus
est et cæcatus, ac carceri perpetuo damnatur.” “Ipso” is the
younger Eadgar; this treatment of Donald would have been
more pardonable in the elder. See more in Robertson, i. 159.
[306] See Robertson, i. 159, and N. C. vol. i. p. 529; vol.
ii. p. 449; vol. iii. p. 431; vol. iv. p. 170.
[307] See Mon. Angl. v. 163, 165.
[308] Will. Malms. v. 400. “Captus vel perpetuis compedibus
detentus, ingenue pœnituit; et ad mortem veniens, cum ipsis
vinculis se tumulari mandavit, professus se plexum merito
pro fratricidii delicto.” Cf. the burial of Grimbald in N.
C. vol. ii. p. 273.
[309] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “Eadgar æþeling … þone cyng
Dufenal út adræfde, and his mæg Eadgar, se wæs Melcolmes
sunu cynges and Margarite þære cwenan, he þær _on þæs cynges
Willelmes heldan_ to cynge sette.” I do not find the words
in Italics represented either by Fordun or by Mr. Robertson.
They are not forgotten by Sir F. Palgrave, English
Commonwealth, ii. cccxxxiv.
[310] The Chronicler tells us that Eadgar “syþþan ongean
into Engleland fór.” And he had just before drawn a vivid
picture of the state of England; “Ðis wæs on eallon þingan
swiðe hefigtyme geár, and ofer geswincfull on ungewederan,
þa man oððe tilian sceolde oððe eft tilða gegaderian, and on
ungyldan þa næfre ne ablunnon.”
[311] Fordun, v. 26.
[312] Ib. This grant is made “episcopo et suis successoribus
Dunelmensibus,” in distinction to the grant of Coldingham,
which was “monachis Dunelmensibus.”
[313] Ib. “De licentia regis ad terram a rege sibi datam in
Laudonia moratus est, et dum castellum ibidem ædificare
niteretur, a provincialibus subito et baronibus tandem
Dunelmensibus circumventus, eodem Ranulfo episcopo agente,
captus est; in qua tamen captione magnam suæ virtutis
memoriam apud totius regionis incolas dereliquit.”
[314] Ib. “Quod rex Edgarus rediens ut audivit, illum ex
præcepto regis Angliæ liberatum, secum in Scociam reduxit
cum honore, et quicquid ante episcopo donaverat, omnino sano
consilio sibimet reservabat.”
[315] See vol. i. p. 564.
[316] See vol. i. p. 269.
[317] This siege and sally is described by William of Tyre,
x. 17, 18, Gesta Dei per Francos, 786.
[318] Will. Malms. iii. 251. “Qui [Baldwinus] cum obsidionis
injuriam ferre nequiret, per medias hostium acies effugit,
solius Roberti opera liberatus præuntis, et evaginato gladio
dextra lævaque Turchos cædentis; sed cum, successu ipso
truculentior, alacritate nimia procurreret, ensis manu
excidit; ad quem recolligendum cum se inclinasset, omnium
incursu oppressus, vinculis palmas dedit.” Cf. iv. 384.
[319] Ib. “Inde Babylonem (ut aiunt) ductus, cum Christum
abnegare nollet, in medio foro ad signum positus, et
sagittis terebratus, martyrium sacravit.”
[320] See vol. i. p. 565.
[321] The story of Robert of Saint Alban’s is told in
Benedict, i. 341, R. Howden, ii. 307.
[322] Fordun, v. 26. “Erat autem iste rex Edgarus homo
dulcis et amabilis, cognato suo regi sancto Edwardo per
omnia similis, nihil durum, nihil tyrannicum aut amarum in
suos exercens subditos, sed eos cum maxima caritate,
bonitate, et benevolentia rexit et correxit.”
[323] See Robertson, i. 163. The passage in Æthelred of
Rievaux to which he refers comes in the speech of Robert of
Bruce to David (X Scriptt. 344; see N. C. vol. v. p. 269).
It seems to imply that David needed English help to keep his
principality. “Tu ipse rex cum portionem regni quam idem
tibi frater moriens delegavit, a fratre Alexandro
reposceres, nostro certe terrore quidquid volueras sine
sanguine impetrasti.”
[324] Mr. Robertson gives her the name of Sibyl. William of
Malmesbury, v. 400, gives an odd account of her; “Alexandrum
successorem Henricus affinitate detinuit, data ei in
conjugium filia notha; de qua ille viva nec sobolem, quod
sciam, tulit nec ante se mortuam multum suspiravit; defuerat
enim fœminæ, ut fertur, quod desideraretur, vel in morum
modestia, vel in corporis elegantia.” I cannot find her in
the list of Henry’s daughters in Will. Gem. viii. 29.
[325] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 602; vol. v. p. 209.
[326] See Robertson, i. 172.
[327] See N. C. vol. v. pp. 237, 238.
[328] See Robertson, i. 123 et seqq.
[329] See N. C. vol. v. p. 305.
[330] Ib. pp. 260-263.
[331] Ib. p. 267.
[332] See above, p. 109.
[333] Eadwine, as Bæda witnesses (ii. 5), held the two
_Mevaniæ_. But _Mona_ appears as Welsh whenever the island
is spoken of in either British or English Chronicles.
Nennius (or the writer who goes by that name) has a heading
(Mon. Hist. Brit. 52 D) of “Monia insula quæ Anglice
Englesei vocatur, id est, insula Anglorum.” In our
Chronicles it is _Mon-ige_ in the year 1000. Our present
story (1098) happens “innan Anglesege.”
[334] I get this phrase from the elder Brut, but I follow
the order of events in the Annales Cambriæ, 1098. “Omnes
Venedoti in Mon insula se receperunt, et ad eos tuendos de
Hibernia piratas invitaverunt, ad quos expugnandos missi
sunt duo consules, Hugo comes urbis Legionum, et alter Hugo,
qui contra insulam castrametati sunt.”
[335] One manuscript of the Annals has “Gentiles de
Ybernia.” See vol. i. pp. 121, 122.
[336] They are “Hugi Prúdi oc Hugi Digri” in the Saga
(Johnstone, p. 234). In the younger Brut, p. 84, the earls
are called “Huw iarll Caerllion a Huw goch [red] o’r
Mwythig.” By Caerleon is of course meant Chester. The elder
Brut confounds the two earls. The bulk of Earl Hugh of
Chester we have long known. In Orderic’s account (768 B) he
is “Hugo Dirgane, id est, Grossus.”
[337] See above, p. 97.
[338] See vol. i. p. 124.
[339] The priory of Penmon was described in 1849 by Mr.
Longueville Jones in three articles in the Archæologia
Cambrensis, vol. iv. pp. 44, 128, 198, and in an earlier
article in the Archæological Journal, i. 118. The date of
the original building cannot be very far off either way from
the times with which we are dealing. The tower-windows are a
kind of transition from Primitive Romanesque to Norman. A
doorway of later Norman character seems to be an insertion.
[340] There is a minute description of the castle, by Mr.
Longueville Jones, in Archæologia Cambrensis iii. 143. The
building of a castle at this time is distinctly asserted in
one manuscript of the elder Brut. But the other Brut under
1096 speaks of Earl Hugh of Chester as already lord of
Aberlleiniog (Arglwydd Aberlleiniawc).
[341] One manuscript of the Annals (1098 C) seems to make
them builders of the castle; “Gentiles pretio corrupti
consules in insulam introduxerunt et castra ibi fecerunt.”
[342] Ann. Camb. u. s. “Relicta insula, Hiberniam
aufugerunt.” The elder Brut adds that it was “for fear of
the treachery of their own men.”
[343] Here Florence (1098) comes to our help. “Interea
comites Hugo de Legeceastra et Hugo de Scrobbesbyria
Mevaniam insulam, quæ consuete vocatur Anglesege, cum
exercitu adierunt, et multos Walanorum quos in ea ceperunt
occiderunt, quosdam vero, manibus vel pedibus truncatis
testiculisque abscisis, excæcaverunt.”
[344] Giraldus, It. Camb. ii. 7 (vi. 129 ed. Dimock). “Est
in hac insula ecclesia sancti Tevredauci confessoris, in qua
comes Hugo Cestrensis, quoniam et ipse fines hos Kambriæ suo
in tempore subjugaverat, cum canes nocte posuisset, insanos
omnes mane recepit, et ipsemet infra mensem miserabiliter
exstinctus occubuit.” The two Hughs are here confounded, as
Hugh of Chester was certainly not killed. But the story of
the hounds sounds specially like him, as he seems to have
been even more given to the chase than other men of his day.
See N. C. vol. iv. p. 491.
A little earlier in the same chapter Giraldus has a tale
about Hugh of Shrewsbury and a wonderful stone, which must
belong to this same expedition, though Giraldus places it in
the time of Henry the First.
[345] Flor. Wig. 1098. “Quendam etiam provectæ ætatis
presbyterum, nomine Cenredum, a quo Walani in iis quæ
agebant consilium accipiebant, de ecclesia extraxerunt, et
ejus testiculis abscisis et uno oculo eruto, linguam illius
absciderunt.”
[346] Ib. “Die tertia, miseratione divina illi reddita est
loquela.” See Milman, Latin Christianity, i. 332, 478.
[347] Florence, directly after, notes that Hugh of
Shrewsbury “die vii. quo crudelitatem in præfatum exercuerat
presbyterum, interiit.”
[348] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 122, 663, 684.
[349] Ord. Vit. 767 B. “De legali connubio Eustanum et
Olavum genuit, quibus regnum magnamque potentiam dimisit.
Tertium vero, nomine Segurd, Anglica captiva sed nobilis ei
peperit, quem Turer, Inghevriæ filius, regis Magni
nutritius, nutrivit.” The Saga however (Laing, 339) calla
Eystein “the son of a mean mother,” and gives the name of
Sigurd’s mother as Thora.
[350] See Ord. Vit. 812.
[351] Compare the story of Turgot in N. C. vol. iv. p. 662.
[352] Ib. 143, 317, 754.
[353] See vol. i. p. 14.
[354] The only mention of Harold the son of Harold which I
have come across occurs in William of Malmesbury’s account
(iv. 329) of the invasion of Magnus, where “rex Noricorum
Magnus cum Haroldo filio Haroldi regis quondam Angliæ,
Orcadas insulas et Mevanias, et si quæ aliæ in oceano
jacent, armis subegit.”
[355] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 326.
[356] Ib. vol. ii. p. 481.
[357] Ib. vol. iii. pp. 476, 487. Roger of Montgomery was in
command of the French contingent, though it is the personal
exploits of Robert of Meulan which are specially spoken of.
[358] Ord. Vit. 767 D. “Hic filiam regis Irlandæ uxorem
duxerat. Sed quia rex Irensis pactiones quas fecerant non
tenuerat, Magnus rex stomachatus filiam ejus ei remiserat.
Bellum igitur inter eos ortum est.”
[359] Laing, iii. 133. This is placed after the death of
Earl Hugh.
[360] See Appendix II.
[361] See N. C. vol. iii. pp. 347, 373.
[362] Chron. Manniæ, 4. “Scotos vero ita perdomuit, ut
nullus qui fabricaret navem vel scapham ausus esset plus
quam tres clavos inserere.” Mr. E. W. Robertson (i. 165)
adds; “Such are the words of the Chronicle; their exact
meaning I do not pretend to understand.” Neither do I, but
Mr. Robertson was more concerned in the matter than I am.
[363] Chron. Man. p. 4. His repentance is thus described;
“Post hæc Lagmannus, pœnitens quod fratris sui oculos
eruisset, sponte regnum suum dimisit, et signo crucis
dominicæ insignitus, iter Jerosolimitanum arripuit, quo et
mortuus est.” This is singularly like the story of Swegen
the son of Godwine.
[364] Chron. Man. 5. “Omnes proceres insularum, audientes
mortem Lagmanni, miserunt legatos ad Murecardum Obrien,
regem Yberniæ, postulantes ut aliquem virum industrium de
regali stirpe in regem eis mitteret, donec Olavus filius
Godredi cresceret.” Murtagh sends Donald with a great deal
of good advice; but we read that. “postquam ad regnum
pervenit, parvi pendens præcepta domini sui, cum magna
tyrannide abusus est regno, et multis sceleribus
perpetratis, tribus annis enormiter regnavit.” Then the
leaders conspire, and drive him out.
[365] See Appendix II.
[366] Chron. Manniæ, 1098 (p. 5). “Eodem anno commissum est
prœlium inter Mannenses apud Santwat, et aquilonares
victoriam obtinuerunt. In quo bello occisi sunt Other comes
et Macmarus, principes ambarum partium.” From the names,
this sounds like a war between Scandinavians and Celts. May
we translate “aquilonares” by “Northmen,” or does it mean
merely the northern part of the island?
[367] See Appendix II.
[368] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 344.
[369] Ib. vol. iv. p. 520.
[370] See the story in Laing, ii. 347, 352. Ælfgifu of
Northampton, who was then in Norway with her son Swegen (see
N. C. vol. i. p. 480), was naturally inclined to unbelief.
[371] This story is told by the Manx Chronicler, 6.
“Episcopo et clero resistente, ipse rex audacter accessit,
et vi regia aperiri sibi scrinium fecit. Cumque et oculis
vidisset, et manibus attrectasset incorruptum corpus, subito
timor magnus irruit in eum et cum magna festinatione
discessit.” This is singularly like the story of William and
Saint Cuthberht, which I have just referred to.
