THE ROUT OF WINCHESTER.
The Empress, it will be remembered, in the panic of her escape, on the
sudden revolt of the citizens, had fled to the strongholds of her cause
in the west, and sought refuge in Gloucester. Most of her followers were
scattered abroad, but the faithful Miles of Gloucester was found, as
ever, by her side. As soon as she recovered from her first alarm, she
retraced her steps to Oxford, acting upon his advice, and made that
fortress her head-quarters, to which her adherents might rally.[388]
To her stay at Oxford on this occasion we may assign a charter to
Haughmond Abbey, tested _inter alios_ by the King of Scots.[389] But of
far more importance is the well-known charter by which she granted the
earldom of Hereford to her devoted follower, Miles of Gloucester.[390]
With singular unanimity, the rival chroniclers testify to the faithful
service of which this grant was the reward.[391] It is an important fact
that this charter contains a record of its date, which makes it a fixed
point of great value for our story. This circumstance is the more
welcome from the long list of witnesses, which enables us to give with
absolute certainty the _personnel_ of Matilda's court on the day this
charter passed (July 25, 1141), evidence confirmed by another charter
omitted from the fasciculus of Mr. Birch.[392] From a comparison of the
dates we can assign these documents to the very close of her stay at
Oxford, by which time her scattered followers had again rallied to her
standard. It is also noteworthy that the date is in harmony with the
narrative of the Continuator of Florence. This has a bearing on the
chronology of that writer, to which we have now in the main to trust.
William of Malmesbury, who on the doings of his patron is likely to be
well informed, tells us that the rumours of the legate's defection led
the Earl of Gloucester to visit Winchester in the hope of regaining him
to his sister's cause. Disappointed in this, he rejoined her at
Oxford.[393] It must have been on his return that he witnessed the
charter to Miles of Gloucester.
The Empress, on hearing her brother's report, decided to march on
Winchester with the forces she had now assembled.[394] The names of her
leading followers can be recovered from the various accounts of the
siege.[395]
The Continuator states that she reached Winchester shortly before the
1st of August.[396] He also speaks of the siege having lasted seven
weeks on the 13th of September.[397] If he means by this, as he implies,
the siege by the queen's forces, he is clearly wrong; but if he was
thinking of the arrival of the Empress, this would place that event not
later than the 27th of July. We know from the date of the Oxford charter
that it cannot well have been earlier. The _Hyde Cartulary_ (Stowe MSS.)
is more exact, and, indeed, gives us the day of her arrival, Thursday,
July 31 ("pridie kal. Augusti"). According to the _Annals of Waverley_,
the Empress besieged the bishop the next day.[398]
Of the struggle which now took place we have several independent
accounts. Of these the fullest are those given by the Continuator, who
here writes with a bitter feeling against the legate, and by the author
of the _Gesta_, whose sympathies were, of course, on the other side.
John of Hexham, William of Malmesbury, and Henry of Huntingdon have
accounts which should be carefully consulted, and some information is
also to be gleaned from the _Hyde Cartulary_ (Stowe MSS.).
