episcopus Salisbiriam, quem cum Ursus de Habetot unus ex
servientibus regis ad regem intrare moneret.” On Urse of
Abetot, see N. C. vol. iv. pp. 173, 383, 579, 820.
[257] Ib. “Episcopus reqnisivit ab archiepiscopis utrum
revestitus ingredi deberet, dixitque, ‘Nihil se prorsus
acturum ibi nisi canonice et secundum ordinem suum et sibi
videbatur quod ecclesiastica consuetudo exigebat ut ipse
revestitus ante revestitos causam suam diceret et
causantibus canonice responderet,’ Cui Lanfrancus
archiepiscopus respondens, ‘bene possumus,’ inquit, ‘hoc
modo vestiti de regalibus tuisque negotiis disceptare,
vestes enim non impediunt veritatem,’”
[258] See William FitzStephen, iii. 56, Robertson.
[259] Mon. Angl. u. s. “Episcopus surgens precatus est regem
ut episcopatum suum quem jamdiu sine judicio abstulerat sibi
redderet. Lanfrancus vero, rege tacente, dixit, ‘Rex de
episcopatu tuo nihil tibi abstulit vel aliquis per eam neque
breve suum vidisti per quod te de episcopatu tuo dissaisiret
vel dissaisiri præciperet.’”
[260] The Bishop now tells his grievances at length. After
other wrongs the King “misit comites et barones cum exercitu
suo, et per eos totum episcopatum meum vastavit, terras
quoque et homines et pecuniam Sancti Cuthberti et meam mihi
abstulit. Nostram etiam sedem me ad tempus abjuvare coegit;
ipsi etiam casati ecclesiæ qui mei homines ligii fuerant et
quidquid habebant de casamento ecclesiæ tenebat ex præcepto
regis guerram mihi fecerunt, et terras suas de rege tenentes
pacifice hic eos cum rege video adversum me convenisse.”
[261] “Rectitudinem facere” is the technical phrase. See
Appendix C.
[262] “Tunc laici hujusmodi verbis Lanfranci totius Angliæ
primatis animati, adversus episcopum exclamantes dixerunt
‘injustum esse quod rex episcopo responderet antequam regi
fecisset justitiam.’ Laicis vero hæc et alia multa
declamantibus et iterantibus, facto silentio, dixit
episcopus.”
[263] “Domini barones et laici, permittite me, quæso, quæ
dicturus sum regi dicere, archiepiscopis et episcopis
respondere, quia nihil vobis habeo dicere, et, sicut huc non
veni judicium vestrum recepturus, ita illud omnino recuso,
et si domino nostri regi et archiepiscopis et episcopis
placuisset vos hic negotio interesse, nec me taliter obloqui
decuisset.”
[264] See the complaints from the ecclesiastical side in N.
C. vol. iv. p. 436.
[265] Mon. Angl. i. 247. “Tunc Rogerus Bygotus dixit regi,
‘Vos debetis episcopo dicere unde eum appellare vultis, et
postea, si ipse nobis voluerit respondere de responsione sua
facite eum judicari; sin autem, facite inde quod barones
vestri vobis consulerent.’”
[266] I cannot identify this Hugh. “Hugo cognomento pauper”
(Ord. Vit. 806 A), son of Count Robert of Meulan, and
afterwards Earl of Bedford (Gest. Steph. 61), was not yet
born.
[267] See above, p. 30.
[268] Mon. Angl. u. s. “Rex te appellat quod, cum ipse
audivit quod inimici sui super eum veniebant, et homines
sui, episcopus scilicet Baiocensis et Rogerus comes et alii
plures regnum suum pariter sibi et coronam auferre volebant,
et ipse per consilium tuum contra illos equitabat.” There is
something odd in this calm mention of Earl Roger as an open
rebel.
[269] See above, p. 28.
[270] Macaulay, ii. 496-499, 510, 511.
[271] Mon. Angl. u. s. “Episcopus autem Hugoni respondit,
‘Hugo, dicas quidquid volueris, non tibi tamen hodie
respondebo.’”
[272] Mon. Angl. u. s. “Tum multum tumultuantes laici,
quidam rationibus, quidam vero contumeliis, adversus
episcopum deiterarent.”
[273] Ib. “Domini archiepiscopi, nos non oporteret diutius
hæc ita considerare, sed deceret nos surgere et episcopos et
abbates convocare, quosdam etiam baronum et comitum istorum
nobiscum habere, et cum eis juste decernere si episcopus
debeat prius investiri vel ante investituram de querelis
regis intrare in placitum.” The text has “S. Constantiensis
episcopus,” but Bishop Geoffrey must be meant.
[274] Mon. Angl. u. s. “Ad hæc Lanfrancus archiepiscopus,
‘Non est necesse,’ inquit, ‘nos surgere, sed episcopus et
homines sui egrediantur, et nos remanentes, tam clerici quam
laici, consideremus equaliter quid inde juste facere
debeamus.’”
[275] Ib. “Vade, nos enim juste faciemus quidquid
fecerimus.”
[276] Ib. “Si ego hodie te et tuum ordinem judicare non
potero, tu vel tuus ordo nunquam me amplius judicabitis.”
[277] Ib. “Vide autem qui in domo ista remanent et me
judicare disponunt ut et canonicos judices habeant et
canonice me judicent; si enim aliter agerent, eorum judicia
penitus recusarem.”
[278] Ib. “Rege, cum suis episcopis et consulibus et
vicecomitibus et præpositis et venatoribus aliisque
quorumlibet officiorum, in judicio remanente.”
[279] We have met with Osgeat the Reeve in Domesday. See N.
C. vol. v. p. 812. Croc the hunter, like others of his
craft, appears in 49, 74 _b_. See Ellis, i. 403. This odd
mixture of great and small officials is not unusual. In the
“Constitutio Domus Regis” in Hearne’s Liber Niger, i. 341,
the descent from the Chancellor to the bakers and cooks――the
huntsmen come at the end――is more sudden than one would have
looked for, though certain chaplains and seneschals break
the fall.
[280] See N. C. vol. v. pp. 423, 878.
[281] Mon. Angl. u. s. “Dominus noster archiepiscopus et
regis curia vobis judicat quod rectitudinem regi facere
debetis antequam de _vestro feodo_ revestiat.”
[282] Ib. “Nullus mihi hodie vel ego alicui de feodo feci
verbum,” says Bishop William. To which Archbishop Thomas
answers, “Vobis judicat curia ista, quia de nulla re debet
vos rex resaissire antequam sibi rectitudinem faciatis.”
[283] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Episcopi sunt judices, et eos ad
consilium tuum habere non debes.”
[284] Ib. “Cum tuis ibi consule, quia de nostris in consilio
tuo nullum prorsus habebis.”
[285] Ib. “Parum consilii in his septem hominibus habeo
contra virtutem et scientiam totius hujus regni quod hic
adversum me video congregatum.”
[286] Mon. Angl. u. s. “In _lege nostra_ prohibitum invenio,
ne tale judicium suspiciam.” This strange phrase, twice
repeated, most likely refers to the False Decretals, of
which he seems to have had a copy with him. See below, p.
109.
[287] Ib. “Apostolicam sedem Romanam, sanctam ecclesiam et
beatum Petrum ejusque vicarium appello, ut ipsius
ordinatione negotii mei justam sententiam suscipere merear,
cujus dispositioni majores causas ecclesiasticas et
episcoporum judicia antiqua apostolorum eorumque successorum
atque canonum auctoritas reservavit.” Yet, according to the
doctrine held long after by Thomas Stubbs (see N. C. vol.
iv. p. 260), the Bishop of Durham need not have gone very
far to find a Vicar of Saint Peter.
[288] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 338.
[289] Mon. Angl. u. s. “Dispoliatus episcopio extra
provinciam meam, absentibus omnibus comprovincialibus meis,
in laicali conventu causam meam dicere compellor.”
[290] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Nos non de episcopio sed de tuo te
feodo judicamus, et hoc modo judicavimus Baiocensem
episcopum ante patrem hujus regis de feodo suo, nec rex
vocabat eum episcopum in placito illo, sed fratrem et
comitem.”
[291] Ib. “Quia Dei gratia sapientissimus et nominatissimus
estis, in hoc sapere vestrum tam sublime intelligo, quod
parvitas mea illud comprehendere non potest; sed apostolicam
sedem quam ex necessitate appellavi per licentiam regis et
vestram adire volo.”
[292] Mon. Ang. u. s. “In omni loco in quo non violentia sed
justitia dominetur, de scelere et perjurio me purgare
paratus sum, et hoc quod hic pro judicio recitasti in Romana
ecclesia falsum et injuste dictum esse monstrabo.”
[293] Ib. “In curia ista nullum ad præsens placitum
subintrabo, quia nihil ibi tam bene dicerem quin fautores
regis depravando perverterent, qui ipsam et non reverentes
apostolicam auctoritatem post ejus appellationem me judicio
non legali gravant, sed Dei et Sancti Petri postulans
auxilium Romam vadam.”
[294] Ib. “Tunc rex ait, ‘Modo volo ut castellum tuum mihi
reddas, quoniam judicium meæ curiæ non sequeris.’”
[295] Mon. Ang. i. 248. “Per vultum de Luca nunquam exibis
de manibus meis donec castellum habeam.”
[296] Ib. “Ego passus sum per tres servientes vestros
aufferri mihi terras et pecuniam ecclesiæ, præsentibus
centum meis militibus, et in nullo prorsus vobis restiti.”
[297] Durham is described as “Urbs ipsa in qua sedes est
ecclesiæ.” The Bishop adds; “Paratus sum bonos obsides et
fiducias dare vobis, quod homines mei quos ibi dum Romam
vado volo dimittere in fidelitate vestra eam custodient, et,
si volueritis, libenter vobis servient.”
[298] “Tunc rex ait, ‘In veritate credas, episcope, quod
nullo modo Dunelmum reverteris et quod homines tui Dunelmi
nullatenus remanebunt, nec tu manus meas evades donec
castellum tuum liberum mihi reddas.’”
[299] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Si episcopus amplius castellum suum
vobis contradixerit, bene eum capere potestis, quia
conductum quem hactenus habuit nunc dimittit, cum prior
conventionem frangit, et barones vestros probare appetit
quod fidem suam servarent non bene.”
[300] On Randolf Peverel and his alleged connexion with
William, see N. C. vol. iii. p. 662; iv. 200; v. 26.
[301] Mon. Angl. i. 248. “Tunc Radulfus Piperellus et omnes
laici unanimiter conclamantes dixerunt; ‘Capite eum, capite
eum, bene enim loquitur _iste vetustus ligaminarius_.’” One
would like to have the original French of this somewhat
irreverent description of the Archbishop, but _gaoler_ seems
to be the most likely meaning of the unusual word
_ligaminarius_.
[302] Ib. “Multum precor dominum meum regem ne fidem meam
inde faciat me mentiri, nullum enim proficuum in me haberet
ulterius.”
[303] Ib. “Rex bene vos adquietavit; plenam namque
rectitudinem episcopo obtulit, et ipse eam vobis audientibus
recusavit, regem quoque Romam injuste invitavit; recognoscat
igitur episcopus hoc justum fecisse judicium, et si illud
sequi nollet, et rex sibi naves inveniet et conductum.”
[304] “Christianam legem quam hic scriptam habeo, testem
invoco.” See above, p. 104.
[305] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Non est justum ut placitum vel
judicium regis pro aliqua contradictione longius procedat,
sed quotiens in curia sua judicium agitur, ibidem necesse
est ut concedatur vel contradicatur, tu ergo judicium
nostrum vel hic concede, vel hic evidenti ratione
contradicito.”
[306] Ib. “Rex ait, ‘Dicas licet quidquid velis, non tamen
effugies manus meas nisi castellum prius mihi reddas.’” The
Bishop has just before spoken of “Roma, ubi debeo et ubi
justitia magis quam violentia.”
[307] Ib. “Cum vos non solum episcopatum, verum et omnia
mea, injuste abstuleritis, et ipsam modo sedem violenter
auferre velitis, pro nulla re quam facere possim capi me
patiar.”
[308] Ib. “Constituta est ergo dies qua episcopus urbem suis
hominibus vacuaret et rex ibi suos poneret.”
[309] Ib. “Tu pro regis damno et omnium nostrorum dedecore
vadis Romam, et ipse tibi terram dimitteret? Remane in terra
sua, et ipse episcopatum tuum præter urbem tibi reddet, ea
conditione quod in curia sua judicio baronum suorum
rectitudinem sibi facias.”
[310] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Ego apostolicam sedem appellavi, quia
in curia ejus nullum justum judicio audio et nullo modo
dimittam quin illuc vadam.”
[311] Ib. “Tunc rex ait, ‘Faciat mihi episcopus fiduciam
quod damnum meum citra mare non quærat vel recipiat, et quod
naves meas quas sibi inveniam non detinebit frater meus vel
aliquis suorum ad damnum meum contra nautarum voluntatem.’”
[312] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Reginaldus Paganellus ait, ‘Certe
comites vestri promiserunt hoc quod dicit episcopus et
convenienter inde eos custodite.’” “Reginaldus” must surely
be a slip for “Radulfus.”
[313] Ib. “‘Tace,’ inquit rex, ‘quia pro nullius fiducia
naves meas perdere patiar, sed, si episcopus inde se
fiduciam fecisse cognoverit, super illam aliam non
requiram.’”
[314] Ib. “Tunc rex iratus ait, ‘Per vultum de Luca, in hoc
anno mare non transibis, nisi fiduciam quam de navibus
requiro prius modo feceris.’”
[315] Ib. “Faciam hanc et multo majorem, si necesse fuerit,
fiduciam antequam hic in captione detinear; sed bene omnes
audiant quod ea invitus faciam et captionis timore coactus.”
[316] Ib. “Rex ait, ‘Nullum conductum habebis, sed Wiltone
moraberis donec ego vere sciam quod castellum habeam in mea
potestate, et tunc demum naves recipies et conductum.’”
Wilton seems an odd place for the purpose; should it be
“Wintonie?”