[372] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 341.
[373] Ib. p. 345.
[374] Laing, iii. 129, 133.
[375] Ib.; Johnstone, 231. “En hann setti eptir Sigurd son
sinn til _höfdingia_ ysir eyonom, oc seck hönom rádoneyti.”
It is as well to have the exact Norsk titles of the governor
and his council.
[376] Johnstone, 232. “Magnus konongr kom Eidi sino vid eyna
Helgo, oc gaf þar grid oc frid öllum mönnum oc allra manna
varnadi.” A not very intelligible story follows, how he
opened the door of the little church, but did not go in, but
at once locked the door and ordered that no one should ever
go in again, which was faithfully obeyed. Here, as ever in
Celtic holy places, we find the group of several churches.
[377] Johnstone, ib.; Laing, iii. 130.
[378] Chron. Man. p. 6. “Galwedienses ita constrinxit, ut
cogeret eos materias lignorum cædere et ad litus portare ad
munitiones construendas.”
[379] Ord. Vit. 767 D. “Hiberniam ingredi voluit; sed,
Irensibus in maritimis littoribus ad bellum paratis, alias
divertit.”
[380] Ib. “Insulam Man, quæ deserta erat, inhabitavit,
populis replevit, domibus et aliis necessariis ad usus
hominum graviter instruxit.”
[381] Chron. Man. 6. “Cum applicuisset ad insulam sancti
Patricii, venit videre locum pugnæ, quam Mannenses paulo
ante inter se commiserant, quia adhuc multa corpora
occisorum inhumata erant. Videns autem insulam pulcherrimam,
placuit in oculis ejus, eamque sibi in habitationem elegit,
munitiones in ea construxit, quæ usque hodie ex ejus nomine
nuncupantur.”
[382] Ord. Vit. 767 D. “Alias quoque Cycladas, in magno mari
velut extra orbem positas, perlustravit, et a pluribus
populis inhabitari regio jussu coegit.”
[383] Ib. “Maritimæ vero plebes, quæ in Anglia littus
infiniti Amphitritis incolebant in boreali climate, ut
barbaricas gentes et incognitas naves viderunt ad se
festinare, præ timore nimio vociferatæ sunt, et armati
quique de regione Merciorum convenerunt.”
[384] Ord. Vit. 767 D. “Quondam princeps militiæ Magni regis
cum sex navibus in Angliam cursum direxit, sed rubeum
scutum, quod signum pacis erat, super malum navis erexit.”
[385] Ib. 768 A. “Maxima multitudo de comitatu Cestræ et
Scrobesburiæ congregata est, et in regione Dagannoth secus
mare ad prœlium præparata est.”
[386] See Appendix II.
[387] See Appendix II.
[388] See Appendix II.
[389] See Appendix II.
[390] See Appendix II.
[391] Ord. Vit. 768 B. “Cujus mortem Magnus rex ut
comperiit, vehementer cum suis planxit, et Hugoni Dirgane,
id est Grosso, pacem et securitatem mandavit. Exercitum,
inquit, non propter Anglos sed Hibernos ago, nec alienam
regionem invado, sed insulas ad potestatem meam pertinentes
incolo.”
[392] Ib. “Normanni tandem et Angli cadaver Hugonis diu
quæsierunt, pontique fluctu retracto, vix invenerunt.”
[393] Ib. “Hic solus de filiis Mabiliæ mansuetus et amabilis
fuit, et iv. annis post mortem Rogerii patris sui paternum
honorem moderatissime rexit.”
[394] Ib.
[395] Johnstone, 236. “Aunguls-ey er þridiongr Brettlandz,”
This is strange measurement even if Wales alone is meant,
much more if by “Brettlandz” we are to understand the whole
isle of Britain.
[396] See Appendix II.
[397] Brut y Tywysogion, 1096. “So the French [y Freinc]
reduced all, as well great as small, to be Saxons [Sæson].”
But in the Latin Annals, 1098, the words are, “Franci vero
majores et minores secum ad Angliam perduxerunt.”
[398] Johnstone, 236; Laing, iii. 132.
[399] The treaty is noticed by the Irish writers. Chronicon
Scotorum, 1098. “A year’s peace was made by Muircertach Ua
Briain with Magnus, King of Lochlann.” On the marriage, see
above, p. 136.
[400] Johnstone, 237. “Oc gaf hönom konongs nafn, oc setti
hann yfir Orkneyar oc oni Sudreyar, oc seck hann i hendur
Hák Pálssyni frænda sinom.”
[401] “Mælkolf Skota konong” he appears in the Norsk text
(236). The ceremony of crossing the isthmus is minutely
described, and it is said that ships were often drawn across
it.
[402] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Quo [Hugone] defuncto, Robertus
Belesmensis, frater ejus, Guillelmum Rufum requisivit, eique
pro comitatu fratris iii. millia librarum sterilensium
exhibuit. Et comes factus, per quatuor annos immania super
Gualos exercuit.”
[403] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Angli et Guali, qui jamdudum ferales
ejus ludos quasi fabulam ridentes audierunt, nunc ferreis
ejus ungulis excoriati, plorantes gemuerunt, et vera esse
quæ compererant sentientes experti sunt.”
[404] Ib. “Ipse quanto magis opibus et vernulis ampliatus
intumuit, tanto magis collimitaneis, cujuscunque ordinis
fuerint, auferre fundos suos exarsit, et terras quas prisci
antecessores sanctis dederant, sibi mancipavit.”
[405] Orderic bears him this witness, 766 B, C, in recording
the fortification of Gisors, of which we shall have to speak
presently, “_ingeniosus artifex_ Rodbertus Belesmensis
disposuit.”
[406] See above, p. 100.
[407] See N. C. vol. i. p. 506.
[408] See the Chronicles, 895. In Winchester, Canterbury,
and Abingdon the name is Quatbridge. “Þæt hic gedydan æt
Cwatbrycge be Sæfryn and þæt geweorc worhtan.” Worcester has
“æt Brygce.”
[409] This is distinctly marked by Florence, 1101. “Arcem
quam in occidentali Sabrinæ fluminis plaga, in loco qui
Brycge dicitur lingua Saxonica, Ægelfleda Merciorum domina
quondam construxerat, fratre suo Eadwardo Seniore regnante,
Scrobbesbyriensis comes Rotbertus de Beleasmo, Rogeri
comitis filius, contra regem Heinricum, ut exitus rei
probavit, muro lato et alto summoque restaurare cœpit.” The
work of the Lady is recorded in the Canterbury and Abingdon
Chronicles, 912. “Her cóm Æþelflæd Myrcna hlæfdige on þone
halgan æfen muentione S[~c]e Crucis to Scergeat, and þar ða
burh _getimbrede_, and þæs ilcan géares þa æt Bricge.” It
was therefore not a mere earthwork to be _wrought_, but a
wall of some kind, whether of wood or of stone, to be
_timbered_. This marks the position of Bridgenorth itself as
distinguished from the earthwork at Oldbury.
[410] Domesday, 254. “Ipse comes tenet Ardintone; Sancta
Milburga tenuit T. R. E. Ibi … nova domus, et burgum
Quatford dictum. Nil reddit.”
[411] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 499.
[412] A singular story is preserved in Bromton (X Scriptt.
988). When Earl Roger’s second and better-behaved wife
Adeliza was coming for the first time to England, she was in
danger of shipwreck. Her chaplain, who was on board, had a
vision, in which a certain matron told him that, in order to
lull the storm, his lady must vow to build a church to Saint
Mary Magdalene on the spot where she should first meet her
husband, a spot which was to be marked in a manner not
unknown either at Glastonbury or at Alba Longa; “Præcipue
ubi concava quercus cum tugurio porcorum crescit.” The vow
is made; the Countess meets the Earl hunting; “apud
Quatford, quæ tunc deserta fuit, in loco ubi dicta quercus
crescebat venanti domino suo primo occurrit.” The church was
founded and endowed; but it afterwards became annexed to the
collegiate chapel in the castle at Bridgenorth. Some further
details about this college are given. See also Mon. Angl.
viii. 1463. The foundation at Bridgenorth is attributed to
Robert of Bellême.
[413] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Oppidum de Quatfort transtulit, et
Brugiam, munitissimum castellum, super Sabrinam fluvium
condidit.”
[414] It appears in Domesday, 255, in the form of
“Aldeberie.”
[415] These windows are a distinct case of traces of the
primitive Romanesque even in a military building, just as in
Oxford Castle. See N. C. vol. v. p. 636.
[416] Just as in the case of Conan at Rouen, we must get rid
of the notion of anybody standing on the top of a flat
tower. An English traveller on the continent is struck by
seeing military towers with high roofs; but it is simply
because in England the roofs have been destroyed.
[417] I have not myself seen this site. Mr. Clark writes to
me; “The township of that name is within the Shropshire
parish of Llan y-mynech but a part of an island of Denbigh.
The site, coveted on account of some silver mines, was
conquered soon after the Great Survey, and annexed to the
palatine earldom of Salop, though after the conquest of
Wales it was transferred to Denbigh. The castle stood upon
Offa’s Dyke, and was protected on the immediate south by the
Vyrnwy, and a mile or two to the west by its tributary the
Tarrat. Three British camps to the north and west show how
at least as early as the Mercian days the position had been
watched.”
[418] His lands in Nottinghamshire (Domesday, 284) cover
more than five pages. At one place, Ættune, we read,
“habuerunt x. taini quisque aulam suam.” In other places,
285, 286, we have entries of the same kind of five thegns,
six thegns, and seven thegns. Land in Nottinghamshire would
seem to have been greatly divided T. R. E. The first entry
in Yorkshire, 319, in “Lastone and Trapum,” we read, “ibi
habuit comes Edwinus aulam; nunc habet Rogerius de Busli ibi
in dominio.” In 320, in Hallun, for which we may read
Sheffield, it is said, “ibi habuit Wallef comes aulam.”
The Norman lordship of Roger is written in many ways; he
appears as “Rogerus de Buthleio,” “de Busli,” and other
forms. In the French Ordnance map the name of the place is
given as _Bully_.
[419] See Domesday, 319, and N. C. vol. iv. p. 290.
[420] Domesday, 320. “Hanc terram habet Rogerius de Judita
comitissa.”
[421] Domesday, 113. This is Sanford in Devonshire, which
had been held by a Brihtric, whether the son of Ælfgar or
any other. “Regina dedit Rogerio cum uxore sua.” Very unlike
lands in Yorkshire, it had doubled its value since
Brihtric’s time.
[422] Domesday, 319. It is “Tyckyll” in Florence, 1102. The
history of the place may be studied in Mr. John Raine’s
History of Blyth.
[423] Bæda, ii. 12. “In finibus gentis Merciorum, ad
orientalem plagam amnis qui vocatur Idlæ.” There Eadwine
smote Æthelfrith. Bæda’s description marks Nottinghamshire
as Mercian.
[424] I have had to mention Blyth in my paper on the Arundel
case in the Archæological Journal, xxxvii. 244 (1880). The
monastic part at the east end is gone, and the effect of the
parochial part strangely changed by later additions. No one
would think from the first glance at the outside that the
nave of a Norman minster lurked there.
There are two notices of Blyth in the Normanniæ Nova
Chronica under 1088 and 1090. The first merely records a
grant of the church to the Trinity monastery (also called
Saint Katharine) at Rouen; “a viro venerabili Rogerio de
Bully et ab Munold [sic] uxore sua.” The second records the
gift a second time, and adds, “ibi constituit xiii.
monachos.” He had had dealings with the house before. In the
cartulary of the monastery, No. xliii. p. 444, he sells the
tithe of Bully [Buslei], “quemadmodum sibi jure hæreditario
competebat,” for threescore and twelve pounds and a horse
(“pro libris denariorum lx. et xii. et i. equo”). The
signatures, besides those of Duke William and Count Robert
of Eu, are mainly local, as “Hernaldi cujus pars decimæ,”
“Huelini de Brincourt,”――Neufchâtel that was to be. Mr. A.
S. Ellis suggests that this sale was to supply the lord of
Bully with the means of crossing in 1066. It is odd that
there is no mention of Blyth in the cartulary.
[425] Compare Florence, 1102, with Orderic, 806 C. No one
without local knowledge would guess that “Blida” and
“Tyckyll” meant the same place.
[426] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Blidam totamque terrain Rogerii de
Buthleio cognati sui jure repetiit, et a rege grandi pondere
argenti comparavit.” Mr. A. S. Ellis, in a paper reprinted
from the Yorkshire Archæological Journal, headed
“Biographical Notices on the Yorkshire Tenants named in
Doomsday Book,” suggests that what Robert really bought was
the _wardship_ of Roger’s son. The history of the family
will be found in Mr. Raine’s book and in Mr. Ellis’s paper.
[427] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 537.
[428] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Sicut idem vir multis possessionibus
in terris est locupletatus, sic majori fastu superbiæ sequax
Belial inflatus, flagitiosos et crudeles ambiebat
insatiabiliter actus.” There is no need to take
“flagitiosus” in the special sense.