It is John of Hexham alone who mentions that the bishop himself had
commenced operations by besieging the royal castle, which was held by a
garrison of the Empress.[399] It was in this castle, says the
Continuator, that she took up her quarters on her arrival.[400] She at
once summoned the legate to her presence, but he, dreading that she
would seize his person, returned a temporizing answer, and eventually
rode forth from the city (it would seem, by the east gate) just as the
Empress entered it in state.[401]
Though the Continuator asserts that the Empress, on her arrival, found
the city opposed to her, William of Malmesbury, whose sympathies were
the same, asserts, on the contrary, that the citizens were for her.[402]
Possibly, the former may only have meant that she had found the gates of
the city closed against her by the legate. In any case, she now
established herself, together with her followers, within the walls, and
laid siege to the episcopal palace, which was defended by the legate's
garrison.[403] The usual consequence followed. From the summit of the
keep its reckless defenders rained down fire upon the town, and a
monastery, a nunnery, more than forty (?) churches, and the greater part
of the houses within the walls are said to have been reduced to
ashes.[404]
Meanwhile, the legate had summoned to his aid the Queen and all the
royal party. His summons "was promptly obeyed;[405] even the Earl of
Chester, "who," says Dr. Stubbs, "was uniformly opposed to Stephen, but
who no doubt fought for himself far more than for the Empress,"[406]
joined, on this occasion, the royal forces, perhaps to maintain the
balance of power. But his assistance, naturally enough, was viewed with
such deep suspicion that he soon went over to the Empress,[407] to whom,
however, his tardy help was of little or no value.[408] From London the
Queen received a well-armed contingent, nearly a thousand strong;[409]
but Henry of Huntingdon appears to imply that their arrival, although it
turned the scale, did not take place till late in the siege.[410]
The position of the opposing forces became a very strange one. The
Empress and her followers, from the castle, besieged the bishop's
palace, and were in turn themselves besieged by the Queen and her host
without.[411] It was the aim of the latter to cut off the Empress from
her base of operations in the west. With this object they burnt
Andover,[412] and harassed so successfully the enemy's convoys, that
famine was imminent in the city.[413] The Empress, moreover, was clearly
outnumbered by the forces of the Queen and legate. It is agreed on all
hands that the actual crisis was connected with an affair at Wherwell,
but John of Hexham and the author of the _Gesta_ are not entirely in
accord as to the details. According to the latter, who can hardly be
mistaken in a statement so precise, the besieged, now in dire straits,
despatched a small force along the old Icknield Way, to fortify Wherwell
and its nunnery, commanding the passage of the Test, in order to secure
their line of communication.[414] John of Hexham, on the contrary,
describing, it would seem, the same incident, represents it as merely
the despatch of an escort, under John the Marshal and Robert fitz Edith,
to meet an expected convoy.[415] In any case, it is clear that William
of Ypres, probably the Queen's best soldier, burst upon the convoy close
to Wherwell, and slew or captured all but those who sought refuge within
the nunnery walls.[416] Nor are the two accounts gravely inconsistent.
On the other hand, the Continuator of Florence appears at first sight to
imply that the Marshal and his followers took refuge at Wherwell in the
course of the general flight,[417] and this version is in harmony with
the _Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal_.[418] But putting aside William
of Malmesbury, whose testimony is ambiguous on the point, I consider the
balance to be clearly in favour of the _Gesta_ and John of Hexham, whose
detailed accounts must be wholly rejected if we embrace the other
version, whereas the Continuator's words can be harmonized, and indeed
better understood, if we take "ad monasterium Warewellense fugientem" as
referring to John taking refuge in the nunnery (as described in the
other versions) when surprised with his convoy. Moreover, the evidence
(_vide infra_) as to the Empress leaving Winchester by the west instead
of the north gate, appears to me to clinch the matter. As to the Marshal
poem, on such a point its evidence is of little weight. Composed at a
later period, and based on family tradition, its incidents, as M. Meyer
has shown, are thrown together in wrong order, and its obvious errors
not a few. I may add that the Marshal's position is unduly exalted in
the poem, and that Brian fitz Count (though it is true that he
accompanied the Empress in her flight) would never have taken his orders
from John the Marshal.[419] Its narrative cannot be explained away, but
it is the one that we are most justified in selecting for rejection.
To expel the fugitives from their place of safety, William and his
troopers fired the nunnery. A furious struggle followed in the church,
amidst the shrieks of the nuns and the roar of the flames; the sanctuary
itself streamed with blood; but John the Marshal stood his ground, and
refused to surrender to his foes.[420] "Silence, or I will slay thee
with mine own hands," the undaunted man is said to have exclaimed, as
his last remaining comrade implored him to save their lives.[421]
On receiving intelligence of this disaster, the besieged were seized
with panic, and resolved on immediate retreat.[422] William of
Malmesbury, as before, is anxious to deny the panic,[423] and the
Continuator accuses the legate of treachery.[424] The account, however,
in the _Gesta_ appears thoroughly trustworthy. According to this, the
Empress and her forces sallied forth from the gates in good order, but
were quickly surrounded and put to flight. All order was soon at an end.