[317] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Cum quod vellem et deberem facere non
valeam, hoc ipsum quod dicitis injuste patiar et coactus.”
[318] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 215. “Walterus de Haiencora,” or
“Haiencorn,” must be a corruption of his name.
[319] Mon. Angl. i. 249. “Precamur vos ut faciatis domino
meo reddi pecuniam.” The name of the speaker is given as
“Willelmus de Merlao.”
[320] Ib. “Rex ait, ‘Videant barones isti si ego juste
possum implacitare episcopum.’”
[321] Ib. “Injustum esset si amplius implacitaretis eum, cum
de vobis mihi teneat et securum conductum habere debeat.”
[322] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Bene scias, episcope, quod nunquam
transfretabis donec castellum tuum habeam; episcopus enim
Baiocensis inde me castigavit.”
[323] Gilbert of Bretevile appears as a considerable
landowner in Hampshire (Domesday, 48) and Wiltshire (71). He
may have been Sheriff of either shire.
[324] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 215, 800. Besides Erneis
himself, we have heard of a Ralph Fitz-Erneis at Senlac,
vol. iii. p. 494.
[325] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Dissaisiverunt episcopum de ecclesia
et de castello et de omni terra sua xviii. Kal. Dec., et
liberaverunt hominibus episcopi _Helponem_ balistarium
regis.” The King’s writ follows. _Helpo_ must be _Heppo_.
See N. C. vol. iv. p. 216. See Appendix C.
[326] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Accepit Ivo Taillesbosci duos milites
episcopi, et coegit eos placitare de animalibus
Constantiensis episcopi de quibus judicatum fuerat ante
regem Dunelmensi episcopo non debere respondere.” It is of
course possible that there might be some ground for
impleading the knights, though not for impleading the
Bishop.
[327] He had before asked; “dum in Anglia fuero, habetote
mecum unum bonum hominem, qui et hospitia mihi inveniat et
ab impedimento me defendat.” The “good man” assigned is
“Robertus de Comitisvilla.” One would think that he was a
kinsman of the husband of Herleva, the King’s
step-grandfather.
[328] _Roger_ in the text; but Robert must surely be meant.
[329] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Illi responderunt se nullam sibi
navem liberaturos, et dixerunt regem sibi præcepisse ut bene
servarent episcopum, ne de potestate regis exiret usque quo
quid de eo fieri præciperet, illis per suas sigillatas
literas remandaret.”
[330] Mon. Ang. u. s. “Venerunt ad eum Salesberiensis
episcopus et Robertus de Insula et Ricardus de Cultura, et
summonuerunt eum de parte regis, Kal. Decembr., ut in
nativitate Domini esset Londoniæ ad curiam regis, et faceret
ei rectitudinem de Gaufrido monacho suo, qui, postquam
episcopus ad curiam venerat, de dominicatu episcopi
quingenta et triginta novem animalia acceperat, et
munitionem castelli abstulerat de quibusdam suis aliis
hominibus, qui unum hominem regis occiderant.” The Gemót was
therefore to be at Westminster, not in its regular place at
Gloucester.
[331] Ib. “Quamvis juste facere potuissem, potui enim de
meis facere quidquid volui, usquequo de mea sede me
dissaisivit.”
[332] Ib. “Ad curiam ejus amplius ire non possum, ipse enim
omnia mea mihi abstulit, et equos meos jam venditos
manducavi.”
[333] He offers, “Solus, si liceat, transfretabo.”
[334] Mon. Angl. u. s. “Rex misit ei Wintoniensem episcopum
et Hugonem de Portu et Gaufridum de Traileio, et per illos
sibi mandavit ut Gaufridum monachum ad placitandum de
prædictis forisfactis Dunelmum mitteret, et ipse Londoniam
iret, ut in nativitate Domini de hominibus suis ibi
rectitudinem regi faceret.”
[335] Ib. “Episcopus tristis misit ad comites Alanum et
Rogerum et Odonem, mandans eis impedimenta sua, et
conjuravit eos per eam fidem quam in baptismo susceperant et
quam sibi promiserant.”
[336] Ib. “A Roberto fratre regis comite Normannorum
honorifice susceptus, totius Normanniæ curam suscepit.”
[337] See above, p. 91, where he is afraid of the “indocta
multitudo.”
[338] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 502, 675.
[339] Ann. Camb. 1087. “Resus filius Teudur a regno suo
expulsus est a filiis Bledint, scilicet Madauc, Cadugan, et
Ririt. Resus vero ex Hibernia classem duxit et revertitur in
Britanniam.” The Brut is to the same effect.
[340] Ib. “Ingentem censum captivorum gentilibus et Scotis
filius Teudur tradidit.” The Brut for “gentiles et Scoti”
has “Yscotteit ar Gúydyl,” marking the Gwyddyl as heathen
Ostmen. This is the most common use of the word in the
British writers; but we can hardly think that the Scots here
spoken of are Scots in the elder sense.
[341] In Ann. Camb. 1082, Trahaern (see N. C. iv. 675), with
others, “a Reso filio Teudur et a Grifino filio Conani
occidisus est.” This Gruffydd must be distinguished from
Gruffydd son of Meredydd. He may be the “Grifin puer” of
Domesday, 180 _b_. “Griffin rex” in p. 269 is surely
Gruffydd son of Llywelyn.
[342] Ord. Vit. 669 B. “Grithfridus rex Guallorum cum
exercitu suo fines Angliæ invasit, et circa Rodelentum
magnam stragem hominum et incendia fecit, ingentem quoque
prædam cepit, hominesque in captivitatem duxit.”
[343] Orderic (u. s.) specially marks Gruffydd’s invasion as
happening “cum supradicta tempestate vehementer Anglia
undique concuteretur et mutuis vulneribus incolæ regni
quotidie mactarentur.”
[344] See above, pp. 34, 47. Now is the time for the
exploits of the grandsons of Jestyn ap Gwrgan. See N. C.
vol. v. p. 822, and Appendix DD.
[345] We have seen him among the rebels. See above, p. 34.
[346] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Robertus Rodelenti princeps de
obsidione Rofensi rediens, et tam atroces damnososque sibi
rumores comperiens, vehementer dolens ingemuit, et
terribilibus minis iram suam evidenter aperuit.”
[347] Ib. 670 B. “Tertio die Julii Grithfridus rex Guallorum
cum tribus navibus sub montem qui dicitur Hormaheva littori
appulsus est.” It needs a moment’s thought to see that
_Hormaheva_ is _Ormesheafod_, the _Orm’s Head_. Here the
name bears the Scandinavian form given to it doubtless by
Northern rovers. The _Worm’s Head_ in Gower, in its English
form, marks the presence of Low-Dutch settlers, whether
Flemish or Saxon.
[348] Ord. Vit. 670 B. “Incolis Britonibus sævo Marte
repulsis, fines suos dilatavit, et in monte Dagaunoth, qui
mari contiguus est, fortissimum castellum condidit.” Orderic
has clearly got hold of the right names and the right
incidents; but he has misconceived the topography.
Dwyganwy passes as the stronghold of that Maglocunus or
Maelgwyn, whom Gildas (Ep. 33) addresses as “insularis
draco, multorum tyrannorum depulsor, tam regno quam etiam
vita” (cf. Nennius, c. 62, and Ann. Camb. 547, the year of
his death). See Giraldus, It. Kamb. ii. 10; Descrip. Kamb.
i. 5 (where he calls it “nobile castellum”), vol. vi. pp.
136, 176.
[349] Ord. Vit. 670 C. “Interim mare fluctus suos retraxit,
et in sicco litore classis piratarum stetit. Grithfridus
autem cum suis per maritima discurrit, homines et armenta
rapuit, et ad naves exsiccatas festine remeavit.”
[350] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 176.
[351] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Clamor vulgi Robertum meridie
dormitantem excitavit, eique hostilem discursum per terram
suam nuntiavit. Ille vero, ut jacebat, impiger surrexit, et
mox præcones ad congregandum agmen armatorum per totam
regionem direxit. Porro ipse cum paucis bellatoribus
imparatus Guallos prosecutus est, et de vertice montis
Hormohevæ, qui nimis arduus est, captivos a piratis ligari,
et in naves cum pecoribus præcipitari speculatus est.”
Orderic must surely have confounded the Orm’s Head itself
with the lower hill of Dwyganwy. It is there, in or near his
own castle, that we must conceive Robert sleeping, not on
the Orm’s Head itself, or on any casual point of the flat
ground between the two. To climb the higher of the two peaks
of Dwyganwy would be perfectly natural, and would give him a
wide enough view over the whole country. But to conceive him
first crossing the flat, and then climbing a huge mountain
for no particular object, seems quite out of the question.
[352] Ib. “Marchisus audax, ut leo nobilis, vehementer
infremuit, hominesque paucos qui secum inermes erant, ut,
antequam æstus maris rediret, super Guallos in sicco litore
irruerent, admonuit.”
[353] Ord. Vit. 670 C. “Prætendunt suorum paucitatem, et per
ardui montis præcipitium descendendi difficultatem.”
[354] Ib. “Nimis doluit, impatiensque moræ per difficilem
descensum sine lorica cum uno milite nomine Osberno de
Orgeriis, ad hostes descendit.” I cannot identify this
Osbern, unless he be “Osbernus filius Tezonis,” who in
Domesday (267 _b_, 268 _b_) holds a good deal of land in
Cheshire under Earl Hugh, but none seemingly under Robert
himself. For Orgères see Stapleton, ii. lxxxv.
[355] Ib. 670 D. “Quem cum viderent solo clypeo protectum et
uno tantum milite stipatum, omnes pariter in illum missilia
destinant, et scutum ejus jaculis intolerabiliter onerant,
et egregium militem letaliter vulnerant. Nullus tamen,
quamdiu stetit et parmam tenuit, ad eum comminus accedere,
vel eum ense impetere ausus fuit.” Cf. the account of the
death of Siccius in Dion. Hal. xi. 26. He has an ὑπασπιστής
[hypaspistês] to play the part of Osbern of Orgères.
[356] Ib. “Bellicosus heros spiculis confossus genua flexit,
et scutum missilibus nimis onustum viribus effœtus dimisit.”
[357] Ib. “In conspectu suorum caput ejus abscindunt ac
super malum navis pro signo victoriæ suspendunt.”
[358] Ord. Vit. 670 D. “Classe parata piratas per mare
fugientes persequebantur nimis tristes, dum caput principis
sui super malum puppis intuebantur.”
[359] Ib. 671 A. “Cum nimio luctu Anglorum et Normannorum.”
This may be well believed. Normans and English soon forgot
their own differences in warfare with the Welsh.
[360] But Orderic has forgotten his dates when he says,
“Nuper illud cœnobium Hugo Cestrensis consul construxerat,
eique Ricardus Beccensis monachus abbas præerat.” We shall
see as we go on that the monks were not planted at Saint
Werburh’s till 1092 (see N. C. vol. iv. pp. 312, 491). It is
now that Orderic speaks of the “belluini cœtus”――we are not
told whether they were Norman, English, or Welsh――among whom
Abbot Richard had to labour.
[361] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 489.
[362] His gifts in lands, tithes, and villains, in Normandy
and in England, are reckoned up by Orderic, 669 C, D. Among
them was “in civitate Cestra ecclesiam sancti Petri de
mercato et tres hospites.”
[363] Ord. Vit. 671 B. “Rainaldus pictor, cognomento
Bartolomæus, variis coloribus arcum tumulumque depinxit.”
[364] Ib. “Vitalis Angligena satis ab Ernaldo rogatus
epitaphium elegiacis versibus hoc modo edidit.”
[365] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 490.
[366] Ord. Vit. 672 A;
“Eripe tartareis Robertum, Christe, camœnis [caminis];
Est nimis ipse reus; terge, precor, facinus;”
with four more lines to the same effect.
[367] Ord. Vit. 671 C, D.
“Montem Snaudunum fluviumque citum Colvenum,
Pluribus armatis transiliit vicibus.
Præcipuam pulcro Blideno rege fugato
Prædam cum paucis cepit in insidiis.
Duxit captivum lorisque ligavit Hoëllum
Qui tunc Wallensi rex præerat manui.
Cepit Grithfridum regem vicitque Trehellum;
Sic micuit crebris militiæ titulis.
Attamen incaute Wallenses ausus adire,
Occidit æstivi principio Julii.
Prodidit Owenius, rex est gavisus Hovellus;
Facta vindicta monte sub Hormaheva.
Ense caput secuit Grithfridus, et in mare jecit,
_Soma_ quidem reliquum possidet hunc loculum.”
The exploits of Robert fully entitled him to Orderic’s pet
Greek word. “Colvenus” must be some corrupt form of _Conwy_.
[368] We have seen that, in describing the rebellion of
1088, the words of the Chronicler are, “þa riceste Frencisce
men þe weron innan þisan lande wolden swican heora hlaforde
þam cynge.” In 1101 we read simply, “þa sona þæeræfter
wurdon þa heafod men her on lande wiðerræden togeanes þam
cynge.”
[369] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 308.
[370] I refer to the passage which I have already quoted in
N. C. vol. v. p. 830, where William Rufus, just before his
death (Ord. Vit. 782 B), mocks at the English regard for
omens; “Num prosequi me ritum autumat Anglorum, qui pro
sternutatione et somnio vetularum dimittunt iter suum seu
negotium?”
[371] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 393.
[372] Stigand appears in the list of deaths which
accompanied that of William in the Chronicle, where one
would think that the persons spoken of died after him; but
in the less rhetorical account of the same year in Florence
they seem to have died before him. The Life of Lanfranc at
the end of the Chronicles records the consecrations and
benediction of all the three prelates with whom we are
concerned, Geoffrey, Guy, and John, in 1088; “Cantuariæ, in
sede metropoli, examinavit atque sacravit.” Cf. Gervase, X
Scriptt. 1654.
[373] See Stephens’ Memorials of Chichester, p. 47.
[374] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 459.