[429] The authorities for this chapter take in such French
and Cenomannian records as we have. Suger’s Life of Lewis
the Sixth, in the fourth volume of the French Duchèsne,
gives us but few facts as to the French war, but he draws a
vivid general picture. For Maine we have the Lives of
Bishops Howel and Hildebert in the History of the Bishops of
Le Mans in Mabillon’s Vetera Analecta. The accounts there
given have to be compared throughout with the narrative of
the French and Cenomannian wars in Orderic. The strictly
English writers tell us nothing about France, next to
nothing about Maine. Something may be gleaned from the
writers in French rime, as Wace and Geoffrey Gaimar; but
Wace has by no means the same value now which he had during
the actual time of the Conquest.
[430] See N. C. vol. v. p. 99.
[431] See N. C. vol. i. p. 249.
[432] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 130.
[433] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 263.
[434] Lewis is in Suger constantly spoken of as “Dominus
Ludovicus;” special titles for kings’ sons had not yet been
invented.
[435] William of Malmesbury tells the story (iii. 257);
“Pacem cum Philippo rege comparavit [Robertus Friso], data
sibi in uxorem privigna, de qua ille Lodovicum tulit qui
modo regnat in Francia; nec multo post pertæsus connubii
(quod illa præpinguis corpulentiæ esset), a lecto removit,
uxoremque Andegavensis comitis contra fas et jus sibi
conjunxit.” The reason here given for separation seems a
strange one, especially on the part of Philip. Henry the
Eighth, according to some accounts, is said at one stage to
have sought for a wife of his own size. The Queen appears in
Orderic (699 B) as “generosa et religiosa conjux.” It
appears from Geoffrey Malaterra (iv. 8) that Philip next
wished to marry Emma, the daughter of Count Robert of
Sicily; but the trick was found out. It was not easy to
entrap a Sicilian Norman.
[436] This is Orderic’s story. The three wives of Fulk are
carefully reckoned up in the Gesta Consulum (Chroniques
d’Anjou, i. 140) and in the Gesta Ambasiensium Dominorum (i.
191). Bertrada therefore had some reason when we read,
“Bertrada Andegavorum comitissa, metuens ne vir suus quod
jam duabus aliis fecerat sibi faceret, et relicta contemptui
ceu vile scortum fieret, conscia nobilitatis et
pulcritudinis suæ fidissimum legatum Philippo regi Francorum
destinavit, eique quod in corde tractabat, evidenter
notificavit. Malebat enim ultro virum relinquere aliumque
appetere quam a viro relinqui, omniumque patere despectui.”
Some details of the elopement of Bertrada from Tours are
given in the Gesta Consulum, i. 142, and in the acts of the
Lords of Amboise, i. 192. She appears there as “pessima uxor
Fulconis comitis.”
[437] William of Malmesbury (v. 404) lays the blame in a
quarter which we should not have looked for; “Adeo erat
[Philippus] omnibus episcopis provinciæ suæ derisui, ut
nullus eos desponsaret præter Willelmum archiepiscopum
Rotomagensem, cujus facti temeritatem luit multis annis
interdictus, et vix tandem aliquando per Anselmum
archiepiscopum apostolicæ communioni redditus.” (See De
Rémusat, Anselme, 355.) It is hard to have to believe this
of the Good Soul, and one rather takes to Orderic’s version
(699 C); “Odo Baiocensis episcopus hanc exsecrandam
desponsationem fecit, ideoque dono mœchi regis pro
recompensatione infausti famulatus ecclesias Madanti oppidi
aliquamdiu habuit.” Orderic waxes very eloquent on Philip’s
crime.
[438] See his letters in Duchèsne, iv. 2, 3, 4, 7. Ivo
distinctly refuses to have anything to do with the marriage;
but it seems that Philip pretended to have been divorced by
a council under Reginald Archbishop of Rheims.
[439] Betholi Constantiensis Chron., Bouquet, xi. 27, 28.
“1094. In Galliarum civitate quam vulgariter Ostionem
(Augustodunum) dicunt, congregatum est generale concilium a
venerando Hugone Lugdunensi archiepiscopo et sedis
apostolicæ legato cum archiepiscopis, episcopis et abbatibus
diversarum provinciarum xvii. cal. Nov. in quo concilio
renovata est excommunicatio in Heinricum regem et in
Guibertum sedis apostolicæ invasorem et in omnes eorum
complices. Item rex Galliarum Philippus excommunicatus est,
eo quod, vivente uxore sua, alteram superinduxerit.”
[440] Ord. Vit. 669 C. “Permissu tamen præsulum, _quorum
dominus erat_, pro regali dignitate capellanum suum habebat,
a quo cum privata familia privatim missam audiebat.”
[441] Ib. “In quodcunque oppidum vel urbem Galliarum rex
advenisset, mox ut a clero auditum fuisset, cessabat omnis
clangor campanarum, et generalis cantus clericorum.” William
of Malmesbury, v. 404; “Quocirca ab apostolico
excommunicatus, cum in villa qua mansitabat nihil divini
servitii fieret, sed discedente eo, tinnitus signorum
undique concreparent, insulsam fatuitatem cachinnis
exprimebat, ‘Audis,’ inquiens, ‘bella, quomodo nos
effugant.’”
[442] Ord. Vit. u.s. “Quo tempore nunquam diadema portavit,
nec purpuram induit, neque sollennitatem aliquam regio more
celebrabat.”
[443] Her death is recorded in the year 1094 in the
Chronicle of Clarius or of Saint Peter at Sens (D’Achery,
ii. 477), which gives some curious details of the council of
that year, and how the Archbishop of Sens was allowed to sit
on a level with the Archbishop of Rheims.
[444] Ord. Vit. 700 A. “Ludovico filio suo consensu
Francorum Pontisariam et Madantum totumque comitatum
Vilcassinum donavit, totiusque regni curam, dum primo flore
juventutis pubesceret, commisit.”
[445] Ord. Vit. 766 A. “Guillelmus Rufus, ut patris sui
casus et bellorum causas comperit, Philippo Francorum regi
totum Vilcassinum pagum calumniari cœpit, et præclara
oppida, Pontesiam et Calvimontem atque Medantum, poposcit,”
[446] Ib. “Francis autem poscenti non acquiescentibus, imo
prœlianti atrociter resistere ardentibus, ingens guerra
inter feroces populos exoritur, et multis luctuosa mors
ingeritur.”
[447] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “And se cyng þeræfter uppon
S[~c]e Martines mæssan ofer sǽ intó Normandig fór.”
[448] See N. C. vol. v. p. 159.
[449] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “Ac þa hwile þe he wederes abád,
his hired innon þam sciran þær hi lágon þone mæston hearm
dydon þe æfre hired oððe here innon friðlande don sceolde.”
[450] See vol. i. p. 154.
[451] It is hardly an exception when William of Malmesbury
(iv. 320) tells the story of William Rufus’ dialogue with
Helias, which belongs to this time, altogether out of place,
and as a mere illustrative anecdote.
[452] Suger, 283 A. “Similiter et dissimiliter inter eos
certabatur, similiter cum neuter cederet, dissimiliter cum
ille maturus, iste juvenculus, ille opulentus et Anglorum
thesaurorum profusor, mirabilisque militum mercator et
solidator; iste peculii expers, patri qui beneficiis regni
utebatur parcendo, sola bonæ indolis industria militiam
cogebat, audacter resistebat.” Orderic (766 A) says, in a
somewhat different strain, “Philippus rex piger et
corpulentus belloque incongruus erat; Ludovicus vero filius
ejus puerili temeritudine detentus, adhuc militare
nequibat.” This strange statement comes before that quoted
in p. 175.
[453] Orderic (766 A) waxes very eloquent on William, his
host, and its captains, how they could have met Cæsar, and
what not. He gives the list in the text, with the notice,
“Robertus Belesmensis princeps militiæ hujus erat, cujus
favor erga regem et calliditas præ cæteris vigebat.”
[454] Suger, 283 A. “Videres juvenum celerrimum, modo
Bituricensium, modo Arvernorum, modo Burgundionum, militari
manu transvolare fines; nec idcirco tardius si ei ignotescat
Vilcassinum regredi, et cum trecentis aut quingentis
militibus præfato regi Guillelmo cum x. millibus fortissime
refragari.”
[455] Suger, 283 A. “Ut dubius se habet belli eventus, modo
cedere, fugare modo.”
[456] Ib. B. “Angliæ captos ad redemptionem celerem
militaris stipendii acceleravit anxietas, Francorum vero
longa diuturni carceris maceravit prolixitas, nec ullo modo
evinculari potuerunt, donec, suscepta ejusdem regis Angliæ
militia, hominio obligati regnum et regem impugnare et
turbare jurejurando firmaverunt.” So Pyrrhos proposed to his
Roman prisoners to enter his service.
[457] Suger (287, 291) has much to say about “Guido de
Rupe-forti, vir peritus et miles emeritus.” In p. 297 he
describes the castle; “Supersistitur promontorio ardui
litoris magni fluminis Sequanæ horridum et ignobile castrum,
quod dicitur Rupes Guidonis, in superficie sui invisibile,
rupe sublimi incaveatum, cui manus æmula artificis in devexo
montis, raro et misero ostio, maximæ domus amplitudinem rupe
cæsa extendit, antrum ut putatur, fatidicum.” He goes on to
quote Lucan. Orderic (766 B) witnesses to Guys treason;
“Guido de Rupe, Anglorum argenti cupidus, eis favit, et
munitiones suas de Rupe et Vetolio dimisit. Sic alii
nonnulli fecerunt, qui suis infidi exteris avide
obtemperaverunt.”
[458] Cf. N. C. vol. iv. p. 200, for the same state of
things at Nottingham. The like may be seen along the banks
of the Loire.
[459] Ord. Vit. 766 B. “Rodbertus comes de Mellento in suis
munitionibus Anglos suscepit, et patentem eis in Galliam
discursum aperuit, quorum bellica vis plurima Francis damna
intulit.” “Angli” here must take in all the subjects of
Rufus. “Gallia,” I need hardly say, is high-polite for
France, and does not take in Normandy.
[460] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 486.
[461] Ord. Vit. 766 B. “Plerique Francorum qui binis
cogebantur dominis obsecundare, pro fiscis quibus abunde
locupletati sub utriusque regia turgebant ditione, anxii
quia nemo potest duobus dominis servire, animis acriorem
opibusque ditiorem elegerunt, et cum suis hominibus
municipiisque favorabiliter paruerunt.”
[462] Among the Norman prisoners Suger (283 A) counts
“Paganum de Gisortio, qui castrum idem primo munivit.”
Orderic (766 C) gives him, like several other people, a
double name; he appears as “Tedbaldus-Paganus de Gisortis.”
This first fortification of Gisors must be that which is
referred to by Robert of Torigny under the year 1096; “Rex
Willermus fecit quoddam castellum, Gisorth videlicet, in
confinio Normanniæ et Franciæ.” See below, p. 190.
[463] Orderic, 766 B. “Guillelmus rex firmissimum castrum
Gisortis construi præcepit, quod usque hodie contra
Calvimontem et Triam atque Burriz oppositum, Normanniam
concludit, cujus positionem et fabricam ingeniosus artifex
Rodbertus Belesmensis disposuit.” See above, p. 151.
[464] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 494.
[465] Ord. Vit. 766 C. “Illi nimirum insignem Francorum
laudem deperire noluerunt, seseque pro defensione patriæ et
gloria gentis suæ, ad mortem usque inimicis objecerunt.”
This is said specially of the knights of the Vexin; “In illa
quippe provincia egregiorum copia militum est quibus
ingenuitas et ingens probitas inest.”
[466] Suger gives the list, 283 A. Orderic (766 C) also
speaks of the captivity of “Tetbaldus-Paganus de Gisortis,”
and some others. Suger calls Gilbert of Laigle “nobilis et
Angliæ et Normanniæ seque illustris baro.” But his English
estates (Domesday 36, ii. 263) in Surrey and Norfolk were
not very large. Another prisoner was “Comes Simon, nobilis
vir;” that is, I suppose, Simon of Senlis, Earl of
Northampton. See N. C. vol. iv. p. 602.
[467] See vol. i. p. 211.
[468] Ord. Vit. 681 B. “Audientes Cenomanni dissidium
Normannorum cogitaverunt fastuosum excutere a se jugum
eorum, quod olim facere multoties conati sunt sub Guillelmo
Magno rege Anglorum. Hoc Robertus dux ut comperiit, legatos
et exenia Fulconi Andegavensium satrapæ destinavit, obnixe
rogans ut Cenonannos a temerario ausu compesceret, ac in
Normanniam ad se graviter ægrotantem veniret.”
[469] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 562. We shall meet him again in
this character.
[470] See above, p. 172. Orderic’s words (681 D) are,
“viventibus adhuc duabus uxoribus tertiam desponsavit.” But
the accounts of the Angevin writers do not bear this out.
[471] Fulk is made to say (Ord. Vit. 681 C), “Amo Bertradam
sobolem Simonis de Monteforti, neptem scilicet Ebroicensis
comitis Guillermi, quam Heluissa comitissa nutrit et sua sub
tutela custodit.” Presently Count William himself speaks of
her as “neptis mea, quæ adhuc tenera virago est, quam
sororius meus mihi commendavit nutriendam.” Here the word
“virago,” the use of which is a little doubtful, seems
equivalent to “virgo,” unless it is meant that Bertrada had
graduated in the school of her aunt. But see Ducange in
_Virago_.
