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[Illustration: How the Conqueror deals with Rebels.]
THE SIEGE OF NORWICH CASTLE
_A STORY OF THE LAST STRUGGLE
AGAINST THE CONQUEROR_
BY
M. M. BLAKE
_With Illustrations by the Author_
LONDON
SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED
ESSEX STREET, STRAND
1893
TO MY FATHER
THIS STORY IS
AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I. THE SUZERAIN'S 'NAY,' 9
II. LOVE OR LOYALTY, 25
III. JEST AND EARNEST, 37
IV. HORSE, HAWK, AND HOUND, 53
V. NORMAN AND SAXON, 65
VI. THE BRIDE-ALE, 74
VII. DELILAH SHEARS SAMSON, 91
VIII. KNIGHT-ERRANT AND MERCENARY, 100
IX. NORWICH, 113
X. LANFRANC, 127
XI. THE CASTELLAN OF BLAUNCHEFLOUR, 139
XII. THE STANDARD OF REVOLT, 148
XIII. ST. NICHOLAS FOR GUADER! 160
XIV. HOW THE CONQUEROR DEALS WITH REBELS, 173
XV. 'O HIGH AMBITION LOWLY LAID!' 189
XVI. WIFE OR WIDOW? 206
XVII. HOW RALPH CAME HOME, 222
XVIII. BESIEGED, 234
XIX. 'STONE WALLS DO NOT A PRISON MAKE,' 244
XX. A OUTRANCE, 256
XXI. THE ORDEAL BY FIRE, 272
XXII. A SUBTERRANEAN CONFLICT, 285
XXIII. HOW OLIVER DIED, 299
XXIV. FAMINE, 313
XXV. BRETAGNE, 327
XXVI. CONCLUSION, 336
APPENDIX, 347
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
HOW THE CONQUEROR DEALS WITH REBELS, _Frontispiece_
EMMA FITZOSBERN ACCEPTS THE TASSEL-GENTLE, 62
JUDITH WATCHES HER SLEEPING SPOUSE, 92
LANFRANC JESTS WITH THE CONQUEROR, 130
WALTHEOF'S HUMILIATION, 136
BISHOP ODO MEETS DE GUADER, 170
THE TOWER STAIRS, 178
THE RESCUE OF THE EARL, 198
EMMA'S FIRST SIGHT OF THE FOE, 240
THE BIG RAT HAS GONE INTO HIS HOLE, 292
A WARRENNE! A WARRENNE! FOR WILLIAM THE NORMAN! 300
DE GUADER DONS THE CROSS, 342
THE SIEGE OF NORWICH CASTLE
CHAPTER I.
THE SUZERAIN'S 'NAY.'
It was towards the close of the year of our Lord 1073. As we now
reckon, it would have been some way into 1074, but in those old times
they began their twelve-month on March 25th. So, notwithstanding that
the daffy-down-dillies were pushing their grey-green blades through the
softening earth, and that the partridges had chosen their mates for the
season, it was the end of 1073, and just before Easter.
The fair Emma Fitzosbern, sister and ward of Roger, Earl of Hereford, a
young damsel of splendid beauty, in whose honour the chivalric
champions of Normandy and Bretagne were busy cracking each other's
heads, according to the fashion of the times, had followed the example
of the partridges, and promised her hand in marriage.
The mate she had chosen was splendid and brave, and, after the king,
was equalled in power and wealth but by two other men in all England.
Ralph de Guader or Wader had received the earldom of Norfolk and
Suffolk, and the post of Constable of Norwich Castle, from the
Conqueror, in return for his services at Hastings and his prowess in
beating back the Danes from the eastern coast.
His father and grandfather had held lands in England, and he claimed
English blood when it suited his purpose, being the only Englishman who
bore the rank of earl, save Waltheof Siwardsson, Earl of Huntingdon,
Northampton, and Northumberland; but, to his shame be it spoken, he was
also the only Englishman against whom it could be told that he fought
on William's side at Hastings.
He had been deprived of the lands of his father, Ralph the Staller, the
chronicles record not wherefore, but it might well be that the house of
Godwin, when they wrought on King Eadward the Confessor, of sainted
memory, to drive his Norman favourites from the land, included Ralph
amongst them on account of his Breton mother, whose influence,
doubtless, inclined the lad to love the folks from over the sea, and
who would have taught him to speak French and demean himself in French
ways, and, that so, a very bitter and personal feud lay between him and
Harold Godwinsson.