Bishops, nobles, barons, troopers, fled in headlong rout. With her
faithful squire by her side the Empress rode for her life.[425] The Earl
of Gloucester, with the rear-guard, covered his sister's retreat, but in
so doing was himself made prisoner, while holding, at Stockbridge, the
passage of the Test.[426]
The mention of Stockbridge proves that the besieged must have fled by
the Salisbury road, their line of retreat by Andover being now barred at
Wherwell. After crossing the Test, the fugitive Empress must have turned
northwards, and made her way, by country lanes, over Longstock hills, to
Ludgershall. So great was the dread of her victorious foes, now in full
pursuit, that though she had ridden more than twenty miles, and was
overwhelmed with anxiety and fatigue, she was unable to rest even here,
and, remounting, rode for Devizes, across the Wiltshire downs.[427] It
was not, we should notice, thought safe for her to make straight for
Gloucester, through Marlborough and Cirencester; so she again set her
face due west, as if making for Bristol. Thus fleeing from fortress to
fortress, she came to her castle at Devizes. So great, however, was now
her terror that even in this celebrated stronghold[428] she would not,
she feared, be safe. She had already ridden some forty miles, mainly
over bad country, and what with grief, terror, and fatigue, the erst
haughty Empress was now "more dead than alive" (_pene exanimis_). It was
out of the question that she should mount again; a litter was hurriedly
slung between two horses, and, strapped to this, the unfortunate Lady
was conveyed in sorry guise (_sat ignominiose_) to her faithful city of
Gloucester.[429]
On a misunderstanding, as I deem it, of the passage (and especially of
the word _feretrum_), writers have successively, for three centuries,
represented the Continuator as stating that the Empress, "to elude the
vigilance of her pursuers," was "laid out as a corpse!" Lingard, indeed,
while following suit, gravely doubts if the fact be true, as it is
recorded by the Continuator alone; but Professor Pearson improves upon
the story, and holds that the versatile "Lady" was in turn "a trooper"
and a corpse.[430]
On the 1st of November the king was released, and a few days later the
Earl of Gloucester, for whom he had been exchanged, reached
Bristol.[431] Shortly after, it would seem, there were assembled
together at Bristol, the Earl, the Empress, and their loyal adherents,
Miles, now Earl of Hereford, Brian fitz Count, and Robert fitz
Martin.[432]
[388] "Porro fugiens domina per Oxenefordiam venit ad Glavorniam, ubi
cum Milone ex-constabulario consilio inito statim cum eodem ad
Oxenefordensem revertitur urbem, ibi præstolatura seu recuperatura suum
dispersum militarem numerum" (_Cont. Flor. Wig._, 132).
[389] The other witnesses were Robert, Bishop of London, Alexander,
Bishop of Lincoln, William the chancellor, R[ichard] de Belmeis,
archdeacon, G[ilbert?], archdeacon, Reginald, Earl of Cornwall, William
Fitz Alan and Walter his brother, Alan de Dunstanville (_Harl. MS._,
2188, fol. 123). The two bishops and the King of Scots also witnessed
the charter to Miles.
[390] _Fœdera_, N.E., i. 14.
[391] "Et quia ejusdem Milonis præcipue fruebatur consilio et fovebatur
auxilio, utpote quæ eatenus nec unius diei victum nec mensæ ipsius
apparatum aliunde quam ex ipsius munificentiâ sive providentiâ acceperat
sicut ex ipsius Milonis ore audivimus, ut eum suo arctius vinciret
ministerio, comitatum ei Herefordensem tunc ibi posita pro magnæ
remunerationis contulit præmio" (_Cont. Flor. Wig._, 133). Comp.
_Gesta_, 81: "Milo Glaornensis, quem ibi cum gratiâ et favore omnium
comitem præfecit Herefordiæ."
[392] See Appendix L: "Charter of the Empress to William de Beauchamp."
[393] "Ad hos motus, si possit, componendos comes Gloecestrensis non
adeo denso comitatu Wintoniam contendit; sed, re infecta, ad Oxeneford
rediit, ubi soror stativâ mansione jamdudum se continuerat" (p. 751).
The "jamdudum" should be noticed, as a hint towards the chronology.
[394] "Ipsa itaque, et ex his quæ continue audiebat et a fratre tunc
cognovit nihil legatum molle ad suas partes cogitare intelligens,
Wintoniam cum quanto potuit apparatu venit" (_ibid._).
[395] They were her uncle, the King of Scots;* her three brothers, the
Earls of Gloucester* and of Cornwall,* and Robert fitz Edith; the Earls
of Warwick and Devon ("Exeter"), with their newly created fellows, the
Earls of Dorset (or Somerset) and Hereford; Humphrey de Bohun,* John the
Marshal,* Brien fitz Count,* Geoffrey Boterel (his relative), William
fitz Alan, "William" of Salisbury, Roger d'Oilli, Roger "de Nunant,"
etc. The primate* was also of the company. N.B.—Those marked with an
asterisk attested the above charter to Miles de Gloucester.