[472] See Appendix C.
[473] Ord. Vit. 681 C. “Si mihi quam valde cupio rem feceris
unam, Cenomannos tibi subjiciam, et omni tempore tibi ut
amicus fideliter serviam.”
[474] Ib. “Radulfus patruus meus, qui pro magnitudine
capitis et congerie capillorum jocose cognominatus est Caput
asini.” We have heard of him as the murderer of Gilbert of
Eu and the guardian of William the Great. See N. C. vol. i.
pp. 196, 202.
[475] See vol. i. p. 220. Orderic gives the list of
counsellors.
[476] See vol. i. pp. 220, 256.
[477] Ord. Vit. 681 D. “Ex consultu sapientum”――Duke Robert
had his Witan――“decrevit dare minora ne perderet majora.”
[478] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 545.
[479] Orderic tells the tale, 683 B, C. “Qui vivente
Guillelmo rege contra eum rebellare multoties conati sunt,
ipso mortuo statim de rebellione machinari cœperunt,
legationem igitur filiis Azsonis marchisi Liguriæ
direxerunt.” Then they set forth their story, “non pro amore
eorum, sed ut aliqua rationabili occasione jugum excuterent
a se Normannorum, quod fere xxx. annis fortiter detriverat
turgidas cervices eorum.”
[480] Orderic (683 C, D) makes “Gaufridus Madeniensis et
Helias aliique cives et oppidani” join in the reception of
Hugh, therefore seemingly in the mission to him. The
biographer of the Bishops (Vet. An. 292) makes the embassy
the work of Geoffrey only.
[481] Orderic draws his outward likeness, 769 D. “Erat
probus et honorabilis, et multis pro virtutibus amabilis.
Corpore præcellebat, fortis et magnus, statura gracilis et
procerus, niger et hirsutus, et instar presbyteri bene
tonsus.”
[482] Ib. “Eloquio erat suavis et facundus, lenis quietis et
asper rebellibus, justitiæ cultor rigidus, et in timore Dei
ad opus bonum fervidus.” He goes on with details of his
devotions. There is another shorter panegyric in 768 D.
[483] Ib. 684 C. Helias there sets forth his own pedigree;
“Filia Herberti comitis Lancelino de Balgenceio nupsit,
eique Lancelinum Radulfi patrem et Johannem meum genitorem
peperit.”
[484] Ib. 769 A. “Generosam conjugem Mathildam filiam
Gervasii accepit, qui Rodberti cognomento Brochardi fratris
Gervasii Remensis archiepiscopi filius fuit.” On Bishop
Gervase see N. C. vol. iii. pp. 193-196.
[485] Ord. Vit. 769 A. “Helias de paterna hereditate
Flechiam castrum possedit, quatuor vero castella de
patrimonio uxoris suæ obtinuit, id est, Ligerim et Maiatum,
Luceium et Ustilliacum.” We shall hear of these places
again.
[486] Not that the department is called from the town, but
from the river.
[487] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 545.
[488] Ord. Vit. 683 C. “Gaufridus Madeniensis et Helias,
aliique cives et oppidani, venientem Hugonem susceperunt,
eique ad obtinendum jus ex materna hereditate competens
aliquamdiu suffragati sunt.”
[489] Ib. B. “Anno ab Incarnatione Domini m.xc. Indictione
xiii. Cenomanni contra Normannos rebellaverunt, ejectisque
custodibus de munitionibus, novum principem sibi
constituerunt.”
[490] See vol. i. p. 205. Cf. N. C. vol. iv. p. 546.
[491] Ord. Vit. 683 D. “In quantum potuit truculentam
recalcitrationem dissuasit, pertinaces verum interdixit,
pontificali jure anathematizavit, et a liminibus sanctæ
matris ecclesiæ sequestravit. Quapropter rebellionis
incentores contra eum nimis irati sunt, et injuriis eum
afficere terribiliter comminati sunt.”
[492] I am here following Orderic, whose account (683 D)
runs thus; “Interea dum per diocesim suam cum clericis suis
equitaret, et episcopali more officium suum sollerter
exerceret, Helias de Flechia eum comprehendit, et in
carcere, donec Hugo in urbe Cenomannica susceptus fuisset,
vinctum præsulem tenuit.” The biographer of the Bishop (Vet.
An. 291) is of course much more angry with Helias, and seems
quite to misconceive the state of things. Very soon after
the death of the Conqueror, Helias seizes Ballon and makes
war on Le Mans; “Surrexit quidam nobilis adolescens, qui
erat de genere Cenomannensium consulum, Helias nomine, et
cœpit calumniari ipsum comitatum, ingressusque castrum quod
Baledonem nominant, regionem undique devastabat, maximeque
adversus civitatis habitatores, qui ei viriliter
resistebant, multis insidiis assiduisque deprædationibus
grassabatur.” The Bishop opposes him in the interest of Duke
Robert, and then, “Quorumdam perversorum consilio, in tantam
prorupit audaciam ut in christum Domini manum mittere,
eumque apud castrum patrimonii sui, quod Fissa dicitur, in
custodia ponere non timeret.” “Fissa” is La Flèche. This
writer says nothing of the message to Hugh till after the
imprisonment of Howel. It is then set on foot by Geoffrey of
Mayenne, who is described as “Ratus se opportunum tempus
invenisse, quo regionem denuo perturbaret.” We must remember
that Orderic is here writing the history of Maine, while the
biographer is merely writing the history of Howel; but for
that very reason we may trust him as to the details of the
Bishop’s imprisonment.
[493] Vet. An. 291. “Clericos suos ita ab ipsius fecit
præsentia removeri, ut cum nullo eorum nec familiare nec
publicum posset habere colloquium, rusticumque presbyterum
ejus obsequio deputavit, ne custodum calliditas Latina
posset confabulatione deludi.”
[494] This comes from Orderic (683 D), who has some curious
details; “Domini sanctas imagines cum crucibus, et sanctarum
scrinia reliquiarum, ad terram deposuit, et portas
basilicarum spinis obturavit.” The biographer of the Bishops
mentions only the thorns, and he seems to imply that only Le
Mans and its suburbs were thus treated; “Matris ecclesiæ
omniumque ejusdem civitatis vel suburbii ecclesiarum
januas.”
[495] All this is told at some length, Vet. An. 291.
“Helias, pœnitentia ductus, pontificisque genibus
provolutus, veniam precabatur.”
[496] Vit. An. 292. “Cum esset apud castrum quod Carcer
dicitur, occurrerunt ei proceres civitatis, sacramenta
fidelitatis quæ Roberto comiti promiserant pro nihilo
reputantes.”
[497] Ib. “Rotbertus ultra modum inertiæ et voluptati
deditus, nihil dignum ratione respondens, quæ Cenomannenses
fecerant, pro eo quod inepto homini nimis onerosi
viderentur, non multum sibi displicuisse monstravit.” This
is important, now that an attempt is made to saddle Orderic
with the invention of the received character of Robert.
[498] Ib. “Non curare videbatur, nisi ut episcopatus tantum
in ejus dominio remaneret. Unde præcepit episcopo ut ad
ecclesiam quidem reverteretur, de episcopatu vero nullatenus
Hugoni marchisio responderet.” On the advowson of the see of
Le Mans, see N. C. vol. iii. p. 194; vol. iv. p. 544.
[499] Vet. Ann. 292. “Comes malo ingenio episcopum
circumvenire cupiens, postulabat ut ab ipso donum
episcopatus acciperet.” That is, Howel is to do homage to
the new prince, much as Henry the First, as we shall see in
a later chapter, demanded the homage of Anselm. Howel’s
objection seems simply to be that Robert was the lawful
lord, not that it was unlawful to accept the benefice from
any temporal lord.
[500] The troubles of the Bishop are set forth at length by
his biographer (Vet. An. 292 et seqq.). This device of his
enemies in the Chapter was the cruellest of all. Finding no
fault in him, but wishing that some fault should be found,
“sub specie veræ amicitiæ persuaserunt ei ut fraterculum
duodennem qui necdum perfecte litterarum elementa didicerat,
in ejus [decani] loco constitueret, et contra ecclesiastica
instituta inductum prudentibus puerulum senioribus
anteferret.” Geoffrey was a Breton, brother of Judicail――the
name familiar in so many spellings――Bishop of Saint Malo.
See Ord. Vit. 770 C. There was much disputing between him
and the other candidate for the deanery. This was Gervase,
nephew of the former Bishop Gervase (see N. C. vol. iii. p.
193), who had on his side the memory of his uncle, and the
special favour of his brothers with Count Hugh (“quia
fratres ejus eo tempore nimia familiaritate principis
uterentur”).
[501] Vet. An. 294. “Ad regem Anglorum se contulit, ejusque
liberalitate levamen maximum suæ persecutionis accepit.”
[502] The story is told in Vet. An. 294. Howel stayed four
months in England; ib. 295.
[503] Ib. 297.
[504] A great number of grants and privileges are reckoned
up in Vet. An. 298. Among them several exemptions were
granted to the episcopal lordship of Coulaines, a place of
which we shall hear again.
[505] According to Orderic (684 A) the people of Maine found
him “divitiis et sensu et virtute inopem.” The Biographer
(299) calls him “propter inconstantiam suam bonis omnibus
infestus,” and says that he went away, “omnibus quæ habere
poterat in pecuniam redactis.”
[506] Ord. Vit. 684 A.
[507] Orderic (u. s.) graphically sets forth the fears of
one who was “inscius inter gnaros et timidus inter animosos
milites consul constitutus.” He and his countrymen are
“Allobroges,” which seems odd; the men of Maine are
“Cisalpini.”
[508] Ord. Vit. 684 A. See vol. i. p. 277. According to
Helias or Orderic, the reconciled princes could muster a
hundred thousand men. It was, so Helias is made to think,
chiefly for the conquest of Maine that Rufus had crossed the
sea.
[509] Ord. Vit. u. s.
[510] Ib. “Me quoque libertatis amor nihilominus stimulat,
et hereditatis avitæ rectitudo dimicandi pro illa fiduciam
in Deo mihi suppeditat.”
[511] Both Orderic and the Biographer record the sale; the
Biographer throws some doubt on its validity; “Heliæ cognato
suo ipsam civitatem totumque comitatum, _quantum in ipso
erat_, vendidit.” Orderic names the price.
[512] Ord. Vit. 684 D. “Hic in accepta potestate viam suam
multum emendavit, et multiplici virtute floruit. Clerum et
ecclesiam Dei laudabiliter honoravit, et missis servitioque
Dei quotidie ferventer interfuit. Subjectis æquitatem
servavit pacemque pauperibus _pro posse suo_ tenuit.” He
comes in again for the like praise in 768 D, and more fully
in 769 D.
[513] His works are described by the Biographer, Vet. An.
299, 300.
[514] Vet. An. 299.
[515] See above, p. 15, and vol. i. p. 227.
[516] Vet. An. 301. “Ei [papæ] cum omni comitatu suo per
triduum cuncta necessaria hilariter et abundantissime
ministravit, quamvis eodem anno non solum annonæ, sed et
omnium quæ ad cibum pertinent, maximum constet exstitisse
defectum.” The Biographer is naturally eloquent on the
Pope’s visit.
[517] He appeared (Vet. An. ib.) “facie hilaris, colore
vividus, ingenio perspicax, cibo et potu sobrius, membrisque
omnibus incolumis.”
[518] Orderic (769 A) makes Helias say, “Consilio papæ
crucem Domini pro servitio ejus accepi.” He does not mention
the visit of Urban to Le Mans, nor does the Biographer
mention the crusading vow of Helias; but the two accounts
fit in together.
[519] See their dialogue in Laing, iii. 178.
[520] Orderic (769 A) describes the agreement between
William and Robert, and the payment of the pledge-money (see
vol. i. p. 559). Then he adds; “Helias comes ad curiam regis
Rothomagum venit. Qui postquam diu cum duce consiliatus
fuit, ad regem accessit.”
[521] See vol. i. pp. 175, 302.
[522] Ord. Vit. 769 A. “Domine _mi_ rex … amicitiam, _ut
vester fidelis_, vestram deposco, et hoc iter cum pace
vestra inire cupio.”
[523] Ib. “Quo vis vade; sed Cenomannicam urbem cum toto
comitatu mihi dimitte, quia quidquid pater meus habuit volo
habere.”
[524] Ib. 769 B. “Si placitare vis, judicium gratanter
subibo, et patrium jus, secundum examen regum, comitumque et
episcoporum, perdam aut tenebo.” I cannot see with Sir
Francis Palgrave (iv. 633) that this proposal “indicates
that Helias assumed the existence of a High Court of Peers,
possessing jurisdiction over the whole Capetian
monarchy――that realm to which the name of _France_ can
scarcely yet be given.” Surely Helias simply means to refer
the matter to arbitration.
[525] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Ensibus et lanceis innumerisque
missilibus tecum placitabo.”
[526] Ord. Vit. 769 C. “Ipse mihi Cænomannorum præposituram
dignatus est commendare.” The strictly feudal language is
worth noticing; but “præpositura” is an odd word to express
the countship of Maine.
[527] I give the substance of the speech in Orderic, 769 B,
C.
[528] Ib. “Ego contra cruciferos prœliari nolo, sed urbem
quam pater meus in die transitus sui nactus erat mihi
vendicabo.”