[375] Will. Malms. Gest. Pont. 195 draws a curious picture
of him; “Erat medicus probatissimus, non scientia sed usu,
ut fama, nescio an vera, dispersit. Litteratorum contubernio
gaudens, ut eorum societate aliquid sibi laudis ascisceret;
salsioris tamen in obloquentes dicacitatis quam gradus ejus
interesse deberet.” He had just before described him as
“natione Turonicus, professione medicus, qui non minimum
quæstum illo conflaverat artificio.” The local writer in the
Historiola (21) calls him “vir prudens et providus.”
[376] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 417.
[377] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 411.
[378] See Appendix F.
[379] See above, p. 41.
[380] Will. Malms. Gest. Pont. 196. “Cessit Andreas Simoni,
frater fratri, minor majori.” Yet before the west front of
the church of Wells there can be no doubt who was there
looked on as the very chiefest apostle.
[381] See Appendix F.
[382] See Appendix F.
[383] Will. Malms. 195. “Sepultus est in ecclesia sancti
Petri, quam a fundamentis erexerat, magno et elaborato
parietum ambitu.”
[384] The like usage is still more remarkable at Durham and
Carlisle, churches which never had an abbot distinct from
the bishop. At Carlisle the “abbey” seems to mean the
monastic precinct rather than the church itself.
[385] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 409. The story is told in the
Winchester Appendix to the Chronicles.
[386] Chron. Wint. App. 1089. “Post ejus [Lanfranci] obitum,
monachi sancti Augustini, præfato abbati suo Widoni palam
resistentes, cives Cantuariæ contra eum concitaverunt, qui
illum armata manu in sua domo interimere temptaverunt. Cujus
familia cum resisteret, pluribus utrimque vulneratis et
quibusdam interfectis, vix abbas inter manus illorum illæsus
evasit, et ad matrem ecclesiam, quærendo auxilium,
_Cantuariam_, _fugit_.” This last odd expression must be
owing to the fact that Saint Augustine’s stood outside the
walls.
[387] Chron. Wint. App. “Coram populo subire disciplinam,
quia palam peccaverant, ii qui advenerant, decreverunt; sed
prior et monachi ecclesiæ Christi, pietate moti,
restiterunt; ne, si palam punirentur, infames deinceps
fierent, sicque eorum vita ac servitus contemneretur. Igitur
concessum est ut in ecclesia fieret, ubi non populus, sed
soli ad hoc electi admitterentur.”
Thierry, who of course colours the whole story after his
fashion, becomes (ii. 140) not a little amusing at this
point. The flogging was done by two monks of Christ Church,
“Wido et Normannus.” If one stopped to think of matters of
nationality at such a moment, we might admire the
impartiality of the Norman bishops in entrusting the painful
duty to a monk of each nation, somewhat on the principle of
a mixed jury. For no one can doubt that Normannus,
_Northman_, was as good an Englishman as Northman the son of
Earl Leofwine and other English bearers of that name.
Thierry, on the other hand, tells us that the whipping was
done by “deux religieux étrangers, appelés Guy et Le
Normand.” He seemingly mistook the Christian name
“Normannus” for the modern surname “Lenormand,” and he
forgot that this last could be borne only by one whose
forefathers had moved from Normandy to some other
French-speaking land.
[388] Chron. Wint. App.
[389] Ib. See N. C. vol. iv. p. 410.
[390] See Lanfranc, Ep. 67 (i. 80, ed. Giles); N. C. vol.
iv. p. 439.
[391] Chron. Petrib. 1089. “On þisum geare se arwurða muneca
feder and frouer Landfranc arcebisceop gewat of þissum life,
ac we hopiað þæt he ferde to þæt heofanlice rice.”
[392] The exact date comes from his Life, 52 (i. 312, ed.
Giles); “anno archiepiscopatus xix, v. calendas Junii diem
clausit extremum.” The Latin Chronicler gives us the exact
measure of his primacy; “In sede pontificali sedit annis
decem et octo, mensibus ix. duobus diebus.” The Life gives
us his epitaph, which begins;
“Hic tumulus claudit quem nulla sub orbe Latino
Gens ignoravit.”
See N. C. vol. ii. p. 636.
[393] Vita Lanfranci, 52 (i. 312, ed. Giles). “Cum immineret
dies ipsius dedicationis, sicut mos est, omnia corpora de
ecclesia elata fuerunt. Tunc quidam frater, sive
curiositate, seu quod magis credibile est, pro reliquiis
habendam de casula gloriosi Lanfranci abscidit particulam;
de qua miri odoris suavitas efflagrabat. Ostendit aliis, qui
et ipsi senserunt odoris fragrantiam. Qua de re intellegi
datur, quod anima illius in magna suavitate requiescit;
cujus corporis indumenta tanto odore redolent.”
[394] Vita Lanf. ib. “Dolor omnibus incomparabilis, et
luctus inconsolabilis suis.”
[395] See the passages from William of Malmesbury quoted in
Appendix G.
[396] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 14. “Cum posthac in regno fuisset
confirmatus, postposita pollicitatione sua, in contraria
dilapsus est. Super quo cum a Lanfranco modeste
redargueretur, et ei sponsio fidei non servatæ opponeretur,
furore succensus, ‘Quis,’ ait, ‘est qui cuncta quæ promittit
implere possit?’ Ex hoc igitur non rectis oculis super
pontificem intendere valebat, licet a nonnullis ad quæ illum
voluntas sua trahebat, ipsius respectu, eo superstite,
temperaverit.”
[397] See above, p. 25.
[398] Will. Malms. iv. 321. “Si quis desiderat scire
corporis ejus qualitatem, noverit eum fuisse corpore
quadrato, colore rufo, crine subflavo, fronte fenestrata,
oculo vario, quibusdam intermicantibus guttis distincto;
præcipuo robore, quamquam non magnæ staturæ, et ventre
paullo projectiore. Eloquentiæ nullæ, sed titubantia linguæ
notabilis, maxime cum ira succresceret.” Cf. the description
of Robert, N. C. vol. iv. p. 633.
[399] So for instance Orderic (667 B); “Rex ergo Rufus
indigenarum hortatu promptior surrexit,” and William of
Malmesbury (iv. 306), “Quomodo adversarios rex Rufus
vicerit.” So again Wace (14496);
“Por devise del nom k’il out,
Ki à son pere ressemblout,
Kar chescun Willame aveit nom,
Out li filz poiz Ros à sornom.”
Presently (14513) he is “li reis Ros.” The use of the
nickname in this way was the more easy, because Rufus was a
real name which had been borne by other men, while nobody
had ever been called _Curthose_. See on the name Martel, N.
C. vol. ii. p. 280; vol. v. p. 569.
I do not know that any one except Matthew Paris has turned
the Red King into a Red Dragon. He does so twice. Hist.
Angl. i. 97, “Rex Willelmus, qui a multis rubeus draco
cognominabatur;” and again, i. 167, “Rex Willelmus, draco
rubeus――sic enim eum appellabant propter tyrannidem.”
[400] M. Gaston le Hardy, the apologist of Duke Robert (Le
Dernier des Ducs Normands, Caen, 1880, p. 41), refers to the
Monasticon and Orderic for the statement that William Rufus
was called “comes” in his father’s life-time. But I cannot
find the places. Has he got hold of any signature of Earl
William Fitz-Osbern?
[401] Will. Malms. iv. 305. “Emensa pueritia, in militari
exercitio adolescentiam egit; equitari, jaculari, certare
cum primævis obsequio, cum æquævis officio. Jacturam
virtutis putare si forte in militari tumultu alter eo prior
arma corriperet, et nisi primus ex adverso provocaret, vel
provocantem dejiceret.”
[402] Ib. “Genitori in omnibus obsequelam gerens, ejus se
oculis in bello ostentans, ejus lateri in pace obambulans.
Spe sensim scaturiente, jam successioni inhians, maximum
post abdicationem fratris majoris, cum et tirocinium minoris
nonnihil suspiceret.”
[403] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 644.
[404] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 629.
[405] A great part of the description of Tiberius given by
Tacitus (Ann. vi. 51) applies to William Rufus; only we
cannot make out quite so many stages in the moral downfall
of the Red King. “Egregium vita famaque quoad privatus vel
in imperiis sub Augusto fuit; occultum et subdolum fingendis
virtutibus donec Germanicus ac Drusus superfuere: idem inter
bona malaque mixtus, incolumi matre.” These are words of
almost the same meaning as some of the expressions of Eadmer
and William of Malmesbury. See specially Eadmer, Hist. Nov.
14; “Confestim [after Lanfranc’s death] rex foras expressit
quod in suo pectore, illo vivente, confotum habuit.” In any
case we may say, “postremo in scelera simul ac dedecora
prorupit, postquam, remoto pudore et metu, suo tantum
ingenio utebatur.” The change in William after Lanfranc’s
death is most strongly brought out by Matthew Paris, Hist.
Angl. i. 38.
[406] This is well drawn out by Dean Church, Anselm, 156,
157.
[407] Ord. Vit. 680 A. “Tenacis memoriæ, et ardentis ad
bonum seu malum voluntatis erat.” Nearly to the same effect
are the words of the Hyde writer (299); “Erat quidem
operibus levis, sed verbis, ut aiunt, in tantum stabilis ut,
si cui bonum vel malum promisisset, certus inde satis
exsistere posset.”
[408] See Appendix G.
[409] See Historical Essays, Second Series, p. 343.
[410] Will. Malms. iv. 312. “Erat in foris et in conventu
hominum tumido vultu erectus, minaci oculo adstantem
defigens, et affectato rigore feroci voce colloquentem
reverberans.”
[411] Ib. “Intus et in triclinio cum privatis, omni lenitate
accommodus, multa joco transigebat; facetissimus quoque de
aliquo suo perperam facto cavillator, ut invidiam facti
dilueret et ad sales transferret.”
[412] This tale is told by William of Malmesbury (iv. 313)
in illustration of the general character of Rufus, as “homo
qui nesciret cujuscumque rei effringere pretium vel æstimare
commercium.” He adds, “vestium suarum pretium in immensum
extolli volebat, dedignans si quis alleviasset.” In the
story which follows, the King’s speech to the chamberlain is
characteristically vigorous; “Indignabundus et fremens,
‘Fili,’ ait, ‘meretricis, ex quo habet rex caligas tam
exilis pretii?’” We are not surprised to hear that the
officer got rich in the service of such a master; “Ita
cubicularius ex eo pretium vestimentorum ejus pro voluntate
numerabat, multa perinde suis utilitatibus nundinatus.” So
there is a story told of a rich patient who despised the
cheapness of Galen’s prescriptions, and asked him to order
something dearer. See Friedländer, Sittengeschichte Roms, i.
339.
[413] Take for instance Suger (Duchèsne, iv. 283); “Ille
opulentus et Anglorum thesaurorum profusor, mirabilisque
militum mercator et solidator.”
[414] See Appendix G.
[415] Will. Malms. iv. 313. “Cui pro libito venditor
distraheret mercimonium et miles pacisceretur stipendium.”
This comes in the passage quoted in the last page.
[416] Ib. “Cum primis initiis regni metu turbarum milites
congregasset, nihil illis denegandum putabat, majora in
futurum pollicitus. Itaque quia paternos thesauros evacuaret
impigre, et modicæ ei pensiones numerabantur, jam substantia
defecerat.”
[417] Ib. “Sed animus largiendi non deerat, quod usu donandi
pene in naturam verterat.”
[418] See the extract from the Chronicle, below, p. 155.
[419] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 621.
[420] Will. Malms. iv. 314. “Cujuscumque conditionis
homunculus, cujuscumque criminis reus, statim ut de lucro
regis appellasset, audiebatur; ab ipsis latronis faucibus
resolvebatur laqueus si promisisset regale commodum.”
[421] See Appendix G.
[422] We shall see some instances as we go on, specially the
story told by William of Malmesbury, iv. 309.
[423] William of Malmesbury, iv. 314. “A buccis miserorum
cibos abstrahentes.”
[424] See Appendix G.
[425] See N. C. vol. v. p. 159. The evil went on under Henry
until the passing of this statute, as we see by the terrible
complaint of the Chronicler in the year 1104; “æfre ealswa
se cyng for, full hergung þurh his hired uppon his wreccea
folc wæs, and þær onmang for oft bærneta and manslihtas.”
[426] Chron. Petrib. 1100. “He wæs swiðe strang and reðe
ofer his land and his mænn and wið ealle his neahheburas,
and swiðe ondrædendlic, and þurh yfelra manna rædas þe him
æfre gecweme wæran and þurh his agene gitsunga, he æfre þas
leode mid here and mid ungylde tyrwigende wæs, forþan þe on
his dagan ælc riht afeoll and ælc unriht for Gode and for
worulde úp aras.”
[427] See N. C. vol. i. pp. 436, 754.
[428] Will. Malms. iv. 319. “Venationes, quas rex primo
indulserat, adeo prohibuit ut capitale esset supplicium
prendisse cervum.” Contrast this with his father’s law in N.
C. vol. iv. p. 621.
[429] The story is told by Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 48. It is
brought in as an illustration of the impiety of Rufus rather
than of his cruelty.
[430] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 48. “Quinquaginta circiter viri
quibus adhuc illis diebus ex antiqua Anglorum ingenuitate
divitiarum quædam vestigia arridere videbantur.”
[431] Ib. “Negant illi; unde statim ad judicium rapti,
judicantur injectam calumniam examine igniti ferri a se
propulsare debere. Statuto itaque die præfixi pœnæ judicii
pariter subacti sunt, remota pietate et misericordia.” Yet,
unless there was some special circumstance of hardship which
is not recorded, this was only the old law of England kept
on by the Conqueror. (See N. C. vol. iv. p. 624; v. pp. 400,
874.) That is, if the accuser was English, and the King’s
reeves and huntsmen were largely English. If the accuser was
French, the accused were entitled to a choice between the
ordeal and the wager of battle. Can Eadmer mean that this
choice was not allowed them?