[396] "Inde [_i.e._ from Oxford] jam militum virtute roborata et numero,
appropinquante festivitate Sancti Petri, quæ dicitur ad Vincula" [August
1] (_Cont. Flor. Wig._, 133).
[397] "Septem igitur septimanis in obsidione transactis" (_ibid._).
[398] "Die kalendarum Augusti" (_Ann. Mon._, ii. 229).
[399] "Imperatrix, collectis viribus suis, cum rege Scotiæ et Rodberto
comite ascendit in Wintoniam, audiens milites suos inclusos in regia
munitione expugnari a militibus legati qui erant in mœnibus illius"
(_Sym. Dun._, ii. 310).
[400] "Ignorante fratre suo, comite Bricstowensi (_i.e._ Earl Robert),
Wintoniensem venit ad urbem, sed eam a se jam alienatam inveniens, in
castello suscepit hospitium" (p. 133). It seems impossible to understand
what can be meant by the expression "ignorante fratre suo." So too
_Will. Malms._: "intra castellum regium sine cunctatione recepta."
[401] _Will. Malms._, p. 751; _Gesta_, p. 80; _Cont. Flor. Wig._, 133.
The _Gesta_ alone represents the Empress as hoping to surprise the
legate, which is scarcely probable.
[402] "Wintonienses porro vel tacito ei favebant judicio, memores fidei
quam ei pacti fuerant cum inviti propemodum ab episcopo ad hoc adacti
essent" (p. 752).
[403] There is some confusion as to what the Empress actually besieged.
The _Gesta_ says it was "(1) castellum episcopi, quod venustissimo
constructum schemate in civitatis medio locarat, sed et (2) domum
illius, quam ad instar castelli fortiter et inexpugnabiliter firmarat."
We learn from the _Annals of Winchester_ (p. 51) that, in 1138, the
bishop "fecit ædificare domum quasi palatium cum turri fortissima in
Wintonia," which would seem to be Wolvesey, with its keep, at the
south-east angle of the city. Again, Giraldus has a story (vii. 46) that
the bishop built himself a residence from the materials of the
Conqueror's palace: "Domos regios apud Wintoniam ecclesie ipsius atrio
nimis enormiter imminentes, ... funditus in brevi raptim et subito ...
dejecit, et ... ex dirutis ædificiis et abstractis domos episcopales
egregias sibi in eadem urbe construxit." On the other hand, the _Hyde
Cartulary_ assigns the destruction of the palace to the siege (_vide
infra_.).
[404] "Interea ex turre pontificis jaculatum incendium in domos
burgensium (qui, ut dixi, proniores erant imperatricis felicitati)
comprehendit et combussit abbatiam totam sanctimonialium intra urbem,
simulque cænobium quod dicitur ad Hidam extra" (_Will. Malms._, p. 752).
"Qui intus recludebantur ignibus foras emissis majorem civitatis partem
sed et duas abbatias in favillas penitus redegerunt" (_Gesta_, p. 83).
"Siquidem secundo die mensis Augusti ignis civitati immissis,
monasterium sanctimonialium cum suis ædificiis, ecclesias plus XL cum
majori seu meliori parte civitatis, postremo cænobium monachorum Deo et
Sancto Grimbaldo famulantium, cum suis ædibus redegit in cineres"
(_Cont. Flor. Wig._, p. 133). It is from this last writer that we get
the date (August 2), which we should never have gathered from William of
Malmesbury (who mentions this fire in conjunction with the burning of
Wherwell Abbey, at the close of the siege) or from the _Gesta_. M. Paris
(_Chron. Maj._, ii. 174) assigns the fire, like William of Malmesbury,
to the end of the siege, but his version, "Destructa est Wintonia XVIII
kal. Oct., et captus est R. Comes Glovernie die exaltationis Sancte
Crucis," is self-stultifying, the two dates being one and the same. The
Continuator's date is confirmed by the independent evidence of the _Hyde
Cartulary_ (among the Stowe MSS.), which states that on Saturday, the
2nd of August ("Sabbato IIII. non. Augusti"), the city was burned by the
bishop's forces, "et eodem die dicta civitas Wyntonie capta est et
spoliata." From this source we further obtain the interesting fact that
the Conqueror's palace in the city ("totum palatium cum aula sua")
perished on this occasion. Allusion is made to this fact in the same
cartulary's account of a council held by Henry of Winchester in the
cathedral, in November, 1150, where the parish of St. Laurence is
assigned the site "super quam aulam suam et palacium edificari fecit
(Rex Willelmus)," which palace "in adventu Roberti Comitis Gloecestrie
combustum fuit." The Continuator (_more suo_) assigns the fire to the
cruelty of the bishop; but it was the ordinary practice in such cases.