[529] Ib. “Tu igitur dilapsos aggeres munitionum tuarum
summopere repara, et cœmentarios lapidumque cæsores lucri
cupidos velociter aggrega, vetustasque neglectorum ruinas
murorum utcumque resarciendo restaura.”
[530] Ib. “Cinomannicos enim cives quantocius visitabo, et
centum milia lanceas cum vexillis ante portas eis
demonstrabo; nec tibi sine calumnia hæreditatem meam
indulgebo.”
[531] Ord. Vit. 769 C. “Currus etiam pilis atque sagittis
onustos illuc bobus pertrahi faciam. Sed ego ipse cum multis
legionibus armatorum bubulcos alacriter boantes ad portas
tuas præcedam. Hæc verissime credito et complicibus tuis
edicito.” All this talk is at least very characteristic of
William Rufus.
[532] Ord. Vit. 770 C. “Helias comes Goiffredum Britonem,
decanum ejusdem ecclesiæ, ad episcopatum elegit.” See above,
p. 201.
[533] Vet. An. 303. “A domno Hoello venerabilis memoriæ
episcopo Cenomannensis ecclesiæ scholarum magister et
archidiaconus factus.” He was “ex Lavarzinensi castro,
mediocribus quidem sed honestis exortus parentibus.” On his
relations to Helias see Appendix KK.
[534] Ord. Vit. 770 C. “Præveniens clerus Hildebertum de
Lavarceio archidiaconum in cathedra pontificali residere
compulit, et altæ vocis cum jubilatione tripudians cantavit
Te Deum laudamus, et cetera quæ usus in electione præsulis
exposcit ecclesiasticus.” An. Vet. 303. “Post discessum
ipsius [Hoelli] proper scientiæ et honestatis suæ meritum,
_communi cleri plebisque assensu_ in ejus loco substitutus
est.”
[535] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Quod Helias ut comperiit, valde
iratus resistere voluit. Sed clericis dicentibus illi,
Electionem tuam ecclesiasticæ præferre non debes electioni,
reveritus, quia Deum timebat, siluit et, ne letale in
membris ecclesiæ schisma fieret, canonicis consensit.” For
Saint Eadward’s opposite conduct in the like case, see N. C.
vol. ii. p. 120.
[536] Ib. “Goiffredus quippe de præsulatu securus erat,
jamque copiosas dapes pro sublimatione sui præparaverat.
Paratæ quidem dapes ab avidis comessoribus absumptæ sunt.
Sed ipsum Cenomanni episcopum habere penitus recusaverunt.”
He then mentions his promotion to Rouen.
[537] The story of Hildebert’s dealings with the heretic
Henry are told at large by the Biographer, 312 et seqq. See
also Milman, Latin Christianity, iv. 176.
[538] Vet. An. 326. He became Archbishop, “concedente
Ludovico rege Francorum, Cenomannensibus et Turonensibus
clericis et populis devotum præbentibus assensum.” The King
therefore kept at Tours the right of advowson which he had
lost at Le Mans. But had Hildebert, like Anselm (see vol. i.
pp. 397, 404), to get leave from his church to go away, or
had Cenomannian electors any share in choosing the
Metropolitan? Orderic (770 D) says that he was chosen “a
clero et populo,” seemingly of Tours, and “nutu Dei.” He
does not mention any action on the part of Le Mans.
[539] See above, p. 200.
[540] Vet. An. 305. “Eo tempore inter regem Anglorum et
Heliam comitem bellum gravissimum exortum est, pro eo
scilicet quod idem rex Cenomannensem episcopatum
calumniabatur [cf. N. C. vol. iii. p. 194], ideoque
ordinationi episcopi moliebatur obsistere.”
[541] Ib. “Cum eum ordinatum audisset, inimicitiarum quas
dudum mente conceperat manifestis bellorum incursibus
patefecit.” He gives no details of the war till the capture
of Helias.
[542] Ord. Vit. 770 A. “Helias castrum apud Dangeolum contra
Rodbertum Talavacium firmavit, ibique satellites suos ad
defensandos incolas terræ suæ collocavit.”
[543] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 552, 652.
[544] Ord. Vit. 770 A. “Inde præfatus tyrannus, quod vicina
passim depopulari arva non posset, contristatus est.
Intempestivus igitur mense Januario regem inquietavit.” Then
comes his speech; and then, “invitus rex pluribus ex causis
expeditionem inchoavit, sed Rodberto instigante et prospera
pollicente, differre, ne ignavus putaretur, erubuit.”
[545] Ib. “Principalis ordinatio provinciales competentibus
armaturis munitos adscivit, et ad transitus aquarum
sepiumque difficilesque aditus silvarum in hostes coaptavit.
Tunc rex inimicis nihil nocere potuit.” He now gives his
orders to Robert of Bellême, and we hear no more of him
personally in Maine till after the capture of Helias.
[546] Ord. Vit. 770 A. “Rex … rancore stomachatus ferocior
in illos exarsit, et Rodberto ingentem familiam bellatorum
suis in municipiis adunare præcepit, et copiosos pecuniæ
sumptus erogavit, unde municipia ejus vallis et muris et
multiplicibus zetis undique clauderentur et bellicosis larga
stipendiariis donativa largirentur.”
[547] Ib. B. “Oppida nova condidit, et antiqua præcipitibus
fossis cingens admodum firmavit.”
[548] Ib. “Novem in illo comitatu habuit castra, id est
Blevam et Perretum, Montem de Nube et Soonam, Sanctum
Remigium de Planis, et Orticosam, Allerias et Motam Galterii
de Clincampo, Mamerz, et alias domos firmas quamplurimas.”
On “domus firmæ,” see N. C. vol. ii. p. 625.
[549] Ord. Vit. 770 B. “Hæc siquidem regio censu argutus
artifex sibi callide præparavit, et in his bestialis sævitiæ
colonos vicinisque suis malefidos collocavit, per quos
arrogantiæ suæ satisfaceret, et atrocem guerram in
Cænomannos exercuit.” Our own chronicler in Stephen’s day
goes even beyond Orderic’s rhetoric. The “devils and evil
men” outdo even the “bestialis sævitiæ coloni.”
[550] Orderic tells all this out of place, 768 C, D. “Terras
quas prisci antecessores sanctis dederant, sibi mancipavit.
Is jamdudum in Cænomannico consulatu castra violenter in
alieno rure construxit, in possessionibus scilicet sancti
Petri de Cultura et sancti Vincentii martyris, quibus
colonos graviter oppressit.”
[551] Ib. They fought “in nomine Domini, invocato sancto
Juliano pontifice.”
[552] See vol. i. p. 273, and Appendix M.
[553] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Pro quibus Cænomannenses maximas
redemptiones habuerunt, et sic injurias sanctorum et damna
suorum ulti sunt.”
[554] Ord. Vit. 770 B. “In quadragesima, dum peccatores
cælitus compuncti prava relinquunt, et ad medicamentum
pœnitentiæ pro transactis sceleribus trepidi confugiunt, in
carcere Rodberti plusquam trecenti vinculati perierunt. Qui
multam ei pecuniam pro salute sua obtulerunt, sed crudeliter
ab eo contempti, fame et algore aliisque miseriis
interierunt.”
[555] I infer as much from the somewhat vague words of
Orderic, 771 A; “Helias comes hebdomada præcedente
rogationes expeditionem super Robertum fecit, et facto
discursu post nonam suos remeare præcepit.”
[556] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Illis autem redeuntibus, comes cum
septem militibus a turma sua segregatus, prope Dangeolum
divertit, ibique in condensis arboribus et frutectis
latitantes quosdam advertit, in quos statim cum paucis
sodalibus irruit.” So the Biographer (Vet. An. 305); “Dum
comes Helias … hostes qui adversus eum venerant incautius
sequeretur, ab ipsis, proh dolor! comprehensus est.” Wace,
who tells the whole story in the wildest order, and makes
the capture of Helias follow the siege of Mayet, preserves
(15100) the memory of the ambush;
“Mais Normanz par une envaïe
Unt retenu li conte Helie
Li conte unt pris è retenu
Et el rei l’uat tot sain rendu.”
[557] Ord. Vit. 771 A. “Rodbertus in insidiis ibi latitabat.
Qui ut paucos incaute discurrentes vidit, vafer militiæque
gnarus ex improviso cum plurimis prosiluit, comitemque mox
et Herveum de Monteforti signiferum ejus et pene omnes alios
comprehendit.”
The Angevin version (Chron. S. Alb. Andeg. 1098) is somewhat
different; “Helias comes Cenomannorum captus est a Rotberto
de Belesma, _defectione suorum_, iv. kal. Maii, feria iv. et
redditus Willelmo secundo regi Anglorum.” There is nothing
in the fuller story of Orderic to bear out the charge in
Italics; but it might be an easy inference from the Count’s
small attendance.
[558] Ord. Vit. 776 A. “Prævii exercitus, postquam Balaonem
alacres pervenerunt, per eos qui evaserunt captum esse
audierunt, subitoque post inanem lætitiam ingenti mœrore
pariter inebriati sunt.”
[559] Ord. Vit. 771 B. “Rodbertus deinde regi Heliam
Rothomagum præsentavit, quem rex honorifice custodiri
præcepit.” I do not think that this is set aside by the
words of the Biographer (Vet. An. 305); “Rotomagum usque
productus, in arce ipsius civitatis in vincula conjectus
est.” For “vincula,” like Orderic’s own “carcer” in 771 B,
is a vague kind of word which need not be always taken
literally. Orderic adds; “Non enim militibus erat crudelis,
sed blandus et dapsilis, jocundus et affabilis.” This, with
the proper emphasis on “militibus,” is the very picture of
the Red King. Wace however, who is also strong about the
fetters, seems to have mistaken it for a character of Helias
(15106);
“Li reis à Roem l’envéia
E garder le recomenda;
En la tour le rova garder
Et en bones buies fermer.
Helies fu boen chevaliers,
Bels fu è genz è bien pleniers,” &c.
He goes on with a speech of Helias to his guardians, which
seems to be made out of his speech to the King in Orderic,
773 B.
[560] See below, p. 230, note 2.
[561] Ord. Vit. 771 B. “Felici fortuna rex Guillelmus sibi
arridente tripudiavit, et convocatis in unum Normanniæ
baronibus, ait, Hactenus de nanciscenda hæreditate paterna
negligenter egi, quia pro cupiditate ruris augendi populos
vexare vel homines perimere nolui.”
[562] Ord. Vit. 771 B. “Nunc autem, ut videtis, me
nesciente, hostis meus captus est, Deoque volente, _qui
rectitudinem meam novit_, mihi traditus est.” Here we get
the sentiment of the wager of battle.
[563] 2 Kings x. 9.
[564] Ord. Vit. u.s. “Communi consilio, domine rex,
decernimus ut jussione vestra universus Normannorum
aggregetur exercitus, cum quo nos omnes ad obtinendam
Cænomannorum regionem audacter et alacriter ibimus.”
[565] Ord. Vit. 771 B. “Franci ergo et Burgundiones, Morini
et Britones, aliæque vicinæ gentes ad liberalem patricium
concurrerunt, et phalanges ejus multipliciter auxerunt.”
[566] Ib. D. “Gilo de Soleio, de nobilissimis Gallorum
antiquus heros, de familia Henrici regis Francorum, qui
multas viderat et magnas congregationes populorum, in arduo
monte stans, turmas armatorum undique prospexit, et
quinquaginta millia virorum inibi esse autumavit, nec se
unquam citra Alpes tantum insimul exercitum vidisse
asseruit.”
[567] Cf. N. C. vol. v. p. 268.
[568] I have quoted Wace’s accurate bit of geography on this
head, N. C. vol. ii. p. 291.
[569] Ord. Vit. 771 C. “Mense Junio Guillelmus rex per
Alencionem exercitum duxit, multisque millibus stipatus,
hostium regionem formidabilis intravit.” Yet, after his
dealings with Ralph and the others, we read (ib. D), “Prima
regis mansio in terra hostili apud Ruceiam [see below, p.
232] fuit.” This surely means that his head-quarters still
remained at Alençon, though he doubtless made raids on the
Cenomannian side of the river.
[570] Ib. “Militum vero turmæ regio jussu Fredernaium
repente adierunt, et cum oppidanis equitibus militari
exercitio ante portas castri aliquantulum certaverunt.”
[571] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 558.
[572] See N. C. vol. ii. pp. 269, 624.
[573] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 652.
[574] Ord. Vit. 771 C. “A sublimitate vestra requiro, domine
rex, inducias, donec salvus de Cænomannis redeas. Illic enim
præsul et senatorum concio consistit, ibique communis
quotidie de statu reipublicæ tractatus et providentia fit.
Quidquid ibi pactum fuerit vobiscum nos gratanter
subsequemur, et jussionibus vestris in omnibus obsequemur.
Hæc idcirco, domine rex, loco majorum natu consilio, quia,
si sine bello primus defecero pariumque meorum desertor
primus pacem iniero, omni sine dubio generi meo dedecus et
improperium generabo. Membra caput subsequi debent, non
præcedere; et faceti legitimique vernulæ magis optant
obsequi domino quam jubere.” The words here especially the
“faceti legitimique vernulæ,” are doubtless Orderic’s; but
surely the very strangeness of the proposal is almost enough
to show that he is recording a real transaction.