[432] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 48. “Cum principi esset relatum
condemnatos illos tertio judicii die simul omnes inustis
manibus apparuisse, stomachatus taliter fertur respondisse,
‘Quid est hoc? Deus est justus judex? Pereat qui deinceps
hoc crediderit. Quare per hoc et hoc meo judicio amodo
respondebitur. Non Dei quod pro voto cujusque hinc inde
plicatur.’”
[433] “Judicium” is the usual Domesday name. See N. C. vol.
v. p. 875.
[434] Ord. Vit. 682 C. “Illi modestis vestiebantur
indumentis optimeque coaptatis ad sui mensuram corporis. Et
erant habiles ad equitandum et currendum et ad omne opus
quod ratio suggerebat agendum.”
[435] Ib. “Olim pœnitentes et capti et peregrini usualiter
intonsi erant, longasque barbas gestabant, judicioque tali
pœnitentiam, seu captionem, vel peregrinationem spectantibus
prætendebant.”
[436] Ib. “Post obitum Gregorii papæ et Guillelmi Nothi
aliorumque principum religiosorum, in occiduis partibus pene
totus abolitus est honestus patrum mos antiquorum.” Yet,
unless we go as far north as the sainted Cnut of Denmark, it
is not easy to find any specially devout princes who died
about the same time as Gregory and William.
[437] See Appendix G.
[438] See Appendix G.
[439] Take, above all, the story of Bishop Serlo’s most
practical sermon in Orderic, 815, 816. See N. C. vol. v. p.
844, and Appendix G.
[440] Ord. Vit. 682 B. “Nocte comessationibus et
potationibus vanisque confabulationibus, aleis et tesseris
aliisque ludicris vacabant; die vero dormiebant.”
[441] See Appendix G.
[442] See N. C. vol. v. p. 818. In some manuscripts of
William of Malmesbury (iv. 317) he says distinctly, “Judæi
qui Lundoniæ habitabant, quos pater a Rothomago illuc
traduxerat.”
[443] The Jews meet us at every turn in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. At Lincoln and Saint Eadmundsbury they
have left their works. Those of Winchester――their
Jerusalem――shared in the perfection which marked all classes
of men in that city (see Ric. Div. c. 82). In the genuine
“Annals of an English Abbey” (Gest. Abb. i. 193) we may see
something of the “superbia magna et jactantia” which the Jew
Aaron (of Lincoln) displayed at Saint Alban’s.
[444] As in the great massacre at York in 1189. Or the King
himself might, like John, do as he would with his own
chattels.
[445] See Eadmer, Vit. Ans. iii. 5. We shall come across
them again.
[446] Will. Malms. iv. 317. “Apud Londoniam contra episcopos
nostros in certamen animati [Judæi], quia ille ludibundus,
credo, dixisset quod, si vicissent Christianos apertis
argumentationibus confutatos, in eorum sectam transiret.
Magno igitur timore episcoporum et clericorum res acta est,
pia sollicitudine fidei Christianæ timentium.”
[447] Ib. “De hoc quidem certamine nihil Judæi præter
confusionem retulerunt, quamvis multotiens jactarint se non
oratione sed factione superatos.”
[448] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. p. 47. “Ferebant … ad eum
convenire, conquerentes nonnullos ex suis, spreto Judaismo,
Christianos tune noviter factos fuisse, atque rogantes ut,
sumpto pretio, illos, rejecto Christianismo, ad Judaismum
redire compelleret. Adquiescit ille, et, suscepto pretio
apostasiæ, jubet ex Judæis ipsis adduci ad se. Quid plura?
Plures ex illis minis et terroribus fractos, abnegato
Christo, pristinum errorem suscipere fecit.” Eadmer brings
in this story, without pledging himself to its truth, as one
which he, when in Italy, heard from those who came from
Rouen. “Sicut illa accepimus, simpliciter ponam, non
adstruens vera an secus exstiterint, an non. Ferebant igitur
hi qui veniebant,” &c. It is the same story as that which
William of Malmesbury tells, iv. 317; “Insolentiæ in Deum
Judæi suo tempore dedere indicium; semel apud Rothomagum, ut
quosdam ab errore suo refugas ad Judaismum revocarent,
muneribus inflectere conati.”
[449] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. p. 47. The protomartyr pleads his
own example; “Uno dierum per viam forte eunti apparuit alter
juvenis, vultu et veste decorus, qui interrogatus unde vel
quis esset, dixit se jam olim ex Judæo Christianum effectum,
Stephanum protomartyrem esse.”
[450] Ib. “Æstuans quonam modo suis sacris filium posset
restituere, didicit quemadmodum Willielmus rex Anglorum
nonnullos hujusmodi, pecuniæ gratis, nuper Judaismo
reddiderit.” This way of speaking might almost make us think
that the Jew was not living in William’s dominions; yet the
whole tenor of the story, which seems to be laid at Rouen,
looks otherwise. One phrase is odd; “paternis rogat legibus
_imperiali sanctione_ restitui.” William Rufus, as we shall
see, did not forget his imperial as well as his royal
dignity, but Rouen was an odd place in which to show himself
in the imperial character.
[451] Ib. “Tacet ille ad rogata, nondum audiens quamobrem
tali negotio sese deberet medium facere.”
[452] Ib. “Advertit Judæus mysterium cur suis precibus non
responderet, et e vestigio sexaginta marcas argenti se illi
daturum, si Judaismo restitueret filium suum, pollicetur.”
This almost looks as if the Jew thought at first that the
King, out of zeal for the Hebrew cause, would do the job for
him for nothing.
[453] Eadmer, u. s. “Tecum jocarer, stercoris fili? Recede
potius et præceptum meum velocius imple, alioquin per vultum
de Luca faciam tibi oculos erui.” On the oath, see Appendix
G.
[454] Ib. “Confusus princeps in istis, contumeliis affectum
juvenem cum dedecore jussit suis conspectibus eliminari.”
[455] Ib. “Fili mortis et pabulum externæ perditionis, non
sufficit tibi damnatio tua, nisi et me tecum præcipites in
eam? Ego vero cui jam Christus patefactus est absit ut te
unquam pro patre agnoscam, quia pater tuus diabolus est.”
The reference must be to St. John viii. 44; but the pedigree
was a dangerous one for a presumptive grandson to meddle
with.
[456] Ib. “Ecce feci quod rogasti, redde quod promisisti.”
[457] Eadmer, u. s. “Filius meus jam nunc et in Christi
confessione constantior et mihi est solito factus infestior;
et dicis”――mark the scriptural turn――“‘Feci quod petisti,
redde quod promisisti?’ Immo quod cœpisti primo perfice, et
tunc demum de pollicitis age. Sic enim convenit inter nos.”
[458] Ib. “Feci quantum potui; verum, quamvis non
proficerim, minime tamen feram me sine fructu laborasse.”
[459] Ib. 54. “Quod Deus nunquam eum bonum habiturus esset
pro malo quod sibi inferret.” The words are spoken to Bishop
Gundulf. Eadmer comments; “In cunctis erat fortunatus, ac si
verbis ejus hoc modo respondit Deus, ‘Si te pro malo, ut
dicis, numquam bonum habebo, probabo an saltem pro bono
possim te bonum habere, et ideo in omni quod tu bonum
æstimas velle tuum adimplebo.’”
[460] Eadmer, 48. “Ad hoc quoque lapsus est ut Dei judicio
incredulus fieret, injustitiæque illud arguens, Deum aut
facta hominum ignorare, aut æquitatis ea lance nolle pensare
adstrueret.” Then follows the story of the deer-stealers
which I have told in p. 155. Mark Eadmer’s firm belief in
the ordeal, which had not yet been condemned by the Church.
[461] Ib. 47. “Ferebatur eum in tantam mentis elationem
corruisse ut nequaquam patienter audire valeret, si quivis
ullum negotium quod vel a se vel ex suo præcepto foret
agendum, poneret sub conditione voluntatis Dei fieri. Sed
quæque acta simul et agenda suæ soli industriæ ac
fortitudini volebat adscribi.” We have his like in Kapaneus,
Æsch. Sept. c. Theb. 409;
θεοῦ τε γὰρ θέλοντος ἐκπέρσειν πόλιν
καὶ μὴ θέλοντος φησὶν, οὐδὲ τὴν Διὸς
ἔριν πέδῳ σκήψασαν ἐκποδὼν σχέθειν.
[theou te gar thelontos ekpersein polin
kai mê thelontos phêsin, oude tên Dios
erin pedô skêpsasan ekpodôn schethein.]
[462] Ib. “Quæ mentis elatio ita excrevit in eo ut,
quemadmodum dicebatur, crederet et publica voce assereret
nullum sanctorum cuiquam apud Deum posse prodesse, et ideo
nec se velle, nec aliquem sapientem debere, beatum Petrum
seu quemlibet alium quo se juvaret interpellare.”
[463] Joinville, p. 217 ed. Michel; “Le roy ama tant Dieu et
sa douce mère que touz ceulz que il pooit atteindre qui
disoient de Dieu ne de sa mère chose déshoneste ne vilein
serement, que il les fesoit punir griefment.” He goes on to
tell how, like Saint Wulfstan (see N. C. vol. iv. p. 386)
but unlike Saint Eadward (ib. ii. p. 26), he never swore nor
mentioned the devil.
[464] Giraldus (de Inst. Prin. c. iii. 11) gives a specimen
of his blasphemies, and adds, “quibus ne memoriæ refricatio
facinus atque blasphemiam posteris ad mentem revocet,
supersedere potius quam paginam nostram commaculare dignum
duximus.”
[465] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 54. “In tantum ex successibus suis
profecit ut, sicut hi qui factis ejus die noctuque præsentes
exstiterunt attestantur, numquam vel de lecto surgeret vel
in lecto se collocaret, quin seipsum aut collocante aut
surgente semper deterior esset.”
[466] See Appendix G.
[467] See Appendix G.
[468] See Appendix G.
[469] See N. C. vol. i. p. 255.
[470] See Appendix H.
[471] Twice under the same year 1091 the Chronicler adds to
the record of a treaty concluded by Rufus that it “litle
hwile stode.”
[472] See above, p. 143.
[473] I refer to the story of the Angevin knights at Ballon,
told by Orderic (772 C, D). We shall come to it in a later
chapter.
[474] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 220.
[475] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 438.
[476] This was at the siege of Padua in 1509. “Maximilien
fit proposer à La Palisse de faire mettre pied à terre à sa
gendarmerie pour monter à l’assaut avec les landsknechts.
Mais d’après le conseil de Bayard, La Palisse répondit que
la gendarmerie française était toute composée de
gentilshommes, et qu’il ne serait pas convenable de la faire
combattre pêle-mêle avec les fantassins allemands, qui
étaient roturiers.” Sismondi, Rép. Ital. xiv. 26.
[477] The story of the massacre of Limoges, the most truly
chivalrous deed ever done, is well known. It will be found
in Froissart, i. 289 (vol. i. p. 401, ed. Sauvage).
[478] Hallam, who thoroughly understood Henry the Eighth,
adds in a note (Const. Hist. i. 36); “After all, Henry was
every whit as good a king and man as Francis I, whom there
are still some, on the other side of the channel, servile
enough to extol; not in the least more tyrannical and
sanguinary, and of better faith towards his neighbours.” The
famous letter of Francis about all being lost except honour
is now disbelieved, but it is characteristic all the same. I
have said something about this in the Fortnightly Review,
December, 1876.
It is singular enough that in 1546 some reader of the
“Normanniæ Nova Chronica,” after the entries about the
misdeeds of William Rufus in 1098, bursts out (p. 9) into a
fierce invective against the vices and oppressions of
Francis the First, as far surpassing those of Rufus. If men
murmured in 1098, how much more reason had they to murmur in
1546.
[479] There is nothing special to note as to the authorities
for this chapter, except that we now begin to make some
little use of the Lives of the Bishops of Le Mans in
Mabillon’s Vetera Analecta, of which we shall have to make
much larger use in a later chapter.
Since this chapter was written and partly printed, I have
come across a book called “Le Dernier des Ducs Normands.
Étude de Critique Historique sur Robert Courte-Heuse; par
Gaston le Hardy (Caen, 1880).” It is a gallant apology for
Duke Robert, who however, it seems, cannot be set up without
a cruel setting down both of Orderic and of King Henry. M.
le Hardy believes in the false Ingulf and seems to be an
enemy to Italian freedom. He has worked with care at his
authorities, and I have to thank him for a few references;
but his style of criticism is odd. In p. 47 he argues
against the last speech of the Conqueror in Orderic――a
speech very open to argument against it on other
grounds――because William is there made to confess that he
had no right to the English crown. This at least cannot be.
“Comment croire que le Conquérant, dont les droits légitimes
à la couronne d’Angleterre étaient au moins fondés sur des
apparences très-respectables, _puisqu’elles décidèrent le
Pape à se prononcer en sa faveur_, se soit appliqué à les
désavouer, et à démentir ainsi toute sa vie.” I think more
highly both of the intellect and of the conscience of
William the Great. I can conceive his being led to repent of
his sins, even though the Pope told him that they were no
sins. M. le Hardy, like so many of his countrymen, seems
unable to understand any English matter, and he seems never
to have looked at any English or German book.
I let my estimate of Robert stay where it was. His character
is best summed up in the portrait drawn by William of
Malmesbury at the end of his fourth book;
“Patria lingua facundus ut sit jocundior nullus; in aliis
consiliosus ut nihil excellentius; militiæ peritus ut si
quis unquam; pro mollitie tamen animi nunquam regendæ
reipublicæ idoneus judicatus.”
I think I have throughout done justice to Robert’s military
skill――it was more than mere daring――and to his gifts as a
counsellor of others.
[480] Chron. Petrib. 1089. “Swilc eac gewarð ofer eall
Engleland mycel eorðstyrunge, on þone dæg iii. Id. Aug.”
Will. Malms. iv. 322. “Secundo anno regni ejus terræ motus
ingens totam Angliam exterruit tertio idus Augusti, horrendo
miraculo, ut ædificia omnia eminus resilirent, et mox
pristino more residerent.” Some annals, as those of Plympton
(Liebermann, 26), directly connect the events. “Obiit
Lanfrancus archiepiscopus, et terra mota est.”