As from the tower of Le Mans in 1099 (_Ord. Vit._), as from the tower of
Hereford Cathedral but a few years before this (_Gesta Stephani_), so
now at Winchester the firebrands flew: and so again at Lewes, in far
later days (1264), where on the evening of the great battle there blazed
forth from the defeated Royalists, sheltered on the castle height, a mad
shower of fire.
[405] "Statimque propter omnes misit quos regi fauturos sciebat.
Venerunt ergo fere omnes comites Angliæ; erant enim juvenes et leves, et
qui mallent equitationum discursus quam pacem" (_Will. Malms._, p. 751).
Cf. _Hen. Hunt._, p. 275, and _Gesta_, pp. 81, 82.
[406] _Early Plantagenets_, p. 25. Compare _Const. Hist._, i. 329: "The
Earl of Chester, although, whenever he prevailed on himself to act, he
took part against Stephen, fought rather on his own account than on
Matilda's."
[407] _Sym. Dun._, ii. 310.
[408] "Reinulfus enim comes Cestrie tarde et inutiliter advenit" (_Will.
Malms._, p. 751).
[409] "Invictâ Londoniensium catervâ, qui, fere mille, cum galeis et
loricis ornatissime instructi convenerant" (_Gesta_, p. 82).
[410] "Venit _tandem_ exercitus Lundoniensis, et aucti numerose qui
contra imperatricem contendebant, fugere eam compulerunt" (p. 275).
[411] _Gesta_, p. 82. The _Annals of Winchester_ (p. 52) strangely
reverse the respective positions of the two: "Imperatrix cum suis
castellum tenuit regium et orientalem (_sic_) partem Wintonie et
burgenses cum ea; legatus cum suis castrum suum cum parte occidentali"
(_sic_).
[412] _Will. Malms._, p. 752.
[413] _Ibid._; _Gesta_, p. 83.
[414] "Provisum est igitur, et communi consilio provisé, ut sibi
videbatur, statutum, quatinus penes abbatiam Werwellensem, quæ a Ventâ
civitate VI. milliariis distabat, trecentis (_sic_) ibi destinatis
militibus, castellum construerent, ut scilicet inde et regales facilius
arcerentur, et ciborum subsidia competentius in urbe dirigerentur" (p.
83).
[415] "Emissi sunt autem ducenti (_sic_) milites, cum Rodberto filio Edæ
et Henrici regis notho et Johanne Marascaldo, ut conducerent in urbem
eos qui comportabant victualia in ministerium imperatricis et eorum qui
obsessi fuerant" (_Sym. Dun._, ii. 310).
[416] "Quos persecuti Willelmus Dipre et pars exercitus usque ad
Warewella (ubi est congregatio sanctimonialium) et milites et omnem
apparatum, qui erat copiosus, abduxerunt" (_ibid_). "Subito et
insperaté, cum intolerabili multitudine Werwellam advenerunt,
fortiterque in eos undique irruentes captis et interemptis plurimis,
cedere tandem reliquos et in templum se recipere compulerunt" (_Gesta_,
p. 83).
[417] _Vide infra._ Since the above was written Mr. Howlett, in his
edition of the _Gesta_ (p. 82, _note_), has noted the contradiction in
the narrative, but seems to lean to the latter version as being
supported by the Marshal poem.
[418] As has been duly pointed out by its accomplished editor, M. Paul
Meyer (_Romania_, vol. xi.), who will shortly, it may be hoped, publish
the entire poem.
[419]
"Li Mareschals de son afaire
Ne sout que dire ne que feire,
N'i vit rescose ne confort.