[575] Ib. D. “Hæc et plura similia dicentem rex laudavit, et
quæ postulata fuerant annuit.”
[576] Ord. Vit. 771 D. We first heard of Geoffrey as long
ago as 1055. See N. C. vol. ii. p. 167.
[577] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 553.
[578] The Biographer (Vet. An. 305) says nothing of the
bargain with Ralph and the other lords; but he says that
“rex Anglorum, cernens civitatem principis sui præsidio
destitutam, quorumdam perfidorum civium assensu illuc
accedere properavit.” We need not take “cives” too strictly;
and if anything like the _commune_ had been set up again,
the lords would be “cives.”
[579] Chron. S. Alb. And. 1098. “Fulco Andegavorum comes,
Rechin cognominatus, Cenomanniam urbem _ut suam_ sequenti
sabbato recepit.” The date is reckoned from the capture of
Helias. So Ord. Vit. 772 A. “Fulco cognomento Richinus,
Andegavorum comes, ut Heliam captum audivit, Cænomannis,
_quia capitalis dominus erat_, actutum advenit, et a civibus
libenter susceptus, munitiones militibus et fundibulariis
munivit.” The local writer (Vet. An. 305) is silent about
Fulk’s lordship, but remembers the family connexion between
him and Helias; “Quo comperto, Fulco Andegavorum comes
protinus cum filio suo Gaufrido, cui filia Heliæ comitis jam
desponsata fuerat, in civitatem advenit, et consensu civium
in munitionibus civitatis custodiam posuit.” The “consensus
civium” sounds like a formal act of the municipal body.
[580] Eremburga, who afterwards married the younger Fulk,
seems to have been at an earlier time promised to his
half-brother Geoffrey. See Gesta Consulum, Chroniques
D’Anjou, i. 143.
[581] Vet. An. 305. “Ibi relicto filio ad alia negotia
properavit.”
[582] See above, p. 229, note 1.
[583] Ord. Vit. 771 D. “Sequenti die rex ad Montem Bussoti
castra metatus pernoctavit.”
[584] Ib. “Tertia die Colunchis venit, et in pratis Sartæ
figi multitudinis tentoria imperavit.”
[585] See above, p. 221.
[586] Vet. An. 305. “Circa Colonias vicum episcopalem cum
magno exercitu consedit, ipsumque vicum cum ecclesia quæ
ibidem erat igne concremavit, et omnia quæ ibi episcopus
habebat crudeliter devastavit. Oderat enim illum … pro eo
quod contra calumniam illius episcopatum acceperat.”
[587] See N. C. vol. i. p. 423.
[588] Vet. An. 306. “Cives cum bellico apparatu de civitate
egressi, contra ejus exercitum viriliter obsidere
conabantur. Rex autem, perfidorum consilio se intelligens
deceptum, facto vespere, cum imminentis noctis profundum
silentium advenisset, cum exercitu suo clam discessit et
castra vacua hostibus dereliquit. Cives autem mane
surgentes, cum semetipsos ad pugnam præparare cœpissent,
comperto regis abscessu, castra illius invaserunt, et
neminem ibi reperientes ad propria reversi sunt.” Orderic
(772 A) substitutes a drawn battle by daylight, and mentions
the occupation of Ballon; but they both agree in the main
fact that Rufus, for whatever cause, withdrew from before Le
Mans for a season. Ballon is spoken of as “fortissima mota,
per quam totum oppidum adversariis subactum paruit.”
[589] Some of Orderic’s expressions (772 B) are worth
notice. “Diuturnam obsidionem tenere nequivit. Nam egestas
victus gravis hominibus et equis instabat, quia tempus inter
veteres et novas fruges tunc iter agebat. Sextarius avenæ
decem solidis Cænomannensium vendebatur, sine qua cornipedum
vigor _in occidentalibus climatibus_ vix sustentatur.” Such
a straw as this shows how the crusades had made the East and
its ways present to men’s minds.
[590] Ord. Vit. ib. “Rex legiones suas relaxavit, et messes
suas in horreis recondi præcepit, atque ut post collectionem
frugum obsidere hostium castra parati essent, commonuit.”
[591] Ord. Vit. 772 C. “Dum comes et exercitus in tentoriis
suis pranderent, et mendici de oppido accepta stipe obsessis
renuntiarent quod obsidentes tunc, videlicet circa tertiam,
comederent, in armis ordinatæ acies militum subito
prosilierunt, et inermes ad mensam residentes ex insperato
proturbaverunt, et pluribus captis omnes alios fugaverunt.”
He gives the numbers with a few names, and enlarges on their
greatness.
[592] Ord. Vit. 772 D. “Jussit omnes protinus absolvi [they
are just before called ‘vinculati’], eisque cum suis in
curia foris ad manducandum copiose dari, et per fidem suam
usque post prandium liberos dimitti. Cumque satellites ejus
objicerent quod in tanta populi frequentia facile
aufugerent, rex illorum duritiæ obstitit, et pro vinctis eos
redarguens dixit, Absit a me ut credam quod probus miles
violet fidem suam. Quod si fecerit, omni tempore velut exlex
et despicabilis erit.”
[593] Ib. “Fulco comes de obsidione ad urbem confugerat, et
in cœnobiis sanctorum exitus rerum exspectabat.”
[594] See Appendix LL.
[595] See Appendix LL.
[596] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 498; vol. iv. p. 73.
[597] Ord. Vit. 773 A. “Milites electos loricis et galeis et
omni armatura fulgentes.”
[598] Ib. “Protinus illi, custodibus egressis, cunctas urbis
munitiones nacti sunt, et in principali turre vexillum regis
cum ingenti tropæo levaverunt. In crastinum rex post illos
mille præclaros milites direxit, et pro libitu suo datis
legibus totam civitatem possedit. Regia turris et Mons
Barbatus atque Mons Barbatulus regi subjiciuntur, et
_merito, quia a patre ejus condita noscuntur_.” In these
last words Orderic throws himself fully into the position of
Rufus. The Biographer (Vet. An. 306) says; “Rex recepta
civitate et positis in munitionibus ejus copiosis virorum,
armorum, escarumque præsidiis, _in Angliam transfretavit_.”
This last statement is clearly wrong.
On the fortresses of Le Mans, see Appendix MM.
[599] Ord. Vit. 773 A. “Omnes cives in pace novo principi
congratulantur plausibus et cantibus variisque gestibus.
Tunc Hildebertus præsul et clerus et omnis plebs obviam regi
cum ingenti gaudio processerunt, et psallentes in basilicam
sancti Gervasii martyris perduxerunt.” See Appendix LL.
The joy, one would think, was a little conventional, and
there is no sign of it in the native writer. Cf. N. C. vol.
iii. p. 550.
[600] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 206.
[601] See Appendix NN.
[602] Ord. Vit. 773 D. “Guillelmo Ebroicensium comiti et
Gisleberto de Aquila, aliisque probis optimatibus urbem
servandam commisit, et regiam turrem armis et cibis et
omnibus necessariis opime instructam Galterio Rothomagensi
filio Ansgerii commendavit.” Is this Walter the brother of
the William of whom we heard above?
[603] Ib. “Radulfus vicecomes et Goisfredus de Meduana,
Robertusque Burgundio, aliique totius provinciæ proceres
regi confœderati sunt, redditisque munitionibus, datis ab eo
legibus solerter obsecundarunt.”
[604] Ord. Vit. 773 B. See Appendix OO.
[605] Ib. “Niger et hispidus.” See above, p. 196.
[606] See Appendix OO.
[607] Ord. Vit. 773 B. “Callidus _senex_ regalibus consiliis
et judiciis præerat. Quapropter in prætorio principali parem
seu potiorem perpeti metuebat.” See vol. i. pp. 186, 551.
“Senex” seems too strong a word.
[608] Ord. Vit. 773 C. “Helias conductum per terram regis ab
illo requisivit, quo accepto liber ad sua gaudentibus amicis
remeavit.”
[609] Ord. Vit. 766 D. “In ipsa nocte terribile signum mundo
manifestatum est. Totum nempe cælum quasi arderet, fere
cunctis occidentalibus rubicundum ut sanguis visum est.
Tunc, ut postmodum audivimus, in eois partibus Christiani
contra ethnicos pugnaverunt, Deoque juvante triumpharunt.”
[610] Ord. Vit. 766 D. “Guillelmus rex in Galliam usque
Pontesiam discurrit, incendiis et prædis hominumque
capturis, omnium ubertate rerum nobilem provinciam
devastavit.”
[611] Ord. Vit. 767 A. “Illustres oppidani propugnacula
quidem sua vivaciter protexerunt, sed timoris Dei et humanæ
societatis immemores non fuerunt. Insilientium corporibus
provide benigniterque pepercerunt, sed atrocitatem iræ suæ
pretiosis inimicorum caballis intulerunt. Nam plusquam
septingentos ingentis pretii equos sagittis et missilibus
occiderunt, ex quorum cadaveribus Gallicani canes et alites
usque ad nauseam saturati sunt. Quamplures itaque pedites ad
propria cum rege remeant, qui spumantibus equis turgidi
equites Eptam pertransierant.”
[612] There is something strange in the casual way in which
Orderic (767 A) brings in so mighty an ally; “Guillelmus rex
cum Guillelmo duce Pictavensium, ductu Almarici juvenis, et
Nivardi de Septoculo, contra Montemfortem et Sparlonem
maximam multitudinem duxit, circumjacentem provinciam
devastavit.” The bargain between the two Williams, of which
this was surely an instalment, comes later, 780 B.
[613] See Will. Malms. v. 439.
[614] Had either William ever done personal homage to
Philip? There is no sign of it in the case of William of
England.
[615] Ord. Vit. 767 A. See note 1 on p. 250. Who is young
Almaric or Amalric? Surely not an unworthy member of the
house of Montfort. I have never made my way to Epernon,
which gives a title to one of the minions of the last
Valois.
[616] It is odd, after the account in Suger, to read in
Orderic (766 A), “Ludovicus puerili teneritudine detentus
adhuc militare nequibat.” It is just possible that Lewis was
not eager to help the kinsfolk of Bertrada.
[617] Ord. Vit. 767 B. “Petrus cum filiis suis Ansoldo et
Tedbaldo Mauliam, aliique municipes quos singillatim nequeo
nominare, firmitates suas procaciter tenuere.” On the house
of Maule and its works, see Ord. Vit. 587 et seqq. Peter is
described as “filius Ansoldi divitis Parisiensis.”
[618] Ord. Vit. 767 A. “Simon juvenis munitiones suas
auxiliante Deo illæsas servavit. Simon vero senex servavit
Neëlfiam.” See the marriage of the younger Simon with Agnes
of Evreux, Ord. Vit. 576 C, and his exploits, 836 C. Of him
in the fourth generation came our own Simon. But, according
to the Art de Vérifier les Dates, “Simon senex” was dead
before this time.
[619] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 133.
[620] See note 2 on p. 253.
[621] Ord. Vit. 767 B. “Interea, dum Guillelmus rex pro
regni negotiis regrederetur in Angliam, treviis utrobique
datis, serena pax Gallis dedit serenitatis lætitiam.”
[622] Orderic (773 D), immediately after recording the
submission of the Cenomannian castles, goes on to draw a
harrowing picture of the sufferings of England during the
King’s absence; how “Rannulfus Flambardus jam Dunelmi
episcopus, aliique regis satellites et gastaldi, Angliam
spoliabant, et latronibus pejores, agricolarum acervos, ac
negotiatorum congeries immisericorditer diripiebant, nec
etiam sanguinolentas manus a sacris cohibebant.” He then
goes on to describe the special wrongs of the Church, and
adds, “Sic immensi census onera per fas perque nefas
coacervabant, et regi trans fretum, ut in nefariis seu
commodis usibus expenderentur, destinabant. Hujusmodi utique
collectionibus grandia regi xenia præsentabantur, quibus
extranei pro vana laude ditabantur.” They then cried to God
who had raised up Ehud to slay the “rex pinguissimus” Eglon,
which sounds rather like a prayer for the coming of Walter
Tirel. But the chronology is utterly confused. The time of
which Orderic is speaking is the year 1098; yet he makes
Flambard already Bishop of Durham, which he was not till
1099, and he makes Anselm withstand all these oppressions
and go away because he could not hinder them. But, as we
well know, Anselm was already gone in 1097.
Henry of Huntingdon also (vii. 20) notices the special
oppression during the continental war. The King “in
Normannia fuit, semper hosticis tumultibus et curis armorum
deditus, tributis interim et exactionibus pessimis populos
Anglorum non abradens sed excorians.”
[623] Chron. Petrib. 1099. “Se cyng Willelm … to Eastron
hider to lande com and to Pentecosten forman siðe his hired
innan his niwan gebyttlan æt Westmynstre heold.”
[624] See vol. i. p. 557.
[625] Chron. Petrib. 1096. “Ðis wæs swiðe hefigtime gear
geond eall Angelcyn ægðer ge þurh mænigfealde gylda, and eac
þurh swiðe hefigtymne hunger, þe þisne eard þæs geares swiðe
gedrehte.”
[626] This prodigy is put by the Chronicler under two years,
1098 and 1100. Florence and William of Malmesbury (iv. 331)
place it under the latter year only. See above, p. 246.