He had retired to his mother's estates of Guader and Montfort, in
Bretagne, and had returned thence with a proud following of Breton
knights and fighting men, under William of Normandy's banner, making
the Norman invasion his opportunity to win back his lands at the
sword's point, and to gain other broad acres with them.
In 1073, he, and the man whose brother-in-law he wished to become,
young Roger Fitzosbern, Earl of Hereford, and Earl Waltheof,
nephew-in-law to the king, were the three most powerful nobles in the
country. Their estates almost met across England, and, united together,
they might have done much as they wished with the kingdom. The
Conqueror by no means desired their closer alliance, as we shall see.
But to Ralph de Guader and Roger of Hereford nothing seemed more
reasonable and in every way satisfactory than the union of their houses
by marriage. The former especially was wildly eager to cement their
friendship by this solid bond, for the very good reason that he was
deeply in love with the beautiful and high-spirited Emma, and had
carried her favour in tilt and tourney with such determination and
fury, that champions were shy of accepting his challenge when he took
his place in the lists.
A slight hindrance had marred the progress of the _fiancailles_.
William, the Conqueror of England, was also Duke of Normandy, and his
restless vassals across the straits were apt to get weary of his
continued absence in his new kingdom. Robert of Flanders, his ancient
enemy, in battle with whom Emma's father, the famous William
Fitzosbern, whom Holingshed calls the king's _coosine_, had lost his
life, was always ready to foment any little disputes that might arise
amongst them, and King Philip of France had now joined the troublesome
Frisian hand and glove. So William thought it wise to go in person to
Normandy, to keep guard over the movements of the twain.
Of course the marriage could not take place until the king's consent
was obtained, and messengers had been despatched to Normandy by the two
earls, praying his consent.
Their return was more than due, and was awaited with some anxiety, as
Lent was so near at hand, during which, according to the Roman Church,
no marriage could take place. However, travelling in those days was
very different to what it is in ours. The Channel could not be crossed
in all weathers and all winds, and it was supposed that unfavourable
breezes detained the messengers. Not for a moment was there any doubt
that the answer, when it did come, would be in the affirmative.
Permission had been asked merely as a matter of form.
Meanwhile, every effort was made to entertain the guests at Hereford
Castle, and to prevent the time of their prolonged sojourn from hanging
heavy on their hands.
In Domesday Book there figures a certain Adelina, a female juggler, as
having received lands in the county of Hants, having previously enjoyed
fee and salary from one Roger, a Norman earl.
The talents of this lady were in requisition, and, a heavy downpour of
rain and sleet having rendered outdoor sports unpleasant, a large
company of knights and ladies were watching her agile movements and
ingenious deceptions; shouts and ripples of laughter testifying to
their appreciation of her cleverness.
She performed at one end of the great banqueting-hall, and was clad in
a scarlet dress made Eastern fashion, having a gold-broidered jacket of
the shape we are accustomed to call Zouave, with loose trousers, and
slippers turned up at the toes; she wore a turban upon her head, from
beneath which her long black hair streamed unconfined to her waist,
around which she wore a girdle of snake-skins; her bare arms were
covered with bangles, and in her hand she held a wand on which a
child's skull took the place of the Punch's head which adorns the staff
of a Polichinello.
She had for assistants two brown-skinned, almond-eyed, white-toothed
boys, evidently of Moorish origin, and active as the leopards, whose
skins they wore, had been when alive in their native jungle; and the
bowls, spheres, and other appliances she used were marked with
cabalistic signs in the Arabian alphabet. Evidently, whether or no she
was herself of Moorish blood, she had learned her trade from the
jugglers of the East, whose skill therein still surpasses all others.
In those days the dark-skinned races were identified with Antichrist,
and the entertainment therefore afforded that flavour of the forbidden
which seems so necessary to the enjoyment of some folks. A gibbering
monkey, which perched on her shoulder, and performed strange antics at
her bidding, alternately with wild freaks of mischief of its own
invention, added to the air of _diablerie_ which made the exhibition
attractive.
The young Earl of Hereford, his countess, and their two little sons,
were foremost among the spectators, the earl laughing heartily at the
tricks of his favourite, and rewarding her skill with praise and
_largesse_ when any special feat called forth the applause of the
guests.