A Brien de Walingofort
Commanda a mener la dame,
E dist, sor le peril de s'alme
Q'en nul lieu ne s'aresteiisent,
Por nul besoing que il eiisent,
N'en bone veie ne en male,
De si qu'a Lothegaresale;
E cil tost e hastivement
En fist tot son commandement" (Lines 225-236).
[420] "Cumque vice castelli ad se defendendos templo uterentur, alii,
facibus undique injectis, semiustulatos eos e templo prodire, et ad
votum suum se sibi subdere coegerunt. Erat quidem horrendum," etc.
(_Gesta_, p. 83). "Johannem etiam, fautorem eorum, ad monasterium
Warewellense fugientem milites episcopi persequentes, cum exinde nullo
modo expellere valuissent, in ipsâ die festivitatis Exaltationis Sanctæ
Crucis [Sept. 14], immisso igne ipsam ecclesiam Sanctæ Crucis cum
sanctimonialium rebus et domibus cremaverunt, ... prædictum tamen
Johannem nec capere nec expellere potuerunt" (_Cont. Flor. Wig._, p.
135). So also _Will. Malms._ (p. 752): "Combusta est etiam abbatia
sanctimonialium de Warewellâ a quodam Willelmo de Iprâ homine nefando,
qui nec Deo nec hominibus reverentiam observaret, quod in eâ quidam
imperatricis fautores se contutati essent."
[421]
"Li Mareschas el guié s'estut,
A son poer les contrestut.
Tute l'ost sur lui descarcha
Qui si durement le charcha
Que n'i pont naint plus durer;
Trop lui fui fort a endurer,
Einz s'enbati en un mostier;
N'ont o lui k'un sol chevaler.
Quant li real les aperçurent
Qu'el mostier enbatu se furent:
'Or ça, li feus!' funt il, 'or sa,
Li traitres ne li garra.'
Quant li feus el moster se prist,
En la vis de la tor se mist.
Li chevaliers li dist: 'Beau sire,
Or ardrum ci a grant martire:
Ce sera pecchiez e damages.
Rendom nos, si ferom que sages.'
Cil respundi mult cruelment:
N'en parler ja, gel te defent;
Ke, s'en diseies plus ne mains,
Ge t'occirreie de mes mains.'
Por le grant feu qui fu entor
Dejeta li pluns de la tor,
Si que sor le vis li chaï,
Dunt leidement li meschaï,
K'un de ses elz i out perdu
Dunt molt se tint a esperdu,
Mais, merci Dieu, n'i murust pas.
E li real en es le pas
Por mort e por ars le quiderent;
A Vincestre s'en returnerent,
Mais n'i fu ne mors ne esteinz" (Lines 237-269).
[422] "Ubi lacrymabilem præfati infortunii audissent eventum de
obsidione diutius ingerendâ ex toto desperati, fugæ quammaturé inire
præsidium sibi consuluere" (_Gesta_, pp. 83, 84). "Qui jam non in
concertatione sed in fuga spem salutis gerentes egressi sunt, ne forte
victores cum Willelmo d'Ipre ad socios regressi, sumptâ fiduciâ ex
quotidianis successibus, aliquid subitum in eos excogitarent" (_Sym.
Dun._, ii. 310).
[423] "[Comes] cedendum tempori ratus, compositis ordinibus discessionem
paravit" (p. 753).
[424] P. 134. His strong bias against the legate makes this somewhat
confused charge unworthy of credit.
[425]
"La fist tantost metre a la voie
Tot dreit a Lotegaresale.
* * * *
Ne[l] purrent suffrir ne atendre
Cil qui o l'empereriz erent:
Al meiz ku'il purent s'en alerent,
Poingnant si que regne n'i tindrent
[J]esque soz Varesvalle vindrent;
Mès forment les desavancha
L'empereriz qui chevacha
Cumme femme fait en seant:
Ne sembla pas buen ne seant
Al Marechal, anceis li dist:
'Dame, si m'ait Jesucrist,
L'em ne puet pas eu seant poindre;
Les jambes vos covient desjoindre
E metre par en son l'arçun.'
El le fist, volsist ele ou non,
Quer lor enemis le[s] grevoient
Qui de trop près les herd[i]oient" (Lines 198, 199, 208-224).
The quaint detail here given is confirmed, as M. Meyer notes, by the
Continuator's phrase (_vide infra_, note 2).