[481] Chron. u. s. “And wæs swiðe lætsum gear on corne and
on ælces cynnes wæstmum, swa þæt manig man ræpon heora corn
onbuton Martines mæssan and gyt lator.” “Vix ad festum
sancti Andreæ,” says William of Malmesbury.
[482] Chron. Petrib. 1090. “And betwyx þisum þingum þis land
wæs swiðe fordón on unlaga gelde and on oðre manige
ungelimpe.”
[483] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 558, 638.
[484] Ib. p. 493.
[485] Ord. Vit. 708 B. He does not say distinctly at what
stage he means. Geoffrey Gaimar (Chron. Angl. Norm. i. 35)
has an elaborate picture of Robert at his greatest;
“Li quens Robert, cil de Belesme,
Mil chevalers out en son esme;
En Engleterre out treis contez,
Quens de Pontif estait clamez,
Si ert conte de Leneimeis,
D’Esparlon e de Sessuneis;
Sue estait Argenton, Seis,
Roche-Mabilie estait en sa pœs.
En Rom out rues assez.
Il esteit quen de sis contez;
Ço ert le meillur chevaler
Ke l’em séust pur querreier.
Cil vint à son seignur le rei,
Mil chevalers menat od sei.”
He then goes on to mention his brothers. (See above, p. 37.)
Many of the places on this list will come in our story.
“Rom,” it is hardly needful to say, is only the capital of
Normandy, not of the world. But what are the three counties
in England? There is Shropshire, and most likely Sussex.
What is the third? Yorkshire, on the strength of Tickhill?
But Robert had no earldom there.
[486] Ord. Vit. 675 D.
[487] Hen. Hunt. De Cont. Mund. 11. “Gens ipsis dæmonibus
horrenda.”
[488] See N. C. vol. i. p. 468. The Archdeacon of Huntingdon
himself, with a slight contempt of sex and species, calls
him “Pluto, Megæra, Cerberus, vel si aliquid horrendi scribi
potest.” He speaks of the proverb, “Mirabilia Roberti de
Belesme.”
[489] See his two pictures in Orderic, 675 C, D, and 707 C,
D. In his character of engineer we shall meet him at Gisors.
See 766 B.
[490] Ord. Vit. 707 D. “Magis affectabat supplicia miseris
inferre quam per redemptionem captivorum pecunias augere.”
So Hen. Hunt. u. s. Yet, as some of his captives escaped, he
lost the ransom for nothing.
[491] Ib. “Homines privatione oculorum et amputatione pedum
manuumve deformare parvipendebat, sed inauditorum
commeditatione suppliciorum in torquendis miseris more
Siculi Phalaris tripudiabat. Quos in carcere pro reatu
aliquo stringebat, Nerone seu Decio vel Diocletiano sævior,
indicibiliter cruciabat, et inde jocos cum parasitis suis et
cachinnos jactabundus exercebat. Tormentorum quæ vinctis
inferebat delectatione gloriabatur, hominumque detractione
pro pœnarum nimietate crudelis lætabatur.” The special
detail of the impaling comes from Henry of Huntingdon, who
says also, “Erat ei cædes horribilis hominum cibus jucundus
animæ.”
[492] Will. Malms. v. 398. “Simulationis et argutiarum
plenus, frontis sereno et sermonum affabilitate credulos
decipiens, gnaros autem malitiæ exterritans, ut nullum esset
majus futuræ calamitatis indicium quam prætensæ
affabilitatis eloquium.” Something of the same kind was said
of King Henry himself. See N. C. vol. v. p. 841.
[493] Ord. Vit. 708 B. She at last escaped to Countess Adela
at Chartres, and got to her own land of Ponthieu.
[494] The story is told with the difference spoken of in the
text by Henry of Huntingdon (de Cont. Mundi, 11) and by
William of Malmesbury (v. 398). Henry says only, “Filioli
sui oculos sub chlamide positi quasi ludens pollicibus
extraxit.” William supplies a kind of motive; “Puerulum ex
baptismo filiolum, quem in obsidatum acceperat, pro modico
delicto patris excæcarit, lumina miselli unguibus nefandis
abrumpens.” That is, the Archdeacon makes the ugly story
still uglier, just as in the case of the children of
Juliana. See N. C. vol. v. pp. 157, 841.
[495] Ord. Vit. 708 A. “Ob insolentiam et cupiditatem
plurima contra collimitaneos prælia cœpit; sed sæpe victus
cum damno et dedecore aufugit.”
[496] See further on in this chapter.
[497] Ord. Vit. 675 D.
[498] See Ord. Vit. 707 D for the Bishop; ib. 678 A and
Will. Malms. Gest. Pont. 127 for the Abbot. With the
bishopric there was a question of the right of advowson;
“Episcopium contra jus et fas comprimebat, et Guillelmo
Belesmensi avo ejus a Ricardo duce datum asserebat.” Cf. on
the bishopric of Le Mans, N. C. vol. iii. p. 194. From the
Abbot too he demanded an oath of allegiance, “de sacramento
et homagio abbatem exagitare.” This was in Henry’s time.
[499] Ord. Vit. 668 C. “Robertus Belesmensis qui patri tuo
fuit valde dilectus, et multis honoribus olim ab ipso
promotus.” See above, p. 84.
[500] Hen. Hunt. u. s. “Quem tantopere fama coluerat dum
viveret, in carcere utrum viveret vel obisset, nescivit,
diemque mortis ejus obmutescens ignoravit.”
[501] Will. Malms. v. 407. “Homo antiquæ simplicitatis et
fidei, qui crebro a Willelmo primo invitatus ut Angliam
veniret, largis ad voluntatem possessionibus munerandus,
supersedit, pronuncians patrum suorum hæreditatem se velle
fovere, non transmarinas et indebitas possessiones vel
appetere vel invadere.” (Cf. N. C. vol. iv. p. 448.) We have
heard of him already; N. C. vol. ii. p. 201; iii. 288, 380,
386; iv. 82, 192, 475, 645.
[502] See the story in p. 186.
[503] Will. Malms. u. s.; Will. Pict. 134; Will. Gem. vii.
4; Ord. Vit. 709 A.
[504] This Norman Beaumont must be distinguished from the
French and Cenomannian Beaumonts which we shall meet with,
just as there is a Norman, a French, and a Cenomannian
Montfort.
[505] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 487.
[506] Will. Malms. v. 407. “Cum superiorum regum tempore,
spe sensim pullulante, in gloriam procederet, hujus
[Henrici] ætate summo provectu effloruit, habebaturque ejus
consilium quasi quis divinum consuluisset sacrarium.” So
Hen. Hunt. de Cont. Mund. 7. “Fuit Robertus consul de
Mellend in rebus secularibus sapientissimus omnium hinc
usque in Jerusalem degentium.”
[507] We shall see this presently in the story of Helias.
See Ord. Vit. 773 B.
[508] See N. C. vol. v. p. 828.
[509] Hen. Hunt. u. s. “Fuit scientia clarus, eloquio
blandus, astutia perspicax, providentia sagax, ingenio
versipellis, prudentia insuperabilis, consilio profundus,
sapientia magnus.” A goodly string of synonyms. William of
Malmesbury (u. s.) gives more details. He was “suasor
concordiæ, dissuasor discordiæ,” “in placitis propugnator
justitiæ, in guerris provisor victoriæ, dominum regem ad
severitatem legum custodiendam exacuens, ipse non eas
sequens sed proponens, expers in regem perfidiæ, in ceteros
ejus persecutor.” He was “ingentis in Anglia momenti, ut
inveteratum vestiendi vel comedendi exemplo suo inverteret
morem.” He brought in the “consuetudo semel prandendi,”
contrary to the custom of Harthacnut.
[510] We shall see him in both characters as we go on. See
Appendix Y. He stood firmly by the King in the matter of
investiture. See Will. Malms. v. 417.
[511] Will. Malms. v. 406. This was when Pope Calixtus came
into Normandy in 1110. See N. C. vol. v. p. 191.
[512] See N. C. vol. v. pp. 197, 207, 288.
[513] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 192.
[514] I do not quite understand the story in Henry of
Huntingdon (8) about another earl depriving Robert of his
wife or bride; “Contigit quemdam alium consulem sponsam ei
tam factione quam dolosis viribus arripuisse. Unde in
senectute sua mente turbatus et angaria obnubilatus, in
tenebras mœroris incidit, nec usque ad mortem se lætum vel
hilarem sensit.” Earl Robert’s widow, Elizabeth or Isabel of
Crépy or Vermandois, was presently married again to the
younger Earl William of Warren. (See Ord. Vit. 686 B, 723 D,
805 D; Will. Gem. viii. 40, 41.) Was there anything
irregular or scandalous about the marriage? Count Robert
married her in 1096, so that, as he was distinctly old at
his death in 1118, she must have been far from young. His
children therefore were children of his advanced life, which
lessens the difficulty about the child whom his daughter
Isabel is said to have borne to King Henry late in his
reign. (Will. Gem. viii. 29; cf. 37; and see N. C. vol. v.
p. 844.)
[515] Hen. Hunt. u. s. “Ut terras quas vi vel arte multis
abstulerat, pœnitens redderet, et erratum lacrimis lavaret.”
Would this extend to English grants from the Conqueror? One
might almost suspect that his father thought so.
[516] Ib. “Filiis omnia tradam; ipsi pro salute defuncti
misericorditer agant.”
[517] Ib. “Filii ejus magis injuste congregata injuste
studuerunt augere quam aliquid pro salute paterna
distribuere.”
[518] Ord. Vit. 659 B. “Indubitanter scio quod vere misera
erit regio quæ subjecta fuerit ejus dominio. Superbus enim
est et insipiens nebulo, trucique diu plectendus
infortunio.” See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 705, 854. The words must
of course take their share of the doubts which can hardly
fail to attach to the long speech of which they form a part;
but they are more likely than most parts of it to have been
preserved by a trustworthy tradition. On the speech see
Church, Anselm, 147.
[519] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 191.
[520] There is more than one passage in Orderic setting
forth the wretched state of things in Normandy under Robert.
See 664 B; 672 B, C; 675 A, B; 677 B. In the first passage
he gives a personal description, not unlike that quoted in
N. C. vol. iv. p. 633; “Omnes ducem Robertum mollem esse
desidemque cognoscebant, et idcirco facinorosi eum
despiciebant et pro libitu suo dolosas factiones agitabant.
Erat quippe idem dux audax et validus, multaque laude
dignus, eloquio facundus, sed in regimine sui suorumque
inconsideratus, in erogando prodigus, in promittendo
diffusus, _ad mentiendum levis et incautus_, misericors
supplicibus, ad justitiam super iniquo faciendam mollis et
mansuetus, in definitione mutabilis, in conversatione
omnibus nimis blandus et tractabilis, ideoque perversis et
insipientibus despicabilis. Corpore autem brevis et grossus,
ideoque _Brevis-ocrea_ a patre est cognominatus.” Cf. Roman
de Rou, 14470.
The words about Robert’s tendency to falsehood would seem to
imply, not so much deliberate lying as that kind of
carelessness of truth which is quite of a piece with the
rest of his character.
On the technical use of the word _justice_, see N. C.
vol. v. pp. 157, 253, 320, 520; cf. ii. 33, 40, 173.
[521] Ord. Vit. 672 B. “Provincia tota erat dissoluta, et
prædones catervatim discurrebant per vicos et per rura,
nimiumque super inermes debacchabatur latrunculorum caterva.
Robertus dux nullam super malefactores exercebat
disciplinam, et grassatores per octo annos sub molli
principe super imbecillem populum suam agitabant furiam.”
Perhaps the most striking character of Robert is that which
is given of him by one who had studied him in two parts of
the world, Ralph of Caen in his Gesta Tancredi, c. xv.
(Muratori, v. 291). The virtues of Robert were “pietas”――in
the sense of _pity_――and “largitas.” But he carried both
virtues so far that they became vices. “Pietas largitasque
valde fuissent mirabiles; sed quia in neutra modum tenuit,
in utraque erravit.” He goes on to describe Robert at
greater length; “Siquidem misericordiam ejus immisericordem
sensit Normannia, dum eo consule per impunitatem rapinarum
nec homini parceret nec Deo licentia raptorum. Nam sicariis
manibus, latronum gutturi, mœchorum caudæ salaci, eamdem
quam suis se reverentiam debere consul arbitrabatur.
Quapropter nullus ad eum vinctus in lacrimis trahebatur,
quin solutus mutuas ab eo lacrimas continuo impetraret.
Ideo, ut dixi, nullis sceleribus frænum, immo omnibus
additum calcar ea tempestate Normannia querebatur.” Of
Robert’s bounty he goes on to say that he would give any sum
for a hawk or a dog; “Hujus autem pietatis sororculam eam
fuisse patet largitatem, quæ accipitrem, sive canem argenti
summa quantalibet comparabat.”
[522] Orderic is plain-spoken enough on this head in 672 B.
[523] Ib. “Episcopi ex auctoritate Dei exleges
anathematizabant. Theologi _prolatis sermonibus_ Dei reos
admonebant. Sed his omnibus tumor et cupiditas cum
satellitibus suis immoderate resistebant.”
[524] See N. C. vol. v. p. 46. Cf. vol. iv. p. 688.
[525] Orderic (664 B) records Robert’s doings at Alençon and
Bellême, and adds, “Hoc quoque fecit Bellismæ, et omnibus
aliis castellis suis, et non solum suis, sed et in vicinorum
suorum, quos sibi pares dedignabatur habere, municipiis, quæ
aut intromissis clientibus sibi subjugavit, aut penitus, ne
sibi aliquando resistere possent, destruxit.”
[526] Ib. He adds a reflexion in his character of
“Angligena.” “Sic proceres Neustriæ de munitionibus suis
omnes regis custodes expulerunt, patriamque divitiis
opulentam propriis viribus vicissim exspoliaverunt. Opes
itaque quas Anglis aliisque gentibus violenter rapuerunt,
merito latrociniis et rapinis perdiderunt.”