[627] Chron. Petrib. 1098. “Toforan S[~c]e Michaeles mæssan
ætywde eo heofon swilce heo forneah ealle þa niht byrnende
wære.”
[628] Ib. “Ðis wæs swiðe geswincfull gear þurh manigfealde
ungyld and þurh mycele renas, þe ealles geares ne ablunnon
forneah ælc tilð on mersclande forferde.”
[629] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “Eac manege sciran þe mid weorce
to Lundenne belumpon wurdon þærle gedrehte, þurh þone weall
þe hi worhton onbutan þone Tur, et þurh þa brycge þe forneah
eall toflotan wæs, and þurh þæs cynges healle geweorc, þe
man on Westmynstre worhte and mænige men þær mid gedrehte.”
This is connected by Henry of Huntingdon (vii. 19) with the
other oppressions of the time and with the departure of
Anselm; “Anselmus vero archiepiscopus recessit ab Anglia,
quia nihil recti rex pravus in regno suo fieri permittebat,
sed provincias intolerabiliter vexabat in tributis quæ
numquam cessabant, in opere muri circa turrim Londoniæ, in
opere aulæ regalis apud Westminstre, in rapina quam familia
sua hostili modo, ubicunque rex pergebat, exercebant.” The
other side of the story comes out in William of Malmesbury
(iv. 321); “Unum ædificium, et ipsum permaximum, domum in
Londonia incepit et perfecit, non parcens expensis dummodo
liberalitatis suæ magnificentiam exhiberet.” We see here how
the “liberalitas” of the Red King looked in the eyes of
those who had to pay for it. But it is hard to understand
Sir T. D. Hardy’s note on the passage of William of
Malmesbury; he is speaking not of the Tower of London, but
of Westminster Hall.
[630] See Livy, i. 56, 59.
[631] See N. C. vol. i. pp. 93, 601.
[632] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 310.
[633] See note on p. 259.
[634] See N. C. vol. iii. pp. 64, 340.
[635] See N. C. vol. i. pp. 306, 317; vol. iii. pp. 66, 540,
640; vol. iv. p. 59.
[636] See N. C. vol. v. p. 600.
[637] Hen. Hunt. vii. 21. “Quam [novam aulam] cum
inspecturus primum introisset, cum alii satis magnam vel
æquo majorem dicerent, dixit rex eam magnitudinis debitæ
dimidia parte carere. Qui sermo regi magno fuit, licet parvi
constasset, honori.” This is copied by Robert of Torigny,
the Waverly Annalist, Bromton, and most likely others.
[638] Matthew Paris (Hist. Ang. i. 165) copies Henry of
Huntingdon with a few touches, and adds, “nec eam esse nisi
thalamum ad palatium quod erat facturus.” The foundations of
the wall which he designed extended “scilicet a Tamensi
usque ad publicam stratam; tanta enim debuit esse
longitudo.”
[639] Ann. Wint. 1099. “Rex venit de Normannia, et regis
diademate coronatus est apud Londoniam, ubi Edgarus rex
Scotiæ gladium coram eo portavit.” The authority is not
first-rate; but it is the kind of thing which can hardly
have been invented.
[640] The Chronicler (1098) records the deaths of Walkelin,
Baldwin, and Turold. Florence (1097, 1098) adds that of
Robert, and in one manuscript that of Abbot Reginald of
Abingdon, who (Hist. Ab. ii. 42) would seem to have died
somewhat earlier, in the year 1097. This prelate is said to
have been in the King’s good graces, and to have been
employed by him in the pious and charitable distribution
from his father’s hoard at the beginning of his reign (see
vol. i. p. 17). There is also just before in the local
History (ii. 41) a writ of Rufus to Peter Sheriff of
Oxfordshire, witnessed by Randolf the chaplain, in which the
Sheriff is bidden to let the Abbot and his monks enjoy all
that they had T. R. E. and T. R. W., and specially to make
good the wrongs done by his reeve Eadwig and others his
officers. Here are the reeves again; but this time an
English reeve oppresses a Norman abbot.
[641] See vol. i. p. 586.
[642] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 372-816.
[643] Will. Malmb. Gest. Pont. 172, copied in Ann. Wint.
1098.
[644] William of Malmesbury (u. s., and see N. C. vol. iv.
p. 817) marks the change in him. The local annalist who
copies him gives Walkelin a warm panegyric; “Erat vir
perfectæ pietatis et sanctitatis, immensæque prudentiæ, et
tantæ demum abstinentiæ ut nec carnes nec pisces comederet.”
(His brother Simeon (Ann. Wint. 1082), afterwards Abbot of
Ely (see N. C. vol. iv. pp. 481, 833), had taught the monks
to give up flesh.) “Semper secum monachos habebat … non enim
minus conventum suum diligebat quam si omnes dii essent.”
This somewhat pagan way of talking has its contradictory in
the words of Hugh of Nonant, Bishop of Coventry (Ric. Div. §
85); “Ego clericos meos deos nomino, monachos dæmonia.”
[645] The well-known trick by which Walkelin cut down the
king’s wood at Hempage is recorded in Ann. Wint. 1086. Cf.
Willis, Winchester, 17.
[646] Ann. Wint. 1093. See Willis, Winchester, 6, 17.
[647] Ann. Wint. 1097. “Hoc anno transfretavit rex, et
regnum Walkelino et Radulfo Passeflabere commisit.”
[648] The exact date comes from Ann. Wint. 1098. He dies ten
days after his receipt of the king’s message, which comes
“die natalis Domini post inceptum missarum officium.”
[649] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 456.
[650] See vol. i. p. 355. I there carelessly followed the
date, 1093, given in the Monasticon, ii. 431, as the year of
the death of Robert of New Minster. It must be a misprint or
miswriting for 1098.
[651] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 407.
[652] On this early hero, son of King Anna of East-Anglia,
whose name has gone through endless corruptions, see
Liebermann’s note (Ungedruckte Anglo-Normannische
Geschichtsquellen, p. 277) to Heremann’s Miracles of Saint
Eadmund. William of Malmesbury (Gest. Pont. 156) writes him
“Germinus,” and not unnaturally says that he knows very
little about him, save that he was brother of Saint
Æthelthryth. His editor turns him into Saint German of
Auxerre; he then wonders that William should know so little
of Saint German of whom he had found a good deal to say
elsewhere, but he does not himself seem the least surprised
to hear Saint German spoken of as brother of Saint
Æthelthryth.
[653] This and the following stories come from the work of
Heremann just mentioned (Dr. Liebermann’s collection
contains also the Annals of Saint Eadmund’s). This story of
Osgod comes at p. 242. He enters the church, “armillas
bajulans in brachiis ambobus superbe [see N. C. vol. iv. p.
288], Danico more deaurata securi in humero dependente;” and
presently, “non sincere conatur securim a collo deponere,
vel se arroganter super eam appodiare.” On the way of
carrying the axe, see N. C. vol. iii. p. 767.
[654] Liebermann, 248 et seqq. Herfast is described as
“duarum Eastengle vicecomitatuum episcopus.” A branch runs
into his eye as he is riding through a wood. A document is
referred to which is witnessed by Hugh of Montfort, Roger
Rigod, Richard of Tunbridge, “et cum eis Lincoliensis
Turoldus simul et Hispaniensis Alveredus.” Liebermann finds
this Turold in the Norfolk Domesday, 172; but as he is
“Lincoliensis,” we should rather look for him in the company
discussed in N. C. vol. iii. p. 778; only Ælfred of Spain
(see N. C. vol. v. pp. 737, 777) is not Ælfred of Lincoln.
[655] See N. C. vol. i. p. 366.
[656] Liebermann, 265. “Natione Normannicus cum rege
Willelmo priore quidam fuerat aulicus, Rannulfus quidem
nomine, ceu tunc moris erat, militari perversus in opere.”
This cannot mean Randolf the chaplain. In his vision,
“somniat quod equitans fugam ineat, et sanctus martyr eques
insequutor fiat ejus armatus.”
[657] Ib. 268. “Robertus de Curzun” is in Domesday R. de
Curcun or Curcon. He appears several times in Domesday in
both the East-Anglian shires (175 _b_, 181 _b_, 187, 299
_b_, 331 _b_, 336), always as an under-tenant, and commonly
under Roger Bigod.
[658] The date is given (Liebermann, 274) as 1094, and the
King presently crosses the sea; this fixes it to the
assembly at Hastings. Baldwin has finished the eastern part
of his church (“ad unguem perduxerat suæ novæ et inceptæ
ecclesiæ presbiterii opus, multifariam compositum modis
omnibus, quale decuit esse regium decus”). The King first
grants leave for both ceremonies; then “regia voluntas
alterata prædicto patri Baldwino mandat in hæc verba;
translationem sancti martyris se concedere, dedicationem
vero minime fieri debere.”
[659] Compare the story of Saint Olaf, above, p. 139.
Flambard here appears in a marked way as “Rannulfus
capellanus,” “capellanus;” see Appendix S.
[660] “Omnia Romæ venalia,” says Heremann (Liebermann, 251);
but the story is rather of an attempt of Bishop Herfast to
bribe the Conqueror.
[661] Florence at least (1097) sends him out of the world
with very kindly feelings; “Eximiæ vir religionis,
monasterii S. Eadmundi abbas Baldwinus, natione Gallus,
artis medicinæ bene peritus, iv. kal. Jan. feria iii. in
bona senectute decessit.” He uses the same formula of Earl
Leofric forty years earlier. Several English names occur in
Heremann’s story; among them (Liebermann, 259) “domnus
Eadricus præpositus et cum eo presbyter Siwardus,” who are
spoken of in connexion with the Abbot’s journey to Rome.
[662] Chron. Petrib. 1099. “Se cyng Willelm … to Pentecosten
forman siðe his hired innan his nywan gebyttlan æt
Westmynstre heold, and þær Rannulfe his capellane þæt
biscoprice on Dunholme geaf, þe æror ealle his gemót ofer
eall Engleland draf and bewiste.” See vol. i. p. 333.
[663] The date, place, and consecrator are given by his
biographer in Ang. Sac. i. 707, who adds that it was done
“sine ulla exactione professionis, sicut et Willelmus
quondam prædecessor illius.”
[664] William of Malmesbury (Gest. Pont. 274), after
describing Flambard’s former doings, adds emphatically;
“Quibus artibus fretus, episcopatum Dunelmensem meruit.” But
he scratched out what he at first went on to say――“meruit ut
sanctius ingrederetur, _datis mille libris_.” One would have
looked for a larger sum.
[665] See N. C. vol. v. p. 631. But it would seem from the
words of the biographer (X Scriptt. 62; Ang. Sac. ii. 709)
that the work was not quite finished till after his death;
“Eo tempore [in the five years’ vacancy that followed] navis
ecclesiæ Dunelmensis monachis operi instantibus peracta
est.” This can hardly mean the vault, which seems later
still. The biographer also describes his other local works,
specially how “urbem hanc, licet natura munierit, muro ipse
reddidit fortiorem et augustiorem.” William of Malmesbury
(Gest. Pont. 274) records new buildings for the monks among
his better deeds.
[666] The biographer (u. s.) says, “Condidit castellum in
excelso præruptæ rupis super Twedam flumen, ut inde latronum
incursus inhiberet et Scotorum irruptiones. Ibi enim,
_utpote in confinio regni Anglorum et Scotorum_, creber
prædantibus ante patebat incursus, nullo ibidem quo
hujusmodi impetus repelleretur præsidio locato.” From
Simeon’s Gesta Regum we find that the place was Norham and
the date 1121. The words in Italics should be noticed. By
the time of this writer the older position of Lothian was
beginning to be forgotten; it had passed to Northumberland.
The building of the castle suggests to the biographer a
remark on Flambard’s character; “Taliter impulsu quodam
impatiente otii de opere transibat ad opus, nil reputans
factum, nisi factis nova jam facienda succederent.”
[667] “Jura libertatis episcopii secundum vires contra
extraneos defendebat,” says the biographer.
[668] “Inerat ei episcopo _magnanimitas_ quam quondam
procurator regni contraxit ex potentia, ut in conventu
procerum vel primus vel cum primis semper contenderet esse,
et inter honorificos honoris locum magnificentius obtineret.
Vastiori semper clamore vultuque minaci magis simulare quam
exhibere.” In all this the servant is very like his master.
[669] According to William of Malmesbury (Gest. Pont. 274),
he first behaved well for fear of Saint Cuthberht, but
finding that some smaller misdeeds went unpunished, he
presently ventured on greater. But in the existing text he
mentions only that Flambard dragged criminals out of
sanctuary, “ausus scelus omnibus retro annis inauditum.”
William had written, but he found it expedient to strike
out, how the Bishop not only set forbidden food before his
monks, but, “ut magis religionem irritaret, puellas
speciosissimas quæ essent procatioris formæ et faciei eis
propinare juberet, strictis ad corpus vestibus, solutis in
terga crinibus.”
[670] The details of a very penitent end are given by the
biographer. Among other confessions of sin, the Bishop says.
“plus volui illis nocere quam potui”――the complaint of the
Confessor. The persons who were to be hurt seem to be the
monks and men of the church of Durham.
[671] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 544.
[672] Vet. An. 306. “Quasi taurus in latebris silvarum.”