[426] "In loco qui Stolibricge dicitur a Flammensibus cum comite
Warrennensi captus" (_Cont. Flor. Wig._, p. 135). Cf. p. 134, and _Will.
Malms._ (pp. 753, 758, 759), _Gesta_ (p. 84), _Sym. Dun._ (ii. 311),
_Hen. Hunt._ (p. 275). As in Matilda's flight from London, so in her
flight from Winchester, the author of the _Gesta_ appears to advantage
with his descriptive and spirited account.
[427] "Hæc audiens domina, vehementer exterrita atque turbata, ad
castellum quo tendebat de Ludkereshala tristis ac dolens advenit, sed
ibi locum tutum quiescendi, propter metum episcopi, non invenit. Unde,
hortantibus suis, equo iterum usu masculino supposita, atque ad Divisas
perducta" (_Cont. Flor. Wig._, p. 134).
[428] "Castellum quod vocatur Divise, quo non erat aliud splendidius
intra fines Europæ" (_Hen. Hunt._, p. 265). "Castellum ... multis et vix
numerabilibus sumptibus, non (ut ipse præsul dictabat) ad ornamentum,
sed (ut se rei veritas habet) ad ecclesiæ detrimentum, ædificatum"
(_Will. Malms._, pp. 717, 718). It had been raised by the Bishop of
Salisbury, and it passed, at his fall, into Stephen's hands. It is then
described by the author of the _Gesta_ (p. 66) as "castellum regis, quod
Divisa dicebatur, ornanter et inexpugnabiliter muratum." It was
subsequently surprised by Robert fitz Hubert, who held it for his own
hand till his capture, when the Earl of Gloucester tried hard to extort
its surrender from him. In this, however, he failed. Robert was hanged,
and, soon after, his garrison sold it to Stephen, by whom it was
entrusted to Hervey of Brittany, whom he seems to have made Earl of
Wilts. But on Stephen's capture, the peasantry rose, and extorted its
surrender from Hervey. Thenceforth, it was a stronghold of the Empress
(see for this the Continuator and the _Gesta_).
[429] "Cum nec ibi secure se tutari posse, ob insequentes, formidaret,
jam pene exanimis feretro invecta, et funibus quasi cadaver ligata,
equis deferentibus, sat ignominiose ad civitatem deportatur Glaornensem"
(_Cont. Flor. Wig._, 134). The author of the _Gesta_ (p. 85) mentions
her flight to Devizes ("Brieno tantum cum paucis comite, ad Divisas
confugit"), and incidentally observes (p. 87) that she was "ex
Wintoniensi dispersione quassa nimis, et usque ad defectum pené
defatigata" (_i.e._ "tired to death;" cf. _supra_). John of Hexham
merely says: "Et imperatrix quidem non sine magno conflictu et plurima
difficultate erepta est" (_Sym. Dun._, ii. 310).
[430] Camden, in his _Britannia_, gives the story, but Knighton (De
eventibus Angliæ, lib. ii., in _Scriptores_ X.) seems to be the chief
offender. Dugdale follows with the assertion that "she was necessitated
... for her more security to be put into a coffin, as a dead corps, to
escape their hands" (i. 537 _b_). According to Milner (_History of
Winchester_, p. 162), "she was enclosed like a corpse in a sheet of
lead, and was thus suffered to pass in a horse-litter as if carried out
for interment, through the army of her besiegers, a truce having been
granted for this purpose." Even Edwards, in his introduction to the
_Liber de Hyda_ (p. xlviii.), speaks of "the raising of the siege; a
raising precipitated, if we accept the accounts of Knighton and some
other chroniclers who accord with him, by the strange escape of the
Empress Maud from Winchester Castle concealed in a leaden coffin." _Sic
crescit eundo._
[431] _Will. Malms._, p. 754.
[432] See donation of Miles (_Monasticon_, vi. 137), stated to have been
made in their presence, and in the year 1141, in which he speaks of
himself as "apud Bristolium positus, jamque consulatus honorem adeptus."
Brian had escorted the Empress in her flight, but Miles, intercepted by
the enemy, had barely escaped with his life ("de solâ vita lætus ad
Glaornam cum dedecore fugiendo pervenit lassus, solus, et pene
nudus."—_Cont. Flor. Wig._, p. 135).