[527] Ord. Vit. 672 C. “Adulterina passim municipia
condebantur, et ibidem filii latronum ceu catuli luporum ad
dilacerandas bidentes nutriebantur.” Our Chronicler was yet
more vigorous when he peopled the castles with devils and
evil men, A. D. 1135. The “adulterina municipia” are the
castles built without the Duke’s licence. See N. C. vol. ii.
p. 193. For the German laws on the same subject, see Maurer,
Einleitung, p. 24. M. le Hardy (60) amusingly mistakes the
“municipia” for “quelques communes.”
[528] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 537, 638.
[529] Ord. Vit. 664 C. “Guillelmo de Britolio dedit
Ibericum, ubi arx quam Albereda proavia ejus fecit
fortissima est. Et Rogerio de Bellomonte, qui solebat
Ibericum jussu Guillelmi regis custodire, concessit
Brioniam, quod oppidum munitissimum et in corde terræ situm
est.” On Ivry, see N. C. vol. i. p. 258. See Will. Gem.
viii. 15, where the same story is told as by Orderic. On
Brionne, see N. C. vol. ii. pp. 196, 268, 624.
[530] Ord. Vit. 664 C. “Cunctis placere studebat, cunctisque
quod petebant aut dabat aut promittebat vel concedebat.
Prodigus dominium patrum suorum quotidie imminuebat,
insipienter tribuens unicuique quod petebat, et ipse
pauperescebat, unde alios contra se roborabat.”
[531] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 709.
[532] The passages from Orderic which set forth Henry as the
heir of his mother have been discussed in N. C. vol. iv. p.
854 (cf. pp. 320, 629), as also the expression of William of
Malmesbury (v. 392) which implies that the Conqueror
bequeathed Matilda’s lands to Henry, or directed that
Matilda’s earlier bequest should take effect. The same
writer also just before speaks (v. 391) of Henry, after his
father’s death, as “paterna benedictione et materna
hæreditate simul et multiplicibus thesauris [“gersuman
unateallendlice” in the Chronicle] nixus.” Wace also says
(14484),
“E Henris out des déniers asez
Ke sis peres li out donez,
Partie out del tresor son pere
E grant partie out de sa mere.”
[533] Ord. Vit. 665 C. “Opes quas habebat militibus ubertim
distribuit, et tironum multitudinem pro spe et cupidine
munerum sibi connexuit. Deficiente ærario Henricum fratrem
suum, ut de thesauro sibi daret, requisivit. Quod ille
omnino facere noluit.”
[534] N. C. vol. i. p. 170.
[535] Ib. vol. i. p. 191.
[536] Ib. vol. ii. p. 249.
[537] The purchase is thus described by Orderic (ib.);
“Henricus duci tria millia librarum argenti erogavit, et ab
eo totum Constantinum pagum, quæ tertia Normanniæ pars est,
recepit. Sic Henricus Abrincas et Constantiam, Montemque
sancti Michaëlis in periculo maris, totumque fundum Hugonis
Cestrensis consulis, quod in Neustria possidebat, primitus
obtinuit.” This of course does not mean any disseisin of
Earl Hugh, but only the transfer of his homage from Robert
to Henry. For other versions of the transaction, see
Appendix I.
[538] See N. C. vol. i. p. 302.
[539] Ord. Vit. 665 C. “Constantiniensem provinciam bene
gubernavit, suamque juventutem laudabiliter exercuit.” He
was hardly twenty years old. So 689 C; “Constantinienses
Henricus clito strenue regebat.”
[540] He is “Henricus clito [Ætheling], Constantiniensis
comes” in Orderic, 672 D; “comes Henricus” in Will. Gem.
viii. 3.
[541] Ord. Vit. 672 D. “In Angliam transfretavit et a fratre
suo terram matris suæ requisivit.” The date is fixed by the
words “postquam certus rumor de Rofensis [oppidi] deditione
citra mare personuit.”
[542] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 164, 759.
[543] Ord. Vit. 672 D. “Rex Guillelmus benigniter eum, ut
decuit fratrem, suscepit, et quod poterat fraterne
concessit. Deinde, peractis pro quibus ierat, in autumno
regi valefecit.” An actual possession of something seems
implied in the words of Orderic, 689 C, “Regi Angliæ hostis
erat pro terra matris suæ, qua rex eumdem in Anglia
dissaisiverat, et Roberto Haimonis filio dederat.”
[544] See Appendix GG.
[545] See N. C. vol. v. p. 853; Ord. Vit. 681 A.
[546] This flight is Orderic’s own. In 673 A we have,
“Baiocensis Odo, velut ignivolus draco projectus in terram.”
[547] Ib. 672 D, “Baiocensis tyrannus;” 673 A, “pessimus
præsul Odo.” This last phrase comes at the beginning of
Odo’s speech in the Duke’s council; at the end of it our
historian has waxed milder, and tells us (674 A) how
“exhortatoriam antistitis allocutionem omnes qui aderant
laudaverunt.”
[548] Ord. Vit. 673 A. “Variis seditionibus commovebat
Normanniam, ut sic de aliquo modo nepoti suo, a quo turpiter
expulsus fuerat, machinaretur injuriam.”
[549] Orderic here (672 D) speaks only of “quidam malevoli
discordiæ satores … falsa veris immiscentes.” But surely the
Bishop was at their head.
[550] I think we may accept this circumstantial account of
Orderic. For other versions, see Appendix I.
[551] Ord. Vit. 672 D. “Rogerius comes Scrobesburiæ, ut
Robertum filium suum captum audivit, accepta a rege
licentia, festinus in Neustriam venit, et omnia castella sua
militari manu contra ducem munivit.”
[552] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 297.
[553] Ord. Vit. 673 A. “Ipsum nempe dux multum metuebat, et
quibusdam consiliis ejus adquiescebat, quædam vero flocci
pendebat.”
[554] At least there were others besides the Duke to hear
and to cheer. See p. 198, note 4.
[555] Ord. Vit. 673 B. “Reminiscere patrum et proavorum,
quorum magnanimitatem et virtutem pertimuit bellicosa gens
Francorum.” It is curious to see how often Norman patriotism
falls back on the memory of the wars with France rather than
on the conquest of England. So it is in the speech of Walter
of Espec before the battle of the Standard. See N. C. vol.
v. p. 832.
[556] Ib. 673 D. “Hoc nimirum horrenda mors eorum
attestatur, quorum nullus communi et usitato fine, ut cæteri
homines, defecisse invenitur.”
[557] See Ord. Vit. 708 B.
[558] See above, p. 193.
[559] The only entry which the Chronicler has on Rufus’ wars
in Maine is the short one in 1099 (more was said about the
expedition of the elder William in 1063), but some parts of
the Norman war are given in great detail.
[560] See N. C. vol. v. pp. 543-563, 652-655.
[561] Ib. vol. iii. pp. 182-215.
[562] Ib. vol. iv. pp. 483, 557, 827.
[563] Ib. vol. iv. p. 652.
[564] Ib. vol. iv. pp. 635, 657.
[565] N. C. vol. iv. p. 563.
[566] Ord. Vit. 673 C. “Normannorum dux et Cœnomannorum
princeps nomine tenus multis annis factus est.”
[567] Ord. Vit. 531 A. “Cœnomanis, _a canina rabie dicta_,
urbs est antiqua, et plebs ejus finitimis procax et
sanguinolenta, dominisque suis semper contumax et
rebellionis avida.” Following the diphthongal spelling of
the text, one might rather be tempted to derive the name
from the _commune_ or κοινόν [koinon] set up by its _men_.
[568] N. C. vol. iii. pp. 167, 203, 209-212.
[569] Ib. iv. 546-555.
[570] Ib. vol. iii. p. 197.
[571] Ib. vol. iv. pp. 545, 560, 563.
[572] Mabillon, Vet. An. 288. “Favore totius cleri ejusdem
ecclesiæ decanum statuerat; in quo gradu tanto amore totius
populi erga se illexit affectum, ut eo jam tempore non
minorem quam episcopo omnes illi reverentiam exhiberent….
Unde factum est, ut post decessum memorati antistitis in
electionem ipsius omnes unanimiter convenirent, ipsumque
episcopatu dignissimum voce consona proclamarent.”
[573] Ord. Vit. 531 B. “‘Ecce in capella tua est quidam
pauper clericus, sed nobilis et bene morigeratus. Huic
præsulatum commenda in Dei timore, quia dignus est (ut
æstimo) tali honore.’ Regi autem percunctanti quis esset,
Samson respondit: ‘Hoëlus dicitur, et est genere Brito; sed
humilis est, et revera bonus homo.’” On Samson himself, see
N. C. vol. iv. p. 641.
[574] N. C. vol. iv. p. 478.
[575] Ord. Vit. 531 C. “Ei curam et seculare jus
Cœnomanensis episcopatus commisit” I have elsewhere spoken
of this kind of document in England (N. C. vol. ii. p. 588).
Only it would seem that in England the King either acted
wholly of himself or else confirmed an election already made
by the Chapter. Here the Chapter, as in later times, elects
on the King’s recommendation.
[576] Ib. “Decretum regis clero insinuatum est, et præfati
clerici bonæ vitæ testimonium ab his qui noverunt ventilatum
est. Pro tam pura et simplici electione devota laus a
fidelibus Deo reddita est, et electus pastor ad caulas ovium
suarum ab episcopis et reliquis fidelibus, quibus hoc a rege
jussum fuerat, honorifice perductus est.” The _regale_, or
rather _ducale_, comes out strongly in these matters, as it
always does in Normandy.
[577] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 194.
[578] Vet. An. 290. “Celeberrimum est enim Cenomannensis
ecclesiæ præsulem post Turonensem archiepiscopum totius
Turonensis diœceseos obtinere primatum.” _Diœcesis_ here
stands for province, as _parochia_ constantly stands for
diocese.
[579] Vet. An. 288. “Quia propter contentionem quæ inter
Vvillum regem Anglorum, et Fulconem Andegavorum comitem de
eodem episcopatu exorta erat, Radulfus Turonorum
archiepiscopus Turonis eum ordinare non potuit, ipsius
assensu atque præcepto omniumque suffraganeorum ejus, cum
magno honore ordinatus est in Rotomago civitate, a domno
Willelmo ejusdem urbis archiepiscopo xi. Kalend. Maii, anno
ab Incarnatione Domini millesimo lxxxv.”
[580] See Appendix MM.
[581] Vet. An. 290. “Cum fames populum oppressisset,
essetque impossibile unius copiis generalem afflictorum
indigentiam sustentari, _ex communi cleri plebisque
consilio_, aurum et argentum quod erat in tabula altaris
sanctorum martyrum Gervasii et Protasii pius temerator
accepit; illudque fideli dispensatione pauperibus erogavit.”
Compare the action of Abbot Leofric of Saint Alban’s, and
the “prædictæ rationes” which led him so to act, together
with the argument of Matthew Paris with regard to its
lawfulness; Gest. Abb. i. 29, 30.
[582] See N. C. vol. iii. pp. 159, 465.
[583] Ib. vol. iv. p. 659.
[584] See Appendix KK.
[585] Ord. Vit. 674 B. “Paganus de Monte Dublabelis, cum
aliis contumacibus castrum Balaonem tenebat et venienti duci
cum turmis suis acriter resistebat.”
[586] N. C. vol. iii. p. 122.
[587] Ord. Vit. 674 B. “Post plurima damna utriusque partis,
Balaonenses pacem cum duce fecerunt.”
[588] Ord. Vit. 674 D. “Habitatoribus hujus municipii quies
et pax pene semper defuit, finitimique Cenomannenses, seu
Normanni insistunt. Scopulosum montem anfractus Sartæ
fluminis ex tribus partibus ambit, in quo sanctus Cerenicus
venerandus confessor tempore Milehardi Sagiorum pontificis
habitavit.”
[589] In local belief, Saint Cenery on his own ground seems
to have supplanted the Archangel himself as the weigher of
souls.
[590] On surnames of places, see N. C. vol. v. p. 573.
[591] Ib. vol. ii. p. 233.
[592] Ord. Vit. 674 D. “Carolo Simplice regnante, dum
Hastingus Danus cum gentilium phalange Neustriam depopulatus
est, sanctum corpus a fidelibus in castrum Theodorici
translatum est et dispersis monachis monasterium
destructum.” Yet at a later time (see Ord. Vit. 706 D) Saint
Cenery still possessed an arm of the eponymous saint, though
monks of Seez, not of Saint Cenery, were its keepers; and
there is still a bone or fragment of a bone under the high
altar of the parish church which claims to be a relic of
him.
[593] Ib. “Sanguinarii prædones ibi speluncam latronum
condiderunt,” “scelesti habitatores,” &c.
[594] Unless Orderic’s words just quoted are mere rhetoric,
we must infer that the site of the castle, and not the site
of the present church, had been the site of the forsaken
monastery. Well suited as the whole peninsula was for the
purposes of a castle, the actual isthmus, where three small
knolls rise above the general level of the hill, must have
been the most tempting spot of all. On two of the knolls
remains of its masonry are still to be seen, and the
outworks reach far down the hill on its western side. The
place seems to have been a simple fortress, with no town or
village, beyond such houses as may have grown up around the
castle.
[595] Orderic tells the story, 674 C.
[596] See the extract in the last page.
[597] N. C. vol. iv. p. 184.
[598] N. C. vol. iii. p. 169.
[599] Ord. Vit. 674 D. “Ibi familia Roberti Belesmensis
erat, cui Robertus Quadrellus, acerrimus miles et multo
vigore conspicuus, præerat, qui hortatu Rogerii comitis
obsidentibus fortiter obstabat.” The modern form of
“Quadrellus” would be “Carrel.” “Fulcherius Quarel” appears
among the knights of Perche bearing harness under Philip
Augustus; Duchèsne, p. 1032.
[600] Ord. Vit. 674 D. “Præfatus municeps jussu irati ducis
protinus oculis privatus est. Aliis quoque pluribus qui
contumaciter ibidem restiterant principi Normanniæ [this
almost sounds like the wording of an indictment] debilitatio
membrorum inflicta est ex sententia curiæ.”