[673] Ib. “Helias apud castrum Lid et in castris
circumpositis morabatur, atque vires suas … ad nova
certamina, in quantum poterat, reparabat, castella sua vallo
atque fossa muniendo, et sibi vicinorum amicitias atque
auxilia consciscendo.” So Orderic, 773 C; “Quinque oppida
sua cum adjacentibus vicis instruxit, sollicita procuratione
damna supplevit, propriisque negotiis sedulus institit. Ab
Augusto usque ad pascha in pace siluit. Interim tamen quasi
specimine nisus suos hostibus ostenderet, callide cogitavit,
et multotiens cum fidis affinibus tractavit.”
The five castles may be Château-du-Loir, Lude (Lit), Mayet,
Outille, and Vaux. La Flèche is perhaps taken for granted.
All these, except Lude, are mentioned as we go on.
[674] Ord. Vit. 774 C. “Sequenti anno Helias post pascha
iterare guerram cœpit, et clam consentientibus indigenis,
depopulari confinia et militiam regis lacessere sategit.”
[675] Ib. “Mense Junio cum insigni multitudine militum
venit.” Vet. An. 307. “Sequenti æstate magno vicinorum atque
amicorum exercitu congregato.”
[676] Of the two bridges side by side, the elder is useless,
two arches having been broken down by the Vendeans in 1793.
But there has been fighting not far off in still later
times.
[677] Ord. Vit. 774 C. “Venit ad Planchias Godefredi, vadum
Egueniæ fluminis pertransivit, regiosque pugiles qui urbem
custodiebant ad conflictum lacessiit.” Vet An. 307. “Non
longe a civitate improvisus advenit; cui milites regis simul
cum populo usque ad Pontem Leugæ hostiliter occurrentes quum
ejus impetum sustinere non possent in fugam conversi sunt.
Ille vero amne transmisso, eos viriliter insecutus,” &c.
These two accounts seem to place the fighting on different
sides of the river. I incline to Orderic’s version on this
ground. A version which carries men across by a ford is
always to be preferred to one which carries them across by a
bridge, as likely to preserve the older tradition. The
bridge may always have been built between the time of the
event and the time of the writer, and he may easily be led
to speak as if it had been there at the earlier time.
Orderic himself speaks of the bridge in 775 B.
[678] Ord. Vit. 774 C. “Audaces Normanni foras proruperunt,
diuque dimicaverunt, sed numerosa hostium virtute prævalente
in urbem repulsi sunt. Tunc etiam hostes cum eisdem ingressi
sunt, quia eorum violentia coerciti municipes portas
claudere nequiverunt; sed per urbem fugientes vix in arcem
aliasque munitiones introire potuerunt.” Vet. An. 307. “Ille
[Helias] cum suo exercitu civitatem nullo prohibente
audacter ingressus, eos qui in munitionibus erant repentina
obsidione conclusit.”
[679] Ord. Vit. 774 C. “Cives Heliam multum diligebant,
ideoque dominatum ejus magis quam Normannorum affectabant….
Porro Helias a gaudentibus urbanis civitate susceptus est.”
Wace (14884) strongly brings out the general zeal for
Helias, though he has his own explanation for it;
“Cil del Mans od li se teneient,
D’avancier li s’entremetteient,
E li homes de la loée
Esteient tuit à sa criée.
E li baron de la cuntrée
Orent por li mainte medlée;
Mult le preisoent et amoent,
Et à seignor le desiroent,
_Com costumes est de plusors,
Ki conveitent novels seignors_.
Par espeir des veisins chastels
E par consence des Mansels,
Helies el Mans s’embati,
E cil del Mans l’unt recoilli.”
Helias however was not a new lord, a fact which Wace’s
confused order puts out of sight. On the somewhat different
tone of the Biographer of the Bishops, see Appendix KK.
[680] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Municipes qui munimenta regis
servabant omnibus necessariis pleniter abundabant, et
idcirco usque ad mortem pro domini sui fidelitate prœliari
satagebant.”
[681] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 266.
[682] Ord. Vit. 774 D. “Galterius Ansgerii filius custos
arcis jussit fabris quos secum habebat operari, scoriam
quoque candentem super tecta domorum a balistariis impetuose
jactari. Tunc rutilus Titan sublimes Geminos peragrabat, et
ingenti siccitate mundus arebat, flammeusque turbo
imbricibus aularum insidebat. Sic nimius ignis accensus est,
quo nimium prævalente tota civitas combusta est.” Vet. An.
307. “Illi qui erant in arce, facto vespere ignem maximum
incendentes, in subjectas domos ardentes faculas summa
instantia jactare cœperunt. Ignis vero flante Euro
convalescens totam civitatem cum magna parte suburbiorum
consumpsit.” For Bishop Hildebert’s view of the matter, see
Appendix KK.
[683] Vet. An. 307. “Quo incendio populus stupefactus atque
in mœstitiam conversus non satis fidum comiti præstabat
auxilium.”
[684] The work of destruction which has been done in modern
times at Paris and Rouen seems a trifle compared to the
merciless havoc wrought at Le Mans. It amounts almost to a
physical destruction of the city. The hill has been cut
through to make a road from the modern part of the town to
the river. This has involved breaking through the Roman
walls, cutting through the _Vielle Rome_ and the other
ancient streets, sweeping away the finest of the Romanesque
houses, dividing in short the hill and the ancient city into
two parts severed by a yawning gap. The mediæval wall has
further been broken down and made into a picturesque ruin.
When I was first at Le Mans in 1868, the city was still
untouched; in 1876 the havoc was doing; by 1879 it was done.
Some conceited mayor or prefect doubtless looks on all this
brutal destruction as a noble exploit.
[685] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 267.
[686] Vet. An. 307. “Comes contra munitiones machinas atque
tormenta ad jactandos lapides erigens, eos qui intus erant
summo conamine expugnare nitebatur. At illi contra machinas
ejus machinas facientes, omnia ejus molimina frustrabant.”
Ord. Vit. 774 D. “Helias et sui frustra machinis et
assultibus valde laboraverunt; sed contra inexpugnabiles
munitiones nihil prævaluerunt.” So Wace, 14898;
“Li Mans li unt abandoné,
Tot, forz la tor de la cité.
La tor se tint, Mansels l’asistrent,
Tot environ li borc porpristrent.”
[687] Ord. Vit. 774 D. “Rodbertus Belesmensis Balaonem
munivit.”
[688] Ord. Vit. 774 D. “Cursorem suum Amalchisum confestim
ad regem in Angliam direxit.” We do not get the name
anywhere else. Wace (14902) well brings out the opposition
of “Normanz” and “Mansels;”
“Normanz ki la tor desfendirent
Quant la force des Mancels virent,
En Engleterre unt envéié,
De secors unt li reis préié,
L’adventure li unt mandée,
E des Mansels la trestornée.”
[689] See Appendix PP. It is _Normant_ and _Mansels_ in the
new edition of Andresen, 9803.
[690] See Appendix PP.
[691] Ord. Vit. 775 A. “Ibi, ut moris est in æstate, plures
utriusque ordinis adstabant, et visa rate de Anglia
velificante, ut aliquid novi ediscerent, alacres
exspectabant.”
[692] Ib. “In primis de rege sciscitantibus ipse certus de
se adfuit nuntius.” So in Greek, αὐτὸς ἄγγελος [autys
angelos].
[693] Ib. B. “Et quia ex insperato respondit ridens,
percunctantibus admiratio exorta est, mox et lætitia
omnibus.”
[694] Ib. “Deinde cujusdam presbyteri equa vectus, cum magno
cœtu clericorum et rusticorum qui pedites eum cum ingenti
plausu conducebant, Bonamvillam expetiit.”
[695] See N. C. vol. iii. pp. 241, 696. As commonly happens
with so-called local tradition, a tower not earlier than the
thirteenth century is shown as the place of Harold’s
lodging, while in another tower the wide splay of a narrow
window is shown as the strait prison-house of Robert of
Bellême.
[696] Ord. Vit. 775 B. “Tandem directis legationibus
ingentem exercitum in brevi aggregavit, et hostilem
provinciam depopulatum festinavit.”
[697] Ib. “Agmen hostium cum Helia duce suo, statim ut regem
citra fretum venisse comperit, absque procrastinatione
fugiens invasam urbem multo pejorem quam invenerat
deseruit.” The turn in the Biographer (Vet. An. 307) is
somewhat different; “Cernens quia nihil proficeret, et quod
ejus paulatim dilaberetur exercitus, regisque timore
perterritus, qui cum maximo exercitu suis properabat
succurrere, propriæ saluti consulens, relicta obsidione
repente a civitate discessit.” In Orderic Helias might be
thought to be carried away by the flight of his followers;
in the Biographer he almost seems to forsake them.
[698] Ord. Vit. 775 C. “Tunc Helias cum ingenti militia
castro Ligeri morabatur, seseque ad meliora tempora
reservans, exitum rei præstolabatur.”
[699] Vet. An. 307. “Quo comperto, quatenus timor simul ac
stupor animos civium invaserit, et quanta populi multitudo
cum mulieribus et parvulis relictis omnibus quæ habebant eum
secuta sit … miserum est audire.”
[700] Ord. Vit. 775 B. “Animosus rex, hostium audito
recessu, pedetentim eos sectatus est, et Cænomannis nec una
nocte eum hospitari dignatus est. Verum concrematam urbem
pertransiens vidit, et ultra pontem Egueniæ in _epitimio_
spatioso tentoria figi præcepit.” This strange word
“epitimium” must be the same as that which he uses in 659 B,
where the site of the great battle is placed “in _epitumo_
Senlac.” I there took it to mean a hill, and I gave Orderic
credit for knowing that Senlac was a hill; but I fear that I
must withdraw that praise, as here the word can only mean a
plain. See Ducange in Epitumum. It must be from this word
that some local blunderer first drew the notion, which I
have seen repeated since I wrote my third volume, that
Senlac was once called _Epiton_.
[701] Ib. This was done, “ne malivoli prædones … _domata_
ubi ad capessendam quietem strata sibi coaptarent.” Orderic
adds, “sic profecto Valles et Ostilliacum consumpta sunt,
aliaque quamplurima oppida et rura penitus pessumdata sunt.”
Helias, after all, was not Harold.
[702] Ord. Vit. 775 B. “Robertus de Monteforti princeps
militiæ cum quingentis militibus agmina præcessit, incendium
castri de Vallibus extinxit, munitionemque ad opus regis
confirmavit.”
[703] On the site of Mayet, and the versions of the siege,
see Appendix QQ. Wace brings it in thus; I quote the text of
Andresen, 9929 (15026 of Pluchet);
“Li quens Helies s’en parti,
Al chastel del Leir reverti.
Donc ueissiez guerre esmoueir
Del Mans e del chastel del Leir
E de Maiet, un chastelet,
Ou Mansel orent pris recet.
Tresqu’al borc que l’endit la Fesse
Fu la guerre forte e espesse.”
[704] Ord. Vit. 775 C. “Feria vi. rex Maiatum obsedit, et in
crastinum expugnare castrum exercitui jussit.”
[705] Ib. “Sabbato, dum bellatores certatim armarentur, et
acrem assultum castrensibus dare molirentur.”
[706] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 243.
[707] Ord. Vit. 775 C. “Rex consultu sapientum [mid his
witena geþeaht] Deo gloriam dedit, et pro reverentia
Dominicæ sepulturæ et resurrectionis hostibus pepercit,
eisque trevias usque in Lunæ diem annuit.”
[708] Ib. “Erant viri constantes dominoque suo fideles,
ideoque pertinaciter pro illo usque ad mortem pugnaces, et
exemplo probabilis probitatis prædicabiles.”
[709] Ord. Vit. 775 C. “Interea ipsi castrum interius toto
annisu munierunt, et in assultum virgeas crates ictibus
missilium lapidumque opposuerunt.”
[710] Wace, 15038;
“Maiet ert bien clos de fossé
Tot environ parfont è lé;
Li reis ros por mielx assaillir
Volt li fossé d’atrait emplir.”
Robert of Bellême then counsels him;
“Cil dist el rei k’atrait falleit,
E ke attait querre estueit,
Jà li chastel nel cunquerreit,
Se li fossé d’atrait n’empleit.”
The King gives his orders;
“E li reis li dist, en gabant,
Ke à chescun chevalier mant
Roncin, mule, ou palefrei,
Ne pot aveir altre charrei,
Trestuit quant k’il porra baillier,
E fossé fasse tresbuchier.”
[711] Ib.
“Robert s’en torna sorriant,
Et à plusors de l’ost gabant
Ke li reis aveit comandé
Ke l’en getast tot el fossé,
Kank’as servanz veindreit as mains,
Tuit li chevals è li vilains.”
[712] Froissart, i. 152. ed. 1559. “Quand le roy de France
veit les Génevois retourner, il dit, Or tost tuez ceste
ribaudaille; car ils nous empescheront la voye sans raison.”
Compare also the language of Bayard about the German
_roturiers_ quoted in vol. i. p. 173.
[713] Wace, 15066;
“Par tels semblanz è par tels diz
Fu li pople tot estormiz.
Del siège s’en torment fuiant,
E plusors vunt par gap criant:
Filz a putains, fuiez, fuiez,
Toz estes morz s’un poi targiez;
Se ci poez estre entrepris,
Jà sereiz tut el fossé mis.”