Tall and commanding in figure, his face, clean-shaven after the Norman
fashion, was both proud and weak, the features handsome, clear-cut,
aquiline, but the chin receding too greatly to betoken a strong
character. His dress was of the richest, his tunic of tawny samite,
sewn thickly with gems, and his long cloak lined with costly furs, his
earl's coronet on his brow.
Beside him sat his beautiful sister, in whose honour all the guests
were assembled;--like him, yet showing, in spite of all feminine grace
and softness, signs of that strength of will in which he was deficient.
Her features, like his, were clear-cut and aquiline, but the full round
chin stood out boldly from the white, flawless throat, unadorned by any
necklace save the delicate crease which Nature had marked on it, and
which some folks call Venus' necklace. Her auburn hair was simply
braided in two long plaits, and hung below her waist, and was bound by
a fillet of goldsmiths' work. Her arched brows were almost black, and
the dark-blue eyes beneath them were full of gentleness and fire. Her
tightly-fitting green kirtle was rounded at the base of the slender
neck and edged with drawn lawn, and showed the graceful contour of her
young figure; and her embroidered skirt, which had been 'looted' by her
noble father from the house of some rich Saxon in his Hastings
campaign, bore witness to the artistic powers of the Saxon ladies, and
also to their industry, for its subtly blended hues had taken years of
labour to produce, and such skill as was possessed only by the women of
their nation.
Standing near her, with his hand upon her chair, was the hero of the
occasion. Ralph de Guader's Breton mother had Southern blood in her
veins, and he had inherited from her a swart complexion, coal-black
hair which curled crisply on his well-formed head, and the hawk nose
and pointed chin which is common in Brittany now, though the Bretons of
that day had for the most part the characteristics of the red-haired,
blue-eyed Celts, who had left Wales but a short time before. From his
English father he had inherited a pair of keen grey eyes, hawk-like as
the nose between them, and deep set under cavernous brows, black, and
somewhat given to frowning.
His figure was firmly knit, broad-shouldered, but not very tall, and
his apparel was as brave as that of his brother earl, his tunic being
of ivory silk edged with sable and wrought with gold thread, and the
baldric blazed with jewels which supported his _misericorde_, or dagger
of mercy,--a weapon always worn by a Norman noble, and serving to put
his wounded enemies out of misery--whence its name,--to protect him
from treachery, and to carve his meat and that of the lady he 'took in'
to dinner withal.
The deft Adelina had swallowed swords, and made snakes dance to her
piping, and produced intact bracelets which had seemed to be utterly
crushed to powder before the spectators' eyes, and had danced herself
with marvellous agility and grace, and, in short, had performed many
feats which have been rivalled before and since by jugglers ancient and
modern, when a young baron stood forth and said to Earl Roger,--
'I have heard, my lord, that yonder Paynim witch hath shrewd skill to
read the stars. I prithee, command her that she may tell the fates of
those who list to know what shall befall them.'
Then Adelina turned round swiftly, so that the gibbering monkey, which
sat on her shoulder, sprang down with a screech.
'I prithee, Sir Earl,' she cried, 'give me no such order, for the
spirits I summon have a knack of telling the truth, and there are fates
in store for some folks they would ill brook to hear. "Enough for the
day is the evil thereof."'
'Nay, take not to quoting Scripture, witch; it hath an awkward sound
from thy graceless lips,' returned the earl banteringly. ''Tis a
left-handed compliment to pay to the valour of any noble gentleman
here, that he should shrink to know the worst the devil can do to him.
Summon thy spirits! I wager we will face them.'
Adelina's brown face turned yellow as parchment, her knees shook
together for fear.
'I beg thee, spare me, Sir Earl!' she entreated in a low voice.
But her opposition only raised the earl's obstinacy, of which, like
most weak people, he had a large share, and he insisted.
So Adelina gave orders to her attendant sprites, who fetched her a big
box, and a tripod with a metal mirror above it, and a brazier hung from
chains like a censer, and a skull, and a tame raven.
And out of the box she dragged a huge, sluggish snake. The creature
rolled and writhed upon the floor in a fashion that caused the ladies
to scream and the knights to lay hold of the hilts of their daggers;
but after a while it rolled itself in a ring round the tripod, with its
tail to its head, and so lay still.
'Whoever hath courage to step within my magic circle may learn the
secrets of the future!' cried the sorceress.
But the young baron who had been so eager to learn his fate did not
relish the conditions, and made no move.