[601] N. C. vol. i. pp. 445, 476.
[602] This is told by Orderic, 674 D. He adds, “Ille fere
xxxvi annis postmodum tenuit, muris et vallis zetisque
munivit, et moriens Guillermo et Roberto filiis suis
dereliquit.” Yet he lost it for a season to the old enemy.
See 706 D.
[603] Ord. Vit. 675 A. “Municipes Alencionis et Bellesmi
aliarumque munitionum, ut audierunt quam male contigerit
Roberto Quadrello et complicibus qui cum eo fuerant, valde
territi sunt, et ut debitas venienti duci munitiones
redderent, consilium inierunt.” But the words which
immediately follow are; “Verum Robertus ab incœpta virtute
cito defecit, et mollitie suadente ad tectum et quietem
avide recurrit, exercitumque suum, ut quisque ad sua
repedaret, dimisit.” This leaves it not quite clear, whether
he stayed to receive in person the surrenders which were
ready for him.
[604] The site of the true castle of Bellême may easily be
distinguished from the later fortress. The native home of
Mabel stands quite apart from the hill on which the town and
the later castle stand, being cut off from it by art. The
chapel is but little altered, and has a crypt, the way down
to which reminds one of Saint Zeno and other Italian
churches.
[605] See note 1, last page.
[606] Ord. Vit. 675 A. “Per dicaces legatos a duce pacem
filiique sui absolutionem postulans, multa falso pollicitus
est.” Robert, he adds, “qui improvidus erat et instabilis,
ad lapsum facilis, ad tenendum justitiæ rigorem mollis, ex
insperato frivolis pactionibus infidorum adquievit.” It is
now that Orderic gives us his full picture of Robert of
Bellême and his doings.
[607] Ord. Vit. 675 B. “Liberatus intumuit, jussa ducis
atque minas minus appretiavit, præsentisque memor injuriæ
diutinam multiplicemque vindictam exercuit.”
[608] Ib. 681 D. “Tunc Edgarus Adelinus, et Robertus
Bellesmensis, atque Guillelmus de Archis monachus
Molismensis præcipui ducis consiliarii erant”――an oddly
assorted company. This is in 1090.
[609] Ib. 677 A. “Optimatum suorum supplicationibus
adquiescens, Henricum fratrem suum concessit, et a vinculis
in quibus cum Roberto Belesmensi constrictus fuerat
absolvit.”
[610] Ib. 689 C. “Constantienses Henricus clito strenue
regebat, rigidusque contra fratres suos persistebat. Nam
contra ducem inimicitias agitabat pro injusta captione quam
nudiustertius, ut prædictum est, ab illo perpessus fuerat.
Regi nihilominus Angliæ hostis erat pro terra matris suæ.”
[611] Ord. Vit. 689 C. “Oppida sua constanter firmabat, et
fautores sibi de proceribus patris sui plurimos callide
conciliabat. Abrincas et Cæsarisburgum et Constantiam atque
Guabreium, aliasque munitiones possidebat, et Hugonem
comitem et Ricardum de Radveriis, aliosque Constantinienses,
præter Robertum de Molbraio, secum habuit, et collectis
undique viribus prece pretioque quotidie crescebat.”
[612] Ord. Vit. 680 B. “Turmas optimatum adscivit, et
Guentoniæ congregatis quæ intrinsecus ruminabat sic ore
deprompsit.” The Chronicler tells us, under 1090, how “se
cyng wæs smægende hu he mihte wrecon his broðer Rodbeard
swiðost swencean, and Normandige of him gewinnan.” The
custom of holding the Easter Gemót at Winchester seems to
fix this assembly to Easter. 1090.
The continuance of the three yearly assemblies is well
marked by William of Malmesbury in the Life of Wulfstan
(Ang. Sac. iii. 257); “Rex Willelmus consuetudinem induxerat
[that is, he went on with what had been done T. R. E.], quam
successores aliquamdiu tritam consenescere permisere. Ea
erat, ut ter in anno cuncti optimates ad curiam convenirent,
de necessariis regni tractaturi, simulque visuri regis
insigne, quomodo iret gemmato fastigiatus diademate.”
[613] Ord. Vit. 680 C. “Commoneo vos omnes qui patris mei
homines fuistis et feudos vestros in Normannia et Anglia de
illo tenuistis, ut sine dolo ad probitatis opus mihi
viriliter unanimiter faveatis.”
[614] Ib. “Colligite, quæso, concilium, prudenter inite
consilium, sententiam proferte, quid in hoc agendum sit
discrimine. Mittam, si laudatis, exercitum in Normanniam, et
injuriis quas mihi frater meus sine causa machinatus est
talionem rependam. Ecclesiæ Dei subveniam, viduas et
orphanos inermes protegam, fures et sicarios gladio justitiæ
puniam.”
[615] See N. C. vol. ii. pp. 93, 95.
[616] Ord. Vit. 680 C. “His dictis omnes assensum dederunt
et _magnanimitatem_ regis collaudaverunt.”
[617] See above, p. 60.
[618] See above, p. 177.
[619] Plutarch, Reg. et Imp. Apoph. Philip. 15.
[620] Æsch. Pers. 861;
ὅσσας δ’ εἷλε πόλεις, πόρον οὐ διαβὰς Ἄλυος ποταμοῖο,
οὐδ’ ἀφ’ ἑστίας συθείς.
[hossas d’ heile poleis, poron ou diabas Alyos
potamoio, oud’ aph’ hestias sytheis.]
[621] Chron. Petrib. 1090. “Ðeah þurh his geapscipe, oððe
þurh gærsuma he begeat þone castel aet S[~c]e Waleri and þa
hæfenan, and swa he begeat þone æt Albemare.” This is
followed by William of Malmesbury, iv. 307, who translates
the passage, “Castrum Sancti Walerici, et portum vicinum. et
oppidum quod Albamarla vocatur, sollertia sua acquisivit,
pecunia custodes corrumpens.” Florence however calls it
“castellum Walteri de Sancto Walarico.” This might be
understood of any castle belonging to Walter of Saint
Valery; and the change might be taken either as having the
force of a correction or as showing that Florence did not
understand what he found in the Chronicles. I do not find
any mention of the taking of Saint Valery, or of any
possession of Walter of Saint Valery, anywhere except in the
English writers. Walter, who is more than once mentioned by
Orderic (724 B, 729 D) as a crusader, was of the house of
the Advocates of Saint Valery of whom I have spoken
elsewhere (N. C. vol. iii. pp. 131, 393).
[622] N. C. vol. iv. pp. 557, 643.
[623] Ib. vol. iii. p. 157.
[624] Ib. vol. ii. p. 632.
[625] Ord. Vit. 681 A. “Primus Normannorum Stephanus de
Albamarla filius Odonis Campaniæ comitis regi adhæsit, et
regiis sumptibus castellum suum super Aucium flumen
vehementer munivit, in quo validissimam regis familiam
contra ducem suscepit.” Florence calls it “castellum Odonis
de Albamarno.”
[626] Chron. Petrib. 1090. “And þarinne he sette his
cnihtas, and hi dydon hearmes uppon þam lande on hergunge
and on bærnete.”
[627] N. C. vol. iii. p. 153; vol. iv. p. 280.
[628] Ib. vol. iii. p. 226.
[629] Ib. vol. iii. p. 93.
[630] Domesday, 18. “Rex W. dedit comiti [de Ow]
castellariam de Hastinges.”
[631] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 152.
[632] See above, p. 59.
[633] N. C. vol. iv. p. 733; vol. v. p. 560.
[634] As Barrow _Gurney_ in Somerset.
[635] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 121.
[636] Ord. Vit. 681 A. “Gornacum et Firmitatem et Goisleni
fontem, aliasque munitiones suas regi tradidit, finitimosque
suos regiæ parti subjicere studuit.”
[637] N. C. vol. iv. pp. 39, 737.
[638] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 201.
[639] See above, p. 209.
[640] Will. Gem. vii. 4. See N. C. vol. i. p. 465. The
kindred is also implied in the fact that William of Breteuil
was the nephew of both Ralph and William. See Ord. Vit. 688
B, D, and below, p. 266.
[641] Ord. Vit. 687 D. “Perstrepentibus undique præliis in
Neustria, securitate pacis perfrui non poterat Ebroicensis
provincia. Illic nempe plus quam civile bellum inter
opulentos fratres exortum est, et maligna superbarum
æmulatione mulierum malitia nimis augmentata est. Heluisa
namque comitissa contra Isabelem de Conchis pro quibusdam
contumeliosis verbis irata est, comitemque Guillelmum cum
baronibus suis in arma per iram commovere totis viribus
conata est. Sic per suspiciones et litigia feminarum in
furore succensa sunt fortium corda virorum, quorum manibus
paulo post multus mutuo cruor effusus est mortalium, et per
villas et vicos multarum incensa sunt tecta domorum.”
[642] She was the daughter of William the First, Count of
Auxerre and Nevers, by his first wife Ermengarde, daughter
of Reginald Count of Tonnerre. See Art de Vérifier les
Dates, ii. 559.
[643] Orderic has two pictures of her. In the second (834
B), drawn a few years later than our present time, when
Count William “natura senioque aliquantum hebescebat,” we
read, “Uxor ejus totum consulatum regebat, quæ in sua
sagacitate plus quam oporteret confidebat. Pulcra quidem et
facunda erat, et magnitudine corporis pene omnes feminas in
comitatu Ebroarum consistentes excellebat, et eximia
nobilitate, utpote illustris Guillelmi Nivernensis comitis
filia, satis pollebat. Hæc nimirum consilio baronum mariti
sui relicto, æstimationem suam præferebat, et ardua nimis
secularibus in rebus plerumque arripiebat atque immoderata
temptare properabat.” Elsewhere (688 A), he says, “Ambæ
mulieres quæ talia bella ciebant, loquaces et animosæ, ac
forma elegantes erant, suisque maritis imperabant, subditos
homines premebant, variisque modis terrebant.” When Orderic
(576 C), recording Isabel’s widowhood and religious
profession, speaks of her as “letalis lasciviæ cui nimis in
juventute servierat pœnitens,” the word need not be taken in
the worst sense. He uses (864 A) the same kind of language
of Juliana daughter of Henry the First, who, whatever she
was as a daughter, seems to have been a very good wife and
mother.
[644] Ord. Vit. 834 B. “Pro feminea procacitate Rodberto
comiti de Mellento aliisque Normannis invidiosa erat.”
[645] Ord. Vit. 576 B, C.
[646] Ib. 834 C.
[647] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 605, 643.
[648] Ord. Vit. 688 A. “Magna in eisdem morum diversitas
erat. Heluisa quidem solers erat et facunda, sed atrox et
avara. Isabel vero dapsilis et audax atque jocosa, ideoque
coessentibus amabilis et grata. In expeditione inter
milites, ut miles, equitabat armata, et loricatis equitibus
ac spiculatis satellitibus non minori præstabat audacia quam
decus Italiæ Turni manipularibus virgo Camilla.” He goes on
to liken her to Penthesileia and all the other Amazons.
[649] Ib. “Radulfus Robertum ducem adivit, querelas damnorum
quæ a contribulibus suis pertulerat intimavit, et herile
adjutorium ab eo poposcit; sed frustra, qui nihil obtinuit.”
[650] Ib. B. “Hinc alias conversus est, et utile sibi
patrocinium quærere compulsus est. Regem Angliæ per legatos
suos interpellatur, eique sua infortunia mandavit, et si
sibi suffragaretur, se et omnia sua permisit. His auditis
rex gavisus est, et efficax adminiculum indigenti pollicitus
est. Deinde Stephano comiti et Gerardo de Gornaco, aliisque
tribunis et centurionibus qui præerant in Normannia familiis
ejus, mandavit ut Radulfum totis adjuvarent nisibus et
oppida ejus munirent necessariis omnibus.”
[651] Ord. Vit. 681 A. “Robertus Aucensium comes, et
Gauterius Gifardus et Radulfus de Mortuomari, et pene omnes
qui trans Sequanam usque ad mare habitabant, _Anglicis
conjuncti sunt_.”
[652] Ib. “De regiis opibus ad muniendas domos suas armis et
satellitibus copiosam pecuniam receperunt.”
[653] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 644.
[654] Ord. Vit. 681 A. “Robertus dux contra tot hostes
repagulum paravit, filiamque suam quam de pellice habuerat,
Heliæ filio Lamberti de Sancto Sidonio conjugem dedit.”
[655] N. C. vol, i. p. 253.
[656] Will. Gem. viii. 37.
[657] Ord. Vit. 681 B. “Archas cum Buris et adjacente
provincia in maritagio tribuit, ut adversariis resisteret
Calegiique comitatum defenderet. Ille vero jussa viriliter
complere cœpit.”
[658] Neufchâtel-en-Bray, famous for cheeses.
[659] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 121.
[660] Ord. Vit. 681 B. “Roberto duci et Guillelmo filio ejus
semper fidelis fuit, et sub duobus regibus Guillelmo et
Henrico multa pertulit, labores videlicet ac
exhæreditationem, damna, exsilium, ac multa pericula.” See
N. C. vol. v. pp. 84, 182.
[661] N. C. vol. ii. p. 254.
[662] N. C. vol. iv. p. 700.
[663] Will. Malms. iv. 307. “Domino suo regi Franciæ per
nuntios violentiam fratris exposuit, suppetias orans. Et
ille quidem iners, et quotidianam crapulam ructans, ad
bellum singultiens ingluvie veniebat.”
[664] The place is not mentioned in the Chronicles nor in
any other of our accounts, except by Robert of Torigny in
the Continuation of William of Jumièges, viii. 3. He tells
his story backwards in a very confused way, and mixes up the
events of this year and the next; “Facta est itaque tandem
inter eos [Robertum et Willelmum] apud Cadomum, ut diximus,
adminiculante Philippo rege Francorum, qui in auxilium ducis
contra Willelmum regem apud oppidum Auci ingenti Anglorum et
Normannorum exercitu tunc morantem venerat, qualiscumque
concordia.” This means the peace of 1092, when William was
in Normandy, and when Philip certainly did not come to Eu.
On the other hand, William was certainly not at Eu in 1091.
But as Philip did in 1091 come to some castle which must
have been either Eu, Aunde, or Gournay, we may perhaps
accept this as evidence in favour of Eu.
[665] Chron. Petrib. 1090. “Se cyng Willelm of Englalande
sende to Philippe Francena cynge, and he _for his lufan oððe
for his_ mycele gersuma, forlet swa his man þone eorl
Rodbeard and his land, and ferde ongean to France, and let
heom swa weorðan.” The spirit is lost in the Latin of
Florence; “Quod cum regi Willelmo nuntiatum esset, non
modica pecuniæ quantitati regi Philippo occulte transmissa,
ut obsidione dimissa, domum rediret, flagitavit et
imperavit.”
[666] Will. Malms. iv. 307. “Occurrerunt magna pollicenti
nummi regis Angliæ, quibus infractus cingulum solvit et
convivium repetiit.”
[667] Macaulay, Hist. Eng. iv. 265. “The Elector of Saxony …
had, together with a strong appetite for subsidies, a great
desire to be a member of the most select and illustrious
orders of knighthood.” For this last passion there was as
yet no room, but William Rufus did a good deal towards
bringing about the state of things in which it arose.
[668] N. C. vol. ii. p. 318.
[669] So are the Norman reigns of Geoffrey Plantagenet and
his son Henry. But their position in Normandy was quite
different from Robert’s, while they claimed England in quite
a different sense from the claims of Robert, and had――the
son at least had――partisans there.
[670] N. C. vol. v. pp. 85, 95, 96.
[671] The character of this Count Geoffrey (son of the
Rotrou who figures in the war of the Conqueror and his son,
N. C. vol. iv. pp. 637, 639) as drawn by Orderic (675 D; see
above, p. 183) is worth studying; “Erat idem consul
magnanimus, corpore pulcher, et callidus, timens Deum et
ecclesiæ cultor devotus, clericorum pauperumque Dei defensor
strenuus, in pace quietus et amabilis, bonisque pollebat
moribus.” Yet he was also “in bello gravis et fortunatus,
finitimisque intolerabilis regibus et inimicus [cis?]
omnibus.” Moreover “multas villas combussit multasque prædas
hominesque adduxit.” The truth is that the curse of private
warfare drew the best men, no less than the worst, into the
common whirlpool; and, once in arms, they could not keep
back their followers from the usual excesses, even if any
such thought occurred to themselves. Cf. Ord. Vit. 890 B for
another mention of Geoffrey.
[672] See above, p. 184.
[673] Ord. Vit. 685 A, B. This Gilbert is son of Eginulf,
who died at Senlac (N. C. vol. iii. p. 503, note), and
brother of Richer, who died before Sainte-Susanne (N. C.
vol. iv. p. 659). His sister Matilda married Robert of
Mowbray.
[674] Ib. 684 D, 685 C, D; Will. Gem. viii. 15. The
offender, a man of Belial, was Ascelin surnamed Goel. The
marriage was blessed or cursed with the birth of seven sons,
all, according to both our authorities, of evil report.
[675] See above, p. 194. The bandying of words, as given by
Orderic (686 A), is worth notice; “Robertus comes Mellenti
muneribus et promissis Guillelmi regis turgidus de Anglia
venit, Rothomagum ad ducem accessit, et ab eo arcem Ibreii
procaciter repetiit. Cui dux respondit, Æquipotens mutuum
patri tuo dedi Brioniam nobile castrum pro arce Ibreii.
Comes Mellenti dixit, Istud mutuum non concedo, sed quod
pater tuus patri meo dedit habere volo. Alioqui per sanctum
Nigasium faciam quod tibi displicebit. Iratus igitur dux
illico eum comprehendi et in carcere vinciri præcepit, et
Brioniam Roberto Balduini filio custodiendam commisit.” This
Robert in 686 D sets forth his pedigree, as grandson of
Count Gilbert the guardian of the Conqueror (see N. C. vol.
ii. pp. 195, 196). He was nephew of Richard of Bienfaite
(see above, p. 68), the founder of the house of Clare.
[676] He is now brought in as “callidus senex.”
[677] Ord. Vit. 686 C. The Duke speaks of the old Roger’s
“magna _legalitas_,” “_loyalty_,” according to its
etymology. Is it characteristic of the “callidus senex” that
he addresses the Duke as “vestra sublimitas,” “vestra
serenitas,” and thanks him for imprisoning his son,
“temerarium juvenem”? Yet it was twenty-four years since the
exploits of Robert of Meulan at Senlac.
[678] Ib. D. “Ob hoc ingens pecuniæ pondus promisit.”
[679] Ib. 687 A.
[680] Ib. A, B. “Tunc calor ingens incipientis æstatis, et
maxima siccitas erant, quæ forinsecus expugnantes admodum
juvabant. Callidi enim obsessores in fabrili fornace quæ in
promptu structa fuerat, ferrum missilium calefaciebant,
subitoque _super tectum principalis aulæ_ in munimento
jaciebant, et sic ferrum candens sagittarum atque pilorum in
arida veterum lanugine imbricum totis nisibus figebant.”
[681] Ib. “Sic Robertus dux ab hora nona Brioniam ante solis
occasum obtinuit, quam Guillelmus pater ejus cum auxilio
Henrici Francorum regis sibi vix in tribus annis subigere
potuit.” See N. C. vol. ii. p. 268.
[682] See above, p. 234.
[683] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 145, 451.
[684] Ib. vol. v. pp. 466, 474.
[685] Ord. Vit. 689 D. “Hujus nimirum factionis incentor
Conanus Gisleberti Pilati filius erat, qui inter cives,
utpote ditissimus eorum, præcellebat. Is cum rege de
tradenda civitate pactum fecerat, et immensis opibus ditatus
in urbe vigebat, ingentemque militum et satellitum familiam
contra ducem turgidus jugiter pascebat.”
[686] Ib. 691 A. “Guillelmus Ansgerii filius, Rodomensium
ditissimus.” This is after Conan’s death.
[687] Ib. 689 D. “Cives Rothomagi regiis muneribus et
promissis illecti de mutando principe tractaverunt, ac ut
Normanniæ metropolim _cum somnolento duce_ regi proderent
consiliati sunt.”
[688] Ib. “Maxima pars urbanorum eidem adquiescebant.
Nonnulli tamen pro fide duci servanda resistebant, et
opportunis tergiversationibus detestabile facinus
impediebant.”
[689] Ord. Vit. 689 D. “Conanus de suorum consensu
_contribulium_ securus, terminum constituit.” Orderic most
likely means nothing in particular by this odd word
“contribules.” But the later history of free cities supplies
a certain temptation to begin thinking of gilds, _Zünfte_,
_Geschlechter_, _abbayes_, and _alberghi_.
[690] Ib. “Dux, ubi tantam contra se machinationem
comperiit, amicos in quibus confidebat ad se convocavit.”
[691] Ord. Vit. 690 A. “Henricus igitur primus ei suppetias
venit, et primo subsidium fratri contulit, deinde vindictam
viriliter in proditorem exercuit.”
[692] Ib. “Fidelibus suis desolationem sui cita legatione
intimavit.”
[693] Ib. See above, p. 76, and N. C. vol. iv. p. 654.
[694] See above, p. 242. He was killed next year. See Ord.
Vit. 685 B.
[695] This earlier castle of the dukes must be carefully
distinguished from the _Vieux Palais_, which, though it is
no longer standing, still lives in street nomenclature. This
last was the work of our Henry the Fifth, and lay to the
west, between the Roman wall and the wall of Saint Lewis.
On this side of the city the modern street lately called
_Rue de l’Impératrice_, and now promoted to the name of _Rue
Jeanne Darc_, is not a bad guide. It runs a little outside
of the Roman wall and may fairly represent its fosse. So the
other great modern street called _Rue de l’Hôtel de Ville_,
and now _Rue Thiers_, runs a little further outside the
northern wall of the ancient city, which is marked by the
_Rue de la Ganterie_.
[696] On this side again a modern street helps us. The _Rue
de la République_, lately _Rue Impériale_, marks, though
less accurately than the others, the eastern side of the
city. The Rebecq may be traced for a little way, but it
presently loses itself, or at least is lost to the inquirer.
[697] Ord. Vit. 690 B. See below, p. 255.
[698] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 203.
[699] “Archimonasterium” is a title of Saint Ouen’s. See
Neustria Pia, 1.
[700] See N. C. vol. ii. pp. 183, 468.
[701] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 704.
[702] The “Tour de la Grosse Horloge” and the gate close by
are conspicuous features in that quarter of Rouen. The noble
Palace of Justice was not even represented in the times with
which we have to do.
[703] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 706.
[704] Neustria Pia, 611.
[705] Ord. Vit. 690 A. “Ad Calcegiensem portam properavit.”
[706] Ord. Vit. 690 A. “Jampridem quidam de regiis
satellitibus in urbem introierant, et parati, rebellionem
tacite præstolantes, seditionis moram ægre ferebant.”
[707] Ib. B. “Dum militaris et civilis tumultus exoritur,
nimius hinc et inde clamor attollitur, et tota civitas
pessime confunditur, et in sua viscera crudeliter
debacchatur. Plures enim civium contra cognatos vicinosque
suos ad utramque portam dimicabant, dum quædam pars duci, et
altera regi favebant…. Dum perturbationis ingens tumultus
cuncta confunderet, et nesciretur quam quisque civium sibi
partem eligeret.”
[708] Ib. B. “Dux ubi furentes, ut dictum est, in civitate
advertit, cum Henrico fratre suo et commanipularibus suis de
arce prodiit, suisque velociter suffragari appetiit.”
[709] Ord. Vit. 690 B. “Ne perniciem inhonestam stolido
incurreret, cunctisque Normannis perenne opprobrium fieret.”
[710] Ib. “Fugiens cum paucis per orientalem portam egressus
est, et mox a suburbanis vici, qui Mala-palus dicitur,
fideliter ut specialis herus susceptus est.”
[711] Ord. Vit. 690 B. “Cimba parata Sequanam intravit, et
relicto post terga conflictu trepidus ad Ermentrudis-villam
navigavit. Tunc ibidem a Guillelmo de Archis Molismensi
monacho susceptus est, ibique in basilica sanctæ Mariæ de
Prato finem commotæ seditionis præstolatus est.” On this
William of Arques, see above, p. 220.
William of Malmesbury (v. 392) has quite another account, in
which the Duke’s flight is not spoken of, and in which Henry
at least urges him to action; “Regios eo interdiu venientes,
qui dolo civium totam jampridem occupaverant urbem, probe
expulit [Henricus], admonito per nuntios comite ut ille a
fronte propelleret quos ipse a tergo urgeret.” This account
does not come in its chronological place, but in William’s
account of the early life of Henry. And he misconceives the
date, placing the revolt of Rouen after the coming of
William into Normandy; “Willelmo veniente in Normanniam uti
se de fratre Roberto ulcisceretur, comiti obsequelam suam
exhibuit [Henricus], Rotomagi positus.”
[712] Ord. Vit. 690 C. “Regia cohors territa fugit,
latebrasque silvarum quæ in vicinio erant, avide poscens,
delituit, et subsidio noctis discrimen mortis seu captionis
difficulter evasit.”
[713] On the different versions of the death of Conan in
Orderic and in William of Malmesbury, see Appendix K.
[714] Ord. Vit. 690 C. “Considera, Conane, quam pulcram tibi
patriam conatus es subjicere.”
[715] Ord. Vit. 690 C. “En, ad meridiem delectabile parcum
patet oculis tuis. En saltuosa regio silvestribus abundans
feris. Ecce Sequana piscosum flumen Rotomagensem murum
allambit, navesque pluribus mercimoniis refertas huc
quotidie devehit.”
[716] Ib. D. “En ex alia parte civitas populosa, mœnibus
sacrisque templis et urbanis ædibus speciosa, cui jure a
priscis temporibus subjacet Normannia tota.”
[717] Ib. “Pro redemptione mei domino meo aurum dabo et
argentum, quantum reperire potero in thesauris meis
meorumque parentum, et pro culpa infidelitatis fidele usque
ad mortem rependam servitium.”
[718] Ord. Vit. 690 C. “Per animam matris meæ, traditori
nulla erit redemptio, sed debitæ mortis acceleratio.”
[719] Ib. “Conanus gemens clamavit alta voce; Pro amore,
inquit, Dei, confessionem mihi permitte.”
[720] Ib. “Henricus acer fraternæ ultor injuriæ præ ira
infremuit.” Simple wrath is an attribute which we are more
used to assign to Henry the Second, with his hereditary
touch of the Angevin devil, than to the calm, deliberate,
Henry the First. Yet we can understand how, through the
stages of the “ironica insultatio,” as Orderic calls Henry’s
discourse to Conan, a determination taken in cold blood
might grow into the fierce delight of destruction at the
actual moment of carrying it out.
[721] See Appendix K.
[722] Ord. Vit. 691 A. “Locus ipse, ubi vindicta hujusmodi
perpetrata est, saltus Conani usque in hodiernam diem
vocitatus est.”
[723] See above, p. 190.
[724] Ord. Vit. 691 A. “Robertus dux, ut de prato ad arcem
rediit et quæ gesta fuerant comperit, pietate motus
infortunio civium condoluit, sed, fortiori magnatorum
censura prævalente, reis parcere nequivit.”
[725] Ord. Vit. 691 A. “Robertus Belesmensis et Guillelmus
Bretoliensis affuerunt, et Rodomanos incolas velut exteros
prædones captivos abduxerunt, et squaloribus carceris
graviter afflixerunt…. Sic Belesmici et Aquilini ceterique
ducis auxiliarii contra se truculenter sæviunt, civesque
metropolis Neustriæ vinculatos attrahunt, cunctisque rebus
spoliatos, ut barbaros hostes male affligunt.”