Ralph de Guader, seeing his hesitation, stepped forward out of sheer
bravado, without having any particular desire to know his fate, or
belief in Adelina's power to tell it, for he was happy, and all the
future appeared to him steeped in rosy hues of hope.
'Oh, Ralph, deal not with the Evil One!' cried Emma, laying a
restraining hand on his arm. 'Trust not that horrible beast, I pray
thee!'
Ralph gave some careless excuse, and Emma accepted it; for, to say
truth, her young head was full of fiery ambition, and her curiosity was
great to know what honours her splendid lover would win for her in the
days to come. William of Normandy had carved a throne with his sword
for Matilda of Flanders; who knew what Ralph de Guader's good blade
might carve for her? Everything seemed possible in those days.
So the Earl of the East Angles stepped down from the dais to the end of
the great hall, where the sorceress stood, and stepped across the
spotted body of the snake into the charmed circle it enclosed, bidding
Adelina summon her allies, be they fair or foul.
But not without remonstrance from the fortune-teller.
'Pause, De Guader and Montfort, Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk! Thy head
is heaped with honours, and thy hands are full of fat manors, and--best
of all gifts!--the heart of the fairest lady in the hall is openly
bestowed on thee! What more canst thou ask of the future? Take what
thou hast, and go barefoot to the chapel and thank the white Christ for
His bounty! Stay thy questioning, lest what thou hast shall be reft
from thee!'
'A brave man defies fortune,' answered De Guader, tossing back his dark
head proudly.
'Then if the prophecy be not to thy liking,' returned Adelina, 'if the
spirits foretell evil days, I pray thee blame not their mouthpiece.'
Her agitation was extreme, which was not surprising, as the fierce
nobles of those days were apt to deal harshly with the messengers of
unpleasing news.
She chanted a wild incantation, dancing round the tripod and the earl,
and swung her censer to and fro till it gave forth strange fumes and
clouds of smoke, by which her face and the earl's were veiled from the
spectators. Now and again her turbaned head was seen through the
vapours, her eyes intently fixed on her mirror, but none could tell
what was passing.
Presently the earl returned to the dais with a somewhat white face.
Emma's eyes were bent upon him with anxious inquiry.
'She has promised me that which I covet most, dear lady,' whispered De
Guader in answer to her look: 'my bridal with thee is to come to
fulfilment. I am to pass my life with thee, and die with thee, near the
blessed city of Jerusalem.'
'The Holy Virgin be praised!' answered Emma devoutly; 'and pardon thee
for asking the future, if sin be in it.' Then, recognising the
admission she had made by acknowledging her joy in the prophecy, she
blushed and turned away from De Guader's happy eyes.
'Aha! sister of mine, it seems my sorceress has pleasured thee with her
prophecies,' remarked Earl Roger. 'I will see if she can be equally
gracious to me.'
'Thou hadst best brace thy nerves for a shock, man,' cried De Guader
after him as he left the dais. 'Those spirits have verily a knack of
telling home truths without mincing matters.'
Adelina's agitation increased when she saw her master appearing as the
next candidate. She trembled from head to foot.
'I prithee spare me this, Roger Fitzosbern,' she said in a scarce
audible voice. But the earl insisted.
Then followed the same preliminaries as before,--the dance, and the
chant, and the smoke-wreaths, then the whispered mysteries. But this
time sharp, angry interjections and round Norman oaths were mingled
with the murmurings of Adelina's voice, and all at once the unhappy
fortune-teller threw up her bangled arms and fell backwards fainting,
while the Earl of Hereford, with an angry stamp, broke out of the
charmed circle and rushed back to his seat.
Adelina's neophytes ran forward to the rescue, for her garments had
caught fire from the censer, and all was bustle and confusion. The huge
snake lay calmly through it, however, for, to say truth, it was
stuffed, and worked with wires.
The Countess of Hereford sprang up to greet her lord, and the two
little boys burst out a-wailing, sore frightened at their father's
altered face, while Emma also rose to greet her brother with terror in
her eyes, trembling at the evidence he gave that evil had been foretold
him.
But he soon regained his calmness, and laughed as he saw the reflection
of his mood in their agonised faces.
'Pah! it is all nonsense!' he said, wiping the sweat from his brow. 'I
believe the witch must be in league with the devil to have so wrought
on me.'
He looked round the hall, and gave another forced laugh.
'I am to lose all my lands, to be despoiled of my earldom, and die in
prison, she says.'
The ladies exclaimed in horror, and the men laughed derisively; but
Earl Ralph's jester, Grillonne, whispered sagely to his neighbour,
'Good nuncle! when they promised me a swishing at school, I made effort
to keep it to myself. But I am a fool.'
No one seemed inclined to consult such a fortune-teller for his own
part, and the Earl of Hereford ordered a Welsh minstrel, who had been
sent him in compliment by one of the Welsh chiefs on the Marches, whom
Hereford had lately beaten and made terms with, to regale the company
with some of his ballads.
At this juncture a great shout was heard from the castle-yard, and a
moment later a servitor announced the return of the messenger who had
been sent to the king; and, the Earl of Hereford bidding him enter, a
knight and squire, travel-stained and showing signs of a hasty journey,
advanced up the hall and bowed before the dais.
The knight dropped on his knee, and presented the earl with a missive
tied with purple silk and sealed with the royal seal.
'How now, Sir Neel! how comest thou so tardily?' demanded the earl,
taking the letter from the knight with eager hands and severing the
silk with his dagger.
'I was detained, my lord, at Rouen to wait the king's good pleasure.'
The faces of the two earls darkened, and Roger Fitzosbern tore open the
king's missive.
Scarce reading it, he flung it to De Guader with a savage oath,
stamping his foot upon the ground.
'William shall rue this insult!' he hissed between his shut teeth, his
face scarlet and convulsed with rage; 'and to my father's son.'
De Guader, not less moved, held the parchment with hands that so shook
with anger that the dangling seals clattered against each other. His
broad chest heaved, and his steel-grey eyes flashed fire as sword
strikes fire on helm.
Emma, with pale cheeks and wide eyes, turned from her brother to her
lover, and the East Anglian earl, exercising a huge command over
himself, kept silence, and returned the letter to Roger Fitzosbern.
Hereford shook it in the air, clenching his fingers, while all the
guests hung wonderingly on his actions.
Suddenly he tore the king's letter into fragments.
'Thus has William rent in sunder the ties that bound me to him!' he
shouted furiously.
Osbern, Bishop of Exeter, the Earl of Hereford's uncle, who, though he
had refused the sanction of his presence to the performances of
Adelina, had entered the hall when the king's messenger arrived, made
his way through the noble crowd that surrounded his nephew.
'Hist, my Roger! Anger is short madness. Keep a hold over the unruly
member, lest words spoken in wrath be thy bane in time of peace. I know
not the contents of the missive that hath moved thee so greatly, but I
prithee be calm.'
'Calm!' cried Roger. 'Calm! De Guader, art thou calm?'
'Yes,' answered De Guader shortly, his breath breaking in quick pants,
and a strange green light not pleasant to witness gleaming in his eyes,
so that all who saw him felt that his calmness was more terrible than
Roger's fury.
'Then, by the rood! if thou art so calm,' retorted Hereford, 'tell my
guests how they have been befooled. Tell my sister she has bestowed her
hand on one who can resign it "calmly."'
'My son, my son,' remonstrated the bishop, 'thou art unjust to thy
noble brother, whose stake in this matter is even greater than thine.'
'Nay, my brother he is forbid to be!' stormed Roger, with another
terrific curse.
De Guader turned to the beautiful girl to whom he had come to bind
himself in solemn betrothal, and who, having accepted his wooing, had
made no secret of her love.
His face was pallid almost as his ivory robe, his lips trembled as he
held out his hands to her, but for some moments he was dumb. When at
last he compelled speech, his voice was dull with pain and quivering
with measureless indignation.
'My lady,' he said, holding one of her hands in each of his, but not
trusting himself to look in her face, 'I must bid thee farewell. I have
no right to remain longer in this castle. The king has forbidden our
marriage. I had hoped to make thee my bride. Bride of my heart thou
wilt always be!'
Before the startled, frightened girl could frame a reply, he had
stooped and kissed her, sprung from the dais, and was striding down the
hall, with the many barons and bannerets, knights and squires, who
formed his _meinie_, following behind him.
The Countess of Hereford led her young sister-in-law from the hall;
while the remainder of the noble company, feeling their presence
somewhat awkward, as guests at a betrothal which could not be
consummated, found excuses to depart, and gathered into clusters, each
lord summoning his following and the ladies of his household.
So that goodly company broke up in hurry and confusion and dismay, and
the insult the king had inflicted on his two powerful earls was the
talk of every mouth.